Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations; Extension of the Filing Requirement for Children's Television Programming Report (FCC Form 398), 71267-71269 [2011-29505]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 222 / Thursday, November 17, 2011 / Rules and Regulations
EPA-APPROVED REGULATIONS IN THE TEXAS SIP
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submittal
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Explanation
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Chapter 116—Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification
Subchapter A—Definitions
Section 116.10 .............
General Definitions ......
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3. Section 52.2273 is revised by
adding a new paragraph (g) to read as
follows:
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§ 52.2273
Approval status.
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(g) EPA has disapproved the Texas
SIP revision submittals under 30 TAC
Chapter 116—Control of Air Pollution
by Permits for New Construction or
Modification—Subchapter A—
Definitions—Section 116.10(11)(G),
adopted February 14, 1996, and
submitted March 13, 1996; repealed and
re-adopted June 17, 1998, and submitted
July 22, 1998; and adopted August 21,
2002, and submitted September 4, 2002.
[FR Doc. 2011–29641 Filed 11–16–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73
[MB Docket Nos. 00–168, 00–44; FCC 11–
162]
Standardized and Enhanced
Disclosure Requirements for
Television Broadcast Licensee Public
Interest Obligations; Extension of the
Filing Requirement for Children’s
Television Programming Report (FCC
Form 398)
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
In this document, the
Commission adopts an Order on
Reconsideration that vacates
Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure
Requirements for Television Broadcast
Licensee Public Interest Obligations;
Extension of the Filing Requirement For
Children’s Television Programming
Report (FCC Form 398), MB Docket No.
00–168, 00–44, FCC 07–205, Report &
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SUMMARY:
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November 17, 2011, [Insert FR
page number where document
begins].
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Order, (‘‘Order’’). The Order created a
standardized form for the quarterly
reporting of programming aired in
response to issues facing a television
station’s community and a requirement
that portions of each television station’s
public inspection file be placed on the
Internet. The Order was never
implemented.
DATES:
Effective November 17, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Holly Saurer, Holly.Saurer@fcc.gov of
the Policy Division, Media Bureau, (202)
418–2120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Federal
Communications Commission’s Order
on Reconsideration in MB Docket No.
00–168, 00–44, FCC 11–162, adopted
October 27, 2011, and released October
27, 2011. The full text of this document
is available for public inspection and
copying during regular business hours
in the FCC Reference Center, Federal
Communications Commission, 445 12th
Street SW., CY–A257, Washington, DC
20554. These documents will also be
available via ECFS (https://www.fcc.gov/
cgb/ecfs/). (Documents will be available
electronically in ASCII, Word 97, and/
or Adobe Acrobat.) The complete text
may be purchased from the
Commission’s copy contractor, 445 12th
Street SW., Room CY–B402,
Washington, DC 20554. To request this
document in accessible formats
(computer diskettes, large print, audio
recording, and Braille), send an email to
fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Commission’s
Consumer and Governmental Affairs
Bureau at (202) 418–0530 (voice), (202)
418–0432 (TTY).
Summary of the Final Rule
I. Introduction
1. In this Order on Reconsideration
we take steps to modernize the way
television broadcasters inform the
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(11)(G), and (16).
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public about how they are serving their
communities. We vacate the prior
Report and Order,1 thereby resolving
pending petitions for reconsideration of
that order, re-codify the public file rules
in existence prior to adoption of the
Report and Order, and seek comment on
the proposals set forth in a Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
II. Background
2. One of a television broadcaster’s
fundamental public interest obligations
is to air programming responsive to the
needs and interests of its community of
license. Broadcasters are afforded
considerable flexibility in how they
meet that obligation, but they must
maintain a public inspection file, which
gives the public access to information
about the station’s operations and
enables members of the public to engage
in an active dialogue with broadcast
licensees regarding broadcast service.
