to some broadcasters’ concerns that LPFM service 
would cause interference in the FM radio band. 
(12) The Federal Communications Commission 
granted licenses to over 800 LPFM stations despite 
the congressional action. These stations are currently 
on the air and are run by local government agencies, 
groups promoting arts and education to immigrant 
and indigenous populations, artists, schools, religious 
organizations, environmental groups, organizations 
promoting literacy, and many other civically oriented 
organizations. 
(13) After 2 years and the expenditure of 
$2,193,343 in taxpayer dollars, the independent engi-
neering study commissioned by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission concluded that concerns about 
interference on third-adjacent channels were unwar-
ranted. 
(14) The Federal Communications Commission 
issued a report to Congress on February 19, 2004, 
which stated that ‘‘Congress should readdress this 
issue and modify the statute to eliminate the third- 
adjacent channel distance separation requirement for 
LPFM stations.’’. 
(15) On November 27, 2007, the Federal Com-
munications Commission again unanimously af-
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firmed LPFM, stating in a news release about the 
adoption of the Low-Power FM Third Report and 
Order and Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
that the Federal Communications Commission rec-
ommends ‘‘to Congress that it remove the requirement 
that LPFM stations protect full-power stations oper-
ating on third-adjacent channels’’. Until the date of 
enactment of this Act, Congress had not acted upon 
that recommendation. 
(16) Minorities represent almost a third of the 
population of the United States. However, according 
to the Federal Communications Commission’s most 
recent Form 323 data on the race and gender of full- 
power, commercial broadcast licensees, minorities own 
only 7 percent of all local television and radio sta-
tions. Women represent more than half of the popu-
lation but own only 6 percent of all local television 
and radio stations. LPFM stations, while not a solu-
tion to the overall inequalities in minority and female 
broadcast ownership, provide an additional oppor-
tunity for underrepresented communities to operate a 
station and offer local communities a greater diver-
sity of viewpoints and culture. 
(17) LPFM stations have proven to be a vital 
source of information during local or national emer-
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gencies. Out of the few stations that were able to stay 
on the air during Hurricane Katrina, several were 
LPFM stations. In Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, low- 
power FM station WQRZ remained on the air during 
Hurricane Katrina and served as the Emergency Op-
erations Center for Hancock County. After Hurricane 
Katrina, when thousands of evacuees temporarily 
housed at the Houston Astrodome were unable to hear 
over the loudspeakers information about the avail-
ability of food and ice, the location of Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency representatives, and the 
whereabouts of missing loved ones, volunteers handed 
out thousands of transistor radios and established an 
LPFM station outside of the Astrodome to broadcast 
such information. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT. 
Section 632 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropria-
tions Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–553; 114 Stat. 2762A– 
111), is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 632. (a) The Federal Communications Commis-
sion shall modify the rules authorizing the operation of low- 
power FM radio stations, as proposed in MM Docket No. 
99–25, to— 
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