[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28369-28370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13625]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 73
[MM Docket No. 87-267; FCC 97-68]
Implementation of the AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; petitions for reconsideration; correction.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission published in the Federal
Register of April 29, 1997, page 23176, a document concerning
Implementation of the AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan, FCC 97-68. The
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis was inadvertently omitted. This
document corrects that error.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 17, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter H. Doyle, Audio Services
Division, Mass Media Bureau, (202) 418-2625.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
should have appeared on page 23176, in the second column, in the
Supplementary Information following the first paragraph.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 603
(RFA) an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was
incorporated in Review of the Technical Assignment Criteria for the AM
Broadcast Service, 5 FCC Rcd 4381 (1990) (Technical Assignment Criteria
Rulemaking). The Commission sought written public comments on the
proposals in Technical Assignment Criteria Rulemaking, including the
IRFA. The Commission's Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) in
Report and Order, Review of the Technical Assignment Criteria for the
AM Broadcast Service, 6 FCC Rcd 6273 (1991) (Report and Order) was
issued prior to enactment of the amendments to the RFA Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), which was enacted
as Title II of the Contract With America Advancement Act of 1966
(CWAAA), Public Law 104-121, 110 Stat. 847 (1996).1 This
FRFA is limited to matters raised in response to the Commission's
action on reconsideration of Report and Order in Comments in Response
to Reconsideration of Implementation of the AM Expanded Band and
Allotment Plan, 11 FCC Rcd 12444 (1996) and addressed in this
Memorandum Opinion and Order.
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\1\ Title II of the CWAAA is ``The Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996'' (SBREFA), codified at 5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.
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I. Need for and Objectives of this Memorandum Opinion and Order
This proceeding was initiated to improve the quality of AM
broadcasting by permitting the migration of existing band stations
experiencing significant levels of interference to the expanded AM
band, i.e., 1605--1705 kHz. The actions taken in the Memorandum Opinion
and Order are consistent with this goal. Specifically, the Memorandum
Opinion and Order modifies the frequency preclusion computer program to
follow the federal travelers information station interference standards
previously specified in this proceeding. It also clarifies the second
harmonic interference standard incorporated in the frequency preclusion
program. Lastly, the order conforms the revised allotment plan to
Region 2 treaty requirements and eliminates software coding errors in
the frequency preclusion and allotment plan programs.
[[Page 28370]]
II. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by the Public Comments In
Response to the IRFA
As previously disclosed, no comments have been submitted in this
proceeding in response to the IRFA. Out of an abundance of caution we
have reconsidered the conclusions previously reached in the FRFA even
though this proceeding will directly impact less than one percent of
licensed commercial radio stations and less than thirteen percent of
the stations eligible to migrate to the expanded band. Nineteen
stations have changed frequencies from the second to third allotment
plans and nine stations listed in the second allotment plan can no
longer be accommodated.
III. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities To Which
the Memorandum Opinion and Order Will Apply
The Small Business Administration defines a radio broadcasting
station that has $5 million or less in annual receipts as a small
business.2 A radio broadcasting station is an establishment
primarily engaged in broadcasting aural programs by radio to the
public.3 Included in this industry are commercial,
religious, educational, and other radio stations.4 Radio
broadcasting stations which primarily are engaged in radio broadcasting
and which produce radio program materials are similarly included.\5\
The 1992 Census indicates that 96 percent (5,861 of 6,127) radio
station establishments produced less than $5 million in revenue in
1992.\6\ Currently, there are more than 12,000 operating, licensed
radio stations.\7\
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\2\ 13 CFR 121.201, SIC 4832.
\3\ Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of Census,
U.S. Department of Commerce.
\4\ Id.
\5\ Id.
\6\ The Census Bureau counts radio stations located at the same
facility as one establishment. Therefore, each co-located AM/FM
combination counts as one establishment.
\7\ FCC News Release, No. 72140 (released February 5, 1997)
(announcing that 4,854 AM, 5,429 FM and 1,868 noncommercial
educational FM broadcast stations were licensed as of January 31,
1997).