Among other things, the public
inspection file must contain an issues/
programs list, which describes the
‘‘programs that have provided the
station’s most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding
three month period.’’ The original
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this
proceeding grew out of a prior Notice of
Inquiry, which explored the public
interest obligations of broadcast
television stations as they transitioned
to digital.2 In the 2000 NPRM, the
1 In the Matter of Standardized and Enhanced
Disclosure Requirements for Television Broadcast
Licensee Public Interest Obligations, Report and
Order, 73 FR 13452 (2007) (‘‘Report and Order’’);
In the Matter of Standardized and Enhanced
Disclosure Requirements for Television Broadcast
Licensee Public Interest Obligations, Erratum, 73 FR
30316 (2007).
2 Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure
Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee
Public Interest Obligations, Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, 65 FR 62683 (2000) (‘‘NPRM’’); In the
Matter of Public Interest Obligations of TV
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17NOR1
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71268
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 222 / Thursday, November 17, 2011 / Rules and Regulations
Commission concluded that ‘‘making
information regarding how a television
broadcast station serves the public
interest easier to understand and more
accessible will not only promote
discussion between the licensee and its
community, but will lessen the need for
government involvement in ensuring
that a station is meeting its public
interest obligation.’’ The Commission
tentatively concluded to require
television stations to use a standardized
form to report on how they serve the
public interest. The Commission also
tentatively concluded to require
television licensees to make the
contents of their public inspection files,
including the standardized form,
available on their stations’ Internet Web
sites or, alternatively, on the Web site of
their state broadcasters association. In
2007, the Commission adopted a Report
and Order implementing these
proposals.
3. Following the release of the Report
and Order, the Commission received
petitions for reconsideration from
several industry petitioners and public
interest advocates. The industry
petitioners raised a number of issues
regarding the standardized form and the
online posting requirement, generally
contending that the requirements were
overly complex and burdensome. Public
interest advocates argued that the
political file 3 should be included in the
online public file requirement rather
than exempted as provided in the
Report and Order, and that the
standardized form should be designed
to facilitate the downloading and
aggregation of data for researchers. In
addition, five parties appealed the
Report and Order, and the cases were
consolidated in the United States Court
of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The DC
Circuit granted a petition to hold the
proceeding in abeyance while we
review the petitions for reconsideration.
Challenging the rules in a third forum,
several parties opposed the information
collection contained in the Report and
Order at the Office of Management and
Budget (‘‘OMB’’) under the Paperwork
Reduction Act. Because of the multiple
petitions for reconsideration, the
Commission has not transmitted the
information collection to OMB for its
approval, and therefore the rules
Broadcast Licensees, Notice of Inquiry, 65 FR 4211
(1999)(‘‘NOI’’).
3 Sections 73.3526(e)(6), 73.3527(e)(5) and
73.1943 of the Commission’s rules require that
stations keep as part of the public inspection files
a ‘‘political file.’’
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III. Order on Reconsideration
6. We issued the 2007 Report and
Order to modernize broadcasters’
traditional public file requirement to
improve the public’s access to
information on how the stations are
serving their local communities. We
remain dedicated to that objective and
to bringing broadcast disclosure into the
21st century. Nonetheless, the
reconsideration petitions we received
from broadcasters and public interest
advocates and the responses thereto
have persuaded us to reexamine the
balance we struck in 2007 between
public access to station information and
the burden providing such access
imposes on broadcasters. In particular,
the Report and Order was based upon
an NOI and an NPRM that were issued
over a decade ago, and the record upon
which those rules were adopted does
not reflect the rapid technological
advances that have occurred over the
last ten years. Furthermore, the Report
and Order was issued approximately
three and a half years ago, and since
then we have seen even more
technological and marketplace changes
that may be pertinent to our
consideration of broadcasters’ public
disclosure obligations. In light of these
considerations, we conclude that the
best course of action is to take a fresh
look at the policy issues raised in this
proceeding.
7. We further conclude that we should
vacate the Report and Order. The rules
adopted in that order cannot take effect
without OMB approval of the
information collection under the
Paperwork Reduction Act, and we see
no reason to undertake that process
given our decision to take a fresh look
at the issues. Accordingly, vacating the
Report and Order will have no practical
effect on any party. Moreover, the
record compiled thus far in this
proceeding will continue to be available
to any party going forward, and it will
also be incorporated into the new
docket we will create to focus on the
standardized form. In these
circumstances, we see no benefit to
keeping the Report and Order in place,
and by vacating that decision, we
remove any procedural or regulatory
uncertainty that might otherwise arise if
we failed to take action to respond to
the reconsideration petitions that have
been filed while moving forward to
reevaluate the issues.6 Although the
4 See also 47 CFR 73.3526, effective date nt. 2; 47
CFR 73.3526, effective date note; 47 CFR 73.1201,
effective date note 2.
