[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 168 (Friday, December 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8619-H8623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LOCAL COMMUNITY RADIO ACT OF 2010
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
[[Page H8620]]
(H.R. 6533) to implement the recommendations of the Federal
Communications Commission report to the Congress regarding low-power FM
service, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6533
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
[[Page H8621]]
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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Doyle) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
General Leave
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. DOYLE. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank Chairman Boucher, and to let Mr.
Boucher know that it has been a privilege to work with him during our
years together on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and especially
during the 2 years he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy
and of the Subcommittee on Communications Technology and the Internet.
He has been a great colleague and partner in legislation and a great
friend, and I want to wish Chairman Boucher only the best in his next
steps.
I also want to thank Chairman Waxman for strongly supporting this
bill that will give local communities across this country access to
their airwaves. I am grateful for the support that this bill has from
both sides of the aisle, from myself, the former vice chairman of the
Communications Subcommittee, to the future vice chairman of the
Communications Subcommittee, this bill's lead cosponsor and my good
friend, Lee Terry from Omaha.
We have been working together to bring local community-oriented radio
to more cities, counties, and neighborhoods across the country for 10
years now, and I would say to my friend that I think we are finally on
the last leg of this journey.
This bill will allow churches, schools, neighborhood groups, and
others to put community-oriented programming on the air, and it will
help first responders provide those communities with critical
information in times of natural disasters and other emergencies.
You see, when the Federal Communications Commission created the Low
Power FM radio service, they sought to create opportunities for new
voices on the airwaves and to allow local schools, churches, and other
community-based organizations to provide programming that is responsive
to local community needs and interests. Congress, however, passed the
Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act in 2000, and many of those
organizations were prevented from communicating to their members,
supporters, and residents on the FM radio dial. That bill called for a
field study performed by the MITRE Corporation, and for the FCC to
recommend to us what we should do.
In 2004, on a unanimous bipartisan basis, the Federal Communications
Commission issued a report to Congress which stated that, ``Congress
should readdress this issue and modify the statute to eliminate the
third adjacent channel distant separation requirements for LPFM
stations.''
For a second time, in November of 2007, and for a third time, again,
in September 2009, all five FCC Commissioners agreed that Congress
should lift the restriction on LPFM stations and allow them to license
new stations in more communities. The bill we have under debate today,
the Local Community Radio Act of 2009, does just that.
When they are allowed to exist under current law, LPFM stations have
proven to be a vital source of information during local or national
emergencies. And these stations promote the arts and education from
religious organizations, community groups, organizations promoting
literacy, and many other civically oriented organizations; stations
like:
KOCZ in Opelousas, Louisiana, which is operated by the Southern
Development Foundation, a group active in the African American
community. The station broadcasts public affairs shows, religious
programing, hip-hop and zydeco music 24 hours a day. Zydeco music is
central to the cultural heritage of the Acadiana region but had mostly
disappeared from the airwaves dominated by commercial radio; or
WRFR in Rockland, Maine, which broadcasts talk and call-in shows on
issues important to the community on a variety of things. Though six
other stations have their transmitters in the station's home in Knox
County, WRFR is the only station that originates its programming there;
and
WQRZ in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which remained on the air during
Hurricane Katrina and served as the Emergency Operations Center for
Hancock County during the worst storm there in a century.
But Congress has to act on the Commission's recommendations;
otherwise, similar stations are prevented from operating in communities
across America, communities like mine, which are too large to have any
slots for any LPFM stations at 4th adjacent, but could fit several at
3rd.
But you don't have to take my word for it--every FCC Commissioner
since 2003 has vouched for this--or the MITRE Corporation's outside
study's word for it either. We all know this is going to work because
it already works.
Currently, large commercial and noncommercial FM stations duplicate
and extend their signals on these same 3rd adjacent channels that the
FCC wants to also make available to new noncommercial stations.
This bill has broad support, as evidenced in these letters from
almost a dozen leaders, from Catholic and Protestant faiths like the
United Church of Christ and the National Association of Evangelicals; a
letter from two dozen national and local public interests, civil
rights, local groups; and another letter from the Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights; and, finally, this letter from the National Federation
of Community Broadcasters and the Prometheus Radio Project, all of whom
support this bill.
Exactly a year and a day ago, the House passed an earlier version of
this legislation, H.R. 4711, a fine bill, but the broadcasters'
concerns kept it bottled up in the Senate all year.
{time} 1100
I am pleased to tell you that at the 11th hour, in the nick of time
the various stakeholders were able to reach an agreement over the
disputed language, and all of the Senate holds have been lifted.
This version of the bill was supported by everyone with a stake in
broadcasting: Small noncommercial stations, big noncommercial stations
like NPR, big commercial stations like the National Association of
Broadcasters. This bill deserves my colleagues' support, unanimous
support, as well.
