Revision of Procedures Governing Amendments to FM Table of Allotments and Changes of Community of License in the Radio Broadcast Services, 76208-76220 [E6-21633]

Download as PDF 76208 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations Flooding source(s) *Elevation in feet (NGVD) +Elevation in feet (NAVD) # Depth in feet above ground. Modified Location of referenced elevation At Irving Avenue ....................................................................... Communities affected +280 # Depth in feet above ground. *National Geodetic Vertical Datum. +North American Vertical Datum. 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(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 83.100, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) Dated: December 13, 2006. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Parts 1 and 73 David I. Maurstad, Director, Mitigation Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security. [FR Doc. E6–21680 Filed 12–19–06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 9110–12–P [MB Docket No. 05–210; FCC 06–163] Revision of Procedures Governing Amendments to FM Table of Allotments and Changes of Community of License in the Radio Broadcast Services Federal Communications Commission (FCC). rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES AGENCY: VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission adopted a number of procedures and procedural changes designed to streamline the process of allocating new FM channels and modifying the communities of license of existing radio stations, and to reduce current backlogs in proceedings to amend the FM Table of Allotments. In the R&O, the Commission also announced that it would lift a freeze on all new petitions to amend the FM Table E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES of Allotments, as of the effective date of the R&O. DATES: Effective January 19, 2007. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Doyle, Chief, Media Bureau, Audio Division, (202) 418–2700 or Peter.Doyle@fcc.gov; Thomas Nessinger, Attorney-Advisor, Media Bureau, Audio Division, (202) 418–2700 or Thomas.Nessinger@fcc.gov. For additional information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act information collection requirements contained in this document, contact Cathy Williams at 202–418–2918, or via the Internet at Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis The Report and Order (‘‘R&O’’) contains new and modified information collection requirements, which were proposed in the NPRM and are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (‘‘PRA’’).1 These information collection requirements were submitted on July 19, 2005, to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for review under Section 3507(d) of the PRA. In addition, the general public and other Federal agencies were invited to comment on these information collection requirements in the NPRM. The Commission further notes that pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, it previously sought specific comment on how the Commission might ‘‘further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.’’ The Commission received no comments concerning these information collection requirements. On September 15, 2005, the Commission obtained OMB approval for these information collection requirements, encompassed by OMB Control No. 3060–0027. This R&O adopts the information collection requirements, as proposed. Because, as detailed in the R&O, the Commission extends its new community of license minor modification procedures to FM NCE licensees and permittees, FCC Form 340 must be modified to accommodate the new information collection requirements of those procedures. The procedural requirements for FM NCE applicants for change of community of license will become effective after approval by OMB. The Commission published a separate Federal Register Notice seeking public comment on this 1 The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (‘‘PRA’’), Pub. L. 104–13, 109 Stat 163 (1995) (codified in Chapter 35 of title 44 U.S.C.). VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 new information collection requirement on November 22, 2006 (see 71 FR 67581 (November 22, 2006)). Upon OMB approval, the Commission will issue a public notice announcing the effective date of this rule. This is a synopsis of the Commission’s Report and Order (R&O), FCC 06–163, adopted November 3, 2006, and released November 29, 2006. The full text of the R&O is available for inspection and copying during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, 445 Twelfth Street, SW., Room CY–A257, Portals II, Washington, DC 20554, and may also be purchased from the Commission’s copy contractor, BCPI, Inc., Portals II, 445 Twelfth Street, SW., Room CY–B402, Washington, DC 20554. Customers may contact BCPI, Inc. via their Web site, https:// www.bcpi.com, or call 1–800–378–3160. This document is available in alternative formats (computer diskette, large print, audio record, and Braille). Persons with disabilities who need documents in these formats may contact Brian Millin at (202) 418–7426 (voice), (202) 418–7365 (TTY), or via e-mail at Brian.Millin@fcc.gov. Synopsis of Order 1. With this Report and Order (‘‘R&O’’), the Commission makes certain changes to its procedures for allotting and assigning channels, classes, and communities of license for AM and FM broadcast stations, as proposed in the original Notice of Proposed Rule Making (‘‘NPRM’’) in this proceeding. Revision of Procedures Governing Amendments to FM Table of Allotments and Changes of Community of License in the Radio Broadcast Services, Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 20 FCC Rcd 11169 (2005). Specifically, the Commission makes changes of community of license for commercial full-power AM standard band and commercial and noncommercial educational (‘‘NCE’’) full-power FM broadcast stations a minor modification, to be accomplished by first come-first served minor modification application, subject to certain procedural requirements described below. To accommodate this change, the FM Table of Allotments, 47 CFR 73.202, shall henceforth contain only vacant allotments, and authorized full-power non-reserved band FM facilities already occupying allotments shall be listed only in the Media Bureau’s Consolidated Data Base System (‘‘CDBS’’). As it does now, CDBS shall reflect the authorizations granted to those broadcasters operating on the listed channels and communities, and which are entitled to protection under our current rules. The Commission PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 76209 further adopts the proposal that it require allocations proponents simultaneously to file Form 301 applications with their allocations proposals, to submit the designated Form 301 filing fee, and to certify on Form 301 that they intend to apply to participate in auction bidding for the allotment should their proposal be adopted. The Commission also adopts the proposal to modify its rules to allow electronic filing of allocations documents. The Commission also lifts the current freeze on the filing of new petitions to amend the FM Table of Allotments, as of the effective date of the R&O. At this time, however, the Commission does not adopt the proposal to limit the number of proposals to add additional allotments or modify vacant allotments within a single rule making proposal, although it delegates to staff the discretion to return unreasonably large proposals or counter-proposals, if warranted. The Commission also declines to change its policy disfavoring the removal of a community’s sole local transmission service to become another community’s first local service, instead reiterating the need for parties contemplating such moves to seek waiver of the policy using existing law, and to demonstrate clearly the public interest benefits of such moves that would outweigh application of the policy in particular cases. 2. The Commission adopts the proposal to allow AM and FM fullpower stations to change community of license by first come-first served minor modification application. Most commenters favored this proposal, and some opponents would mute their objections if the Commission adopted certain procedural safeguards. As the Commission tentatively concluded in the NPRM, and upon examination of the record in this proceeding, the Commission finds that the public interest would be served by streamlining current city of license modification procedures and employing certain safeguards to ensure that Section 307(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 307(b)) (‘‘Section 307(b)’’) and other concerns are accommodated. The Commission also concludes that, given the maturity of the FM service, there is no need to continue utilizing rule making procedures to modify FM stations’ communities of license merely because such procedures provide an opportunity to counter-propose allotments. The use of first come-first served procedures is consistent with the doctrine enunciated in Ashbacker v. U.S., 326 U.S. 327 (1945), and the Commission believes E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES 76210 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations that there have been ample opportunities for potential counterproponents to propose new FM station allotments during the 43 years that the Commission has relied on the current Table of Allotments. Further, all parties will continue to have reasonable opportunities to make such proposals. Moreover, to the extent that commenters object to the lack of opportunity to file competing applications, because the Commission proposes to limit such applications to those mutually exclusive with the applicant’s existing facilities, foreclosing competing applications does not, as a practical matter, deprive potential applicants of opportunities for comparative consideration. Finally, the Commission is convinced that adopting the proposed new procedure will preserve limited agency resources, reduce the time needed to process community of license changes and, accordingly, expedite the provision of enhanced broadcast service to the public. 3. Community of license changes for commercial and NCE full-power AM standard band and FM broadcast licensees may be filed as minor modification applications. These minor modification applications processed on a first come-first served basis will be limited to those applications where the proposed daytime facilities are mutually exclusive with the applicant’s existing daytime facilities. Related minor change applications must be submitted concurrently, and will be subject to the requirements and restrictions that apply to contingent minor modification application filings. See 47 CFR 73.3517(e). Required reference coordinate changes (which are not set out in the Table of Allotments) will not count against the current limit of four contingent minor modification applications that may be filed simultaneously. Parties seeking to employ this procedure must file, with their applications, a detailed exhibit demonstrating that the proposed change constitutes a preferential arrangement of allotments under Section 307(b) of the Act as compared to the existing allotment(s). The Commission will require a narrative showing that the proposed community of license change represents a net service benefit, under the Section 307(b) priorities and policies used since 1982. See Revision of FM Assignment Polices and Procedures, 90 FCC 2d 88 (1982). Applicants also will be required to confirm the community status of the proposed new community of license, demonstrating that it constitutes a community suitable for allotment VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 purposes. Between our body of Section 307(b) precedent and the procedural safeguards discussed herein, these procedures will ensure that grant of such applications comports with the Commission’s statutory mission under Section 307(b) to distribute radio service fairly, efficiently, and equitably. Additionally, as noted in the NPRM, our minimum distance separation standards and spectrum congestion will limit substantial urban migration. The new procedure will also address the concerns that led the Commission in 1999 to decline to treat such applications as minor changes as well as most commenters’ Section 307(b) concerns. See 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review—Streamlining of Radio Technical Rules in Parts 73 and 74 of the Commission’s Rules, First Report and Order, 14 FCC Rcd 5272, 5278 (1999). 4. The Commission adopts certain additional safeguards to ensure that the public interest is served by the new procedures introduced herein. In performing Section 307(b) analyses under the new procedures adopted herein, the Commission will carefully consider whether an application would promote the fair, efficient, and equitable distribution of radio service. Under this analysis, a new permittee that obtained its permit after being awarded a dispositive Section 307(b) preference in an AM auction filing window should not be allowed to change communities prior to the commencement of broadcast operations in the originally authorized community unless the new community would compare equally or more favorably to the communities specified by the other mutually exclusive applicants in the auction Section 307(b) analysis. For example, an AM auction applicant that received a Priority (3) preference by proposing first local service to a larger community than that specified in a competing applicant’s first local service proposal could not seek to modify the initial construction permit by later specifying a community with a smaller population than the competitor’s proposed community. Otherwise, AM auction applicants could initially select their communities solely on the basis of providing the greatest Section 307(b) advantage and avoiding an auction, without actually serving those communities. Likewise, the Commission will not award rapid, successive community changes that sidestep the mutual exclusivity requirement of the new procedure. Accordingly, any application proposing a community of license change filed by a permittee that has not built its current PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 permitted facilities and that is not mutually exclusive with either the applicant’s built and operating facilities or its original allotment shall be returned as unacceptable for filing. The analysis set forth in Faye and Richard Tuck, Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 3 FCC Rcd 5374 (1988), will be carefully applied in considering Section 307(b) showings submitted in support of first come-first served applications to change communities of license, and that a first local service preference will not be awarded to a community that is largely interdependent with the Urbanized Area or surrounding communities. The Commission declines to adopt a service floor requirement such as that suggested in the NPRM, believing that existing Section 307(b) priorities and policies are sufficient to safeguard existing service. The Commission finds that existing procedural requirements, along with local public notice requirements (see 47 CFR 73.3580(c)(3), (d)(3), and (f)), will provide reasonable notice and opportunity for interested parties to comment under the new procedures introduced in the R&O. Broadcasters and members of the public may participate in the process of evaluating the grantability of a minor modification application to change community of license by filing informal objections. Arguments, evidence, and precedent may be presented in an informal objection as readily as in a more formal petition to deny, and are subject to the same evidentiary and legal standards. Moreover, the statutory right to file a petition for reconsideration, enumerated in Section 405 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 405), provides a safety net for both relevant public interest considerations and participation by interested parties. Further, with regard to notice of applications, such minor modification applications will be listed in the Media Bureau’s CDBS-generated ‘‘Broadcast Applications’’ public notices, much as AM major change applications are listed now. Due to the importance of local broadcast service to communities, however, the Commission believes it is vital that residents are provided adequate notice to enable them to file informal objections to, or comments in support of, a particular move. Thus, the Commission adopts its proposal to require the proponent to give local public notice in connection with such applications, notwithstanding that minor modification applicants generally need not provide local public notice. See 47 CFR 73.3580(a). Specifically, applicants under this new procedure E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations shall provide local public notice as set forth in Sections 73.3580(c)(3), (d)(3), and (f) of the Commission’s rules (47 CFR 73.3580(c)(3), (d)(3), and (f)), and shall certify such compliance in Form 301. The Media Bureau shall also provide notice in the Federal Register that an application to modify an AM or FM station’s community of license has been filed. Moreover, the Bureau will not act upon such an application until at least 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The combination of local public notice under 47 CFR 73.3580, publication in the Federal Register, and the 60-day prohibition on Commission action will provide interested parties with ample notice and opportunity to comment on proposed community of license changes under our new procedures. Applicants themselves need only comply with the local public notice procedures, which are well known to licensees and permittees. The newspaper publication requirements of 47 CFR 73.3580(c)(3) will require the applicant to publish both in the current community of license and the proposed community, so as to give maximum notice to all residents potentially affected by grant of the application. 5. This new procedure will apply both to commercial full-service broadcast stations and also to full-power NCE stations. NCE FM allotments in the reserved band are not included in the Table of Allotments (see 47 CFR 73.201, 73.202(a), and 73.501(a)), and as nontabled facilities such licensees must undergo a process similar to that undergone by AM licensees if they wish to change their communities of license, in that they must wait for an NCE filing window before applying to change communities. However, while reserved band NCE FM stations are non-tabled, the reserved band resembles the nonreserved FM band in most other respects, including maturity of the service, application of spacing rules, and spectrum congestion near larger cities. Because of these similarities, the Commission finds that the rationales for adopting the new procedure, such as streamlining of the current two-step process and maturity of the FM service, apply equally to NCE stations, and thus the new procedure will apply to NCE stations. However, the new procedures will not apply to expanded band AM stations, as allowing community of license changes by minor modification application for such stations could jeopardize the Commission’s ability to develop a comprehensive plan for additional expanded band AM licensing. VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 6. There are currently fewer than 25 pending community change rule making proceedings for which a Report and Order has not been released. These parties will not be required to dismiss their rule making petitions and refile their proposals in the form of an application. However, a rule making petitioner that has submitted a community of license change proposal that could, under the new procedures, be filed as a minor modification application will be permitted to withdraw its rule making petition and to resubmit its proposal as an application on the effective date of the new procedure. A party choosing to dismiss a rule making petition and refile as an application may adversely affect its position with respect to earlier filed petitions for rule making or earlier or simultaneously filed applications. Parties opting to dismiss and refile should carefully consider whether doing so would be advantageous to their cutoff rights. 7. In order to accommodate the new procedure, the Commission will remove the allotments of currently authorized and awarded FM facilities from the Table of Allotments (47 CFR 73.202). Currently, all vacant FM allotments as well as FM assignments (that is, channels and communities occupied by authorized facilities) are listed in the Table of Allotments. All of these represent allotments and assignments added to the Table of Allotments through notice-and-comment rule making procedures over more than 40 years of the Table of Allotments’ existence. Vacant allotments, which must be protected by all subsequent filings, serve as placeholders for future facilities. The same cut-off principles will apply to implementing applications filed under our comparative commercial and NCE procedures. Once an assignment is made, i.e., upon ‘‘reservation,’’ this record supersedes the vacant allotment. Thus, it is unnecessary for ‘‘occupied’’ allotments (that is, those that are licensed, permitted, or reserved) to be listed in the Table of Allotments—the authorizations and reserved assignments, reflected in CDBS, protect those facilities and govern their technical facilities and communities of license. Once a station is authorized, application procedures provide reasonable opportunities to interested parties to comment on or object to further modifications of authorized facilities. For this reason, as well as the maturity of the FM service discussed above, it is no longer necessary to change authorized non-reserved band PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 76211 FM stations’ attributes through noticeand-comment rule making. Thus, the Commission shall amend the Table of Allotments to reflect only vacant allotments that do not correspond to an authorized station or reserved assignment. Assignments for licensed, permitted, and reserved facilities (those for which applications are pending) will be reflected solely in CDBS. In CDBS, channel/frequency and community assignments for currently authorized stations are represented as ‘‘FA USE.’’ ‘‘FA RSV’’ is used to designate assignments for winning auction bidders, NCE tentative selectees, and proposed assignments for stations that have filed, or have been directed to file, modification applications for authorized stations. These designations will continue to be used in CDBS to indicate the status and cut-off rights of assignments. Changes to the channel, class, or community of existing facilities will constitute changes to the individual authorizations or applications, rather than to 47 CFR 73.202, and therefore may be made through minor modification application procedures (as adjacent channel and class modifications have been made under the Commission’s ‘‘one-step’’ procedures). However, the Commission will permit an FM non-reserved band permittee or licensee to use notice and comment procedures to modify its current assignment to specify a nonadjacent class upgrade or downgrade in the same community of license. This action is taken to preserve the facility improvement options now set forth at Section 1.420(g)(1) and (2). The Commission will retain the Table for vacant allotments and will continue to use rule making procedures to establish new channel allotments, as the procedures for new allotments allow for efficient consideration of all proposals and counterproposals in keeping with the Commission’s Section 307(b) obligations. While Section 307(b) considerations enter into community of license changes to authorized facilities as well, the same detailed rule making procedures are not as essential when dealing with changes to authorized stations not subject to competing applications. Thus, new allotments and changes to vacant allotments will continue to be made via notice-andcomment rule making procedures. To the extent that a proposal or counterproposal is contingent upon one or more such changes to vacant allotments, such proposals will also continue to be made via rule making proceedings. However, as discussed below, the Media Bureau will return any rule making proposals or E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES 76212 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations counterproposals that do not propose changes to vacant allotments, except for notice and comment filings submitted pursuant to Section 1.420(g)(1) or (2). 8. A common aspect of FM allotment petitions and counterproposals, including city of license modifications, are proposed channel substitutions for both vacant allotments and authorized facilities. Rule making proponents are limited to two ‘‘involuntary’’ channel substitutions for authorized stations. See Columbus, Central City, Crookston, Kearney, Lexington, McCook, and Valentine, Nebraska; and Hill City, Kansas, Report and Order, FCC 86–59, 59 RR 2d 1184 (MMB 1984) (‘‘Columbus, Nebraska’’). Current procedures impose no limit on voluntary, i.e., consensual, channel substitutions. The bifurcated procedures adopted in the R&O for allotments and assignments require new procedures for these city of license application and rule making components. Channel substitutions for authorized facilities will be treated as ‘‘minor’’ changes. Voluntary channel changes must be proposed in the Form 301 applications as set forth below. Involuntary channel changes for authorized stations must be specified in the Form 301 application, but will continue to be limited to two under the Columbus, Nebraska policy. The staff will issue an order to show cause with regard to an involuntary channel change if it determines that the entire city of license modification proposal is acceptable for filing. These procedures accord with our current procedures, under which an order to show cause is issued when a rule making proponent seeks an involuntary change to another facility. Proposals to substitute channels for vacant allotments will be filed in accordance with established rule making procedures. 9. Under these revised procedures, certain FM city of license modification proposals may consist of several contingent applications. Some ‘‘hybrid’’ filings will consist of both applications and rule making filings. Both the ‘‘pure’’ and ‘‘hybrid’’ proposals will be subject to the requirements and restrictions that apply to contingent coordinated FM minor change filings. See 47 CFR 73.3517(c). It is not necessary to prohibit contingent city of license modification proposals. The staff currently and regularly handles rule making proposals involving several different allotments and communities. All contingent applications filed pursuant to the procedures adopted here will be subject to identical Section 307(b) analysis. The Commission is satisfied that this analysis will function VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 effectively in the application context, just as it does in the rule making context, to safeguard the goals and principals of Section 307(b). All related proposals must be simultaneously filed and clearly cross-reference each of the other component filings. The dismissal, denial or return of any component filing will result in the dismissal or return of all the related filings. Both ‘‘pure’’ application and ‘‘hybrid’’ filings will be subject to the four-application limit. Both voluntary and involuntary channel changes for authorized stations will count toward the four-application limit. Those components filed pursuant to rule making procedures will not count toward the four-application limit. 10. In the NPRM, the Commission showed that a small percentage of petitioners seeking new allotments in the FM Table of Allotments (also known as ‘‘drop-in’’ petitions) were responsible for an inordinate percentage of the dropin petitions filed. To date, those dropin proponents have not actively participated in the auctions process. Thus, there appears to be a fundamental disconnect between those adding new allotments and those seeking to obtain authorizations pursuant to the Commission’s competitive bidding procedures. Accordingly, in the NPRM the Commission proposed a mechanism to encourage only bona fide proponents to seek to add channels to the Table. The mechanism proposed was to require an allocations proponent simultaneously to file a Form 301 application, and pay the appropriate fee, with its petition for rule making. The applicant would also certify in the application that, if its allotment was adopted, it intended to apply to participate in the auction for the new channel. That form would then become the proponent’s application for construction permit, should the channel be allotted and the petitioner be the winning bidder. Previously, rule making proponents for new FM allotments needed only to state that they were interested in applying for the station if allotted, and paid no filing fee until and unless the allotment was made and an application filed. The Commission believes that requiring Form 301 and the concurrent filing fee with a petition for rule making, which is currently not required, would discourage insincere proponents, and further believes, as stated in the NPRM, that the public interest is best served by processing only those proposals for new allotments filed by bona fide potential applicants, rather than devoting scarce staff resources to processing allotment proposals that may represent less-than- PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 optimal choices to actual auction participants. Accordingly, the Commission adopts this proposal. A party filing a petition for rule making to add a new allotment to the Table, whether as an original proposal or as a counterproposal, must simultaneously file a Form 301 application specifying the proposed facilities. A separate Form 301 and fee must be filed for each proposed new allotment. The application shall include a certification that, if the FM channel allotment requested is adopted, petitioner/ counter-proponent intends to apply to participate in the auction of the channel allotment requested and specified in this application. In the event the petitioner or counter-proponent is the high bidder for the allotment, it need only file an amendment to its Form 301 application, if necessary, and will not pay a further filing fee. However, while the Commission need not refund application filing fees paid by applicants whose applications are not granted (see Establishment of a Fee Collection Program to Implement the Provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 6 FCC Rcd 5919, 5925 n.40 (1991), citing Conference Report, 1989 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News at 3036), the Commission recognizes the inequity in retaining filing fees from parties whose rule making proposals are not granted, as the unfavorable disposition of their proposals would render their Form 301 applications a nullity. See 47 CFR 1.1113(a)(4). Refunding the filing fee of a successful rule making proponent that loses at auction places the proponent in the same position as competing bidders who were not required to file Form 301 pre-auction. Accordingly, the Commission will entertain waiver requests, pursuant to 47 CFR 1.1117, filed by a petitioner for a new allotment that files a Form 301 for the allotment, and that either has its allotment proposal denied in favor of another proposal or counterproposal, or that applies for the allotment and qualifies to bid for the allotment at auction, if the allotment is awarded to another higherbidding applicant. A rule making proponent whose proposal is rejected may file its waiver request only after the proceeding is terminated and has become final. A successful rule making proponent who is not the winning bidder for the allotment may file its waiver request only after release of a public notice announcing the winning bidders in the auction. Provided that the waiver applicant has acted in good faith and in accordance with our Rules and E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations statutes, the Commission will normally grant such waiver requests and issue refunds under 47 CFR 1.1113(a)(4) or 1.1113(a)(5), as applicable. However, such a waiver request will not be viewed favorably if, for example, the rule making petition for a new allotment is returned due to patent legal or engineering defects. Similarly, a successful petitioner that fails to apply to participate in the auction or qualify to bid on the new allotment will not receive a waiver, nor will a petitioner that is the high bidder but either withdraws its high bid or is found unqualified to be the permittee. 11. In the NPRM, the Commission proposed to supplement the policy announced in Columbus, Nebraska, which limited to two the number of proposals for involuntary channel substitution changes to the Table of Allotments. The Commission specifically proposed to limit the number of changes to the Table that a party might propose or counter-propose to five, absent waiver based on a showing of significant public interest benefits. It was noted that parties sometimes file proposals (frequently, counterproposals) involving large numbers of changes to facilities, which frequently consumed large amounts of staff resources, and the Commission tentatively concluded that the staff could more efficiently dispose of these proceedings if proponents were required to break them apart into several discrete components. After reviewing comments and upon further consideration, the Commission has determined that it should defer acting on this proposal while it determines the effects on the efficiency of our allocations procedures of the other proposals adopted in the R&O. However, due to concern about the effects of complex proposals and counterproposals on the staff’s ability efficiently to process changes to the Table of Allotments, the Commission instructs the staff carefully to review all proposals of five or more changes to the Table of Allotments, including those that may contain fewer than five proposals per party but that are interrelated, such that one party’s proposal is dependent on others. The staff may, in its discretion, break such proceedings into smaller ones, return those proposals or counterproposals that do not require changes to vacant allotments and may be filed as minor modification applications, or in extreme cases return proposals or counterproposals in their entirety. The Commission reserves the right to revisit this proposal if deemed necessary in the public interest and to preserve the VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 integrity of the FM allotment and assignment plan. 12. In the NPRM, the Commission proposed to eliminate the existing prohibition against electronic filing of petitions filed in broadcast allotment proceedings, set forth in 47 CFR 1.401(b). Electronic filing has brought substantial benefits in other application contexts, specifically by streamlining processes and enhancing the accuracy and reliability of Commission databases, and those benefits should be extended to the allocations process. Therefore, the Commission adopts the proposal to eliminate from 47 CFR 1.401(b) the prohibition against electronic submission of petitions for rule making in broadcast allocations proceedings. The Media Bureau and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will announce, by public notice, such procedures as they will devise for submission of broadcast allocations petitions and other documents. It should be noted that, as these are restricted proceedings, such procedures must provide for service on all interested parties, as defined in the Commission’s Rules (see 47 CFR 1.1202(d)), by electronic or other appropriate means. 13. In the NPRM, the Commission sought comment on First Broadcasting Investment Partners, LLC’s (‘‘First Broadcasting’’) proposal to abandon the Commission’s existing policy against removing the sole local transmission service at a community in order to allow it to become the first local transmission service at another community. First Broadcasting contended that this policy undermines the goal of spectrum efficiency which, in its opinion, should favor provision of first local transmission service to the greatest population. First Broadcasting proposed a presumption that it is in the public interest to permit a station providing a community’s sole local service to move to another community provided that (a) at least two other stations provide principal community service to the entirety of the current community, (b) the station would be the first local transmission service in the proposed community, (c) the station moving would provide 70 dBµ service to a larger population in the proposed community of license, and (d) the move would not cause any short spacing and/or would fully or partially resolve existing short spacing. First Broadcasting stated that its proposal would enable the staff to consider multiple public interest benefits of such proposed community of license changes, rather than ending its analysis at preservation of local service, and would ensure that the staff’s PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 76213 Section 307(b) analysis will be conducted in an objective manner. After careful consideration and review of comments, the Commission declines to adopt this proposal. The Commission rejects the suggestion that objectivity in decision making can only be achieved by application of a defined multi-part test. Moreover, the Commission’s experience shows that the reasons given by applicants for wanting to move the sole local service at a community are varied, and are better suited to a caseby-case waiver analysis than to a ‘‘one size fits all’’ test. Thus, the Commission retains its policy disfavoring removal of the sole local transmission service at a community, subject to waiver upon a detailed showing that retention of local service at a station’s current community is contrary to the public interest, convenience, and necessity. For example, a showing that circumstances have changed to the extent that the current community of license is no longer a licensable community (due, perhaps, to a precipitous decline in population or significant loss of industry), or is no longer independent of a larger urban area, in the appropriate case might support a waiver to allow move of the station to serve a larger or more independent community. An AM licensee that has lost its transmitter site, and due to terrain or lack of available land cannot find a substitute site that would provide adequate community coverage, might also be able to present a compelling case for waiver. The foregoing examples are offered by way of illustration only, and are neither meant to be exhaustive nor are they meant to imply that a bare allegation of any of these circumstances will result in automatic waiver. All waiver requests are reviewed with an eye toward the particular facts as well as the context in which those facts are presented. Applicants are reminded that the waiver standard requires a detailed recitation of facts and circumstances, including documentary or testimonial (affidavit) evidence where appropriate, demonstrating special circumstances that warrant deviation from the policy, and showing that such deviation serves the public interest. See Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. F.C.C., 897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990), citing WAIT Radio v. F.C.C., 418 F.2d 1153, 1157–59 (D.C. Cir. 1969). For example, the bare assertion that a station has lost its site, absent evidence showing an exhaustive but fruitless search for sites from which a sole local transmission service could comply with our technical rules, would not suffice to justify grant of a waiver to allow the station to move E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 76214 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES to another community. The standard for waiver of a Commission policy is high for a reason. The Commission’s rules and policies impose ongoing community service obligations on broadcasters. Moreover, the Commission has concluded that Section 307(b) policies must take into account the public’s legitimate expectation that existing broadcast services will be maintained. These considerations will necessarily limit the ability of licensees to move to larger or more lucrative markets. Thus, a broadcaster that sought to locate in a community is expected to serve that community, as is a broadcaster that purchased the sole local transmission service in a particular community. In the latter case, no broadcaster should invest in a station with the expectation that the Commission will routinely approve a request to move to a different community. However, in the rare but appropriate case, Commission policy permits the sole local broadcaster in a community to show that the public interest supports a move to a new community. 14. In the NPRM, the Commission announced a freeze on the filing of new petitions to amend the Table of Allotments, to enable it to complete this proceeding without adding new rule making proceedings that might better be filed under new procedures, and to help eliminate allocations backlogs. The freeze on filing new petitions to amend the Table of Allotments will be lifted on the effective date of this R&O. Because the procedural changes in this R&O will not become effective until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, at that time applicants may file minor modification applications for changes to community of license of full-power FM, noncommercial educational FM, and standard-band AM stations. Similarly, applicants wishing to file coordinated, contingent minor change applications and petitions for rule making as discussed herein must wait until the new community of license application procedures become effective before filing either minor change applications or rule making petitions. 15. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (‘‘RFA’’) 2 an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (‘‘IRFA’’) was incorporated in the Notice of Proposed 2 See 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, see 5 U.S.C. 601– 612, has been amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (‘‘SBREFA’’), Pub. L. 104–121, Title II, 110 Stat. 847 (1996). The SBREFA was enacted as Title II of the Contract With America Advancement Act of 1996 (‘‘CWAAA’’). VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 Rule Making (‘‘NPRM’’) to this proceeding.3 The Commission sought written public comment on the proposals in the NPRM, including comment on the IRFA. The Commission received no comments on the IRFA. This present Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (‘‘FRFA’’) conforms to the RFA.4 16. Need for, and Objectives of, the Report and Order. This Report and Order (‘‘R&O’’) adopts rule changes and procedures to streamline the Commission’s procedures for adding and modifying certain broadcast station allotments, and to streamline the Commission’s FM commercial allotment procedures by allowing electronic filing of rule making petitions to change the FM Table of Allotments. In particular, the rules adopted by this R&O, as required by statute, will permit broadcast permittees and licensees of all full-service AM and FM broadcast stations (except for AM stations in the expanded band) to change their stations’ communities of license by filing a minor modification application rather than through rule making proceedings. The new rules also will require parties seeking to add new allotments to the FM Table of Allotments simultaneously to file Form 301 for the new facilities at the time of filing a petition for rule making, rather than after auction. Finally, the new rules eliminate a rulebased prohibition against proponents of new channels in the FM Table of Allotments filing petitions for rule making electronically. 17. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response to the IRFA. There were no comments filed that specifically addressed the rules and policies proposed in the IRFA. 18. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which the Proposed Rules Will Apply. The RFA directs the Commission to provide a description of and, where feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that will be affected by the rules adopted herein.5 The RFA generally defines the term ‘‘small entity’’ as having the same meaning as the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small organization,’’ and ‘‘small government jurisdiction.’’ 6 In addition, the term ‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning as the term ‘‘small business concern’’ under the Small Business Act.7 A small business 3 NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd 11169, 11190, 11192. 5 U.S.C. 604. 5 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3). 6 Id. Sec. 601(6). 7 Id. Sec. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the definition of ‘‘small business concern’’ in 15 U.S.C. 632). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 601(3), the statutory definition of a small business applies ‘‘unless an 4 See PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 concern is one which: (1) Is independently owned and operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business Administration (SBA).8 19. The subject rules and policies potentially will apply to all AM and commercial FM radio broadcasting licensees and potential licensees. The SBA defines a radio broadcasting station that has $6.5 million or less in annual receipts as a small business.9 A radio broadcasting station is an establishment primarily engaged in broadcasting aural programs by radio to the public.10 Included in this industry are commercial, religious, educational, and other radio stations.11 Radio broadcasting stations which primarily are engaged in radio broadcasting and which produce radio program materials are similarly included.12 However, radio stations that are separate establishments and are primarily engaged in producing radio program material are classified under another NAICS number.13 According to Commission staff review of BIA Publications, Inc. Master Access Radio Analyzer Database on November 2, 2006, about 10,449 (95%) of 10,979 commercial radio stations have revenue of $6.5 million or less. First Broadcasting, which filed the Petition for Rule Making in this proceeding, is included in the definition of ‘‘small business.’’ We note, however, that many radio stations are affiliated with much larger corporations having much higher revenue. Our estimate, therefore, likely overstates the number of small entities that might be affected by any ultimate changes to the allocation rules. 20. Description of Projected Reporting, Record Keeping and other Compliance Requirements. As described, certain rules and procedures will change, but at most will only minimally increase the reporting requirements on existing and potential radio licensees and permittees, insofar as some of the proposed changes require the filing of application forms rather agency, after consultation with the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and after opportunity for public comment, establishes one or more definitions of such term which are appropriate to the activities of the agency and publishes such definition(s) in the Federal Register.’’ 5 U.S.C. 601(3). 8 15 U.S.C. 632. Application of the statutory criteria of dominance in its field of operation and independence are sometimes difficult to apply in the context of broadcast television. Accordingly, the Commission’s statistical account of television stations may be over-inclusive. 9 See 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS Code 515112. 10 Id. 11 Id. 12 Id. 13 Id. E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations than rule making petitions. However, the forms to be filed are existing FCC application forms with which broadcasters are already familiar, so any additional burdens are minimal. Applicants seeking to modify a station community of license will need to include, with their Form 301 applications, an exhibit detailing how the proposed community change comports with the policies underlying Section 307(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. However, current practice requires that rule making proponents demonstrate that the proposed new community of license represents a superior arrangement of allotments under Section 307(b), so any new burdens are minimal. The new rule will also require that applicants for a new community of license provide local public notice in local newspapers and on air. These will impose additional burdens upon applicants. These burdens are identical to those imposed upon applicants for new broadcast facilities and applicants seeking to assign or transfer broadcast licenses. As such, any new burdens are familiar to broadcast licensees, are already set forth in our rules, and are necessary to ensure that members of the public are notified of proposed changes and are afforded the opportunity to comment. 21. Additionally, parties seeking to add new allotments to the FM Table of Allotments must simultaneously file FCC Form 301 with their petitions to add new allotments, and pay the Form 301 filing fee at that time. This requires petitioners for new allotments to file Form 301 earlier in the process than is the case now. However, it is the same Form 301 as is currently filed by successful auction bidders. The only difference from Form 301 currently filed by applicants consists of a certification that the proponent of the new FM allotment will participate in the auction for the new channel if allotted. To the extent that the proponent/applicant is not the winning bidder for the new allotment, the applicant may apply for waiver and refund of the fee; however, the burden will be increased to the extent that such an unsuccessful bidder would not currently be required to file Form 301. 22. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Impact of Small Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant alternatives that it has considered in reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four alternatives (among others): (1) The establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 account the resources available to small entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; (3) the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and (4) an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.14 23. The procedural changes adopted in the R&O for adding FM channel allotments and changing stations’ communities of license are designed to make the process faster and more efficient, reducing delays to broadcasters in implementing new radio service. The procedure for changing a station’s community of license will move from the current two-step process to a one-step minor application process, thus saving applicants time and resources. The Commission will require that petitioners for new FM channel allotments simultaneously file Form 301, and pay the prescribed filing fee for Form 301. Although this requires payment of the filing fee earlier than is the case in current practice, to the extent that petitioners ultimately obtain construction permits for these allotments, it is a fee they would be required to pay in any event, therefore this requirement should impose a minimal burden on petitioners. The Commission also eliminates the current prohibition on electronic filing of petitions to amend the FM Table of Allotments and comments on such proposals. Electronic filing, when implemented, will reduce burdens on all broadcasters, including small entities, by reducing the time and effort spent in preparing and submitting such documents in hard copy, as is the current practice. 24. Report to Congress. The Commission will send a copy of the R&O, including this FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.15 In addition, the Commission will send a copy of the R&O, including the FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. A copy of the R&O and FRFA (or summaries thereof) will also be published in the Federal Register.16 Ordering Clauses 25. Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant to the authority contained in Sections 1, 2, 4(i), 303(r), and 307 of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C 14 5 U.S.C. 603(c)(1)–(c)(4). id. Sec. 801(a)(1)(A). 16 See id. Sec. 604(b). 15 See PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 76215 151, 152, 154(i), 303(r), and 307, this Report and Order is hereby adopted and the Commission’s Rules are hereby amended as set forth in the Rule Changes. 26. It is further ordered that the rule amendments set forth in the Rule Changes will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. 27. It is further ordered that the Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a copy of this Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. List of Subjects 47 CFR Part 1 Practice and procedure. 47 CFR Part 73 Radio broadcast services. Federal Communications Commission. William F. Caton, Deputy Secretary. Rule Changes For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications Commission amends 47 CFR parts 1 and 73 as follows: I PART 1—PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows: I Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 155, 157, 225, 303(r), and 309. 2. Section 1.401 is amended by revising paragraph (b) and the last sentence of paragraph (d) to read as follows: I § 1.401 Petitions for rulemaking. * * * * * (b) The petition for rule making shall conform to the requirements of §§ 1.49, 1.52, and 1.419(b) (or § 1.420(e), if applicable), and shall be submitted or addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC 20554, or may be submitted electronically. * * * * * (d) * * * Petitions to amend the FM Table of Allotments must be accompanied by the appropriate construction permit application and payment of the appropriate application filing fee. * * * * * I 3. Section 1.420 is amended by revising the section heading, revising E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 76216 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations paragraph (g) and adding new Note to § 1.420 following paragraph (j); the revisions set forth below are to read as follows: § 1.420 Additional procedures in proceedings for amendment of the FM or TV Tables of Allotments, or for amendment of certain FM assignments. * * * * * (g) The Commission may modify the license or permit of a UHF TV station to a VHF channel in the same community in the course of the rule making proceeding to amend § 73.606(b), or it may modify the license or permit of an FM station to another class of channel through notice and comment procedures, if any of the following conditions are met: (1) There is no other timely filed expression of interest, or (2) If another interest in the proposed channel is timely filed, an additional equivalent class of channel is also allotted, assigned or available for application. Note to Paragraph (g): In certain situations, a licensee or permittee may seek an adjacent, intermediate frequency or co-channel upgrade by application. See § 73.203(b) of this chapter. * * * * * Note to § 1.420: The reclassification of a Class C station in accordance with the procedure set forth in Note 4 to § 73.3573 may be initiated through the filing of an original petition for amendment of the FM Table of Allotments. The Commission will notify the affected Class C station licensee of the proposed reclassification by issuing a notice of proposed rule making, except that where a triggering petition proposes an amendment or amendments to the FM Table of Allotments in addition to the proposed reclassification, the Commission will issue an order to show cause as set forth in Note 4 to § 73.3573, and a notice of proposed rule making will be issued only after the reclassification issue is resolved. Triggering petitions will be dismissed upon the filing, rather than the grant, of an acceptable construction permit application to increase antenna height to at least 451 meters HAAT by a subject Class C station. PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES 4. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows: I rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336. 5. Section 73.202 is amended by revising paragraph (a) introductory text, paragraph (a)(2) and paragraph (b), the Note following paragraph (a)(2) remains unchanged, the following revisions are to read as follows: I VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 § 73.202 Table of Allotments. Channel No. (a) General. The following Table of Allotments contains the channels (other than noncommercial educational Channels 201–220) designated for use in communities in the United States, its territories, and possessions, and not currently assigned to a licensee or permittee or subject to a pending application for construction permit or license. All listed channels are for Class B stations in Zones I and I–A and for Class C stations in Zone II unless otherwise specifically designated. Channels to which licensed, permitted, and ‘‘reserved’’ facilities have been assigned are reflected in the Media Bureau’s publicly available Consolidated Data Base System. * * * * * (2) Each channel listed in the Table of Allotments reflects the class of station that is authorized to use it based on the minimum and maximum facility requirements for each class contained in § 73.211. * * * * * (b) Table of FM Allotments. Channel No. ALABAMA Anniston .......................... Boligee ............................ Coosada ......................... Frisco City ....................... Livingston ........................ Maplesville ...................... New Hope ....................... Pine Level ....................... Rockford ......................... Saint Florian ................... *261C3 297A 226A 278A 242A 292A 278A 248A 286A 274A ALASKA Palmer ............................ 238C1 ARIZONA Aguila .............................. Ajo ................................... Ash Fork ......................... Bagdad ........................... Chino Valley ................... Ehrenberg ....................... First Mesa ....................... Fredonia .......................... Grand Canyon Village .... Heber .............................. Huachuca City ................ Leupp .............................. Overgaard ....................... Parker ............................. Patagonia ........................ Paulden ........................... Peach Springs ................ Pima ................................ Pinetop ............................ Quartzsite ....................... Rio Rico .......................... Sells ................................ Snowflake ....................... PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 4700 297C3 295A 267A 269C3 223A 286C2 247C 278C1 273C1 288C2 232A 255C2 232C3 247C3 251A 263C3 285C3 *296A 294C1 275C3, 290C2 300A 285A 258C2 Sfmt 4700 Somerton ........................ Taylor .............................. Wickenburg ..................... Willcox ............................ *260C3 278C3 229C3 *223C3 ARKANSAS Altheimer ......................... Arkadelphia ..................... Bearden .......................... Clarendon ....................... Cove ............................... Daisy ............................... Gassville ......................... Greenwood ..................... Hermitage ....................... Paragould ....................... Rison ............................... Sparkman ....................... Strong ............................. 251C3 228A 224A 281A 232A 293C3 224A 268A 300A 257A 255A 259A 296C3 CALIFORNIA Alturas ............................. Amboy ............................. Barstow ........................... Big Sur ............................ Blythe .............................. Burney ............................ Buttonwillow .................... Cambria .......................... Cedarville ........................ Cloverdale ....................... Coachella ........................ Covelo ............................. Desert Center ................. Essex .............................. Greenfield ....................... Hemet ............................. Kerman ........................... Kernville .......................... King City ......................... Lake Isabella .................. Lamont ............................ McKinleyville ................... Mecca ............................. Mojave ............................ Murrieta ........................... Nevada City .................... Portola ............................ Randsburg ...................... Ridgecrest ....................... San Joaquin .................... Susanville ....................... Sutter Creek ................... Tecopa ............................ Trona .............................. Twentynine Palms .......... Wasco ............................. Waterford ........................ Westley ........................... Willow Creek ................... 268C1, 277C 237A 267A 240A 239B 225A 265A 287A, 293A 260A 274A 278A 245A 288A 280B 254A 273A 224A 289A 275A 239A 247A 236C3, 277C3 274A 255A 281A 297A 269A 271A 229A, 252A 299A 262A *298A 291A 247A 270A 224A 294A *238A 253A COLORADO Arriba .............................. Aspen .............................. Cheyenne Wells ............. Crawford ......................... Crested Butte .................. De Beque ........................ Durango .......................... Flagler ............................. Fruita ............................... E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 240A 228A 224C1 274C3 246C3 275C3 287A 283C3 255C3 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations Channel No. Genoa ............................. Gunnison ........................ Hotchkiss ........................ Hugo ............................... Lake City ......................... Olathe ............................. Orchard Mesa ................. Steamboat Springs ......... Strasburg ........................ Stratton ........................... Channel No. 291C3 265C2, 299C3 258C3 222A 247A *270C2, *293C 249C3 255A, 289A 249C3 246C1 CONNECTICUT DELAWARE Big Pine Key ................... Cedar Key ....................... Cross City ....................... Daytona Beach Shores .. Eastpoint ......................... Horseshoe Beach ........... Islamorada ...................... Jasper ............................. Key Largo ....................... Key West ........................ Lake Park ....................... Live Oak ......................... Okeechobee ................... Otter Creek ..................... Palm Coast ..................... Perry ............................... Port St. Joe ..................... Silver Springs Shore ....... Sugarloaf Key ................. *239A 261A 249C3 258A 283A *234C3 283C2 298A 237C3 244A 262A *259A 291A *240A 254A 228A 270C3 259A 289A GEORGIA Alamo .............................. Americus ......................... Calhoun .......................... Crawfordville ................... Cusseta ........................... Dexter ............................. Homerville ....................... Lincolnton ....................... Milner .............................. Morgan ............................ Patterson ........................ Pineview ......................... Plains .............................. Plainville .......................... Reynolds ......................... St. Simons Island ........... Tallapoosa ...................... Tignall ............................. Ty Ty ............................... Wadley ............................ Woodbury ....................... Young Harris ................... 287C3 295A 233A 234A 279A 276A 246A 254A 290A 228A 296A 226A 290A 285A *245A 229C3 255A 244A 249A 227A 233A 236A HAWAII rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES Kailua-Kona .................... Kihei ................................ 244A 298C2 IDAHO McCall ............................. Weiser ............................. Bloomfield ....................... Farmersburg ................... Fowler ............................. Madison .......................... Terre Haute .................... 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 252A 288A 253A *277A *258A *297A 292A *295A 229A *282A 266A Asbury ............................. Keosauqua ...................... Moville ............................. North English .................. Rudd ............................... *238A *271C3 *246A 246A *268A KANSAS Americus ......................... Atwood ............................ Council Grove ................. 240A 292C0 *281C3 KENTUCKY Burgin ............................. Morgantown .................... Science Hill ..................... Smith Mills ...................... 290A 256A 291A *233A LOUISIANA Anacoco .......................... Bordelonville ................... Cameron ......................... Clayton ............................ Colfax .............................. Dulac ............................... Florien ............................. Franklin ........................... Golden Meadow ............. Harrisonburg ................... Haynesville ..................... Homer ............................. Hornbeck ........................ Lake Providence ............. Leesville .......................... New Llano ....................... Oak Grove ...................... Oil City ............................ Opelousas ....................... Ringgold .......................... Rosepine ......................... St. Joseph ....................... Wisner ............................. 228C3, 238C3, 275C3, 293C3 *280C1 Jkt 211001 266A *242A 291A *265A 298B IOWA 276C3 280A 296C3 266A 267A 242A 242A 295C3 *289C2 232A 288A *272A 269A 224A 224A 252C3 289A 285A 279A *253C3 281A 257C3 300C3 MASSACHUSETTS Adams ............................. East Harwich .................. Nantucket ........................ West Tisbury ................... PO 00000 Frm 00107 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 255A 254A 249A *282A MICHIGAN Alpena ............................. Crystal Falls .................... Custer ............................. Ferrysburg ...................... Fife Lake ......................... Frederic ........................... Glen Arbor ...................... Harrison .......................... Hubbardston ................... Houghton ........................ Ludington ........................ McBain ............................ Onaway ........................... Paradise .......................... Pentwater ........................ Traverse City .................. 289A 280C2 263A 226A 240C2 237A 227A 280A *279A 242C1 242A 300A 292C2 234A 280A 283A MINNESOTA Baudette ......................... Grand Portage ................ Red Lake ........................ 233C1 224C, 245C0, 274C 231C1 MISSISSIPPI Calhoun City ................... Greenwood ..................... Holly Springs .................. Marietta ........................... Oxford ............................. Vaiden ............................. Vardaman ....................... Walnut Grove .................. 272A 277A 243A 250A 286A 271A 258A 244C2 MISSOURI Alton ................................ Bourbon .......................... Columbia ......................... Doolittle ........................... Eminence ........................ Grandin ........................... Huntsville ........................ Laurie .............................. Lowry City ....................... Madison .......................... Marceline ........................ Marquand ........................ Moberly ........................... 290A 231A 252C2 283A 281A 283A *278C2 *265C3 285A 247C3 256A 295A 223A MONTANA Bozeman ......................... Cut Bank ......................... Lewistown ....................... Montana City .................. Outlook ........................... Roundup ......................... Whitehall ......................... MAINE Monticello ........................ VerDate Aug<31>2005 MARYLAND INDIANA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FLORIDA Channel No. ILLINOIS Abingdon ......................... Altamont .......................... Augusta ........................... Canton ............................ Cedarville ........................ Clifton .............................. Cuba ............................... Freeport .......................... Grayville .......................... Pinckneyville ................... West Salem .................... 76217 *240C3 274C1 300C1 293A 289C 248A 274A NEBRASKA 234A Arthur .............................. E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 300C1 76218 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations Channel No. Firth ................................. Hartington ....................... Hyannis ........................... Pierce .............................. Channel No. 229A 232C2 250C1 248C2 NEVADA Battle Mountain ............... Fallon Station .................. Fernley ............................ Pahrump ......................... Silver Springs ................. 253A 287C 231C3 272C3 273C NEW HAMPSHIRE Enfield ............................. Groveton ......................... Pittsburg .......................... 282A 268A 246A NEW JERSEY NEW MEXICO Alamo Community .......... Alamogordo .................... Carrizozo ........................ Clayton ............................ Grants ............................. Las Vegas ....................... Milan ............................... Roswell ........................... Taos ................................ Taos Pueblo ................... *298A 240C2 261C2 248C1 244C3 283C2, 296A 270A 237C0 228A, 288A 292C3 NEW YORK Amherst .......................... Celoron ........................... Indian Lake ..................... Keeseville ....................... Montauk .......................... Morrisonville .................... Rhinebeck ....................... Rosendale ....................... 221A 237A 290A 231A 235A 231A *273A 255A, 273A NORTH CAROLINA Dillsboro .......................... Garysburg ....................... Ocracoke ........................ 237A 276A 224C1 NORTH DAKOTA Berthold .......................... Tioga ............................... Williston .......................... 264C 281C1 253C1 Erick ................................ Haileyville ........................ Haworth .......................... Holdenville ...................... Hollis ............................... Kiowa .............................. Leedey ............................ Lone Wolf ....................... Mooreland ....................... Muldrow .......................... Okeene ........................... Pawhuska ....................... Pittsburg .......................... Red Oak ......................... Reydon ........................... Ringwood ........................ Savanna .......................... Sayre .............................. Stuart .............................. Taloga ............................. Thomas ........................... Tipton .............................. Tishomingo ..................... Valliant ............................ Vici .................................. Wapanucka ..................... Waynoka ......................... Weatherford .................... Wright City ...................... Wynnewood .................... OREGON Clatskanie ....................... Dallas .............................. Diamond Lake ................ Ione ................................. Keno ............................... Madras ............................ Merrill .............................. Monument ....................... Powers ............................ Prairie City ...................... Prineville ......................... Terrebonne ..................... The Dalles ...................... Erie ................................. Lawrence Park ................ Liberty ............................. Meyersdale ..................... Sheffield .......................... Susquehanna .................. Sykesville ........................ rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 240A 224A *298A 253A 286A 227A 240A RHODE ISLAND 241A 257A 279A 229A SOUTH CAROLINA Pendleton ........................ Quinby ............................ OKLAHOMA Arnett .............................. Boswell ........................... Broken Bow .................... Buffalo ............................. Cheyenne ....................... Clayton ............................ Coalgate ......................... Cordell ............................ Covington ........................ 225C3 *252C3 299A 258A 253A *251C1 289A 280C1 293C2 260C 267C1 293C2 *268C3 PENNSYLVANIA OHIO Ashtabula ........................ Cridersville ...................... McConnelsville ................ North Madison ................ 259C2 290A 294A 265A 274C2 254A 297A 224A 254A, 300C2 286A 268C3 233A 232A 227A 264C2 285A 275A 269C2 228A 226A 288A 233C3 259C3 234C3 249A 298A 231C2 *286A 226A *283A 240A 237A SOUTH DAKOTA 285C2 282C3 285A 224C2 247C3 241A 242A *229A 290A Jkt 211001 Edgemont ....................... Lead ................................ Rosebud ......................... Sisseton .......................... Wall ................................. 289C1 232C 257C 258C2 299C TENNESSEE Linden ............................. PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 Channel No. Lynchburg ....................... Oliver Springs ................. Pigeon Forge .................. 296A 291A 292A TEXAS Annona ........................... Asherton ......................... Aspermont ...................... Austwell .......................... Baird ............................... Ballinger .......................... Balmorhea ...................... Bangs .............................. Benavides ....................... Benjamin ......................... Big Lake .......................... Big Spring ....................... Big Wells ......................... Blanket ............................ Blossom .......................... Brackettville .................... Bruni ............................... Buffalo Gap ..................... Burnet ............................. Camp Wood .................... Canadian ........................ Carbon ............................ Carrizo Springs ............... Centerville ....................... Channing ........................ Childress ......................... Colorado City .................. Comanche ...................... Cotulla ............................. Crosbyton ....................... Crowell ............................ Cuney ............................. Dalhart ............................ Denver City ..................... Detroit ............................. Dickens ........................... Dilley ............................... Eagle Lake ...................... El Indio ............................ Eldorado ......................... Elkhart ............................. Encinal ............................ Encino ............................. Estelline .......................... Floydada ......................... Fort Stockton .................. Freer ............................... Garwood ......................... George West .................. Goliad ............................. Goree .............................. Grapeland ....................... Groom ............................. Guthrie ............................ Hamilton .......................... Hamlin ............................. Hawley ............................ Hebbronville .................... Hewitt .............................. Hico ................................. Hooks .............................. Idalou .............................. Iraan ................................ Jacksonville .................... Jayton ............................. Junction .......................... 267A E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 263A 284A 226C2 290A 243C3 238A 283C 250C3 282A 237C3 246A, 296C2 265C3 271A 284A 224C2 234A 293A 227A *240A 271A 235C1 238A 295A 274A 284C 281C2 257A 280A 242A, 264A, 289A 264C3 293C3 259A 261C *248C2 282C2 240A, 294A 229A 237C3 236A 258C1, 285A, 293A 265A 259A, 273A, 286A 250A, 283A 263C3 255A 263C 288A 247A 250A, 292A 282A 275A 232C3 223A 252A 299A 283C2 269A 232A, 254A 294A 285A 231A 299A 269C2 236A 231C2 277C3, 284A, 292A, 297A Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations Channel No. rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES Kermit ............................. Knox City ........................ La Pryor .......................... Leakey ............................ Llano ............................... Lockney .......................... Lometa ............................ Longview ......................... Lovelady ......................... Marathon ......................... Mason ............................. Matador ........................... Matagorda ....................... McCamey ........................ McLean ........................... Memphis ......................... Menard ............................ Mertzon ........................... Meyersville ...................... Moody ............................. Mount Enterprise ............ Muleshoe ........................ Mullin .............................. Munday ........................... Newcastle ....................... O’Brien ............................ Ozona ............................. Paducah .......................... Paint Rock ...................... Palacios .......................... Pampa ............................ Panhandle ....................... Pearsall ........................... Pineland .......................... Port Isabel ...................... Premont .......................... Presidio ........................... Quanah ........................... Rankin ............................. Richland Springs ............ Rising Star ...................... Roaring Springs .............. Robert Lee ...................... Roby ............................... Rocksprings .................... Rotan .............................. Rule ................................ Sabinal ............................ San Diego ....................... San Isidro ....................... Sanderson ...................... Santa Anna ..................... Savoy .............................. Shamrock ........................ Sheffield .......................... Silverton .......................... Smiley ............................. Snyder ............................ Sonora ............................ Spur ................................ Stamford ......................... Sweetwater ..................... Teague ............................ Turkey ............................. Van Alstyne .................... Weinert ........................... Wellington ....................... Wells ............................... Westbrook ....................... Wheeler .......................... Zapata ............................. VerDate Aug<31>2005 Channel No. 229A 291A 278A 257A, 275A, 299A 293C3 271C3 253A 300C2 288A 278C 269C3, 281C2 221C2, 227C3 252A 233C3 267C3 283A, 292A 242A, 265C2, 287C3 278C2 261A 256A 231A 227C1 224C3 270C1 263A 261A 275C3, 289C1 234C3 296C3 264A 277C2 291C3 227A 256A 288A 287A 292C1 255C3 229C3 235A, 299A 290C3 276C3 289A 249A 235C3 290A 239C2, 253A 296A 273A 247A 274C1, 286C2 282A 297A 271A 224C2 252A 280A 235C3 237C3, 272A 254A, 260C3 233A 221C3 237C3 244C2, 269A *260A 266C3 248A 254A 272A 280C2 292A 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 Channel No. UTAH Beaver ............................ Fountain Green ............... Manila ............................. Mona ............................... Parowan .......................... Salina .............................. Toquerville ...................... 76219 AMERICAN SAMOA CENTRAL MARIANAS 259A *260A 228A 225A 300C2 233C 280C GARAPAN GUAM PUERTO RICO Santa Isabel .................... 251A VERMONT VIRGIN ISLANDS Albany ............................. Canaan ........................... Poultney .......................... 233A 231C3 223A 6. Section 73.203 is revised to read as follows: 299A 252A 270A 229A 273A *296A WASHINGTON Chewelah ........................ Coupeville ....................... Goldendale ..................... Oak Harbor ..................... Port Angeles ................... Sedro-Woolley ................ Sequim ............................ Union Gap ...................... Waitsburg ........................ *274C3 266A 240A *233A, 277A 229A 289A 237A 285A 272A WEST VIRGINIA Glenville .......................... Marlinton ......................... St Marys ......................... White Sulphur Springs .... 299A 292A *287A 227A WISCONSIN Ashland ........................... Augusta ........................... Boscobel ......................... Crandon .......................... Ephraim .......................... Hayward .......................... Laona .............................. New Holstein .................. Owen .............................. Rhinelander .................... Rosholt ............................ Tigerton ........................... Tomahawk ...................... Two Rivers ...................... Washburn ....................... *275A *268C3 244C3 276C3 295A *232C2 272C3 225A 242C3 243C3 263A 295A 265C3 255A *284A WYOMING Bairoil .............................. Centennial ....................... Meeteetse ....................... Pine Bluffs ...................... Reliance .......................... Sinclair ............................ PO 00000 Frm 00109 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 257A 258A I VIRGINIA Alberta ............................ Belle Haven .................... Iron Gate ......................... Lynchburg ....................... Shawsville ....................... Shenandoah ................... Charlotte Amalie ............. Frederiksted .................... 235A 248A 273C 238C3 254C3 267C § 73.203 Availability of channels. (a) Except as provided for in paragraph (b) of this section and § 1.401(d) of this chapter and 73.3573(a)(1), applications may be filed to construct new FM broadcast stations only at the communities and on the channels contained in the Table of Allotments (§ 73.202(b)). (b) Applications filed on a first come, first served basis for the minor modification of an existing FM broadcast station may propose any change in channel and/or class and/or community not defined as major in § 73.3573(a). Applications for a change in community of license must comply with the requirements set forth in § 73.3573(g). Note to § 73.203: This section is limited to non-reserved band changes in channel and/ or class and/or community. Applications requesting such changes must meet either the minimum spacing requirements of § 73.207 at the site specified in the application, without resort to the provisions of the Commission’s rules permitting short spaced stations as set forth in §§ 73.213 through 73.215, or demonstrate by a separate exhibit attached to the application the existence of a suitable allotment site that fully complies with §§ 73.207 and 73.315 without resort to §§ 73.213 through 73.215. 7. Section 73.1690 is amended by adding paragraph (b)(9) to read as follows: I § 73.1690 systems. Modification of transmission * * * * * (b) * * * (9) Any change in the community of license, where the proposed new facilities are the same as, or would be mutually exclusive with, the licensee’s or permittee’s present assignment. * * * * * I 8. Section 73.3571 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1), and adding new paragraph (j) to read as follows: E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1 76220 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 2006 / Rules and Regulations § 73.3571 Processing of AM broadcast station applications. rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with RULES (a) * * * (1) In the first group are applications for new stations or for major changes in the facilities of authorized stations. A major change for an AM station authorized under this part is any change in frequency, except frequency changes to non-expanded band first, second or third adjacent channels. A major change in ownership is a situation where the original party or parties to the application do not retain more than 50% ownership interest in the application as originally filed. A major change in community of license is one in which the applicant’s daytime facilities at the proposed community are not mutually exclusive, as defined in § 73.37, with the applicant’s current daytime facilities, or any change in community of license of an AM station in the 1605–1705 kHz band. All other changes will be considered minor. * * * * * (j) Applications proposing to change the community of license of an AM station, except for an AM station in the 1605–1705 kHz band, are considered to be minor modifications under paragraphs (a)(2) and (f) of this section, and are subject to the following requirements: (1) The applicant must attach an exhibit to its application containing information demonstrating that the proposed community of license change constitutes a preferential arrangement of assignments under Section 307(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 307(b)); (2) The daytime facilities specified by the applicant at the proposed community of license must be mutually exclusive, as defined in § 73.37, with the applicant’s current daytime facilities; and (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 73.3580(a), the applicant must comply with the local public notice provisions of §§ 73.3580(c)(3), 73.3580(d)(3), and 73.3580(f). The exception contained in § 73.3580(e) shall not apply to an application proposing to change the community of license of an AM station. I 9. Section 73.3573 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1), adding new paragraph (g), and revising Note 1 to § 73.3573 (Notes 2, 3, and 4 to § 73.3573 remain unchanged), the revisions are to read as follows: § 73.3573 Processing of FM broadcast station applications. (a) * * * (1) In the first group are applications for new stations or for major changes of authorized stations. A major change in VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:07 Dec 19, 2006 Jkt 211001 ownership is any change where the original party or parties to the application do not retain more than 50 percent ownership interest in the application as originally filed. In the case of a Class D or an NCE FM reserved band channel station, a major facility change is any change in antenna location which would not continue to provide a 1 mV/m service to some portion of its previously authorized 1 mV/m service area. In the case of a Class D station, a major facility change is any change in community of license or any change in frequency other than to a first-, second-, or third-adjacent channel. A major facility change for a commercial or a noncommercial educational full service FM station, a winning auction bidder, or a tentative selectee authorized or determined under this part is any change in frequency or community of license which is not in accord with its current assignment, except for the following: (i) A change in community of license which complies with the requirements of paragraph (g) of this section; (ii) A change to a higher or lower class co-channel, first-, second-, or thirdadjacent channel, or intermediate frequency; (iii) A change to a same-class first-, second-, or third-adjacent channel, or intermediate frequency; (iv) A channel substitution, subject to the provisions of Section 316 of the Communications Act for involuntary channel substitutions. * * * * * (g) Applications proposing to change the community of license of an FM station or assignment are considered to be minor modifications under paragraphs (a)(2), (e)(1), and (f)(1) of this section, and are subject to the following requirements: (1) The applicant must attach an exhibit to its application containing information demonstrating that the proposed community of license change constitutes a preferential arrangement of allotments or assignments under Section 307(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 307(b)); (2) The facilities specified by the applicant at the proposed community of license must be mutually exclusive, as defined in § 73.207 or 73.509, with the applicant’s current facilities or its current assignment, in the case of a winning auction bidder or tentative selectee; and (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 73.3580(a), the applicant must comply with the local public notice provisions of §§ 73.3580(c)(3), 73.3580(d)(3), and 73.3580(f). The exception contained in PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 § 73.3580(e) shall not apply to an application proposing to change the community of license of an FM station. (4) Non-reserved band applications must demonstrate the existence of a suitable assignment or allotment site that fully complies with §§ 73.207 and 73.315 without resort to § 73.213 or 73.215. Note 1 to § 73.3573: Applications to modify the channel and/or class to an adjacent channel, intermediate frequency (IF) channel, or co-channel may utilize the provisions of the Commission’s Rules permitting short spaced stations as set forth in § 73.215 as long as the applicant shows by separate exhibit attached to the application the existence of an allotment reference site which meets the allotment standards, the minimum spacing requirements of § 73.207 and the city grade coverage requirements of § 73.315. This exhibit must include a site map or, in the alternative, a statement that the transmitter will be located on an existing tower. Examples of unsuitable allotment reference sites include those which are offshore, in a national or state park in which tower construction is prohibited, on an airport, or otherwise in an area which would necessarily present a hazard to air navigation. * * * * * [FR Doc. E6–21633 Filed 12–19–06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6712–01–P FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Part 11 [EB Docket No. 04–296, FCC 05–191] Review of the Emergency Alert System Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date. AGENCY: SUMMARY: The Commission adopted rules that expanded the reach of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), as currently constituted, to cover digital communications technologies that are increasingly being used by the American public to receive news and entertainment. This document announces the effective date of these published rules. DATES: The amendments to §§ 11.15, 11.21, 11.35, 11.51, 11.52, 11.55, and 11.61 published at 70 FR 71023, November 25, 2005 became effective on February 21, 2006. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Ann Collins, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, (202) 418– 2792. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On Feburary 21, 2006, the Office of E:\FR\FM\20DER1.SGM 20DER1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 20, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76208-76220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21633]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 1 and 73