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The Commission previously determined that 710 AM licensees and
permittees were eligible to migrate to the expanded band, based on
timely expressions of interest in these frequencies. This list excludes
daytime-only stations whose calculated interference reduction
improvement factor is zero. The third allotment plan, which is being
released simultaneously with the Memorandum Opinion and Order, lists
eighty-eight of these stations that are eligible to apply for expanded
band authorizations. Nine stations listed on the second allotment plan
cannot be accommodated under the new plan. Ten new stations have been
added. Many, if not most of the eighty-eight potential migrators are
small business entities. Because the decision to file a construction
permit application and, following grant, to construct an AM broadcast
station which operates on an expanded band frequency is wholly
voluntary, it is impossible to predict how many stations will be
directly impacted by this proceeding. To the extent that eligible
stations elect to migrate to the expanded band, an unknown number of
the approximately 4,900 operating, licensed AM broadcast stations could
experience some reduced level of interference and congestion in the
existing band. Most of these existing band stations also would qualify
as ``small entities.''
Alternative Classification of Small Stations. An alternative way to
classify small radio stations would be based on the number of
employees. The Commission currently applies a standard based on the
number of employees in administering its Equal Employment Opportunity
Rule (EEO) for broadcasting.8 Thus, radio (and television)
stations with fewer than five full-time employees are exempted from
certain EEO reporting and record keeping requirements.9 We
estimate that the total number of broadcast stations with 4 or fewer
employees is approximately 4,239 10 and that most of these
are radio stations.
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\8\ The Commission's definition of a small broadcast station for
purposes of applying its EEO rules was adopted prior to the
requirement of approval by the SBA pursuant to Section 3(a) of the
Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632(a), as amended by Section 222 of
the Small Business Credit and Business Opportunity Enhancement Act
of 1992, Public Law 102-366, 222(b)(1), 106 Stat. 999 (1992), as
further amended by the Small Business Administration Reauthorization
and Amendments Act of 1994, Public Law 103-403, 301, 108 Stat. 4187
(1994). However, this definition was adopted after the public notice
and the opportunity for comment. See Report and Order in Docket No.
18244, 23 FCC 2d 430 (1970).
\9\ See, e.g., 47 CFR 73.3612 (Requirement to file annual
employment reports on Form 395 applies to licensees with five or
more full-time employees); First Report and 0rder in Docket No.
21474 (Amendment of Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Rules and
FCC Form 395), 70 FCC 2d 1466 (1979). The Commission is currently
considering how to decrease the administrative burdens imposed by
the EEO rule on small stations while maintaining the effectiveness
of our broadcast EEO enforcement. Order and Notice of Proposed Rule
Making in MM Docket No. 96-16 (Streamlining Broadcast EEO Rule and
Policies, Vacating the EEO Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amending
Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules to Include EEO Forfeiture
Guidelines), 11 FCC Rcd 5154 (1996). One option under consideration
is whether to define a small station for purposes of affording such
relief as one with ten or fewer full-time employees.
\10\ Compilation of 1994 Broadcast Station Annual Employment
Reports (FCC Form 395B), Equal Opportunity Employment Branch, Mass
Media Bureau, FCC.
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IV. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other
Compliance Requirements
Stations listed in the third allotment plan will be afforded 90
days to file feeable applications for construction permits on the
allotted channels. These applications will be placed on cut-off lists
following their acceptance for filing to permit the filing of petitions
to deny. Each station, following grant of its construction permit
application, will have eighteen months to complete station construction
and file a feeable application for covering license. To satisfy these
requirements it is likely that each of these stations will require the
use of professional legal and engineering services.
V. Significant Alternatives and Steps Taken By Agency To Minimize
Significant Economic Impact on a Substantial Number of Small Entities
Consistent With Stated Objectives
As noted above, the revised expanded band allotment plan would
permit less than thirteen percent of eligible AM station licensees and
permittees to migrate to the expanded band. Stations electing to apply
for and construct expanded band facilities are subject to essentially
the same license processing requirements as any applicant seeking a new
broadcast station. The changes adopted in the Memorandum Opinion and
Order were necessary given technical considerations and international
treaty requirements.
VI. Report to Congress
The Commission shall send a copy of this Final Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis, along with this Report and Order, in a report to
Congress pursuant to the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-13625 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