The time has finally come for Congress to rewrite this law. The time
has come to make the airwaves available to the people they serve. As I
said a year ago, the time has come to bring low power to the people.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for support of this legislation.
List of Organizations That Sent Letters of Support
Director--California Indian Heritage Council (No PDF),
Association of California Water Agencies, Wateruse
Association, American Water Works Association, Association of
Metropolitan Water Agencies, La Clinica de La Raza, A
Community Voice Louisiana, Nancy Skinner, Assemblywoman for
the 14th District, National Resource Defense Council,
California Safe Schools (no PDF).
Planning and Conservation League, Council of the District
of Columbia, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission,
California Public Health Association, Environmental Defense
Fund, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Environmental
Justice Coalition for Water, California Rural Legal
Assistance Foundation, Community Water Center, Southern
California Watershed Alliance.
Clean Water Action, Urban Semillas, Friends of the River,
Institute for Socio-Economic Justice, Planning and
Conservation League, North Richmond Shoreline Open Space
Alliance, California League of Conservation Voters,
California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health,
San Jerardo Co-Op Inc, Karuk Tribe.
Sierra Club, Consumer Union, Contra Costa Water District,
Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Environmental Defense Fund,
Ellen Corbett, 10th Senate District, Planning and
Conservation League (second one), PMI, Vermont PRIG, and
Action Now.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself of such time as I may
consume.
[[Page H8622]]
I think the gentleman did an excellent job. I obviously support this
bill. We support it on this side. I think the gentleman said
everything, but we are going to also hear from the principal cosponsor,
Lee Terry from Nebraska, who has worked with you. I am told you folks
have worked together for almost 8 years. So this is a very significant
accomplishment.
I would defend the National Association of Broadcasters because
during this process they did have some very technical concerns. I
understand now they are supporting it. The new concessions that they
brought out I think were helpful, although I am sorry it took so long
to bring it together.
It permits any citizen to complain to the FCC that a low power radio
station is causing interference to any full power radio station and
requires the FCC to shut down the station within 1 business day.
It requires a low power FM station to seek a waiver from the FCC to
use the most modern and efficient engineering methods to find spectrum
for their station.
It mandates that a full power station that wants to relocate will be
able to knock a low power radio station off the air, but permits the
FCC to use waivers and other means to find spectrum for displaced low
power FM stations.
I say that only because there are businesses that have in place
broadcast spectrum that are operating, have operated for many years,
and their concern was that the churches, the community centers, the
schools and universities and their low power stations might interfere.
I think that that was a legitimate concern. I am glad that the National
Association of Broadcasters has now conceded these and worked them out.
Obviously, I think any of us in this body would agree that it is a
very important part of democracy to have some of these, shall we say,
eclectic type of stations that offer, as you say, church music and
church services and hip-hop music. They are tailored in a special way,
plus they are available for emergency services. So I commend you and
Mr. Lee Terry, who is going to speak shortly, on this.
Basically the legislation expands the opportunity for, as we say, all
of these groups to the 116 million Americans in the top 50 radio
markets in the country who thus far have been excluded. It accomplishes
this by returning the authority to the FCC for licensing decisions
related to low power FM stations.
Major features of the bill, which is very similar to the bill that
passed the House last year, are that it fully protects full power
stations from interference by new low power radio stations. It responds
to the concerns of the NPR and the NAB and protects reading for the
blind services. The Senate bill added a requirement that the FCC
conduct a study on the economic impact of low power FM stations. So
this is all part of the process.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.
I want to thank my friend for his support of the bill. I know he is
looking forward to being able to listen to his favorite hip hop music
on his favorite low power FM station in Florida.
This has been a long journey. We have tried earnestly to address all
of the concerns that the broadcasters have, and there were many at
times. But I think we finally reached a point where we all agree,
broadcasters, commercial and noncommercial, that we now have a process
in place that protects their interests and their concerns and allows
local communities now to have this valuable resource.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield to the distinguished
gentleman from Nebraska, who also has been the principal author of this
bill and worked again tirelessly for 8 years. I would say to my friend
on the other side, AKOZ, is that the station that I should listen to
for this?
With that, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from
Nebraska (Mr. Terry).
Mr. TERRY. The gentleman from Jacksonville, Florida, knows the hip-
hop station. I am impressed.
But this is grassroots radio. We have had pirate radio. Now we are
going to have legitimate grassroots radio. This is empowering to those
that have little or no voice in their communities. This is why the
gentleman from Pittsburgh and I have worked so diligently over the last
8-10 years. Actually it goes back almost 12 years, when we helped get
the MITRE Study, so we could know based on science whether or not there
would be interference or not. And when that study, a thorough study,
came back and said there would be no interference, Mike and I began the
process of making sure that we could allow on the third adjacency
communities to have a licensed FM station.