5 ‘‘The Information Needs of Communities: The
Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age,’’
by Steven Waldman and the Working Group on
Information Needs of Communities (June 2011),
available at https://www.fcc.gov/infoneedsreport. As
noted in the INC Report, the views of the report ‘‘do
not necessarily represent the views of the Federal
Communications Commission, its Commissioners
or any individual Bureaus or Offices.’’ Id. at 362.
6 The Commission has inherent authority to
revisit its policy determinations at any time, and
when it does so, it ‘‘need not demonstrate to a
court’s satisfaction that the reasons for the new
policy are better than the reasons for the old one;
it suffices that the new policy is permissible under
the statute, that there are good reasons for it, and
that the agency believes it to be better, which the
conscious change of course adequately indicates.’’
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., 129 S. Ct.
1800, 1811 (2009). For these reasons, we do not
believe that the Report and Order in any way binds
adopted in the Report and Order have
never gone into effect.4
4. In June 2011, a working group
including Commission staff, scholars
and consultants released ‘‘The
Information Needs of Communities’’
(‘‘INC Report’’), a comprehensive report
on the current state of the media
landscape.5 The INC Report discussed
both the need to empower citizens to
ensure that broadcasters serve their
communities in exchange for the use of
public spectrum, and also the need to
remove unnecessary burdens on
broadcasters who aim to serve their
communities. The INC Report provided
several recommendations relevant to
this proceeding, including eliminating
unnecessary paperwork and moving
toward an online system for public
disclosures in order to ensure greater
public access. The INC Report also
recommended requiring that when
broadcasters allow advertisers to dictate
content, they disclose the ‘‘pay-forplay’’ arrangements online as well as on
the air in order to create a permanent,
searchable record of these arrangements
and afford easy access by consumers,
competitors and watchdog groups to
this information. The Report also
suggested that governments at all levels
collect and publish data in forms that
make it easy for citizens, entrepreneurs,
software developers, and reporters to
access and analyze information in order
to enable mechanisms that can present
the data in more useful formats, and
noted that greater transparency by
government and media companies can
help reduce the cost of reporting,
empower consumers, and foster
innovation.
5. In the Order on Reconsideration,
we conclude, in light of the
reconsideration petitions we received
with respect to the Report and Order
and the comments and replies thereto,
that the best course of action is to vacate
the rules adopted in the Report and
Order and develop a new record upon
which we can evaluate our public file
and standardized form requirements.
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 222 / Thursday, November 17, 2011 / Rules and Regulations
2007 rules never became effective, they
appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations (‘‘CFR’’), while the preexisting public file rules, which remain
in effect, were removed from the CFR.
For purposes of clarification, these preexisting public file rules are being
added back to the CFR, as reflected in
the rules as outlined in the document.
We believe that it is important to recodify the existing rules, so that the CFR
reflects the rules in existence at this
time, and so that the public and stations
can clearly find the public file and
station identification requirements.
8. For the foregoing reasons, we grant
the petitions for reconsideration that
were filed, to the extent our vacatur of
the Report and Order grants the relief
requested by the petitions. In all other
respects, the reconsideration petitions
are dismissed as moot.
IV. Procedural Matters
9. The Commission will send a copy
of this Order on Reconsideration to
Congress and the Government
Accountability Office pursuant to the
Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C.
801(a)(1)(A).
V. Ordering Clauses
10. Accordingly, It Is Ordered that
pursuant to the Sections 4(i), 303 and
405 of the Communications Act, 47
U.S.C. 154(i), 303, and 405, the Report
and Order released on January 24, 2008
in the above captioned proceeding is
Vacated on our own motion, and 47
CFR 73.1201(b), 3526(b) and (e)(11) and
3527(b) and (e)(8) will be re-codified
consistent with the rules outlined in
this document.
