[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6533 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.6533

                      One Hundred Eleventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten


                                 An Act


 
     To implement the recommendations of the Federal Communications 
 Commission report to the Congress regarding low-power FM service, 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 ``Local Community Radio Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT.
    Section 632 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the 
Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 
106-553; 114 Stat. 2762A-111), is amended to read as follows:
    ``Sec. 632. (a) The Federal Communications Commission shall modify 
the rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations, as 
proposed in MM Docket No. 99-25, to--
        ``(1) prescribe protection for co-channels and first- and 
    second-adjacent channels; and
        ``(2) prohibit any applicant from obtaining a low-power FM 
    license if the applicant has engaged in any manner in the 
    unlicensed operation of any station in violation of section 301 of 
    the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301).
    ``(b) Any license that was issued by the Federal Communications 
Commission to a low-power FM station prior to April 2, 2001, and that 
does not comply with the modifications adopted by the Commission in MM 
Docket No. 99-25 on April 2, 2001, shall remain invalid.''.
SEC. 3. MINIMUM DISTANCE SEPARATION REQUIREMENTS.
    (a) In General.--The Federal Communications Commission shall modify 
its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum distance separation 
requirements between--
        (1) low-power FM stations; and
        (2) full-service FM stations, FM translator stations, and FM 
    booster stations.
    (b) Restriction.--
        (1) In general.--The Federal Communications Commission shall 
    not amend its rules to reduce the minimum co-channel and first- and 
    second-adjacent channel distance separation requirements in effect 
    on the date of enactment of this Act between--
            (A) low-power FM stations; and
            (B) full-service FM stations.
        (2) Waiver.--
            (A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Federal 
        Communications Commission may grant a waiver of the second-
        adjacent channel distance separation requirement to low-power 
        FM stations that establish, using methods of predicting 
        interference taking into account all relevant factors, 
        including terrain-sensitive propagation models, that their 
        proposed operations will not result in interference to any 
        authorized radio service.
            (B) Requirements.--
                (i) Suspension.--Any low-power FM station that receives 
            a waiver under subparagraph (A) shall be required to 
            suspend operation immediately upon notification by the 
            Federal Communications Commission that it is causing 
            interference to the reception of an existing or modified 
            full-service FM station without regard to the location of 
            the station receiving interference.
                (ii) Elimination of interference.--A low-power FM 
            station described in clause (i) shall not resume operation 
            until such interference has been eliminated or it can 
            demonstrate to the Federal Communications Commission that 
            the interference was not due to emissions from the low-
            power FM station, except that such station may make short 
            test transmissions during the period of suspended operation 
            to check the efficacy of remedial measures.
                (iii) Notification.--Upon receipt of a complaint of 
            interference from a low-power FM station operating pursuant 
            to a waiver authorized under subparagraph (A), the Federal 
            Communications Commission shall notify the identified low-
            power FM station by telephone or other electronic 
            communication within 1 business day.
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF RADIO READING SERVICES.
    The Federal Communications Commission shall comply with its 
existing minimum distance separation requirements for full-service FM 
stations, FM translator stations, and FM booster stations that 
broadcast radio reading services via an analog subcarrier frequency to 
avoid potential interference by low-power FM stations.
SEC. 5. ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF SPECTRUM FOR LOW-POWER FM STATIONS.
    The Federal Communications Commission, when licensing new FM 
translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power FM stations, 
shall ensure that--
        (1) licenses are available to FM translator stations, FM 
    booster stations, and low-power FM stations;
        (2) such decisions are made based on the needs of the local 
    community; and
        (3) FM translator stations, FM booster stations, and low-power 
    FM stations remain equal in status and secondary to existing and 
    modified full-service FM stations.
SEC. 6. PROTECTION OF TRANSLATOR INPUT SIGNALS.
    The Federal Communications Commission shall modify its rules to 
address the potential for predicted interference to FM translator input 
signals on third-adjacent channels set forth in section 2.7 of the 
technical report entitled ``Experimental Measurements of the Third-
