II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2220 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the obligations of 

licensees under section 331 of that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify the 

obligations of licensees under section 331 of that Act, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Section 331 Obligation 

5 Clarification Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LICENSEE REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 331 of the Communica8 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 331) is amended by striking 

9 subsection (a) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(a) TELEVISION STATIONS IN UNDERSERVED

2 STATES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) CHANNEL ALLOCATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) COMMISSION POLICY.—It shall be the 

5 policy of the Commission to allocate channels 

6 for commercial television broadcasting in a 

7 manner which ensures that not less than 1 very 

8 high frequency channel and not less than 1 

9 ultra high frequency channel shall be allocated 

10 to each State, if technically feasible. 

11 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION OF VERY HIGH FRE12 QUENCY CHANNELS AND ULTRA HIGH FRE13 QUENCY CHANNELS.—In any case in which a li14 censee of a very high frequency commercial tele15 vision broadcast station or an ultra high fre16 quency commercial television broadcast station 

17 notifies the Commission to the effect that such 

18 licensee will agree to the reallocation of its 

19 channel to a community within a State in 

20 which, at the time of such notification, there is 

21 allocated no very high frequency commercial tel22 evision broadcast channel or ultra high fre23 quency commercial television broadcast channel, 

24 as applicable, the Commission shall, notwith25 standing any other provision of law, order such 


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1 reallocation and issue a license to such licensee 

2 for that purpose under section 307. 

3 ‘‘(2) LICENSEE REQUIREMENTS.—A licensee of 

4 a commercial television broadcast station that re5 ceives a license under section 307 based on the noti6 fication provided under paragraph (1)(B) (or, with 

7 respect to a license received before the date of enact8 ment of the Section 331 Obligation Clarification Act, 

9 based on the notification provided under the second 

10 sentence of this subsection, as in effect before that 

11 date of enactment), or to which any such license is 

12 transferred, shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) broadcast on the channel of the li14 censee not fewer than 14 hours of common local 

15 programming per week, not fewer than 7 hours 

16 of which shall be broadcast between the hours 

17 of 6:00 p.m. and midnight; 

18 ‘‘(B) include as part of the common local 

19 programming broadcast under subparagraph 

20 (A) a substantial amount of particularized local 

21 content; 

22 ‘‘(C) maintain a broadcast studio in the 

23 station’s community of license for each license 

24 so received or transferred; 


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1 ‘‘(D) file with the Commission a regular 

2 disclosure of all programming broadcast under 

3 subparagraph (A) during the period covered by 

4 the disclosure, which— 

5 ‘‘(i) shall include a detailed expla6 nation of how that programming satisfies 

7 the requirements of that subparagraph; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Commission shall make pub10 licly available; and 

11 ‘‘(E) when developing the programming de12 scribed in subparagraph (A), including the par13 ticularized local content required under sub14 paragraph (B), take steps to determine the pro15 gramming needs of the community to which the 

16 channel is allocated, which may include con17 sulting with community leaders and members of 

18 the general public in that community. 

19 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF CHANGES TO ULTRA HIGH

20 FREQUENCY STATION.—If the station of a licensee 

21 described in paragraph (2) changes from a very high 

22 frequency commercial television broadcast station to 

23 an ultra high frequency commercial television broad24 cast station— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the licensee shall ensure that the 

2 change does not affect any special service obli3 gation imposed on the licensee— 

4 ‘‘(i)(I) with respect to a licensee that 

5 receives the license before the date of en6 actment of the Section 331 Obligation 

7 Clarification Act, pursuant to the terms of 

8 that license; or 

9 ‘‘(II) with respect to a licensee that 

10 receives the license on or after the date of 

11 enactment of the Section 331 Obligation 

12 Clarification Act, because of the fact that 

13 the licensee received the license pursuant 

14 to paragraph (1)(B); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) without regard to whether the 

16 Commission imposed the obligation— 

17 ‘‘(I) by rule or order; or 

18 ‘‘(II) as part of the grant or re19 newal of the license; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the Commission may not directly or 

21 indirectly reduce or eliminate the special service 

22 obligation described in subparagraph (A) be23 cause of that change. 

24 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

25 ‘particularized local content’ means programming— 


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1 ‘‘(A) aired on a commercial television 

2 broadcast channel by a licensee described in 

3 paragraph (2); and 

4 ‘‘(B) that— 

5 ‘‘(i) has specific, articulable, and par6 ticularized appeal for the community to 

7 which the channel described in subpara8 graph (A) is allocated (as described in 

9 paragraph (2)) that is separate and dis10 tinct from the general national or general 

11 local television market appeal; 

12 ‘‘(ii) includes news or public affairs 

13 information about the State, or the region 

14 of the State, in which the community de15 scribed in clause (i) is located; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) is responsive to the unique con17 cerns of the community described in clause 

18 (i) as part of a State that lacks a television 

19 market that is centered in that State.’’. 

