47 CFR 80.91
§ 80.91 Order of priority of communications.
United States · 47 CFR — Telecommunication · Status: effective
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- Citation
- 47 CFR 80.91, § 80.91 Order of priority of communications, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/237377
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Full text
(a) All stations in the maritime mobile service and the maritime mobile-satellite service shall be capable of offering four levels of priority in the following order:
(1) Distress calls, distress messages, and distress traffic.
(2) Urgency communications.
(3) Safety communications.
(4) Other communications.
(b) In a fully automated system, where it is impracticable to offer all four levels of priority, category 1 shall receive priority until such time as intergovernmental agreements remove exemptions granted for such systems from offering the complete order of priority.
Legislative history
This is a federal regulation, adopted through agency rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act — not enacted by a recorded vote of Congress.