[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59903-59906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23645]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 90

[PS Docket No. 13-209, RM-11663; FCC 13-117]


Emission Mask Requirements for Digital Technologies on 800 MHz 
NPSPAC Channels; Analog FM Capability on Mutual Aid and 
Interoperability Channels

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This document seeks comment on proposals to amend the 
Commission's rules to promote spectrum efficiency, interoperability, 
and restrict interference in public safety operations in the (806-809/
851-854 MHz, 150-170 MHz and 450-470 MHz bands). By this action, the 
Commission affords interested parties an opportunity to submit comments 
on these proposed rule changes.

DATES: Comments are due on or before November 14, 2013 and reply 
comments are due on or before November 29, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by PS Docket No. 13-209, 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal Communications Commission's Web Site: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/ (or http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs). Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     People With Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request 
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language 
interpreters, CART, etc.) by email: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.

For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John A. Evanoff, Esq., Policy and 
Licensing Division, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, (202) 
418-0848.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 13-117, adopted August 23, 2013 and 
released on August 27, 2013. The document is available for download at 
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/. The complete text of this 
document is also available for inspection and copying during normal 
business hours in the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 
12th Street SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. To request 
materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, 
large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to 
[email protected] or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 
202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).
    1. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in PS Docket No. 13-
209, the Commission initiates a new proceeding in response to a 
Petition for Rulemaking filed by Harris Corporation (Harris). The NPRM 
proposes to require digital technologies, including but not limited to 
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) based technologies, to comply with 
Emission Mask H when operated in the 800 MHz National Public Safety 
Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) band (806-809/851-854 MHz). The 
NPRM also proposes to require equipment to have analog FM capability 
when operating on 800 MHz NPSPAC, VHF (150-170 MHz), and UHF (450-470 
MHz) public safety mutual aid and interoperability channels. These 
proposals could help safeguard public safety licensees in the NPSPAC 
band from adjacent-channel interference and preserve interoperability 
in the NPSPAC, VHF and UHF bands.
    2. Pursuant to Sec. Sec.  1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's 
rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments and 
reply comments on or before the dates indicated on the first page of 
this document. All filings related to the NPRM should refer to PS

[[Page 59904]]

Docket No. 13-209. Comments may be filed using: (1) The Commission's 
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's 
eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies. See Electronic 
Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/ (or http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs). Filers should follow the 
instructions provided on the Web site for submitting comments.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket 
or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers 
must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or 
rulemaking number.
    3. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial 
overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service 
mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, 
Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
     All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings 
for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 
445 12th St. SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours 
are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together 
with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be 
disposed of before entering the building.
     Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton 
Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
     U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority 
mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington DC 20554.
    4. Interested parties may view documents filed in this proceeding 
on the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) using the 
following steps: (1) Access ECFS at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs. (2) In 
the introductory screen, click on ``Search for Filed Comments.'' (3) In 
the ``Proceeding'' box, enter the numerals in the docket number. (4) 
Click on the box marked ``Retrieve Document List.'' A link to each 
document is provided in the document list. The public may inspect and 
copy filings and comments during regular business hours at the FCC 
Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-A257, 
Washington, DC 20554. The public may also purchase filings and comments 
from the Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, 
Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 
20554, telephone 1-800-378-3160, or via email to [email protected]. The 
public may also download this NPRM from the Commission's Web site at 
http://www.fcc.gov/.
    5. People With Disabilities: To request materials in accessible 
formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic 
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the 
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-
418-0432 (tty).
    6. Commenters who file information that they believe should be 
withheld from public inspection may request confidential treatment 
pursuant to Sec.  0.459 of the Commission's rules. Commenters should 
file both their original comments for which they request 
confidentiality and redacted comments, along with their request for 
confidential treatment. Commenters should not file proprietary 
information electronically. See Examination of Current Policy 
Concerning the Treatment of Confidential Information Submitted to the 
Commission, Report and Order, 63 FR 44161, August 18, 1998, Order on 
Reconsideration, 64 FR 55161, October 12, 1999. Even if the Commission 
grants confidential treatment, information that does not fall within a 
specific exemption pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 
must be publicly disclosed pursuant to an appropriate request. See 47 
CFR 0.461; 5 U.S.C. 552. We note that the Commission may grant requests 
for confidential treatment either conditionally or unconditionally. As 
such, we note that the Commission has the discretion to release 
information on public interest grounds that does fall within the scope 
of a FOIA exemption.
    7. This proceeding shall be treated as a ``permit-but-disclose'' 
proceeding in accordance with the Commission's ex parte rules. Persons 
making ex parte presentations must file a copy of any written 
presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within 
two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline 
applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral ex 
parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the 
presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise 
participating in the meeting at which the ex parte presentation was 
made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during 
the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of 
the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the 
presenter's written comments, memoranda or other filings in the 
proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or 
arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings 
(specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data 
or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the 
memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex 
parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must 
be filed consistent with 47 CFR 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by 
47 CFR 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method 
of electronic filing, written ex parte presentations and memoranda 
summarizing oral ex parte presentations, and all attachments thereto, 
must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available 
for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format (e.g., 
.doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding 
should familiarize themselves with the Commission's ex parte rules.

A. Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    8. This document does not contain proposed information collection 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 
104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any proposed 
information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer 
than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act 
of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).

B. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 Analysis

    9. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as 
amended (RFA), the Commission prepared this Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) of the possible significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities by the policies and rules 
proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Written public 
comments are requested on this IRFA. Comments must be filed by the same 
dates as listed on the first page of the NPRM and must have a separate 
and distinct heading designating them as responses to this IRFA. The 
Commission will send a copy of the NPRM, including this IRFA, to the 
Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA).

[[Page 59905]]

C. Need for, and Objectives of, the Proposed Rules

    10. In the NPRM, the Commission seeks comment on proposals to amend 
the Commission's rules governing public safety spectrum at 806-809/851-
854 MHz, VHF and UHF. The NPRM is intended to determine whether it is 
in the public interest, convenience and necessity to amend the Part 90 
rules for emission masks and interoperability in order to prevent 
interference and promote interoperable public safety communications.

D. Legal Basis

    11. The legal basis for any action that may be taken pursuant to 
the NPRM is contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i), 301, 303, 307, 309, 319, 
324, and 332 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 
151, 152, 154(i), 301, 303, 307, 309, 319, 324, and 332.

E. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which 
the Proposed Rules Will Apply

    12. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of and, where 
feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that may be 
affected by the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA generally defines 
the term ``small entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms 
``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and ``small governmental 
jurisdiction.'' In addition, the term ``small business'' has the same 
meaning as the term ``small business concern'' under the Small Business 
Act. A small business concern is one which: (1) Is independently owned 
and operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) 
satisfies any additional criteria established by the SBA.
    13. Private Land Mobile Radio Licensees. PLMR systems serve an 
essential role in a range of industrial, business, land transportation, 
and public safety activities. These radios are used by companies of all 
sizes operating in all U.S. business categories, and are often used in 
support of the licensee's primary (non-telecommunications) business 
operations. For the purpose of determining whether a licensee of a PLMR 
system is a small business as defined by the SBA, we use the broad 
census category, Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except 
Satellite). This definition provides that a small entity is any such 
entity employing no more than 1,500 persons. The Commission does not 
require PLMR licensees to disclose information about number of 
employees, so the Commission does not have information that could be 
used to determine how many PLMR licensees constitute small entities 
under this definition. We note that PLMR licensees generally use the 
licensed facilities in support of other business activities, and 
therefore, it would also be helpful to assess PLMR licensees under the 
standards applied to the particular industry subsector to which the 
licensee belongs.
    14. As of November 1, 2012, there were 1,185 PLMR licensees 
operating in the PLMR band between 806-809/851-854 MHz (NPSPAC band) 
and 686 PLMR licensees operating on the VHF and UHF public safety 
interoperability channels. We note that any entity engaged in a 
commercial activity is eligible to hold a PLMR license, and that any 
revised rules in this context could therefore potentially impact small 
entities covering a great variety of industries.
    15. RF Equipment Manufacturers. The Census Bureau defines this 
category as follows: ``This industry comprises establishments primarily 
engaged in manufacturing radio and television broadcast and wireless 
communications equipment. Examples of products made by these 
establishments are: transmitting and receiving antennas, cable 
television equipment, GPS equipment, pagers, cellular phones, mobile 
communications equipment, and radio and television studio and 
broadcasting equipment.'' The SBA small business size standard for 
Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment 
Manufacturing is all such firms having 750 or fewer employees. 
According to Census Bureau data for 2007, there were a total of 939 
establishments in this category that operated for the entire year. Of 
this total, 912 had employment of under 500, and an additional 10 had 
employment of 500 to 999. Thus, under this size standard, the majority 
of firms can be considered small.

F. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other 
Compliance Requirements

    16. The NPRM proposes two rule changes that will affect reporting, 
recordkeeping and other compliance requirements. The NPRM proposes 
requiring digital technologies, including, but not limited to TETRA-
based technologies, to (a) comply with Emission Mask H when operated on 
800 MHz NPSPAC channels and (b) have analog FM capability on public 
safety mutual aid and interoperability frequencies. These digital 
technologies are spectrum-efficient, but have characteristics that 
differ from those in use when the Emission Mask rules were adopted and, 
hence, have a greater likelihood of causing adjacent-channel 
interference than the earlier technologies. Industry practice 
recognizes that (1) digitally-modulated signals must be certified under 
the H-Mask for use in public safety spectrum and (2) radios intended 
for use on mutual aid and interoperability channels must be capable of 
analog FM operation. We expect that large and small manufacturers 
already comply with these proposed regulations. However, to the extent 
some manufacturers do not already comply with these proposed 
regulations and industry standards, we expect that such manufacturers 
would refrain from marketing their equipment to public safety entities 
as being in compliance with the Commission's rules and ensure that 
their equipment performs consistent with these proposed regulations 
designed to prevent interference and preserve interoperability.

G. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered

    17. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant, 
specifically small business, alternatives that it has considered in 
reaching its proposed approach, which may include the following four 
alternatives (among others): (1) The establishment of differing 
compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into 
account the resources available to small entities; (2) the 
clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance and 
reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; (3) the use 
of performance rather than design standards; and (4) an exemption from 
coverage of the rule, or any part thereof for small entities.
    18. We have evaluated our proposals in this NPRM in the context of 
small business entities and find no alternatives, to the benefit of 
small entities that would achieve our goals of interference avoidance 
and interoperability. Additionally, this NPRM proposes rules that are 
consistent with industry practice. Accordingly, we expect most 
manufacturers already comply with our proposed regulations, therefore 
minimizing any significant economic impact on small entities.
    19. We hereby invite interested parties to address any or all of 
these regulatory alternatives and to suggest additional alternatives to 
minimize any significant economic impact on small entities. Any 
significant alternative presented in the comments will be considered.

[[Page 59906]]

H. Federal Rules That May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With the 
Proposed Rules

    20. None.

Ordering Clauses

    21. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 
303, 316, 332 and 337 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 
U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 303, 316, 332 and 337, the NPRM is hereby adopted.
    22. It is further ordered that pursuant to applicable procedures 
set forth in Sec. Sec.  1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 
CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments on the NPRM on 
or before November 14, 2013, and reply comments on or before November 
29, 2013.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 90

    Communications equipment, Radio.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR part 90 as follows:

PART 90--PRIVATE LAND MOBILE RADIO SERVICES

0
1. The authority citation for part 90 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Sections 4(i), 11, 303(g), 303(r), and 332(c)(7) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 161, 
303(g), 303(r), 332(c)(7).

0
2. Section 90.203 is amended by revising paragraphs (i) and (j)(1) to 
read as follows:


Sec.  90.203  Certification Required.

* * * * *
    (i) Equipment certificated after DATE and marketed for public 
safety operation in the 806-809/851-854 MHz bands must have the 
capability to be programmed for analog FM operation on the mutual aid 
channels as designated in Sec.  90.617(a)(1) of the rules.
    (j) * * *
    (1) Applications for certification received on or after DATE, for 
mobile and portable transmitters designed to transmit voice on public 
safety frequencies in the 150-174 MHz band will be granted only if the 
mobile/portable equipment is capable of operating in the analog FM mode 
on the nationwide public safety interoperability calling channel in the 
150-174 MHz band. (See Sec.  90.20(c) and (d) of this part.) 
Applications for certification received on or after DATE, for mobile 
and portable transmitters designed to transmit voice on public safety 
frequencies in the 450-470 MHz band will be granted only if the mobile/
portable equipment is capable of operating in the analog FM mode on the 
nationwide public safety interoperability calling channel in the 450-
470 MHz band. (See Sec.  90.20(c) and (d) of this part.)
* * * * *
0
3. Section 90.210 is amended in the table by adding footnote 6 to the 
entry for ``806-809/851-854'' to read as follows:


Sec.  90.210  Emission Masks.

                        Applicable Emission Masks
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Mask for     Mask for
                                                 equipment    equipment
             Frequency band (MHz)                with audio    without
                                                  low pass    audio low
                                                   filter    pass filter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                * * * * *
806-809/851-854 \6\...........................           B            H
 
                                * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
\6\ Transmitters utilizing analog emissions that are equipped with an
  audio low-pass filter must meet Emission Mask B. All transmitters
  utilizing digital emissions and those transmitters using analog
  emissions without an audio low-pass filter must meet emission mask H.

[FR Doc. 2013-23645 Filed 9-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P