MaxQ
Tripoli 2747
..IF we're lucky, and vigilent.
Well, don't hold your breath waiting for fact to win over fiction.
It appears from this posting that we have more legal battles to fight and therefore, spend your HPR motor money next year on the defense fund.
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NAR/TRA Lawsuit: BATFE unloads 900 page gorilla
Industry News by RPNewswire
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia USA -- In the lawsuit by the National Association of Rocketry and Tripoli Rocketry Association vs. the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Judge Reggie B. Walton has issued a scheduling order, abstaining from making a ruling, thereby setting the case aside for the present time.
This means that hobby rocketry enthusiasts nation-wide who fly rocket motors with greater than G impulse must adhere to the federal ruling that took effect on October 10, 2006, requiring a federal explosives permit for purchase and storage of single-use motors and reload kits with greater than 62.5 grams of assembled propellant weight.
At the status conference, attorneys for the BATFE presented the court with over 900 pages of documentation of the testing procedures outlined by the agency and conducted by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The 15 minute time allotment for today's status hearing would not provide adequate time for plaintiff's attorneys to review the material and allow for comment.
Attorneys for the plaintiff indicated from their review of the documents filed in U.S. District Court on Friday, October 13, 2006 by the BATFE, that the report was basically fictional, and asked the judge to see the full 900+ pages of documentation, since the results appeared to be scientifically impossible.
Because of this, Judge Walton had no other choice but to establish a court-mandated scheduling order dictating the timeframes for appropriate response and filings. The judge so ordered:
The documentation be provided to the plaintiff's attorneys and filed with the court by October 31, 2006.
The plaintiff's to file a supplemental complaint to the court no later than December 18, 2006.
The defendant to respond to the plaintiff's complaint and file with the court no later than January 5, 2007.
Any motions for disposition to be filed with court no later than January 31, 2007.
Any oppositions to those motions to be file with the court no later than February 28, 2007.
Any response to those oppositions to be filed with the court no later than March 23, 2007.
Return to a status conference to held at 9:00AM, July 27, 2006.
While it was apparent that Judge Walton's patience for the BATFE was wearing thing, his temperament for procedural matters was well in hand. The above-mentioned timeline was the only possible outcome given the depth and breadth of information deluged onto the court, combined with the judge's heavy case load.
This time-line extends the lawsuit well into next year's flying season and the hardship placed on hobby rocketry enthusiasts across the country, as well as cuts deeply into the gross sales figures of hobby rocketry motor manufacturers. Even more so, this will increase the on-going legal expenses for the National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association.
The drawn out timeframe of this litigation should be a concern for all parties, given that the BATFE has developed an extensive back-log of applications and renewals, with renewal time-frames slipping beyond six months, in some cases over nine. Should the bulk of hobby rocketry enthusiasts who wish to participate in flying regulated propellants submit to licensing requirements by the federal government, the agency, who can't meet the demand of servicing existing permit holders, will not be able to meet the demand of new applicants.
Attachment: U.S. DISTRICT SCHEDULING ORDER (PDF - 51K)
https://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/872/28/
Well, don't hold your breath waiting for fact to win over fiction.
It appears from this posting that we have more legal battles to fight and therefore, spend your HPR motor money next year on the defense fund.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
NAR/TRA Lawsuit: BATFE unloads 900 page gorilla
Industry News by RPNewswire
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia USA -- In the lawsuit by the National Association of Rocketry and Tripoli Rocketry Association vs. the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Judge Reggie B. Walton has issued a scheduling order, abstaining from making a ruling, thereby setting the case aside for the present time.
This means that hobby rocketry enthusiasts nation-wide who fly rocket motors with greater than G impulse must adhere to the federal ruling that took effect on October 10, 2006, requiring a federal explosives permit for purchase and storage of single-use motors and reload kits with greater than 62.5 grams of assembled propellant weight.
At the status conference, attorneys for the BATFE presented the court with over 900 pages of documentation of the testing procedures outlined by the agency and conducted by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The 15 minute time allotment for today's status hearing would not provide adequate time for plaintiff's attorneys to review the material and allow for comment.
Attorneys for the plaintiff indicated from their review of the documents filed in U.S. District Court on Friday, October 13, 2006 by the BATFE, that the report was basically fictional, and asked the judge to see the full 900+ pages of documentation, since the results appeared to be scientifically impossible.
Because of this, Judge Walton had no other choice but to establish a court-mandated scheduling order dictating the timeframes for appropriate response and filings. The judge so ordered:
The documentation be provided to the plaintiff's attorneys and filed with the court by October 31, 2006.
The plaintiff's to file a supplemental complaint to the court no later than December 18, 2006.
The defendant to respond to the plaintiff's complaint and file with the court no later than January 5, 2007.
Any motions for disposition to be filed with court no later than January 31, 2007.
Any oppositions to those motions to be file with the court no later than February 28, 2007.
Any response to those oppositions to be filed with the court no later than March 23, 2007.
Return to a status conference to held at 9:00AM, July 27, 2006.
While it was apparent that Judge Walton's patience for the BATFE was wearing thing, his temperament for procedural matters was well in hand. The above-mentioned timeline was the only possible outcome given the depth and breadth of information deluged onto the court, combined with the judge's heavy case load.
This time-line extends the lawsuit well into next year's flying season and the hardship placed on hobby rocketry enthusiasts across the country, as well as cuts deeply into the gross sales figures of hobby rocketry motor manufacturers. Even more so, this will increase the on-going legal expenses for the National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association.
The drawn out timeframe of this litigation should be a concern for all parties, given that the BATFE has developed an extensive back-log of applications and renewals, with renewal time-frames slipping beyond six months, in some cases over nine. Should the bulk of hobby rocketry enthusiasts who wish to participate in flying regulated propellants submit to licensing requirements by the federal government, the agency, who can't meet the demand of servicing existing permit holders, will not be able to meet the demand of new applicants.
Attachment: U.S. DISTRICT SCHEDULING ORDER (PDF - 51K)
https://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/872/28/
