Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 21 / Wednesday, January 31, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 6023 

Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The Commission 

will send a copy of the Order to 

Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). 

8. Effective Date. The Commission 

concludes that good cause exists to 

make the Order effective immediately 

upon publication in the Federal 

Register, pursuant to section 553(d)(3) 

of the Administrative Procedure Act. 

Agencies determining whether there is 

good cause to make effective an order 

less than 30 days after Federal Register 

publication ‘‘should balance the 

necessity for immediate implementation 

against principles of fundamental 

fairness, which require that all affected 

persons be afforded reasonable time to 

prepare for the effective date of is 

ruling.’’ In this action, the Commission 

is deferring the commencement of the 

next deployment obligation term, which 

would commence on January 1, 2024, 

but for the action taken here. The Order 

therefore does not impose new rule 

obligations that would require 

preparation by legacy rate-of-return 

carriers but instead delays the 

commencement of existing requirements 

while the Commission considers rule 

changes in the ongoing rulemaking 

proceeding. Accordingly, given the 

timing of the next deployment 

obligation term and that deferment will 

not require advanced preparation by 

carriers, the Commission finds good 

cause exists to make the Order effective 

upon publication of a summary in the 

Federal Register. 

9. Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Certification. The Regulatory Flexibility 

Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), requires 

an agency to prepare a regulatory 

flexibility analysis for notice-andcomment rulemakings, unless the 

agency certifies the proposed or final 

rule(s) ‘‘will not, if promulgated, have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities.’’ 

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 

concerns’’ under the Small Business 

Act. A ‘‘small business concern’’ is one 

that: (1) is independently owned and 

operated; (2) is not dominant in its field 

of operation; and (3) satisfies any 

additional criteria established by the 

Small Business Administration (SBA). 

10. As required by the RFA, the 

Commission incorporated an Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) 

in the NPRM, released in July 2023. The 

Commission sought written public 

comment on the proposals in the NPRM, 

including comment on the IFRA. No 

comments were filed addressing the 

IRFA. The two statutorily-mandated 

criteria to be applied in determining the 

need for RFA analysis are (1) whether 

the proposed rules, if adopted, would 

have a significant economic effect, and 

(2) if so, whether the economic effect 

would directly affect a substantial 

number of small entities. For the 

reasons discussed below, the 

Commission has determined that the 

rules and policy changes adopted in the 

Second Report and Order will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities and 

has prepared this Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Certification (FRFC). 

11. The Order defers the 

commencement of the next five-year 

deployment obligation term, until 

January 1, 2025, for those cost-based 

rate-of-return carriers receiving CAF 

BLS. Legacy carriers will remain subject 

to the Commission’s rules, requiring the 

offering of broadband service at actual 

speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream/ 

3 Mbps upstream to the previously 

determined number of unserved 

locations under the current five-year 

term that ends on December 31, 2023. 

This will maintain the status quo as the 

Commission considers general program 

reforms in the NPRM proceeding, 

including whether to modify 

deployment obligations for CAF BLS 

recipients going forward. Because this 

action delays the commencement of 

deployment obligations already 

provided for under the Commission’s 

rules, it will not cause any significant 

economic impact on providers, 

including those which are small 

entities. 

12. Accordingly, based on the 

Commission’s application of the two 

statutorily-mandated criteria to the rules 

adopted in the Order, it concludes that 

the adopted rules and policy changes 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The Commission therefore 

certifies that the rules and policy 

changes adopted in the Order will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

13. The Commission will send a copy 

of the Order, including a copy of the 

FRFC, in a report to Congress pursuant 

to the Congressional Review Act. In 

addition, the Order and the FRFC will 

be sent to the Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy of the SBA and will be 

published in the Federal Register. 

IV. Ordering Clauses 

14. Accordingly, it is ordered, 

pursuant to the authority contained in 

sections 4(i), 214, 218–220, and 254 of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 214, 218– 

220, and 254, and §§ 1.1, 1.3, and 1.425 

of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 1.1, 

1.3, and 1.425 the Order is adopted. The 

Order shall be effective upon 

publication of the text or summary in 

the Federal Register. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01634 Filed 1–30–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 73 

[MB Docket No. 23–336; RM–11967; DA 24– 

70; FR ID 199273] 

Television Broadcasting Services 

Wittenberg and Shawano, Wisconsin 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Video Division, Media 

Bureau (Bureau), has before it a notice 

of proposed rulemaking issued in 

response to a petition for rulemaking 

filed by TV 49, Inc. (TV–49 or 

Petitioner), the permittee of an unbuilt 

television station on channel 31 allotted 

to Wittenberg, Wisconsin. The 

Petitioner has requested that the 

Commission delete channel 31 from 

Wittenberg and allot it to Shawano, 

Wisconsin in the Table of TV 

Allotments and modify its construction 

permit to specify Shawano as its 

community of license. TV–49 filed 

comments in support of the petition, as 

required by the rules, reaffirming its 

commitment to file for channel 31 at 

Shawano. 