That is what low power is about, communities. It is not going to
blast from Omaha to Lincoln. It probably won't even go from East Omaha
to midtown in Omaha or in Pittsburgh. But the reality is it will serve
the community.
Just in my district alone, in the Omaha metropolitan area, since
beginning this process we have had dozens of community groups contact
us about when they will be able to apply for a low power FM station.
This includes the Chicano Awareness Center. This includes Catholic
Charities. This includes Salem Baptist Church, which is located in the
heart of the most impoverished area of my district, one of the most
impoverished, unfortunately for the Omaha area, and one of the most
impoverished areas in the United States and in the African American
community. One of their issues is that they don't have a particular
voice for the African American or North Omaha community. So this is why
it is empowering. They finally have the opportunity now to have a radio
voice with which to communicate community issues.
Today Mike says this is low power to the people. It is the essence of
grassroots radio. This is a day to celebrate for all of our community
groups, because they will now be empowered once the Senate takes this
up, since all of the objections have been dealt with in the appropriate
manner. So this is truly a day for them to celebrate.
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
I just want to share with my colleagues, we have been waiting. We
were told this letter was en route, and it has arrived. Just for the
record, this is the letter from the National Association of
Broadcasters which was addressed to myself and Mr. Terry informing us
both that they are now in support of this bill, that they appreciate
the work that our staffs have done with them, along with the Senate
cosponsor, and that they support the bill.
Another piece of good news. CBO has scored this bill. It has no
budgetary impact. The CBO score is zero. Another piece of good news for
my colleagues who are concerned about cost.
Last, I think it is only fair that we recognize that a lot of people
have worked very, very hard on this bill. I would be remiss personally
if I didn't thank Kenneth DeGraff, who staffs me on the Telecom
Subcommittee, who has put his heart and soul into this legislation and
is more responsible than anybody in my office for seeing this day come
today.
Also from the Prometheus Radio Project, Pete Tridish; Cheryl Leanza
from the United Church of Christ; Michael Daum with Senator Cantwell's
office; Lee Dunn with Senator McCain's office. There have been many,
many people who have worked hard. I know that Lee Terry, his staff too
has worked very hard on this issue, and that all of our staffs deserve
credit. They are the unsung heroes behind the scenes that do all the
work. Brad Schweer with Lee Terry's office has been just great on this
too.
So I want to thank my colleagues.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I think the
gentleman has pointed out this is a bipartisan bill. It took awhile.
The National Association of Broadcasters are now supporting this, it
doesn't cost any money, so I urge its adoption.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DOYLE. In closing, Mr. Speaker, this bill passed unanimously in
the House of Representatives when it was H.R. 1147. This bill has broad
bipartisan support.
I want to thank all of my colleagues for their work, and I would hope
that we could have a unanimous vote today on the House floor when the
bill is brought up.
Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6533, the Local
Community
[[Page H8623]]
Radio Act of 2010. I want to thank Chairman Boucher for his leadership
in guiding this bipartisan bill through the Energy and Commerce
Committee and the House last year. I also want to recognize and thank
Mr. Doyle and Mr. Terry--the original sponsors of the bill--for their
tireless leadership in pushing this legislation forward, and for their
commitment to expanding diversity, localism, and competition in our
media landscape. Mr. Doyle has been an energetic champion of local
community radio, and I greatly appreciate his leadership, flexibility,
and perseverance.
I have long-supported expanding Low Power FM radio services. This
bill removes a statutory barrier to the creation of potentially
thousands of new low power stations across the country. The creation of
these stations will further the overriding national policy goals of
promoting broadcast localism and diversity. At the same time, this
legislation fully protects incumbent radio broadcasters from
unreasonable interference, with a clear dispute resolution process to
mitigate interference with station transmissions.
In December 2009, the House has approved the Local Community Radio
Act by voice vote. Since that time, however, the bill has been held up
in the Senate due to ongoing concerns from some broadcasters. To
address these concerns, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Terry, Senator Cantwell, and
Senator McCain have been working diligently to eliminate outstanding
objections so we can finally pass this legislation and send it to
President Obama for signature. It is my hope that the Senate will take
up H.R. 6533 promptly and do just that.
Most notably, this revised version of the bill incorporates
additional interference remediation procedures preferred by the
broadcasters. I am pleased that H.R. 6533 now has the full support of
the National Association of Broadcasters. I want to thank NAB for
working with us cooperatively to move this legislation closer to
passage. I also want to thank the Prometheus Radio Project, the United
Church of Christ, and other long-time supporters of Low Power FM
services for their input and support.
This is a good bipartisan bill that will promote localism and
diversity over the airwaves. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6533.
Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Holden). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Doyle) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6533.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________