Adjacent Channel Impacts of Low-Power FM Stations, Volume One--Final 
Report (May 2003)''.
SEC. 7. ENSURING EFFECTIVE REMEDIATION OF INTERFERENCE.
    The Federal Communications Commission shall modify the interference 
complaint process described in section 73.810 of its rules (47 CFR 
73.810) as follows:
        (1) With respect to those low-power FM stations licensed at 
    locations that do not satisfy third-adjacent channel spacing 
    requirements under section 73.807 of the Commission's rules (47 CFR 
    73.807), the Federal Communications Commission shall provide the 
    same interference protections that FM translator stations and FM 
    booster stations are required to provide as set forth in section 
    74.1203 of its rules (47 CFR 74.1203) as in effect on the date of 
    enactment of this Act.
        (2) For a period of 1 year after a new low-power FM station is 
    constructed on a third-adjacent channel, such low-power FM station 
    shall be required to broadcast periodic announcements that alert 
    listeners that interference that they may be experiencing could be 
    the result of the operation of such low-power FM station on a 
    third-adjacent channel and shall instruct affected listeners to 
    contact such low-power FM station to report any interference. The 
    Federal Communications Commission shall require all newly 
    constructed low-power FM stations on third-adjacent channels to--
            (A) notify the Federal Communications Commission and all 
        affected stations on third-adjacent channels of an interference 
        complaint by electronic communication within 48 hours after the 
        receipt of such complaint; and
            (B) cooperate in addressing any such interference.
        (3) Low-power FM stations on third-adjacent channels shall be 
    required to address complaints of interference within the protected 
    contour of an affected station and shall be encouraged to address 
    all other interference complaints, including complaints to the 
    Federal Communications Commission based on interference to a full-
    service FM station, an FM translator station, or an FM booster 
    station by the transmitter site of a low-power FM station on a 
    third-adjacent channel at any distance from the full-service FM 
    station, FM translator station, or FM booster station. The Federal 
    Communications Commission shall provide notice to the licensee of a 
    low-power FM station of the existence of such interference within 7 
    calendar days of the receipt of a complaint from a listener or 
    another station.
        (4) To the extent possible, the Federal Communications 
    Commission shall grant low-power FM stations on third-adjacent 
    channels the technical flexibility to remediate interference 
    through the colocation of the transmission facilities of the low-
    power FM station and any stations on third-adjacent channels.
        (5) The Federal Communications Commission shall--
            (A) permit the submission of informal evidence of 
        interference, including any engineering analysis that an 
        affected station may commission;
            (B) accept complaints based on interference to a full-
        service FM station, FM translator station, or FM booster 
        station by the transmitter site of a low-power FM station on a 
        third-adjacent channel at any distance from the full-service FM 
        station, FM translator station, or FM booster station; and
            (C) accept complaints of interference to mobile reception.
        (6) The Federal Communications Commission shall for full-
    service FM stations that are licensed in significantly populated 
    States with more than 3,000,000 population and a population density 
    greater than 1,000 people per one square mile land area, require 
    all low-power FM stations licensed after the date of enactment of 
    this Act and located on third-adjacent, second-adjacent, first-
    adjacent, or co-channels to such full-service FM stations, to 
    provide the same interference remediation requirements to 
    complaints of interference, without regard to whether such 
    complaints of interference occur within or outside of the protected 
    contour of such stations, under the same interference complaint and 
    remediation procedures that FM translator stations and FM booster 
    stations are required to provide to full-service stations as set 
    forth in section 74.1203 of its rules (47 CFR 74.1203) as in effect 
    on the date of enactment of this Act. Notwithstanding the 
    provisions of section 74.1203, no interference that arises outside 
    the relevant distance for the full-service station class specified 
    in the first column titled ``required'' for ``Co-channel minimum 
    separation (km)'' in the table listed in section 73.807(a)(1) of 
    the Commission's rules (47 CFR 73.807(a)(1)) shall require 
    remediation.
SEC. 8. FCC STUDY ON IMPACT OF LOW-POWER FM STATIONS ON FULL-SERVICE 
COMMERCIAL FM STATIONS.
    (a) In General.--The Federal Communications Commission shall 
conduct an economic study on the impact that low-power FM stations will 
have on full-service commercial FM stations.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall submit a report 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives on the study conducted under subsection (a).
    (c) Licensing Not Affected by Study.--Nothing in this section shall 
affect the licensing of new low-power FM stations as otherwise 
permitted under this Act.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.