11. It Is Further Ordered that pursuant
to Sections 4(i), and 405 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i) and 405, and
Section 1.106 of the Commission’s rules,
47 CFR 1.106, the Petitions for
Reconsideration filed by the petitioners
listed in Appendix A Are Hereby
Granted In Part and Are Otherwise
Dismissed As Moot.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73
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Television.
or constrains our ability to reexamine our policies
based upon an updated record. In the same vein,
our decision to vacate the Report and Order should
not be interpreted as an affirmative rejection of the
rules or policies contained therein. Thus, our
decision to take a fresh look does not preclude us
from deciding that certain aspects of the Report and
Order were correctly decided and should be readopted.
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14:30 Nov 16, 2011
Jkt 226001
71269
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
paragraphs (b) introductory text and
(e)(8) introductory text to read as
follows:
Final Rules
§ 73.3527 Local public inspection file of
noncommercial educational stations.
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Federal Communications
Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as
follows:
PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST
SERVICES
1. The authority citation for part 73
continues to read:
■
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336,
and 339.
§ 73.1201
[Amended]
2. Section 73.1201 is amended by
removing paragraph (b)(3).
■ 3. Section 73.3526 is amended by
removing paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2)
and (e)(9)(iii); and revising paragraphs
(b) introductory text and (e)(11)(i) to
read as follows:
■
§ 73.3526 Local public inspection file of
commercial stations.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) Location of the file. The public
inspection file shall be maintained at
the main studio of the station. An
applicant for a new station or change of
community shall maintain its file at an
accessible place in the proposed
community of license or at its proposed
main studio.
*
*
*
*
*
(e)(11)(i) TV issues/programs lists. For
commercial TV and Class A broadcast
stations, every three months a list of
programs that have provided the
station’s most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding
three month period. The list for each
calendar quarter is to be filed by the
tenth day of the succeeding calendar
quarter (e.g., January 10 for the quarter
October—December, April 10 for the
quarter January—March, etc.) The list
shall include a brief narrative describing
what issues were given significant
treatment and the programming that
provided this treatment. The description
of the programs shall include, but shall
not be limited to, the time, date,
duration, and title of each program in
which the issue was treated. The lists
described in this paragraph shall be
retained in the public inspection file
until final action has been taken on the
station’s next license renewal
application.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 4. Section 73.3527 is amended by
removing paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2),
(e)(8)(i) and (e)(8)(ii); and revising
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(b) Location of the file. The public
inspection file shall be maintained at
the main studio of the station. An
applicant for a new station or change of
community shall maintain its file at an
accessible place in the proposed
community of license or at its proposed
main studio.
*
*
*
*
*
(e)(8) Issues/Programs Lists. For
nonexempt noncommercial educational
broadcast stations, every three months a
list of programs that have provided the
station’s most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding
three month period. The list for each
calendar quarter is to be filed by the
tenth day of the succeeding calendar
quarter (e.g., January 10 for the quarter
October–December, April 10 for the
quarter January–March, etc.). The list
shall include a brief narrative describing
what issues were given significant
treatment and the programming that
provided this treatment. The description
of the programs shall include, but shall
not be limited to, the time, date,
duration, and title of each program in
which the issue was treated. The lists
described in this paragraph shall be
retained in the public inspection file
until final action has been taken on the
station’s next license renewal
application.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2011–29505 Filed 11–16–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 101126521–0640–02]
RIN 0648–XA821
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Greenland Turbot in
the Bering Sea Subarea of the Bering
Sea and Aleutian Islands Management
Area
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; apportionment
of reserves; request for comments.
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\17NOR1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 222 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71267-71269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29505]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73
[MB Docket Nos. 00-168, 00-44; FCC 11-162]
Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for Television
Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations; Extension of the Filing
Requirement for Children's Television Programming Report (FCC Form 398)
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission adopts an Order on
Reconsideration that vacates Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure
Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest
Obligations; Extension of the Filing Requirement For Children's
Television Programming Report (FCC Form 398), MB Docket No. 00-168, 00-
44, FCC 07-205, Report & Order, (``Order''). The Order created a
standardized form for the quarterly reporting of programming aired in
response to issues facing a television station's community and a
requirement that portions of each television station's public
inspection file be placed on the Internet. The Order was never
implemented.