20 (b) RULEMAKING; GAO REPORT.— 

21 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

22 (A) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the 

23 Federal Communications Commission; and 


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1 (B) the term ‘‘section 331’’ means section 

2 331 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 331), as amended by subsection (a). 

4 (2) RULES.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

6 issue final rules to implement the amendments made 

7 by subsection (a). 

8 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—The rules required under 

9 paragraph (2) shall— 

10 (A) contain specific procedures and re11 quirements for how an individual who lives in a 

12 community to which a commercial television 

13 broadcast channel is reallocated in accordance 

14 with subsection (a)(1)(B) of section 331 can 

15 challenge whether the licensee with respect to 

16 that channel has satisfied the requirements of 

17 the licensee under section 331, particularly 

18 when that licensee seeks to renew the license 

19 with respect to that channel; 

20 (B) include guidance regarding what type 

21 of evidence the Commission shall accept and re22 view in determining whether a licensee de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) is satisfying the re24 quirements of the licensee under section 331; 

25 and 


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1 (C) ensure that the procedure by which an 

2 individual described in subparagraph (A) can 

3 participate in the review by the Commission of 

4 a licensee described in that subparagraph— 

5 (i) is simple and straightforward; and 

6 (ii) includes holding community fo7 rums as necessary. 

8 (4) GAO REPORT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

10 after the date on which the rules issued under 

11 paragraph (2) take effect, the Comptroller Gen12 eral of the United States shall submit to Con13 gress a report that examines the process by 

14 which the Commission renews broadcast tele15 vision licenses to determine if that process ade16 quately meets the obligations of the Commission 

17 under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

18 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), particularly how that proc19 ess relates to television broadcast stations that 

20 have specific statutory or license obligations to 

21 serve the needs of the communities in which the 

22 stations are located (and the needs of individ23 uals in those communities), including stations 

24 licensed under section 331. 


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1 (B) CONTENTS.—In performing the exam2 ination required under subparagraph (A), the 

3 Comptroller General of the United States shall 

4 examine the following issues: 

5 (i) The extent to which the renewal 

6 process described in that subparagraph ex7 amines the needs of the community that a 

8 broadcast station is required to serve. 

9 (ii) The extent to which the Commis10 sion considers and weighs any evidence 

11 presented demonstrating that a broadcast 

12 station has failed to meet any applicable 

13 legal obligation. 

14 (iii) Whether the Commission has 

15 clarified the types of evidence that a con16 cerned local citizen is required to offer for 

17 the Commission to refuse to renew a li18 cense of a broadcast station under section 

19 309(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 

20 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) or section 

21 331, as applicable, based on the inability 

22 or refusal of the broadcast station to serve 

23 the local community with respect to the 

24 station consistent with the obligations of 

25 the licensee. 


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1 (iv) Whether the Commission has 

2 clarified the types of evidence that a broad3 cast station is required to present to estab4 lish that the station is meeting the obliga5 tions of the station under the license 

6 granted to the station. 

7 (v) Whether the Commission has 

8 clarified the circumstances under which the 

9 Commission will examine in detail the evi10 dence presented by a broadcast station to 

11 confirm that the station is in compliance 

12 with section 309(k)(1) of the Communica13 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) 

14 and section 331, as applicable. 

15 (vi) Whether the Commission has 

16 made clear the circumstances under which 

17 the Commission will revoke the license of a 

18 station operating under special obligations 

19 under section 331. 

20 (vii) What, if any, enforcement actions 

21 or other investigations the Commission has 

22 undertaken to ensure that broadcast sta23 tions satisfy the requirement under section 

24 309(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 


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1 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) to serve the 

2 public interest. 

3 (viii) The impact that the elimination 

4 of what is commonly referred to as the 

5 ‘‘Main Studio Rule’’ could have on the spe6 cial obligations under section 331. 

7 (ix) Whether the Commission has in8 dicated how the Commission will enforce 

9 the obligations under section 309(k)(1) of 

10 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

11 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) and section 331 in con12 sideration of the fact that the Commission 

13 has permitted owners of television broad14 cast stations to eliminate the main studio 

15 of those stations in the community of li16 cense. 

17 (c) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section, 

18 an amendment made by this section, or the application 

19 of that provision or amendment to any person or cir20 cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the other provi21 sions of this section, the amendments made by this sec22 tion, and the application of those provisions or amend23 ments to any other person or circumstance shall not be 

24 affected by that holding. 

Æ 


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