[MB Docket No. 05-210; FCC 06-163]


Revision of Procedures Governing Amendments to FM Table of 
Allotments and Changes of Community of License in the Radio Broadcast 
Services

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission adopted a number of 
procedures and procedural changes designed to streamline the process of 
allocating new FM channels and modifying the communities of license of 
existing radio stations, and to reduce current backlogs in proceedings 
to amend the FM Table of Allotments. In the R&O, the Commission also 
announced that it would lift a freeze on all new petitions to amend the 
FM Table

[[Page 76209]]

of Allotments, as of the effective date of the R&O.

DATES: Effective January 19, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Doyle, Chief, Media Bureau, 
Audio Division, (202) 418-2700 or Peter.Doyle@fcc.gov; Thomas 
Nessinger, Attorney-Advisor, Media Bureau, Audio Division, (202) 418-
2700 or Thomas.Nessinger@fcc.gov.
    For additional information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act 
information collection requirements contained in this document, contact 
Cathy Williams at 202-418-2918, or via the Internet at 
Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    The Report and Order (``R&O'') contains new and modified 
information collection requirements, which were proposed in the NPRM 
and are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``PRA'').\1\ 
These information collection requirements were submitted on July 19, 
2005, to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for review under 
Section 3507(d) of the PRA. In addition, the general public and other 
Federal agencies were invited to comment on these information 
collection requirements in the NPRM. The Commission further notes that 
pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, it 
previously sought specific comment on how the Commission might 
``further reduce the information collection burden for small business 
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.'' The Commission received no 
comments concerning these information collection requirements. On 
September 15, 2005, the Commission obtained OMB approval for these 
information collection requirements, encompassed by OMB Control No. 
3060-0027. This R&O adopts the information collection requirements, as 
proposed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``PRA''), Pub. L. 104-
13, 109 Stat 163 (1995) (codified in Chapter 35 of title 44 U.S.C.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because, as detailed in the R&O, the Commission extends its new 
community of license minor modification procedures to FM NCE licensees 
and permittees, FCC Form 340 must be modified to accommodate the new 
information collection requirements of those procedures. The procedural 
requirements for FM NCE applicants for change of community of license 
will become effective after approval by OMB. The Commission published a 
separate Federal Register Notice seeking public comment on this new 
information collection requirement on November 22, 2006 (see 71 FR 
67581 (November 22, 2006)). Upon OMB approval, the Commission will 
issue a public notice announcing the effective date of this rule.
    This is a synopsis of the Commission's Report and Order (R&O), FCC 
06-163, adopted November 3, 2006, and released November 29, 2006. The 
full text of the R&O is available for inspection and copying during 
regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, 445 Twelfth Street, 
SW., Room CY-A257, Portals II, Washington, DC 20554, and may also be 
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, BCPI, Inc., Portals 
II, 445 Twelfth Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. 
Customers may contact BCPI, Inc. via their Web site, https://
www.bcpi.com, or call 1-800-378-3160. This document is available in 
alternative formats (computer diskette, large print, audio record, and 
Braille). Persons with disabilities who need documents in these formats 
may contact Brian Millin at (202) 418-7426 (voice), (202) 418-7365 
(TTY), or via e-mail at Brian.Millin@fcc.gov.

