On January 28, 2010, the Commission
adopted a First Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (the Order) in MB Docket No. 09-52, FCC 10-24. The
Order adopts changes to certain procedures associated with the
award of broadcast radio construction permits by competitive
bidding, including modifications to the manner in which it awards
preferences to applicants under the provisions of Section 307(b) of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act). With regard
to AM application processing, the Commission adopted a proposal to
explicitly prohibit the downgrading of proposed AM facilities that
receive a dispositive preference under Section 307(b) of the Act
and thus are not awarded through competitive bidding. Specifically,
an AM applicant that receives a dispositive preference under
Section 307(b) will not be allowed to later modify that proposal to
serve a smaller population or otherwise negate the factors that led
to the award of the preference. The Commission imposed these
restrictions for a period of four years of on-air operations. These
procedural safeguards are necessary to protect the integrity of our
Section 307(b) analyses.
US Code:
47
USC 154(i) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 308 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 303 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
The Commission has program
changes to the annual burden hours of +270 hours and cost burden of
+$40,537.50 ($40,538 rounded) due to the adoption of information
collection requirements contained in the Order. The increases are
due to revisions made to FCC 301 to include a new question asking
AM broadcast applicants to certify that the construction permit
application complies with the four year substantial equivalency
service requirements if the AM facility that is the subject of the
application was awarded on the basis of a dispositive Section
307(b) preference. These changes reflect an increase by one quarter
hour per application for AM applicants and/or their consulting
engineers to evaluate compliance with FCC rules and assess whether
the facility provides service substantially as proposed for those
applicants that had received a dispositive preference under Section
307(b) of the Act. We also made modifications to the instructions
for the Legal Section (Instructions, Section III A - AM
Engineering) of Form 301 that do not add burdens because they are
editorial in nature. The Commission also had adjustments to the
annual cost burden of +$40,614,424 which were due to increases in
consulting fees.
$8,830,736
No
No
No
Uncollected
No
Uncollected
Tom Nessinger 202 418-2709
thomas.nessinger@fcc.gov
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.