4-0 FCC OK Expected for Radio Technical NPRM
A draft NPRM on updating some radio technical rules isn’t expected to draw controversy and could be voted before the FCC’s July 13 meeting, said industry and agency officials in interviews. “This really strikes me as housekeeping, but good housekeeping,” said broadcast attorney David O’Neil of Rini O’Neil. “They want to clean this stuff up a bit,” said broadcast engineer Tim Sawyer of TZ Sawyer Technical Consultants. He believes some provisions may have been motivated by the upcoming November window for noncommercial educational construction permits (see 2104210076).
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The draft would seek comment on small changes to existing rules, to get rid of outdated language or harmonize them with other regulations, said broadcast officials. “Most of the proposed changes would clean up existing rules and eliminate rarely-used and inconsistent provisions,” blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford. “We’re cleaning up our broadcast radio rules,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in her blog on the July 13 draft items. The item focuses on small changes to obscure technical rules, and the vote is expected to be unanimous, an FCC official told us. An FCC spokesperson didn’t comment Wednesday.
The proposed changes that appear related to the NCE window include clarification of how the community of license is determined for new NCE stations, and bringing interference rules for NCE Class D stations into line with the other classes of FM station, said Sawyer. Class D stations are a mostly defunct class, with existing Class D's operating under grandfathered rules, Sawyer said. The change will let the FCC “treat everybody the same,” Sawyer said.
Another provision would eliminate the maximum rated transmitter power limit rule for AMs, to reflect modern transmitter power levels. “I don’t know of anybody who has run afoul” of the current rule, Sawyer said. Even if little used, clearing away outdated rules is “a worthwhile endeavor,” said O’Neil.
Other provisions define an “AM fill-in area” and amend allocation and power limits for stations near borders with Mexico and Canada to reflect current treaties. The NPRM seeks comment on eliminating an outdated requirement for stations to protect grandfathered common carrier services in Alaska. “Such action will ensure that the Commission’s rules are accurate, reducing any potential confusion and alleviating unnecessary burdens," said the FCC’s fact sheet. The agency is “clearing out regulatory underbrush,” said BakerHostetler broadcast attorney Dan Kirkpatrick.
The item doesn’t appear to have been a focus of industry lobbying and the newly created docket, 21-263, doesn’t contain any ex parte filings.