Synopsis of Order

    1. With this Report and Order (``R&O''), the Commission makes 
certain changes to its procedures for allotting and assigning channels, 
classes, and communities of license for AM and FM broadcast stations, 
as proposed in the original Notice of Proposed Rule Making (``NPRM'') 
in this proceeding. Revision of Procedures Governing Amendments to FM 
Table of Allotments and Changes of Community of License in the Radio 
Broadcast Services, Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 20 FCC Rcd 11169 
(2005). Specifically, the Commission makes changes of community of 
license for commercial full-power AM standard band and commercial and 
noncommercial educational (``NCE'') full-power FM broadcast stations a 
minor modification, to be accomplished by first come-first served minor 
modification application, subject to certain procedural requirements 
described below. To accommodate this change, the FM Table of 
Allotments, 47 CFR 73.202, shall henceforth contain only vacant 
allotments, and authorized full-power non-reserved band FM facilities 
already occupying allotments shall be listed only in the Media Bureau's 
Consolidated Data Base System (``CDBS''). As it does now, CDBS shall 
reflect the authorizations granted to those broadcasters operating on 
the listed channels and communities, and which are entitled to 
protection under our current rules. The Commission further adopts the 
proposal that it require allocations proponents simultaneously to file 
Form 301 applications with their allocations proposals, to submit the 
designated Form 301 filing fee, and to certify on Form 301 that they 
intend to apply to participate in auction bidding for the allotment 
should their proposal be adopted. The Commission also adopts the 
proposal to modify its rules to allow electronic filing of allocations 
documents. The Commission also lifts the current freeze on the filing 
of new petitions to amend the FM Table of Allotments, as of the 
effective date of the R&O. At this time, however, the Commission does 
not adopt the proposal to limit the number of proposals to add 
additional allotments or modify vacant allotments within a single rule 
making proposal, although it delegates to staff the discretion to 
return unreasonably large proposals or counter-proposals, if warranted. 
The Commission also declines to change its policy disfavoring the 
removal of a community's sole local transmission service to become 
another community's first local service, instead reiterating the need 
for parties contemplating such moves to seek waiver of the policy using 
existing law, and to demonstrate clearly the public interest benefits 
of such moves that would outweigh application of the policy in 
particular cases.
    2. The Commission adopts the proposal to allow AM and FM full-power 
stations to change community of license by first come-first served 
minor modification application. Most commenters favored this proposal, 
and some opponents would mute their objections if the Commission 
adopted certain procedural safeguards. As the Commission tentatively 
concluded in the NPRM, and upon examination of the record in this 
proceeding, the Commission finds that the public interest would be 
served by streamlining current city of license modification procedures 
and employing certain safeguards to ensure that Section 307(b) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 307(b)) (``Section 
307(b)'') and other concerns are accommodated. The Commission also 
concludes that, given the maturity of the FM service, there is no need 
to continue utilizing rule making procedures to modify FM stations' 
communities of license merely because such procedures provide an 
opportunity to counter-propose allotments. The use of first come-first 
served procedures is consistent with the doctrine enunciated in 
Ashbacker v. U.S., 326 U.S. 327 (1945), and the Commission believes

[[Page 76210]]

that there have been ample opportunities for potential counter-
proponents to propose new FM station allotments during the 43 years 
that the Commission has relied on the current Table of Allotments. 
Further, all parties will continue to have reasonable opportunities to 
make such proposals. Moreover, to the extent that commenters object to 
the lack of opportunity to file competing applications, because the 
Commission proposes to limit such applications to those mutually 
exclusive with the applicant's existing facilities, foreclosing 
competing applications does not, as a practical matter, deprive 
potential applicants of opportunities for comparative consideration. 
Finally, the Commission is convinced that adopting the proposed new 
procedure will preserve limited agency resources, reduce the time 
needed to process community of license changes and, accordingly, 
expedite the provision of enhanced broadcast service to the public.
    3. Community of license changes for commercial and NCE full-power 
AM standard band and FM broadcast licensees may be filed as minor 
modification applications. These minor modification applications 
processed on a first come-first served basis will be limited to those 
applications where the proposed daytime facilities are mutually 
exclusive with the applicant's existing daytime facilities. Related 
minor change applications must be submitted concurrently, and will be 
subject to the requirements and restrictions that apply to contingent 
minor modification application filings. See 47 CFR 73.3517(e). Required 
reference coordinate changes (which are not set out in the Table of 
Allotments) will not count against the current limit of four contingent 
minor modification applications that may be filed simultaneously. 
Parties seeking to employ this procedure must file, with their 
applications, a detailed exhibit demonstrating that the proposed change 
constitutes a preferential arrangement of allotments under Section 
307(b) of the Act as compared to the existing allotment(s). The 
Commission will require a narrative showing that the proposed community 
of license change represents a net service benefit, under the Section 
307(b) priorities and policies used since 1982. See Revision of FM 
Assignment Polices and Procedures, 90 FCC 2d 88 (1982). Applicants also 
will be required to confirm the community status of the proposed new 
community of license, demonstrating that it constitutes a community 
suitable for allotment purposes. Between our body of Section 307(b) 
precedent and the procedural safeguards discussed herein, these 
procedures will ensure that grant of such applications comports with 
the Commission's statutory mission under Section 307(b) to distribute 
radio service fairly, efficiently, and equitably. Additionally, as 
noted in the NPRM, our minimum distance separation standards and 
spectrum congestion will limit substantial urban migration. The new 
procedure will also address the concerns that led the Commission in 
1999 to decline to treat such applications as minor changes as well as 
most commenters' Section 307(b) concerns. See 1998 Biennial Regulatory 
Review--Streamlining of Radio Technical Rules in Parts 73 and 74 of the 
Commission's Rules, First Report and Order, 14 FCC Rcd 5272, 5278 
(1999).
    4. The Commission adopts certain additional safeguards to ensure 
that the public interest is served by the new procedures introduced 
herein. In performing Section 307(b) analyses under the new procedures 
adopted herein, the Commission will carefully consider whether an 
application would promote the fair, efficient, and equitable 
distribution of radio service. Under this analysis, a new permittee 
that obtained its permit after being awarded a dispositive Section 
307(b) preference in an AM auction filing window should not be allowed 
to change communities prior to the commencement of broadcast operations 
in the originally authorized community unless the new community would 
compare equally or more favorably to the communities specified by the 
other mutually exclusive applicants in the auction Section 307(b) 
analysis. For example, an AM auction applicant that received a Priority 
(3) preference by proposing first local service to a larger community 
than that specified in a competing applicant's first local service 
proposal could not seek to modify the initial construction permit by 
later specifying a community with a smaller population than the 
competitor's proposed community. Otherwise, AM auction applicants could 
initially select their communities solely on the basis of providing the 
greatest Section 307(b) advantage and avoiding an auction, without 
actually serving those communities. Likewise, the Commission will not 
award rapid, successive community changes that sidestep the mutual 
exclusivity requirement of the new procedure. Accordingly, any 
application proposing a community of license change filed by a 
permittee that has not built its current permitted facilities and that 
is not mutually exclusive with either the applicant's built and 
operating facilities or its original allotment shall be returned as 
unacceptable for filing. The analysis set forth in Faye and Richard 
Tuck, Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 3 FCC Rcd 5374 (1988), will 
be carefully applied in considering Section 307(b) showings submitted 
in support of first come-first served applications to change 
communities of license, and that a first local service preference will 
not be awarded to a community that is largely interdependent with the 
Urbanized Area or surrounding communities. The Commission declines to 
adopt a service floor requirement such as that suggested in the NPRM, 
believing that existing Section 307(b) priorities and policies are 
sufficient to safeguard existing service. The Commission finds that 
existing procedural requirements, along with local public notice 
requirements (see 47 CFR 73.3580(c)(3), (d)(3), and (f)), will provide 
reasonable notice and opportunity for interested parties to comment 
under the new procedures introduced in the R&O. Broadcasters and 
members of the public may participate in the process of evaluating the 
grantability of a minor modification application to change community of 
license by filing informal objections. Arguments, evidence, and 
precedent may be presented in an informal objection as readily as in a 
more formal petition to deny, and are subject to the same evidentiary 
and legal standards. Moreover, the statutory right to file a petition 
for reconsideration, enumerated in Section 405 of the Communications 
Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 405), provides a safety net for both 
relevant public interest considerations and participation by interested 
parties. Further, with regard to notice of applications, such minor 
modification applications will be listed in the Media Bureau's CDBS-
generated ``Broadcast Applications'' public notices, much as AM major 
change applications are listed now. Due to the importance of local 
broadcast service to communities, however, the Commission believes it 
is vital that residents are provided adequate notice to enable them to 
file informal objections to, or comments in support of, a particular 
move. Thus, the Commission adopts its proposal to require the proponent 
to give local public notice in connection with such applications, 
notwithstanding that minor modification applicants generally need not 
provide local public notice. See 47 CFR 73.3580(a). Specifically, 
applicants under this new procedure

[[Page 76211]]

shall provide local public notice as set forth in Sections 
73.3580(c)(3), (d)(3), and (f) of the Commission's rules (47 CFR 
73.3580(c)(3), (d)(3), and (f)), and shall certify such compliance in 
Form 301. The Media Bureau shall also provide notice in the Federal 
Register that an application to modify an AM or FM station's community 
of license has been filed. Moreover, the Bureau will not act upon such 
an application until at least 60 days after publication in the Federal 
Register. The combination of local public notice under 47 CFR 73.3580, 
publication in the Federal Register, and the 60-day prohibition on 
Commission action will provide interested parties with ample notice and 
opportunity to comment on proposed community of license changes under 
our new procedures. Applicants themselves need only comply with the 
local public notice procedures, which are well known to licensees and 
permittees. The newspaper publication requirements of 47 CFR 
73.3580(c)(3) will require the applicant to publish both in the current 
community of license and the proposed community, so as to give maximum 
notice to all residents potentially affected by grant of the 
application.
    5. This new procedure will apply both to commercial full-service 
broadcast stations and also to full-power NCE stations. NCE FM 
allotments in the reserved band are not included in the Table of 
Allotments (see 47 CFR 73.201, 73.202(a), and 73.501(a)), and as non-
tabled facilities such licensees must undergo a process similar to that 
undergone by AM licensees if they wish to change their communities of 
license, in that they must wait for an NCE filing window before 
applying to change communities. However, while reserved band NCE FM 
stations are non-tabled, the reserved band resembles the non-reserved 
FM band in most other respects, including maturity of the service, 
application of spacing rules, and spectrum congestion near larger 
cities. Because of these similarities, the Commission finds that the 
rationales for adopting the new procedure, such as streamlining of the 
current two-step process and maturity of the FM service, apply equally 
to NCE stations, and thus the new procedure will apply to NCE stations. 
However, the new procedures will not apply to expanded band AM 
stations, as allowing community of license changes by minor 
modification application for such stations could jeopardize the 
Commission's ability to develop a comprehensive plan for additional 
expanded band AM licensing.
    6. There are currently fewer than 25 pending community change rule 
making proceedings for which a Report and Order has not been released. 
These parties will not be required to dismiss their rule making 
petitions and refile their proposals in the form of an application. 
However, a rule making petitioner that has submitted a community of 
license change proposal that could, under the new procedures, be filed 
as a minor modification application will be permitted to withdraw its 
rule making petition and to resubmit its proposal as an application on 
the effective date of the new procedure. A party choosing to dismiss a 
rule making petition and refile as an application may adversely affect 
its position with respect to earlier filed petitions for rule making or 
earlier or simultaneously filed applications. Parties opting to dismiss 
and refile should carefully consider whether doing so would be 
advantageous to their cut-off rights.
    7. In order to accommodate the new procedure, the Commission will 
remove the allotments of currently authorized and awarded FM facilities 
from the Table of Allotments (47 CFR 73.202). Currently, all vacant FM 
allotments as well as FM assignments (that is, channels and communities 
occupied by authorized facilities) are listed in the Table of 
Allotments. All of these represent allotments and assignments added to 
the Table of Allotments through notice-and-comment rule making 
procedures over more than 40 years of the Table of Allotments' 
existence. Vacant allotments, which must be protected by all subsequent 
filings, serve as placeholders for future facilities. The same cut-off 
principles will apply to implementing applications filed under our 
comparative commercial and NCE procedures. Once an assignment is made, 
i.e., upon ``reservation,'' this record supersedes the vacant 
allotment. Thus, it is unnecessary for ``occupied'' allotments (that 
is, those that are licensed, permitted, or reserved) to be listed in 
the Table of Allotments--the authorizations and reserved assignments, 
reflected in CDBS, protect those facilities and govern their technical 
facilities and communities of license. Once a station is authorized, 
application procedures provide reasonable opportunities to interested 
parties to comment on or object to further modifications of authorized 
facilities. For this reason, as well as the maturity of the FM service 
discussed above, it is no longer necessary to change authorized non-
reserved band FM stations' attributes through notice-and-comment rule 
making. Thus, the Commission shall amend the Table of Allotments to 
reflect only vacant allotments that do not correspond to an authorized 
station or reserved assignment. Assignments for licensed, permitted, 
and reserved facilities (those for which applications are pending) will 
be reflected solely in CDBS. In CDBS, channel/frequency and community 
assignments for currently authorized stations are represented as ``FA 
USE.'' ``FA RSV'' is used to designate assignments for winning auction 
bidders, NCE tentative selectees, and proposed assignments for stations 
that have filed, or have been directed to file, modification 
applications for authorized stations. These designations will continue 
to be used in CDBS to indicate the status and cut-off rights of 
assignments. Changes to the channel, class, or community of existing 
facilities will constitute changes to the individual authorizations or 
applications, rather than to 47 CFR 73.202, and therefore may be made 
through minor modification application procedures (as adjacent channel 
and class modifications have been made under the Commission's ``one-
step'' procedures). However, the Commission will permit an FM non-
reserved band permittee or licensee to use notice and comment 
procedures to modify its current assignment to specify a non-adjacent 
class upgrade or downgrade in the same community of license. This 
action is taken to preserve the facility improvement options now set 
forth at Section 1.420(g)(1) and (2). The Commission will retain the 
Table for vacant allotments and will continue to use rule making 
procedures to establish new channel allotments, as the procedures for 
new allotments allow for efficient consideration of all proposals and 
counterproposals in keeping with the Commission's Section 307(b) 
obligations. While Section 307(b) considerations enter into community 
of license changes to authorized facilities as well, the same detailed 
rule making procedures are not as essential when dealing with changes 
to authorized stations not subject to competing applications. Thus, new 
allotments and changes to vacant allotments will continue to be made 
via notice-and-comment rule making procedures. To the extent that a 
proposal or counter-proposal is contingent upon one or more such 
changes to vacant allotments, such proposals will also continue to be 
made via rule making proceedings. However, as discussed below, the 
Media Bureau will return any rule making proposals or

