Dave Patton has asked me to pass this along in advance of a general release to the DX media. Dave K1ZZ DXCC Deletion of Kingman Reef The ARRL Awards Committee has voted to delete Kingman Reef (KH5) from the DXCC List, effective 29 March, 2016. Kingman Reef will be added to the Deleted Entities List on 29 March, 2016. The total number of entities on the List will drop from 340 to 339. The deletion process is described in DXCC Rules Section II DXCC List Criteria, Part 5(a) Deletion Criteria: "An entity may be deleted from the List if it no longer satisfies the criteria under which it was added. However, if the entity continues to meet one or more currently existing rules, it will remain on the List." With respect to the previous paragraph's text, Kingman Reef's original addition by virtue of separate administration has changed (separate administration by the U.S. Navy has been removed), and the reef does not meet any current criteria to remain on the list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers Kingman Reef and Palmyra Island. The reef is too close to Palmyra Island to count as a separate entity. The reef is now considered part of the Palmyra/Jarvis DXCC entity. DXCC members who have affirmed credit with Kingman Reef will see their current entity totals drop by one on their DXCC awards -- including on the bands and modes where Kingman Reef credit is given. They will also see their DXCC Challenge totals drop commensurately. Honor Roll status will now be attainable after confirming 330 entities on the DXCC List.