DATES: Effective March 1, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joyce Bernstein, Media Bureau, at (202) 

418–1647 or Joyce.Bernstein@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed rule was published at 88 FR 

72417 on October 20, 2023. The 

Petitioner filed comments in support of 

the petition reaffirming its commitment 

to apply for channel 31. No other 

comments were filed. 

The Bureau believes the public 

interest would be served by reallotting 

channel 31 from Wittenberg to Shawano 

in the Table of TV Allotments consistent 

with the technical parameters set forth 

in the Amended Petition. The Technical 

Exhibit submitted with TV–49’s 

Amended Petition demonstrates that the 


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6024 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 21 / Wednesday, January 31, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

proposed allotment of channel 31 at 

Shawano is short-spaced to the current 

allotment at Wittenberg and thus, is 

mutually exclusive. We also conclude 

that the reallotment of channel 31 from 

Wittenberg to Shawano will result in a 

preferential arrangement of allotments 

in accordance with the Commission’s 

second television allotment priority—to 

provide each community with at least 

one television broadcast station. 

Shawano is the seat of Shawano County, 

in which both communities are located, 

and is nine times larger than 

Wittenberg. As TV–49 has 

demonstrated, Shawano has the 

population and public services 

indicative of a community deserving of 

its own television station. For example, 

the Shawano school district operates 

five public schools and Northeast 

Wisconsin Technical College operates a 

Regional Learning Campus in Shawano. 

Shawano is governed by a mayor and 

six alderpersons, who collectively 

comprise its Common Council. 

Shawano also provides a number of 

municipal services, including but not 

limited to those provided through the 

Shawano-Bonduel Municipal Court, the 

Shawano Department of Public Works, 

the Shawano Police Department, and 

the Shawano Municipal Utilities. 

While based on the facts above we 

find that TV–49’s proposal represents a 

preferential arrangement of allotments 

pursuant to the Commission’s second 

allotment priority, grant of the proposed 

reallotment will remove Wittenberg’s 

only local service, which the 

Commission generally prohibits. After 

reviewing the record, we find on 

balance that the public would benefit 

from grant of a waiver of our general 

prohibition on the removal of a 

community’s first local service. Not only 

is Shawano a significantly more 

populated community, but the channel 

31 facility has not yet been constructed, 

and thus no viewers have come to rely 

on any existing service, a factor the 

Commission has found to be mitigating 

in the context of whether it would 

remove the sole channel allotted to a 

community. Of equal significance is the 

fact that six licensed full power 

television stations currently provide 

noise-limited service to all of 

Wittenberg and TV–49 demonstrates 

that once the Station commences 

operations it will also provide noiselimited service to Wittenberg. In 

addition, the proposed allotment at 

Shawano is otherwise in compliance 

with all of our technical rules. As 

proposed, channel 31 can be allotted to 

Shawano in compliance with the 

principal community coverage 

requirements of § 73.625(a) of the rules, 

at coordinates 44°46′56.0′′ N and 

88°36′32.0′′ N. Furthermore, we find 

that the proposed change in community 

of license meets the technical 

requirements set forth in §§ 73.616 and 

73.623 of the rules. 

This is a synopsis of the 

Commission’s Report and Order, MB 

Docket No. 23–336; RM–11967; DA 24– 

70, adopted January 24, 2024, and 

released January 24, 2024. The full text 

of the document is available for 

download at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs. 

To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an email to fcc504@

fcc.gov or call the Consumer & 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202– 

418–0530 (voice), 202–418–0432 (tty). 

This document does not contain 

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). Provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601– 

612, do not apply to this proceeding. 

The Commission will send a copy of 

the Report and Order in a report to be 

sent to Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

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

801(a)(1)(A). 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73 

Television. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Thomas Horan, 

Chief of Staff, Media Bureau. 

Final Rule 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 73 as 

follows: 

PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST 

SERVICES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 73 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 301, 303, 

307, 309, 310, 334, 336, 339. 

■ 2. In § 73.622(j), amend the Table of 

TV Allotments, under Wisconsin, by: 

■ a. Adding an entry in alphabetical 

order for ‘‘Shawano’’; and 

■ b. Removing the entry for 

‘‘Wittenberg’’. 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 73.622 Digital television table of 

allotments. 

* * * * * 

(j) * * * 

Community Channel No. 

*****

Wisconsin 

*****

Shawano ............................... 31 

*****

[FR Doc. 2024–01928 Filed 1–30–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 


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