[[Page 76212]]

counterproposals that do not propose changes to vacant allotments, 
except for notice and comment filings submitted pursuant to Section 
1.420(g)(1) or (2).
    8. A common aspect of FM allotment petitions and counterproposals, 
including city of license modifications, are proposed channel 
substitutions for both vacant allotments and authorized facilities. 
Rule making proponents are limited to two ``involuntary'' channel 
substitutions for authorized stations. See Columbus, Central City, 
Crookston, Kearney, Lexington, McCook, and Valentine, Nebraska; and 
Hill City, Kansas, Report and Order, FCC 86-59, 59 RR 2d 1184 (MMB 
1984) (``Columbus, Nebraska''). Current procedures impose no limit on 
voluntary, i.e., consensual, channel substitutions. The bifurcated 
procedures adopted in the R&O for allotments and assignments require 
new procedures for these city of license application and rule making 
components. Channel substitutions for authorized facilities will be 
treated as ``minor'' changes. Voluntary channel changes must be 
proposed in the Form 301 applications as set forth below. Involuntary 
channel changes for authorized stations must be specified in the Form 
301 application, but will continue to be limited to two under the 
Columbus, Nebraska policy. The staff will issue an order to show cause 
with regard to an involuntary channel change if it determines that the 
entire city of license modification proposal is acceptable for filing. 
These procedures accord with our current procedures, under which an 
order to show cause is issued when a rule making proponent seeks an 
involuntary change to another facility. Proposals to substitute 
channels for vacant allotments will be filed in accordance with 
established rule making procedures.
    9. Under these revised procedures, certain FM city of license 
modification proposals may consist of several contingent applications. 
Some ``hybrid'' filings will consist of both applications and rule 
making filings. Both the ``pure'' and ``hybrid'' proposals will be 
subject to the requirements and restrictions that apply to contingent 
coordinated FM minor change filings. See 47 CFR 73.3517(c). It is not 
necessary to prohibit contingent city of license modification 
proposals. The staff currently and regularly handles rule making 
proposals involving several different allotments and communities. All 
contingent applications filed pursuant to the procedures adopted here 
will be subject to identical Section 307(b) analysis. The Commission is 
satisfied that this analysis will function effectively in the 
application context, just as it does in the rule making context, to 
safeguard the goals and principals of Section 307(b). All related 
proposals must be simultaneously filed and clearly cross-reference each 
of the other component filings. The dismissal, denial or return of any 
component filing will result in the dismissal or return of all the 
related filings. Both ``pure'' application and ``hybrid'' filings will 
be subject to the four-application limit. Both voluntary and 
involuntary channel changes for authorized stations will count toward 
the four-application limit. Those components filed pursuant to rule 
making procedures will not count toward the four-application limit.
    10. In the NPRM, the Commission showed that a small percentage of 
petitioners seeking new allotments in the FM Table of Allotments (also 
known as ``drop-in'' petitions) were responsible for an inordinate 
percentage of the drop-in petitions filed. To date, those drop-in 
proponents have not actively participated in the auctions process. 
Thus, there appears to be a fundamental disconnect between those adding 
new allotments and those seeking to obtain authorizations pursuant to 
the Commission's competitive bidding procedures. Accordingly, in the 
NPRM the Commission proposed a mechanism to encourage only bona fide 
proponents to seek to add channels to the Table. The mechanism proposed 
was to require an allocations proponent simultaneously to file a Form 
301 application, and pay the appropriate fee, with its petition for 
rule making. The applicant would also certify in the application that, 
if its allotment was adopted, it intended to apply to participate in 
the auction for the new channel. That form would then become the 
proponent's application for construction permit, should the channel be 
allotted and the petitioner be the winning bidder. Previously, rule 
making proponents for new FM allotments needed only to state that they 
were interested in applying for the station if allotted, and paid no 
filing fee until and unless the allotment was made and an application 
filed. The Commission believes that requiring Form 301 and the 
concurrent filing fee with a petition for rule making, which is 
currently not required, would discourage insincere proponents, and 
further believes, as stated in the NPRM, that the public interest is 
best served by processing only those proposals for new allotments filed 
by bona fide potential applicants, rather than devoting scarce staff 
resources to processing allotment proposals that may represent less-
than-optimal choices to actual auction participants. Accordingly, the 
Commission adopts this proposal. A party filing a petition for rule 
making to add a new allotment to the Table, whether as an original 
proposal or as a counterproposal, must simultaneously file a Form 301 
application specifying the proposed facilities. A separate Form 301 and 
fee must be filed for each proposed new allotment. The application 
shall include a certification that, if the FM channel allotment 
requested is adopted, petitioner/counter-proponent intends to apply to 
participate in the auction of the channel allotment requested and 
specified in this application. In the event the petitioner or counter-
proponent is the high bidder for the allotment, it need only file an 
amendment to its Form 301 application, if necessary, and will not pay a 
further filing fee. However, while the Commission need not refund 
application filing fees paid by applicants whose applications are not 
granted (see Establishment of a Fee Collection Program to Implement the 
Provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, Memorandum 
Opinion and Order, 6 FCC Rcd 5919, 5925 n.40 (1991), citing Conference 
Report, 1989 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News at 3036), the Commission 
recognizes the inequity in retaining filing fees from parties whose 
rule making proposals are not granted, as the unfavorable disposition 
of their proposals would render their Form 301 applications a nullity. 
See 47 CFR 1.1113(a)(4). Refunding the filing fee of a successful rule 
making proponent that loses at auction places the proponent in the same 
position as competing bidders who were not required to file Form 301 
pre-auction. Accordingly, the Commission will entertain waiver 
requests, pursuant to 47 CFR 1.1117, filed by a petitioner for a new 
allotment that files a Form 301 for the allotment, and that either has 
its allotment proposal denied in favor of another proposal or 
counterproposal, or that applies for the allotment and qualifies to bid 
for the allotment at auction, if the allotment is awarded to another 
higher-bidding applicant. A rule making proponent whose proposal is 
rejected may file its waiver request only after the proceeding is 
terminated and has become final. A successful rule making proponent who 
is not the winning bidder for the allotment may file its waiver request 
only after release of a public notice announcing the winning bidders in 
the auction. Provided that the waiver applicant has acted in good faith 
and in accordance with our Rules and

[[Page 76213]]

statutes, the Commission will normally grant such waiver requests and 
issue refunds under 47 CFR 1.1113(a)(4) or 1.1113(a)(5), as applicable. 
However, such a waiver request will not be viewed favorably if, for 
example, the rule making petition for a new allotment is returned due 
to patent legal or engineering defects. Similarly, a successful 
petitioner that fails to apply to participate in the auction or qualify 
to bid on the new allotment will not receive a waiver, nor will a 
petitioner that is the high bidder but either withdraws its high bid or 
is found unqualified to be the permittee.
    11. In the NPRM, the Commission proposed to supplement the policy 
announced in Columbus, Nebraska, which limited to two the number of 
proposals for involuntary channel substitution changes to the Table of 
Allotments. The Commission specifically proposed to limit the number of 
changes to the Table that a party might propose or counter-propose to 
five, absent waiver based on a showing of significant public interest 
benefits. It was noted that parties sometimes file proposals 
(frequently, counterproposals) involving large numbers of changes to 
facilities, which frequently consumed large amounts of staff resources, 
and the Commission tentatively concluded that the staff could more 
efficiently dispose of these proceedings if proponents were required to 
break them apart into several discrete components. After reviewing 
comments and upon further consideration, the Commission has determined 
that it should defer acting on this proposal while it determines the 
effects on the efficiency of our allocations procedures of the other 
proposals adopted in the R&O. However, due to concern about the effects 
of complex proposals and counterproposals on the staff's ability 
efficiently to process changes to the Table of Allotments, the 
Commission instructs the staff carefully to review all proposals of 
five or more changes to the Table of Allotments, including those that 
may contain fewer than five proposals per party but that are 
interrelated, such that one party's proposal is dependent on others. 
The staff may, in its discretion, break such proceedings into smaller 
ones, return those proposals or counterproposals that do not require 
changes to vacant allotments and may be filed as minor modification 
applications, or in extreme cases return proposals or counterproposals 
in their entirety. The Commission reserves the right to revisit this 
proposal if deemed necessary in the public interest and to preserve the 
integrity of the FM allotment and assignment plan.
    12. In the NPRM, the Commission proposed to eliminate the existing 
prohibition against electronic filing of petitions filed in broadcast 
allotment proceedings, set forth in 47 CFR 1.401(b). Electronic filing 
has brought substantial benefits in other application contexts, 
specifically by streamlining processes and enhancing the accuracy and 
reliability of Commission databases, and those benefits should be 
extended to the allocations process. Therefore, the Commission adopts 
the proposal to eliminate from 47 CFR 1.401(b) the prohibition against 
electronic submission of petitions for rule making in broadcast 
allocations proceedings. The Media Bureau and Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau will announce, by public notice, such procedures as they 
will devise for submission of broadcast allocations petitions and other 
documents. It should be noted that, as these are restricted 
proceedings, such procedures must provide for service on all interested 
parties, as defined in the Commission's Rules (see 47 CFR 1.1202(d)), 
by electronic or other appropriate means.
    13. In the NPRM, the Commission sought comment on First 
Broadcasting Investment Partners, LLC's (``First Broadcasting'') 
proposal to abandon the Commission's existing policy against removing 
the sole local transmission service at a community in order to allow it 
to become the first local transmission service at another community. 
First Broadcasting contended that this policy undermines the goal of 
spectrum efficiency which, in its opinion, should favor provision of 
first local transmission service to the greatest population. First 
Broadcasting proposed a presumption that it is in the public interest 
to permit a station providing a community's sole local service to move 
to another community provided that (a) at least two other stations 
provide principal community service to the entirety of the current 
community, (b) the station would be the first local transmission 
service in the proposed community, (c) the station moving would provide 
70 dB[mu] service to a larger population in the proposed community of 
license, and (d) the move would not cause any short spacing and/or 
would fully or partially resolve existing short spacing. First 
Broadcasting stated that its proposal would enable the staff to 
consider multiple public interest benefits of such proposed community 
of license changes, rather than ending its analysis at preservation of 
local service, and would ensure that the staff's Section 307(b) 
analysis will be conducted in an objective manner. After careful 
consideration and review of comments, the Commission declines to adopt 
this proposal. The Commission rejects the suggestion that objectivity 
in decision making can only be achieved by application of a defined 
multi-part test. Moreover, the Commission's experience shows that the 
reasons given by applicants for wanting to move the sole local service 
at a community are varied, and are better suited to a case-by-case 
waiver analysis than to a ``one size fits all'' test. Thus, the 
Commission retains its policy disfavoring removal of the sole local 
transmission service at a community, subject to waiver upon a detailed 
showing that retention of local service at a station's current 
community is contrary to the public interest, convenience, and 
necessity. For example, a showing that circumstances have changed to 
the extent that the current community of license is no longer a 
licensable community (due, perhaps, to a precipitous decline in 
population or significant loss of industry), or is no longer 
independent of a larger urban area, in the appropriate case might 
support a waiver to allow move of the station to serve a larger or more 
independent community. An AM licensee that has lost its transmitter 
site, and due to terrain or lack of available land cannot find a 
substitute site that would provide adequate community coverage, might 
also be able to present a compelling case for waiver. The foregoing 
examples are offered by way of illustration only, and are neither meant 
to be exhaustive nor are they meant to imply that a bare allegation of 
any of these circumstances will result in automatic waiver. All waiver 
requests are reviewed with an eye toward the particular facts as well 
as the context in which those facts are presented. Applicants are 
reminded that the waiver standard requires a detailed recitation of 
facts and circumstances, including documentary or testimonial 
(affidavit) evidence where appropriate, demonstrating special 
circumstances that warrant deviation from the policy, and showing that 
such deviation serves the public interest. See Northeast Cellular 
Telephone Co. v. F.C.C., 897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990), citing 
WAIT Radio v. F.C.C., 418 F.2d 1153, 1157-59 (D.C. Cir. 1969). For 
example, the bare assertion that a station has lost its site, absent 
evidence showing an exhaustive but fruitless search for sites from 
which a sole local transmission service could comply with our technical 
rules, would not suffice to justify grant of a waiver to allow the 
station to move

[[Page 76214]]