DATES: Effective November 17, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Holly Saurer, Holly.Saurer@fcc.gov of
the Policy Division, Media Bureau, (202) 418-2120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Federal
Communications Commission's Order on Reconsideration in MB Docket No.
00-168, 00-44, FCC 11-162, adopted October 27, 2011, and released
October 27, 2011. The full text of this document is available for
public inspection and copying during regular business hours in the FCC
Reference Center, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street
SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. These documents will also be
available via ECFS (https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/). (Documents will be
available electronically in ASCII, Word 97, and/or Adobe Acrobat.) The
complete text may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor,
445 12th Street SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. To request
this document in accessible formats (computer diskettes, large print,
audio recording, and Braille), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call
the Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-
0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
Summary of the Final Rule
I. Introduction
1. In this Order on Reconsideration we take steps to modernize the
way television broadcasters inform the public about how they are
serving their communities. We vacate the prior Report and Order,\1\
thereby resolving pending petitions for reconsideration of that order,
re-codify the public file rules in existence prior to adoption of the
Report and Order, and seek comment on the proposals set forth in a
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In the Matter of Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure
Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest
Obligations, Report and Order, 73 FR 13452 (2007) (``Report and
Order''); In the Matter of Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure
Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest
Obligations, Erratum, 73 FR 30316 (2007).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Background
2. One of a television broadcaster's fundamental public interest
obligations is to air programming responsive to the needs and interests
of its community of license. Broadcasters are afforded considerable
flexibility in how they meet that obligation, but they must maintain a
public inspection file, which gives the public access to information
about the station's operations and enables members of the public to
engage in an active dialogue with broadcast licensees regarding
broadcast service. Among other things, the public inspection file must
contain an issues/programs list, which describes the ``programs that
have provided the station's most significant treatment of community
issues during the preceding three month period.'' The original Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding grew out of a prior Notice of
Inquiry, which explored the public interest obligations of broadcast
television stations as they transitioned to digital.\2\ In the 2000
NPRM, the
[[Page 71268]]
Commission concluded that ``making information regarding how a
television broadcast station serves the public interest easier to
understand and more accessible will not only promote discussion between
the licensee and its community, but will lessen the need for government
involvement in ensuring that a station is meeting its public interest
obligation.'' The Commission tentatively concluded to require
television stations to use a standardized form to report on how they
serve the public interest. The Commission also tentatively concluded to
require television licensees to make the contents of their public
inspection files, including the standardized form, available on their
stations' Internet Web sites or, alternatively, on the Web site of
their state broadcasters association. In 2007, the Commission adopted a
Report and Order implementing these proposals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure Requirements for
Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest Obligations, Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, 65 FR 62683 (2000) (``NPRM''); In the Matter of
Public Interest Obligations of TV Broadcast Licensees, Notice of
Inquiry, 65 FR 4211 (1999)(``NOI'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Following the release of the Report and Order, the Commission
received petitions for reconsideration from several industry
petitioners and public interest advocates. The industry petitioners
raised a number of issues regarding the standardized form and the
online posting requirement, generally contending that the requirements
were overly complex and burdensome. Public interest advocates argued
that the political file \3\ should be included in the online public
file requirement rather than exempted as provided in the Report and
Order, and that the standardized form should be designed to facilitate
the downloading and aggregation of data for researchers. In addition,
five parties appealed the Report and Order, and the cases were
consolidated in the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
The DC Circuit granted a petition to hold the proceeding in abeyance
while we review the petitions for reconsideration. Challenging the
rules in a third forum, several parties opposed the information
collection contained in the Report and Order at the Office of
Management and Budget (``OMB'') under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Because of the multiple petitions for reconsideration, the Commission
has not transmitted the information collection to OMB for its approval,
and therefore the rules adopted in the Report and Order have never gone
into effect.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Sections 73.3526(e)(6), 73.3527(e)(5) and 73.1943 of the
Commission's rules require that stations keep as part of the public
inspection files a ``political file.''
