[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 383 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 383

 To shorten the term of broadcasting licenses under the Communications 
   Act of 1934 from 8 to 3 years, to provide better public access to 
broadcasters' public interest issues and programs lists and children's 
              programming reports, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 15, 2005

  Mr. McCain introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To shorten the term of broadcasting licenses under the Communications 
   Act of 1934 from 8 to 3 years, to provide better public access to 
broadcasters' public interest issues and programs lists and children's 
              programming reports, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Localism in Broadcasting Reform Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. 3-YEAR TERM FOR BROADCAST LICENSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 307(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 307(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``8'' each place it 
appears and inserting ``3''.
    (b) Existing Licenses.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to licenses granted or renewed after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. FULL COMMISSION REVIEW REQUIRED FOR 5 PERCENT OF APPLICATIONS.

    Section 309(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(a)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The determination 
required by this subsection shall be made by the full Commission en 
banc in no fewer than 5 percent of the applications filed with it in 
each calendar year to which section 308 applies.''.

SEC. 4. ISSUES AND PROGRAMS REPORTS; CHILDREN'S TELEVISION REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Electronic filing.--The Commission shall amend its 
        regulations to require every broadcaster to file, 
        electronically, a copy of its public interest issues and 
        programs list and its children's programming reports with the 
        Commission, in such form as the Commission may require, within 
        10 days after the end of each calendar quarter.
            (2) Waiver.--The Commission may waive or defer compliance 
        with the regulations promulgated in paragraph (1) by a 
        broadcaster in any specific instance for good cause shown where 
        such action would be consistent with the public interest.
    (b) Licensee Website Requirement.--The Commission shall amend its 
regulations to require every broadcast station for which there is a 
publicly accessible website on the Internet--
            (1) to make its public interest issues and programs list 
        and its children's programming reports available to the public 
        on that website; or
            (2) to provide a hyperlink on that website to that 
        information on the Commission's website.
    (c) Commission Website Requirement.--The Commission shall provide 
access to the public to the public interest issues and programs lists 
and children's programming reports filed electronically by broadcasting 
stations with the Commission.
    (d) Timeframe.--The Commission shall amend its regulations to carry 
out the requirements of this section not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. STANDARDS FOR BROADCAST STATION RENEWAL TO INCLUDE REVIEW OF 
              LICENSEE'S OTHER STATIONS.

    Section 309(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
309(k)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``with respect to that station,'' and 
        inserting ``with respect to that station (and all stations 
        operated by the licensee),'';
            (2) by striking ``its'' and inserting ``that station's''; 
        and
            (3) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``the station has'' 
        and inserting ``the station has, and such other stations 
        have,''.

SEC. 6. PARTY IN INTEREST REQUIREMENT FOR PETITIONS TO OPPOSE THE GRANT 
              OR RENEWAL OF A LICENSE.

    Section 309(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
309(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term `party in interest' 
includes any individual who--
            ``(A) is a listener or viewer of the specific station to 
        which the application relates (determined without regard to 
        such individual's place of residence);
            ``(B) asserts an interest in vindicating the general public 
        interest; and
            ``(C) makes the specific allegations and showings required 
        by this subsection.''.

SEC. 7. COMPLETION OF CERTAIN PENDING PROCEEDINGS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 9 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete action on--
            (1) In the Matter of Standardized and Enhanced Disclosure 
        Requirements for Television Broadcast Licensee Public Interest 
        Obligations, MM Docket No. 00-168; and
            (2) In the Matter of Public Interest Obligations of 
        Television Broadcast Licensees, MM Docket No. 99-360.
    (b) Standardized Forms for Electronically Filed Reports.--As part 
of the proceedings described in subsection (a), the Commission shall--
            (1) give consideration to requiring standardized forms for 
        broadcasters to use in preparing public interest issues and 
        programs lists for electronic filing; and
            (2) if it determines that such standardized forms would be 
        in the public interest, develop and promulgate such forms and 
        require their use by permittees and licensees.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Broadcaster.--The term ``broadcaster'' means a 
        permittee or licensee of a commercial or non-commercial 
        television or radio broadcast station.
            (2) Children's programming reports.--The term ``children's 
        programming reports'' means the information that a broadcaster 
        is required to provide for public inspection by paragraph 
        (e)(11)(iii) of section 73.3526 of title 47, Code of Federal 
        Regulations.
            (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission.
            (4) Public interest issues and programs list.--The term 
        ``public interest issues and programs list'' means the 
        information that--
                    (A) a commercial broadcast station is required to 
                provide for public inspection by paragraphs (e)(11)(i) 
                and (12) of section 73.3526 of title 47, Code of 
                Federal Regulations; and
                    (B) a non-commercial broadcast station is required 
                to provide for public inspection by paragraph (e)(8) of 
                section 73.3527 of title 47, Code of Federal 
                Regulations.
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