Getting Permits for HP Launches

Recent discussions among the LUNAR officers have come to the conclusion that the current regulatory requirements are that everyone flying high-power must have LEUP and Pyro III permits in order to buy and burn engines. Dealers will no longer be able to retain legal possession of a motor you are burning at a launch.

Currently, 38mm motors that you already have in your possession are grandfathered in under the old rules but that could change.

This page contains links to instructions and paperwork needed to obtain these licenses and permits. The contents of this page were blatently stolen from an e-mail by Lee Teicheira who just completed this process.

As of Court decisions back in September, We are all guna need LEUPs to fly High Power. There is NO way around it. One of the requirements for obtaining a LEUP is to comply with all state and local regulations. Therefore, both the State and the Feds require us to also have a Pyro Class 3 - Rocket. NO way around this one either.

As far as doing a Level 1 Cert flight with a cluster, this is also out. A quick perusal of the NAR site turned up this quote: "make a safe and successful flight of a rocket using an engine in that power class." Also, if memory serves me correctly, (often times questionable), complex flights, which includes clusters and staging, are not permitted for Cert flights by either NAR or TRIPOLI. We can talk about vendors sponsoring HP flights and club LEUPs all night. But the bottom line is that there is nothing in the regs as they are currently written to support any of this. If you start the application process tonight, you will have the permits you need to Certify for and fly High Power before spring is gone. If you continue to hold out for options that do not currently exist, you may not be flying High Power at all this summer. The choice is yours.

1. What is the deal with permits, ATF and rocketry?

Ammonium perchlorate composite motors (APCP) is on the official ATF list of explosives. It is classified as a “low explosive”. Consequently you need a “Low Explosives User’s Permit (LEUP) to possess a rocket motor using APCP. However, the ATF has exempted motors that use less than 62.5 grams of propellant from requiring a permit. All “H” impulse motors and above use more than 62.5 grams of propellant as well as some G impulse motors. If you are using solid motors of H or above, you will need a LEUP.

2. If I obtain my motor at a launch from an onsite dealer and fly it that day do I still need a LEUP?

Yes you do. Below is an excerpt from the applicable law that governs the use regulated explosive materials.

18 USC 842(a) It shall be unlawful for any person—

(3) other than a licensee or permittee knowingly—
(A) to transport, ship, cause to be transported, or receive any explosive materials; or
(B) to distribute explosive materials to any person other than a licensee or permittee;

(b) It shall be unlawful for any licensee or permittee to knowingly distribute any explosive materials to any person other than—
(1) a licensee;
(2) a holder of a user permit; or
(3) a holder of a limited permit who is a resident of the State where distribution is made and in which the premises of the transferor are located.

18 USC 844(a) Any person who—
(1) violates any of subsections (a) through (i) or (l) through (o) of section 842 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both; 

From the letter of the law if you do not have a LEUP and receive a regulated motor or reload at a launch, both you and the dealer have violated 18USC 842.

The above was blatantly plagiarized from the "Monroe Astronautical Rocket Society" at

http://www.marsclub.org/new1/LEUP_Info/LEUP_FAQ/leup_faq.html

So, assuming you have decided to get the Permits you need to fly High Power, how should it be pursued?

First, apply for both the Class 3 and the LEUP at the same time. There is no point in waiting. Each will take 2 to 3 months to complete. There is no reason to string this out for 6 months. There is flying to be done. One of the questions on the LEUP application is box 12. "Is State or local license or permit required for Explosives business and/or operations?" The answer is Yes. Just put PENDING in that box. Your Class 3 should be easily completed before your ATF interview. And the ATF agents do know the State laws. You will most likely be asked about the Class 3 if you don't have a permit number to put on the form.

Pyro III Wiki

Pyro III Mailing List

Tony Cooper has an excellent WEB page outlining the Class 3 process.

http://uscoopers.org/rockets/Pyro3/Default.htm

The process isn't hard. The requirements and the test material is taken directly from NAR Level 2 material, with a heavy emphasis on site dimensions and distances. Since I think most of the L2 test should be a L1 test anyway, I really like the idea of taking the Pyro Class 3 test prior to being able to certify L1.

The Road to LEUP - in Lunar Clips

The Road to LEUP - http://xtratime.net/leup/leup.htm

Since I didn't go for storage, I obtained a Contingency Storage letter from Jim Myers at Discount Rocketry. I also provided a Contingency Storage Plan that I wrote. I did not have either of these when I submitted my application. Instead, I took both of these documents to my interview with the ATF agent. The interviewing agent then filled out the proper Contingency Storage form and had me sign it at the interview. My contingency storage plan simply stated that I would buy and burn. And if I did not burn the motor, I would return it to the motor vendor or destroy it on site. Jim's letter stated that he would buy back any unburned motors. My agent was mostly interested in my contingency plan and that I had made the effort to verify with a vendor that my plan was valid. That's not to say that I didn't need both documents. I did. But don't get hung up on elaborate wording. Keep it simple. It's a concept, not a literary masterpiece...:)

So with that said, here are some links.

I used pages on ROL as a guide to fill out the ATF forms. A little out of date, but they worked fine.

http://www.rocketryonline.com/leup_help.html

But a better tutorial is found on the Tulsa Rocketry site. This is very complete. Thank you Richard for this link.

http://www.tulsarocketry.org/LEUPTutorial.htm

Yet another tutorial is available from TRIPOLI.

http://www.tripoli.org/tmt/LEUP_filing.shtml

Here is the first form that can be filled out and printed on-line.

http://www.atf.treas.gov/forms/pdfs/f540013.pdf

You also need this form.

http://www.atf.gov/forms/pdfs/f540028epq.pdf

You will also need fingerprints on form FD-258. This can be obtained from the ATF forms Distribution Center.

http://www.atf.treas.gov/dcof/index.htm

You will also need an Explosives Transaction Log to log the motors you buy. Here is an example. Take this form to your interview. Also, this form will be audited by the ATF in future interviews.

http://www.tripoli.org/tmt/LEUP_filing.shtml

The only other thing you need is a 2" x 2" photo of yourself. The guidelines are in the LEUP application directions that come with the forms. You can pay for a Passport photo, or do as I did. I took my own photo and cropped and sized it in Photoshop.

And that's about it. It's not at all hard. I did my LEUP in a couple of hours one evening, including taking my photo. It does take a few bucks, but then flying High Power ain't cheap any way you look at it. And we need flyers with LEUPs to get vendors to our launches. So, quit talking about it and just do it. …:)

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