\4\ See also 47 CFR 73.3526, effective date nt. 2; 47 CFR
73.3526, effective date note; 47 CFR 73.1201, effective date note 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. In June 2011, a working group including Commission staff,
scholars and consultants released ``The Information Needs of
Communities'' (``INC Report''), a comprehensive report on the current
state of the media landscape.\5\ The INC Report discussed both the need
to empower citizens to ensure that broadcasters serve their communities
in exchange for the use of public spectrum, and also the need to remove
unnecessary burdens on broadcasters who aim to serve their communities.
The INC Report provided several recommendations relevant to this
proceeding, including eliminating unnecessary paperwork and moving
toward an online system for public disclosures in order to ensure
greater public access. The INC Report also recommended requiring that
when broadcasters allow advertisers to dictate content, they disclose
the ``pay-for-play'' arrangements online as well as on the air in order
to create a permanent, searchable record of these arrangements and
afford easy access by consumers, competitors and watchdog groups to
this information. The Report also suggested that governments at all
levels collect and publish data in forms that make it easy for
citizens, entrepreneurs, software developers, and reporters to access
and analyze information in order to enable mechanisms that can present
the data in more useful formats, and noted that greater transparency by
government and media companies can help reduce the cost of reporting,
empower consumers, and foster innovation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ ``The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media
Landscape in a Broadband Age,'' by Steven Waldman and the Working
Group on Information Needs of Communities (June 2011), available at
https://www.fcc.gov/infoneedsreport. As noted in the INC Report, the
views of the report ``do not necessarily represent the views of the
Federal Communications Commission, its Commissioners or any
individual Bureaus or Offices.'' Id. at 362.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. In the Order on Reconsideration, we conclude, in light of the
reconsideration petitions we received with respect to the Report and
Order and the comments and replies thereto, that the best course of
action is to vacate the rules adopted in the Report and Order and
develop a new record upon which we can evaluate our public file and
standardized form requirements.
III. Order on Reconsideration
6. We issued the 2007 Report and Order to modernize broadcasters'
traditional public file requirement to improve the public's access to
information on how the stations are serving their local communities. We
remain dedicated to that objective and to bringing broadcast disclosure
into the 21st century. Nonetheless, the reconsideration petitions we
received from broadcasters and public interest advocates and the
responses thereto have persuaded us to reexamine the balance we struck
in 2007 between public access to station information and the burden
providing such access imposes on broadcasters. In particular, the
Report and Order was based upon an NOI and an NPRM that were issued
over a decade ago, and the record upon which those rules were adopted
does not reflect the rapid technological advances that have occurred
over the last ten years. Furthermore, the Report and Order was issued
approximately three and a half years ago, and since then we have seen
even more technological and marketplace changes that may be pertinent
to our consideration of broadcasters' public disclosure obligations. In
light of these considerations, we conclude that the best course of
action is to take a fresh look at the policy issues raised in this
proceeding.
7. We further conclude that we should vacate the Report and Order.
The rules adopted in that order cannot take effect without OMB approval
of the information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act, and we
see no reason to undertake that process given our decision to take a
fresh look at the issues. Accordingly, vacating the Report and Order
will have no practical effect on any party. Moreover, the record
compiled thus far in this proceeding will continue to be available to
any party going forward, and it will also be incorporated into the new
docket we will create to focus on the standardized form. In these
circumstances, we see no benefit to keeping the Report and Order in
place, and by vacating that decision, we remove any procedural or
regulatory uncertainty that might otherwise arise if we failed to take
action to respond to the reconsideration petitions that have been filed
while moving forward to reevaluate the issues.\6\ Although the
[[Page 71269]]
2007 rules never became effective, they appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations (``CFR''), while the pre-existing public file rules, which
remain in effect, were removed from the CFR. For purposes of
clarification, these pre-existing public file rules are being added
back to the CFR, as reflected in the rules as outlined in the document.
We believe that it is important to re-codify the existing rules, so
that the CFR reflects the rules in existence at this time, and so that
the public and stations can clearly find the public file and station
identification requirements.
