Michigan Team-1 members:

Several members have communicated on the TRA discussion forum and in private messages their experiences with BATFE enforcement personnel in the weeks that have followed final judgment in our case (May 15, 2009). While we have not received any reports of agents causing any sort of dispute or giving our members a hard time, it is obvious that the agency has not yet consistently disseminated to their personnel clear guidance on backing out of APCP regulation. Some of the field and regional people appear to be aware of the outcome of the case and the agency's decision not to appeal, and are accordingly suspending or modifying their previous normal regulatory procedures, but this is by no means universal.

Additionally, as it has been noted that there are several BATFE website pages that still contain information on APCP rocket motors that is now erroneous and outdated. Furthermore, the agency has not yet seen fit to publish a revised explosives list in the Federal Register that de-lists APCP. Neither have they published any comments in the FR to indicate that APCP will be vacated from that list, and/or will no longer be regulated by the agency.

All this information has been shared with, and discussed with, the TRA/NAR legal team, and after giving the agency some reasonable time to proceed with the actions the final judgment of the case requires, and not having observed that these actions have been undertaken, our legal counsel has crafted a communication to the acting director of the BATFE. This correspondence, which is being sent this week and which I will share in a later message, conveys our list of the actions we are convinced the agency must take to comply with the final judgment of the Federal District Court.

We will be looking for a response, and for responsive actions, from the agency as a result of this. There are of course options we can exercise should the agency fail to comply with the judgment of the Federal District court, but I am optimistic that it will not come down to that.

Although BATFE has not yet moved to correctly make the changes they are required to do, as I indicated above, neither the TRA BoD nor the NAR leadership team has received any reports of BATFE agents who have created any issues or controversies, even though they may have not been properly briefed as yet on how to proceed. It appears in some cases, the word is getting around through more informal channels among the agents. Therefore, in the interim, it is best for those who will be contacted by agency personnel for LEUP-based inspections or other actions related to APCP rocket motors, to keep things cordial and professional. Ask if they are aware of the court judgment, and what, if any, guidance they have been given by their supervisors. Feel free to share any of the court documents and joint statements from the TRA website that may reveal to agents who aren't aware, the current non-regulated status of APCP rocket motors. And by all means, contact me or any BoD member to let us know of any interactions you have with BATFE agents that pertain to this situation.

In a related matter, I have gotten several messages from our non-US members who travel to the US to fly, asking whether the previous legal restrictions on their possessing rocket motors in the US is changed by the court judgment. This matter has also been referred to our legal counsel. Our best interpretation of the current Homeland Security laws, specifically the Safe Explosives Act (SEA), is that non-US citizens are prohibited from possessing explosives in the US, and that the interpretation of "explosives" is based upon the BATFE explosives list. SEA basically requires licensing with the BATFE for the possession of all explosives, and such licenses are denied to three classes of persons, including (with narrow exceptions) non-US citizens. Presumably, a material that is not listed (or no longer listed) on the BATFE explosives list does not require licensing. and thus the "excluded persons" consideration does not apply.

Thus, once APCP is de-listed, there should not be a prohibition on the possession of rocket motors for anyone in the US, the only exception being the CPSC rules that prohibit sales of HP motors to those under 18 years of age. As noted above, APCP should be de-listed by now but isn't yet. This is one of our expressed issues to the agency.

The TRA BoD has discussed this, and I have also shared thoughts with NAR President Trip Barber. Our best advice at this juncture is that until such time as the BATFE attends to the issues they must tackle, like updating the explosives list, non-US flyers who come to fly in the US should continue to partner with US TRA members, as they have done before. This should help ensure that no one gets hassled while the official lists of restricted materials still reflect the previous status quo. I do not feel this will be the long term answer, though, and I will update guidance as soon as I can.

Look for an update on our communication to the BATFE soon.

Ken Good
TRA President

Ed

Ed Boyd
Secretary/Treasurer
Tripoli Prefecture 9
Michigan Team-1
secretary@team1.org
www.team1.org