70562 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

or the data on which the Department 

bases the computations; and 

(b) File the protest by the first 

business day of the calendar year 

following the end of the fiscal year for 

which the Department made the 

payments.

§ 44.57 Can a unit of general local 

government appeal a rejection of a protest? 

Any affected local government may 

appeal the Department’s decision to 

reject a protest to the Interior Board of 

Land Appeals under 43 CFR part 4.

43 CFR CHAPTER II—BUREAU OF LAND 

MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE 

INTERIOR

PART 1880—[AMENDED]

■ 2. Subpart 1881 (§§ 1881.10 through 

1881.57) is removed.

[FR Doc. 04–26803 Filed 12–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–RK–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 18

[ET Docket No. 98–42; FCC 04–263] 

RF Lighting Devices

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document addresses a 

Joint Petition for Clarification (Joint 

Petition) filed by XM Radio Inc. and 

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (the Satellite 

Radio Licensees) requesting clarification 

of the Commission’s Order in this 

proceeding. The Commission 

determined that there was no need to 

define out-of-band limits for radio 

frequency (RF) lights in the 2.45 GHz 

band. We dismissed the Joint Petition 

and reject the Satellite Radio Licensees’

request to prohibit the operation of RF 

lights in the 2.45 GHz band. We further 

affirm our decision to terminate the 

proceeding without prejudice to its 

substantive merits.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anh 

Wride, Office of Engineering and 

Technology, (202) 418–0577, e-mail: 

Anh.Wride@fcc.gov, TTY (202) 418–

2989.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Order, ET 

Docket No. 98–42, FCC 04–263, adopted 

November 5, 2004 and released 

November 9, 2004. The full text of this 

document is available on the 

Commission’s Internet site at http://

www.fcc.gov. It is also available for 

inspection and copying during regular 

business hours in the FCC Reference 

Center (Room CY–A257), 445 12th 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. The 

full text of this document also may be 

purchased from the Commission’s 

duplication contractor, Best Copy and 

Printing, Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street, 

SW., Room CY–B402, Washington, DC 

20554; telephone (202) 863–2893; fax 

(202) 863–2898. 

Summary of the Report and Order 

1. In the Order, the Commission 

determined that there was no need to 

define out-of-band limits for radio 

frequency (RF) lights in the 2.45 GHz 

band. The Commission dismissed the 

Joint Petition and rejected the Satellite 

Radio Licensees’ request to prohibit the 

operation of RF lights in the 2.45 GHz 

band. We further affirm our decision to 

terminate the proceeding without 

prejudice to its substantive merits. 

2. On April 1, 1998, the Commission 

adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule 

Making (NPRM), 63 FR 20362, April 24, 

1998, in this proceeding. In the NPRM, 

the Commission proposed changes to 

part 18 to update the conducted 

emission limits for RF lighting devices 

operating in the 2.2–2.8 MHz band. The 

Commission also proposed more 

stringent out-of-band radiated emission 

limits for consumer and non-consumer 

RF lights in the 2400–2500 MHz (2.45 

GHz) bands. In addition, because the 

existing regulations for RF lighting 

devices do not specifically include any 

radiated emission limits for RF lights 

operating at frequencies above 1000 

MHz, the Commission proposed 

radiated emission limits for such 

products that are identical to the limits 

already in place for digital devices. 

3. On June 9, 1999, the Commission 

adopted a First Report and Order, 64 FR 

37417, July 12, 1999, in this proceeding 

that adopted less stringent conducted 

emission limits for RF lighting devices 

operating in the 2.51–3.0 MHz band, but 

deferred action on changes to the rules 

for RF lighting devices operating in the 

2.45 GHz band to a future date. 

Subsequently, Fusion informed the 

Commission that it is no longer 

pursuing development of RF lights that 

operate in the 2.45 GHz band. 

4. On May 27, 2003, the Commission 

adopted an Order, 68 FR 37112, June 23, 

2003, terminating this proceeding as it 

found that with the passage of time, the 

record of the proceeding had become 

outdated and, furthermore, that Fusion, 

the only party that expressed interest in 

producing RF lights in the 2.45 GHz 

band, had ceased operations in this area. 

In the Order, the Commission 

concluded that there did not appear to 

be a need for further Commission action 

in defining out-of-band limits for RF 

lights in the 2.45 GHz band at that time. 