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\6\ The Commission has inherent authority to revisit its policy
determinations at any time, and when it does so, it ``need not
demonstrate to a court's satisfaction that the reasons for the new
policy are better than the reasons for the old one; it suffices that
the new policy is permissible under the statute, that there are good
reasons for it, and that the agency believes it to be better, which
the conscious change of course adequately indicates.'' FCC v. Fox
Television Stations, Inc., 129 S. Ct. 1800, 1811 (2009). For these
reasons, we do not believe that the Report and Order in any way
binds or constrains our ability to reexamine our policies based upon
an updated record. In the same vein, our decision to vacate the
Report and Order should not be interpreted as an affirmative
rejection of the rules or policies contained therein. Thus, our
decision to take a fresh look does not preclude us from deciding
that certain aspects of the Report and Order were correctly decided
and should be re-adopted.
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8. For the foregoing reasons, we grant the petitions for
reconsideration that were filed, to the extent our vacatur of the
Report and Order grants the relief requested by the petitions. In all
other respects, the reconsideration petitions are dismissed as moot.
IV. Procedural Matters
9. The Commission will send a copy of this Order on Reconsideration
to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the
Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
V. Ordering Clauses
10. Accordingly, It Is Ordered that pursuant to the Sections 4(i),
303 and 405 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 303, and 405,
the Report and Order released on January 24, 2008 in the above
captioned proceeding is Vacated on our own motion, and 47 CFR
73.1201(b), 3526(b) and (e)(11) and 3527(b) and (e)(8) will be re-
codified consistent with the rules outlined in this document.
11. It Is Further Ordered that pursuant to Sections 4(i), and 405
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i) and
405, and Section 1.106 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.106, the
Petitions for Reconsideration filed by the petitioners listed in
Appendix A Are Hereby Granted In Part and Are Otherwise Dismissed As
Moot.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73
Television.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
Final Rules
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as follows:
PART 73--RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES
0
1. The authority citation for part 73 continues to read:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336, and 339.
Sec. 73.1201 [Amended]
0
2. Section 73.1201 is amended by removing paragraph (b)(3).
0
3. Section 73.3526 is amended by removing paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2)
and (e)(9)(iii); and revising paragraphs (b) introductory text and
(e)(11)(i) to read as follows:
Sec. 73.3526 Local public inspection file of commercial stations.
* * * * *
(b) Location of the file. The public inspection file shall be
maintained at the main studio of the station. An applicant for a new
station or change of community shall maintain its file at an accessible
place in the proposed community of license or at its proposed main
studio.
* * * * *
(e)(11)(i) TV issues/programs lists. For commercial TV and Class A
broadcast stations, every three months a list of programs that have
provided the station's most significant treatment of community issues
during the preceding three month period. The list for each calendar
quarter is to be filed by the tenth day of the succeeding calendar
quarter (e.g., January 10 for the quarter October--December, April 10
for the quarter January--March, etc.) The list shall include a brief
narrative describing what issues were given significant treatment and
the programming that provided this treatment. The description of the
programs shall include, but shall not be limited to, the time, date,
duration, and title of each program in which the issue was treated. The
lists described in this paragraph shall be retained in the public
inspection file until final action has been taken on the station's next
license renewal application.
* * * * *
0
4. Section 73.3527 is amended by removing paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2),
(e)(8)(i) and (e)(8)(ii); and revising paragraphs (b) introductory text
and (e)(8) introductory text to read as follows:
Sec. 73.3527 Local public inspection file of noncommercial
educational stations.
* * * * *
(b) Location of the file. The public inspection file shall be
maintained at the main studio of the station. An applicant for a new
station or change of community shall maintain its file at an accessible
place in the proposed community of license or at its proposed main
studio.
* * * * *
(e)(8) Issues/Programs Lists. For nonexempt noncommercial
educational broadcast stations, every three months a list of programs
that have provided the station's most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding three month period. The list for
each calendar quarter is to be filed by the tenth day of the succeeding
calendar quarter (e.g., January 10 for the quarter October-December,
April 10 for the quarter January-March, etc.). The list shall include a
brief narrative describing what issues were given significant treatment
and the programming that provided this treatment. The description of
the programs shall include, but shall not be limited to, the time,
date, duration, and title of each program in which the issue was
treated. The lists described in this paragraph shall be retained in the
public inspection file until final action has been taken on the
station's next license renewal application.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2011-29505 Filed 11-16-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
