REC has filed a Petition for Partial Reconsideration on the recent Report and Order. The REC petition is asking the FCC to fix only one aspect of the recent rule changes, the determination of which new LPFM stations would be required to carry "periodic announcements" under Section 7 of the Local Community Radio Act.
The LCRA calls for new LPFM stations on the third adjacent channel of a full service FM station (or translator) to carry "periodic annoucnements" informing listeners how to file an interference complaint in the event that the LPFM station is interfering with the listening of the full power station.
As a result, the FCC amended Section 73.810 of the rules to require that stations "that satisfy minimum third adjacent channel spacing requirements" to broadcast the announcements. In this year's Orders, the FCC has interpreted that Section (7) of the LCRA calls for two regimes of LPFM stations, those that meet minimum spacing and those that do not.
Click here to see the current wording of the new rule - 73.810(b)
REC's argument is that Congress used different language to refer to LPFM stations on third adjacent channels that did not meet minimum spacing (under the old rules) when modifying the language of the failed Local Community Radio Act of 2009 to the 2010 version that was signed into law.
The new rule, if taken literally, would require an LPFM station to run announcements for full power station hundreds and thousands of miles away.
REC is simply asking the Commission to reword the periodic announcement rule for LPFM stations that do not meet minimum third-adjacent channel spacing requirements as those are the new stations possible due to the LCRA. We feel this was Congress' intention.
Because we are not proposing any changes to the qualifications to obtain an LPFM license at a specific location, we do not feel that this Petition for Reconsideration will delay the October, 2013 target date for the LPFM filing window.
A copy of the Petition for Partial Reconsideration can be found here.
