[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 74434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31298]



  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 2003 / 
Notices  

[[Page 74434]]


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LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE BOARD


LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Program

AGENCY: LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Board.

ACTION: Notice of application filing deadline.

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SUMMARY: The LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Board (Board) announces a 
120-day application window for the submission of guarantee 
applications.

DATES: Applications for guarantees must be postmarked no later than 
April 21, 2004. Applications submitted through guaranteed carrier 
services will be considered postmarked on the date they are submitted 
to the carrier. Applications must show proof of mailing consisting of 
one of the following: (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark; 
(2) a legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the U.S. 
Postal Service; or (3) a dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from 
a commercial carrier. If an application is sent through the U.S. Postal 
Service, neither of the following will be accepted as proof of mailing: 
(1) A private metered postmark; or (2) a mail receipt that is not dated 
by the U.S. Postal Service. Applicants should note that the U.S. Postal 
Service does not uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before relying on 
this method, applicants should check with their local post office.
    Due to screening procedures at the Department of Agriculture, 
packages arriving via the United States Postal Service's Priority Mail, 
First Class, and Parcel Post services are irradiated, which can damage 
the contents, or delay delivery to the Board. Thus, applicants are 
encouraged to consider the impact of these procedures in selecting 
their chosen method for application delivery.
    Applications will not be accepted via facsimile machine 
transmission or electronic mail.
    Applications with postmarked dates after April 21, 2004 will not be 
considered and will be returned to the applicant.

ADDRESSES: An original and two copies of completed applications must be 
submitted to the Board at: Secretary, Local Television Loan Guarantee 
Board, STOP 1575, Room 2919-S, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20250-1575.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Anderson, Rural Utilities 
Service/USDA, STOP 1590, Room 5151, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20250-1590. Telephone: (202) 720-9556, fax: (202) 720-
0810, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 21, 2000, the President signed 
Public Law 106-553, the Federal Funding Act for Fiscal Year 2001. Title 
X of the statute, entitled the ``Launching Our Communities'' Access to 
Local Television Act of 2000'' (Act), established the LOCAL Television 
Loan Guarantee Board and authorized the Board to guarantee loans to 
facilitate access, on a technologically neutral basis, to signals of 
local television stations for households located in nonserved areas or 
underserved areas. The Board is composed of the Secretaries of 
Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce, and the Chairman of the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or their designees. 
Individuals have been designated as Board members for each of the 
agencies represented on the Board. The Act authorizes the Board to 
approve loan guarantees up to 80 percent of the principal amount of 
loans; the aggregate value of all loans for which loan guarantees are 
issued under the Act (including the unguaranteed portion of such loans) 
may not exceed $1.25 billion. The Board's authority to guarantee loans 
under the program expires on the earlier of the date the Secretary of 
Agriculture determines that at least 75 percent of designated market 
areas (DMAs), other than the top 40 DMAs, have access to local 
television broadcast signals for virtually all households or December 
31, 2006.
    The Act requires the issuance of regulations to implement its 
provisions. Specifically, the Act requires that these regulations set 
forth: (1) The form of any application to be submitted to the Board; 
(2) the time periods for the review and consideration by the Board of 
applications submitted to the Board, as well as any other actions to be 
taken by the Board with respect to such applications; (3) appropriate 
safeguards against evasions of the Act; (4) circumstances in which an 
applicant, together with any affiliate of an applicant, shall be 
treated as an applicant for a guarantee; (5) requirements that 
appropriate parties submit to the Board any documents and assurances 
that are required for the administration of the Act's provisions; (6) 
requirements governing defaults on loans guaranteed under the Act, 
including the administration of the payment of guaranteed amounts upon 
default; and (7) other provisions consistent with the Act's purposes as 
the Board considers appropriate. The final regulations to implement the 
program are published elsewhere in today's Federal Register and will be 
codified at Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations Parts 2200 and 
2201.
    Application requirements are set forth in the final regulations 
published today. Each application will be reviewed in accordance with 
the program's final regulations. Incomplete or ineligible applications 
will be returned to applicants.

    Dated: December 15, 2003.
Jacqueline G. Rosier,
Secretary, LOCAL Television Loan Guarantee Board.
[FR Doc. 03-31298 Filed 12-22-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-P