to another community. The standard for waiver of a Commission policy is 
high for a reason. The Commission's rules and policies impose ongoing 
community service obligations on broadcasters. Moreover, the Commission 
has concluded that Section 307(b) policies must take into account the 
public's legitimate expectation that existing broadcast services will 
be maintained. These considerations will necessarily limit the ability 
of licensees to move to larger or more lucrative markets. Thus, a 
broadcaster that sought to locate in a community is expected to serve 
that community, as is a broadcaster that purchased the sole local 
transmission service in a particular community. In the latter case, no 
broadcaster should invest in a station with the expectation that the 
Commission will routinely approve a request to move to a different 
community. However, in the rare but appropriate case, Commission policy 
permits the sole local broadcaster in a community to show that the 
public interest supports a move to a new community.
    14. In the NPRM, the Commission announced a freeze on the filing of 
new petitions to amend the Table of Allotments, to enable it to 
complete this proceeding without adding new rule making proceedings 
that might better be filed under new procedures, and to help eliminate 
allocations backlogs. The freeze on filing new petitions to amend the 
Table of Allotments will be lifted on the effective date of this R&O. 
Because the procedural changes in this R&O will not become effective 
until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, at that time 
applicants may file minor modification applications for changes to 
community of license of full-power FM, noncommercial educational FM, 
and standard-band AM stations. Similarly, applicants wishing to file 
coordinated, contingent minor change applications and petitions for 
rule making as discussed herein must wait until the new community of 
license application procedures become effective before filing either 
minor change applications or rule making petitions.
    15. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. As required by the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (``RFA'') \2\ an Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``IRFA'') was incorporated in the 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (``NPRM'') to this proceeding.\3\ The 
Commission sought written public comment on the proposals in the NPRM, 
including comment on the IRFA. The Commission received no comments on 
the IRFA. This present Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``FRFA'') 
conforms to the RFA.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, see 5 U.S.C. 601-612, has been 
amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996 (``SBREFA''), Pub. L. 104-121, Title II, 110 Stat. 847 (1996). 
The SBREFA was enacted as Title II of the Contract With America 
Advancement Act of 1996 (``CWAAA'').
    \3\ NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd 11169, 11190, 11192.
    \4\ See 5 U.S.C. 604.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    16. Need for, and Objectives of, the Report and Order. This Report 
and Order (``R&O'') adopts rule changes and procedures to streamline 
the Commission's procedures for adding and modifying certain broadcast 
station allotments, and to streamline the Commission's FM commercial 
allotment procedures by allowing electronic filing of rule making 
petitions to change the FM Table of Allotments. In particular, the 
rules adopted by this R&O, as required by statute, will permit 
broadcast permittees and licensees of all full-service AM and FM 
broadcast stations (except for AM stations in the expanded band) to 
change their stations' communities of license by filing a minor 
modification application rather than through rule making proceedings. 
The new rules also will require parties seeking to add new allotments 
to the FM Table of Allotments simultaneously to file Form 301 for the 
new facilities at the time of filing a petition for rule making, rather 
than after auction. Finally, the new rules eliminate a rule-based 
prohibition against proponents of new channels in the FM Table of 
Allotments filing petitions for rule making electronically.
    17. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in 
Response to the IRFA. There were no comments filed that specifically 
addressed the rules and policies proposed in the IRFA.
    18. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to 
Which the Proposed Rules Will Apply. The RFA directs the Commission to 
provide a description of and, where feasible, an estimate of the number 
of small entities that will be affected by the rules adopted herein.\5\ 
The RFA generally defines the term ``small entity'' as having the same 
meaning as the terms ``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and 
``small government jurisdiction.'' \6\ In addition, the term ``small 
business'' has the same meaning as the term ``small business concern'' 
under the Small Business Act.\7\ A small business concern is one which: 
(1) Is independently owned and operated; (2) is not dominant in its 
field of operation; and (3) satisfies any additional criteria 
established by the Small Business Administration (SBA).\8\
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    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3).
    \6\ Id. Sec. 601(6).
    \7\ Id. Sec. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the definition 
of ``small business concern'' in 15 U.S.C. 632). Pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 601(3), the statutory definition of a small business applies 
``unless an agency, after consultation with the Office of Advocacy 
of the Small Business Administration and after opportunity for 
public comment, establishes one or more definitions of such term 
which are appropriate to the activities of the agency and publishes 
such definition(s) in the Federal Register.'' 5 U.S.C. 601(3).
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 632. Application of the statutory criteria of 
dominance in its field of operation and independence are sometimes 
difficult to apply in the context of broadcast television. 
Accordingly, the Commission's statistical account of television 
stations may be over-inclusive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    19. The subject rules and policies potentially will apply to all AM 
and commercial FM radio broadcasting licensees and potential licensees. 
The SBA defines a radio broadcasting station that has $6.5 million or 
less in annual receipts as a small business.\9\ A radio broadcasting 
station is an establishment primarily engaged in broadcasting aural 
programs by radio to the public.\10\ Included in this industry are 
commercial, religious, educational, and other radio stations.\11\ Radio 
broadcasting stations which primarily are engaged in radio broadcasting 
and which produce radio program materials are similarly included.\12\ 
However, radio stations that are separate establishments and are 
primarily engaged in producing radio program material are classified 
under another NAICS number.\13\ According to Commission staff review of 
BIA Publications, Inc. Master Access Radio Analyzer Database on 
November 2, 2006, about 10,449 (95%) of 10,979 commercial radio 
stations have revenue of $6.5 million or less. First Broadcasting, 
which filed the Petition for Rule Making in this proceeding, is 
included in the definition of ``small business.'' We note, however, 
that many radio stations are affiliated with much larger corporations 
having much higher revenue. Our estimate, therefore, likely overstates 
the number of small entities that might be affected by any ultimate 
changes to the allocation rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS Code 515112.
    \10\ Id.
    \11\ Id.
    \12\ Id.
    \13\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    20. Description of Projected Reporting, Record Keeping and other 
Compliance Requirements. As described, certain rules and procedures 
will change, but at most will only minimally increase the reporting 
requirements on existing and potential radio licensees and permittees, 
insofar as some of the proposed changes require the filing of 
application forms rather

[[Page 76215]]

than rule making petitions. However, the forms to be filed are existing 
FCC application forms with which broadcasters are already familiar, so 
any additional burdens are minimal. Applicants seeking to modify a 
station community of license will need to include, with their Form 301 
applications, an exhibit detailing how the proposed community change 
comports with the policies underlying Section 307(b) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended. However, current practice 
requires that rule making proponents demonstrate that the proposed new 
community of license represents a superior arrangement of allotments 
under Section 307(b), so any new burdens are minimal. The new rule will 
also require that applicants for a new community of license provide 
local public notice in local newspapers and on air. These will impose 
additional burdens upon applicants. These burdens are identical to 
those imposed upon applicants for new broadcast facilities and 
applicants seeking to assign or transfer broadcast licenses. As such, 
any new burdens are familiar to broadcast licensees, are already set 
forth in our rules, and are necessary to ensure that members of the 
public are notified of proposed changes and are afforded the 
opportunity to comment.
    21. Additionally, parties seeking to add new allotments to the FM 
Table of Allotments must simultaneously file FCC Form 301 with their 
petitions to add new allotments, and pay the Form 301 filing fee at 
that time. This requires petitioners for new allotments to file Form 
301 earlier in the process than is the case now. However, it is the 
same Form 301 as is currently filed by successful auction bidders. The 
only difference from Form 301 currently filed by applicants consists of 
a certification that the proponent of the new FM allotment will 
participate in the auction for the new channel if allotted. To the 
extent that the proponent/applicant is not the winning bidder for the 
new allotment, the applicant may apply for waiver and refund of the 
fee; however, the burden will be increased to the extent that such an 
unsuccessful bidder would not currently be required to file Form 301.
    22. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Impact of Small Entities, 
and Significant Alternatives Considered. The RFA requires an agency to 
describe any significant alternatives that it has considered in 
reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four 
alternatives (among others): (1) The establishment of differing 
compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into 
account the resources available to small entities; (2) the 
clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or 
reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; (3) the use 
of performance, rather than design, standards; and (4) an exemption 
from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ 5 U.S.C. 603(c)(1)-(c)(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    23. The procedural changes adopted in the R&O for adding FM channel 
allotments and changing stations' communities of license are designed 
to make the process faster and more efficient, reducing delays to 
broadcasters in implementing new radio service. The procedure for 
changing a station's community of license will move from the current 
two-step process to a one-step minor application process, thus saving 
applicants time and resources. The Commission will require that 
petitioners for new FM channel allotments simultaneously file Form 301, 
and pay the prescribed filing fee for Form 301. Although this requires 
payment of the filing fee earlier than is the case in current practice, 
to the extent that petitioners ultimately obtain construction permits 
for these allotments, it is a fee they would be required to pay in any 
event, therefore this requirement should impose a minimal burden on 
petitioners. The Commission also eliminates the current prohibition on 
electronic filing of petitions to amend the FM Table of Allotments and 
comments on such proposals. Electronic filing, when implemented, will 
reduce burdens on all broadcasters, including small entities, by 
reducing the time and effort spent in preparing and submitting such 
documents in hard copy, as is the current practice.
    24. Report to Congress. The Commission will send a copy of the R&O, 
including this FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress and the 
Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.\15\ In addition, the 
Commission will send a copy of the R&O, including the FRFA, to the 
Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. A copy 
of the R&O and FRFA (or summaries thereof) will also be published in 
the Federal Register.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ See id. Sec. 801(a)(1)(A).
    \16\ See id. Sec. 604(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ordering Clauses

    25. Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant to the authority contained 
in Sections 1, 2, 4(i), 303(r), and 307 of the Communications Act of 
1934, 47 U.S.C 151, 152, 154(i), 303(r), and 307, this Report and Order 
is hereby adopted and the Commission's Rules are hereby amended as set 
forth in the Rule Changes.
    26. It is further ordered that the rule amendments set forth in the 
Rule Changes will become effective 30 days after publication in the 
Federal Register.
    27. It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a 
copy of this Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 1

    Practice and procedure.

47 CFR Part 73

    Radio broadcast services.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Deputy Secretary.

Rule Changes

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications 
Commission amends 47 CFR parts 1 and 73 as follows:

PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

0
1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 
155, 157, 225, 303(r), and 309.


0
2. Section 1.401 is amended by revising paragraph (b) and the last 
sentence of paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  1.401  Petitions for rulemaking.

* * * * *
    (b) The petition for rule making shall conform to the requirements 
of Sec. Sec.  1.49, 1.52, and 1.419(b) (or Sec.  1.420(e), if 
applicable), and shall be submitted or addressed to the Secretary, 
Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC 20554, or may be 
submitted electronically.
* * * * *
    (d) * * * Petitions to amend the FM Table of Allotments must be 
accompanied by the appropriate construction permit application and 
payment of the appropriate application filing fee.
* * * * *

0
3. Section 1.420 is amended by revising the section heading, revising

[[Page 76216]]

paragraph (g) and adding new Note to Sec.  1.420 following paragraph 
(j); the revisions set forth below are to read as follows:


Sec.  1.420  Additional procedures in proceedings for amendment of the 
FM or TV Tables of Allotments, or for amendment of certain FM 
assignments.

* * * * *
    (g) The Commission may modify the license or permit of a UHF TV 
station to a VHF channel in the same community in the course of the 
rule making proceeding to amend Sec.  73.606(b), or it may modify the 
license or permit of an FM station to another class of channel through 
notice and comment procedures, if any of the following conditions are 
met:
    (1) There is no other timely filed expression of interest, or
    (2) If another interest in the proposed channel is timely filed, an 
additional equivalent class of channel is also allotted, assigned or 
available for application.

    Note to Paragraph (g): In certain situations, a licensee or 
permittee may seek an adjacent, intermediate frequency or co-channel 
upgrade by application. See Sec.  73.203(b) of this chapter.

* * * * *

    Note to Sec.  1.420: The reclassification of a Class C station 
in accordance with the procedure set forth in Note 4 to Sec.  
73.3573 may be initiated through the filing of an original petition 
for amendment of the FM Table of Allotments. The Commission will 
notify the affected Class C station licensee of the proposed 
reclassification by issuing a notice of proposed rule making, except 
that where a triggering petition proposes an amendment or amendments 
to the FM Table of Allotments in addition to the proposed 
reclassification, the Commission will issue an order to show cause 
as set forth in Note 4 to Sec.  73.3573, and a notice of proposed 
rule making will be issued only after the reclassification issue is 
resolved. Triggering petitions will be dismissed upon the filing, 
rather than the grant, of an acceptable construction permit 
application to increase antenna height to at least 451 meters HAAT 
by a subject Class C station.

PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES

0
4. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336.


0
5. Section 73.202 is amended by revising paragraph (a) introductory 
text, paragraph (a)(2) and paragraph (b), the Note following paragraph 
(a)(2) remains unchanged, the following revisions are to read as 
follows:


Sec.  73.202  Table of Allotments.

    (a) General. The following Table of Allotments contains the 
channels (other than noncommercial educational Channels 201-220) 
designated for use in communities in the United States, its 
territories, and possessions, and not currently assigned to a licensee 
or permittee or subject to a pending application for construction 
permit or license. All listed channels are for Class B stations in 
Zones I and I-A and for Class C stations in Zone II unless otherwise 
specifically designated. Channels to which licensed, permitted, and 
``reserved'' facilities have been assigned are reflected in the Media 
Bureau's publicly available Consolidated Data Base System.
* * * * *
    (2) Each channel listed in the Table of Allotments reflects the 
class of station that is authorized to use it based on the minimum and 
maximum facility requirements for each class contained in Sec.  73.211.
* * * * *
    (b) Table of FM Allotments.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Channel No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 ALABAMA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anniston.............................................             *261C3
Boligee..............................................               297A
Coosada..............................................               226A
Frisco City..........................................               278A
Livingston...........................................               242A
Maplesville..........................................               292A
New Hope.............................................               278A
Pine Level...........................................               248A
Rockford.............................................               286A
Saint Florian........................................               274A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 ALASKA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palmer...............................................              238C1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 ARIZONA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aguila...............................................              297C3
Ajo..................................................               295A
Ash Fork.............................................               267A
Bagdad...............................................              269C3
Chino Valley.........................................               223A
Ehrenberg............................................              286C2
First Mesa...........................................               247C
Fredonia.............................................              278C1
Grand Canyon Village.................................              273C1
Heber................................................              288C2
Huachuca City........................................               232A
Leupp................................................              255C2
Overgaard............................................              232C3
Parker...............................................              247C3
Patagonia............................................               251A
Paulden..............................................              263C3
Peach Springs........................................              285C3
Pima.................................................              *296A
Pinetop..............................................              294C1
Quartzsite...........................................       275C3, 290C2
Rio Rico.............................................               300A
Sells................................................               285A
Snowflake............................................              258C2
Somerton.............................................             *260C3
Taylor...............................................              278C3
Wickenburg...........................................              229C3
Willcox..............................................             *223C3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                ARKANSAS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Altheimer............................................              251C3
Arkadelphia..........................................               228A
Bearden..............................................               224A
Clarendon............................................               281A
Cove.................................................               232A
Daisy................................................              293C3
Gassville............................................               224A
Greenwood............................................               268A
Hermitage............................................               300A
Paragould............................................               257A
Rison................................................               255A
Sparkman.............................................               259A
Strong...............................................              296C3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               CALIFORNIA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alturas..............................................        268C1, 277C
Amboy................................................               237A
Barstow..............................................               267A
Big Sur..............................................               240A
Blythe...............................................               239B
Burney...............................................               225A
Buttonwillow.........................................               265A
Cambria..............................................         287A, 293A
Cedarville...........................................               260A
Cloverdale...........................................               274A
Coachella............................................               278A
Covelo...............................................               245A
Desert Center........................................               288A
Essex................................................               280B
Greenfield...........................................               254A
Hemet................................................               273A
Kerman...............................................               224A
Kernville............................................               289A
King City............................................               275A
Lake Isabella........................................               239A
Lamont...............................................               247A
McKinleyville........................................       236C3, 277C3
Mecca................................................               274A
Mojave...............................................               255A
Murrieta.............................................               281A
Nevada City..........................................               297A
Port
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