The Commission therefore decided to 

terminate the proceeding without 

prejudice to its substantive merits and 

stated that should any party wish to 

pursue the issues in this proceeding in 

the future, the Commission would 

evaluate them in the context of a new 

proceeding. 

5. On July 23, 2003, the Satellite 

Radio Licensees submitted a Joint 

Petition for Clarification in this 

proceeding, in which they seek specific 

clarification that RF lighting devices 

will not be permitted to operate in the 

2.45 GHz band and that ‘‘before the 

Commission considers permitting any 

such operations, it will either establish 

another rulemaking, or provide ample 

notice to affected parties such as the 

Satellite Radio Licensees.’’

6. The Satellite Radio Licensees 

contend that in terminating the 

proceeding by the Order, the 

Commission has left satellite radio 

vulnerable to interference from RF lights 

that may seek to operate at the ISM 

miscellaneous out-of-band emission 

limit in the future. Finally, the Satellite 

Radio Licensees urge the Commission to 

clarify that RF lights are prohibited from 

operating in the 2.45 GHz band, unless 

and until the Commission concludes a 

new rulemaking in which a specific outof-band limit is adopted for 2.45 GHz RF 

lights. To the extent that this relief is 

not given, the Satellite Radio Licensees 

request that the Commission provide 

potentially affected parties, including 

the Satellite Radio Licensees, an ample 

notice and opportunity to comment.

7. We disagree with the Satellite 

Radio Licensees’ argument that by 

terminating the proceeding by the 

Order, the Commission has left satellite 

radio vulnerable to interference from RF 

lights operating in the 2.45 GHz band. 

There is no reason to believe that future 

RF lights designed by Fusion or any 

other party would be produced using 

the same unsuccessful design, the same 

operating frequencies or exhibit the 

same characteristics as evaluated in the 

Satellite Radio Licensees’ Supplemental 

Comments. Furthermore, Fusion no 

longer develops or manufactures RF 

lights in the 2.45 GHz band and we are 

not aware that any other party is 

developing RF lights that would operate 

in this band. 

8. We note that RF lights are already 

covered under our existing Part 18 rules 

and compliant equipment can be 

authorized according to our equipment 

authorization procedures. Although 

traditional low-frequency RF lights are 

treated as a distinct class in Part 18, 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 70563

microwave RF lights are subject to 

existing out-of-band radiated emission 

limits applicable to microwave ovens 

and other miscellaneous ISM equipment 

operating in the 2400–2500 MHz band. 

Moreover, we emphasize that RF lights, 

like all part 18 equipment, must operate 

under the non-interference restriction of 

§ 18.111(b) of our rules. Under the rules, 

the operator of such equipment must 

promptly take all necessary steps to 

eliminate harmful interference to any 

authorized radio service, even if the 

equipment otherwise complies with the 

rules. Hence we find that there is 

adequate recourse against potentially 

harmful interference to satellite radio 

receivers under the provisions of this 

section. 

9. We therefore decline to provide the 

requested relief from the Satellite Radio 

Licensees to prohibit operation of all RF 

lights in the 2.45 GHz band, as we find 

that the requested prohibition is 

overarching and is not warranted based 

on the circumstances. If there is 

evidence that any entity will seek to 

operate RF lights in the 2.45 GHz band 

and cause harmful interference to 

satellite radio receivers as a 

consequence, and our existing limits 

prove inadequate, we will at that time 

take appropriate action. 

10. Based on the foregoing, we affirm 

our decision to terminate the proceeding 

without prejudice to its substantive 

merits, and hereby dismiss the Joint 

Petition for Clarification from the 

Satellite Radio Licensees. 

Ordering Clause 

11. Pursuant to the authority 

contained in Sections 4(i), 301, 302, 

303(e), 303(f), 303(g) and 303(r) of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. Sections 154(i), 301, 

302, 303(e), 303(f), 303(g) and 303(r), the 

above mentioned proceeding Is 

terminated without prejudice to its 

substantive merits, and the Joint 

Petition for Clarification filed by the 

Satellite Radio Licensees Is dismissed.

Congressional Review Act 

12. The Commission will not send a 

copy of this Order pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A), because we are not 

adopting any rules at this time. We are 

affirming our decision to terminate the 

proceeding without prejudice to its 

substantive merits, and hereby dismiss 

the Joint Petition for Clarification from 

the Satellite Radio Licensees.

Federal Communications Commission. 

William F. Caton, 

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–26829 Filed 12–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P