[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]
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