I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1539
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Commu-
nications Commission to preserve low-power television stations that pro-
vide community broadcasting, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 6,1997
Mr. NORWOOD (for himself, Mr. TURNER, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. DEAL of Georgia,
Mr. KLINK, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr.
WHITFIELD, Mr. GORDON, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. CARSON, Mr. CLEMENT,
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. OBERSTAR,
Mr. MURTHA, Mr. RILEY, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. KINGSTON,
Mr. KUCINICH, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the
Federal Communications Commission to preserve low-
power television stations that provide community broad-
casting, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Broadcast-
ing Protection Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) Since the creation of low-power television li-
censes by the Federal Communications Commission,
a small number of license holders have operated
their stations in a manner most beneficial to the
public good. Many of these stations have provided
broadcasting to their communities that would not
otherwise have been available.
(2) These low-power broadcasters have operated
their stations in a manner consistent with the pro-
gramming objectives and hours of operation of full-
power broadcasters. These small stations have pro-
vided these worthwhile services to their respective
communities while under severe license limitations
compared to their full-power counterparts.
(3) These license limitations, particularly the
temporary nature of the license, have blocked many
of these broadcasters from having access to capital,
and have severely hampered their ability to continue
to provide quality broadcasting, programming, or
improvements.
(4) The passage of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 has added to the uncertainty of the future
status of these stations by the lack of specific provi-
sions regarding the permanency of their licenses, or
their treatment during the transition to high defini-
tion, digital television.
SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY TELE-
VISION BROADCASTING.
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 336 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 334) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as
subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the follow-
ing new subsection:
‘‘(f) PRESERVATION
OF LOW-POWER COMMUNITY
TELEVISION BROADCASTING.—
‘‘(1) CREATION OF CLASS A LICENSES.—Within
30 days after the date of enactment of the Commu-
nity Broadcasting Protection Act of 1997, the Com-
mission shall prescribe regulations to establish a
class A license for qualifying low-power television
stations. Such license shall be subject to the same li-
cense term and renewal standards as the licenses for
full-power television stations, and shall be accorded
primary status as television broadcasters under the
Commission’s regulations. Within 30 days after such
date, the Commission shall send a notice to the li-
censees of all low-power television licenses of the
terms of this section. The Commission shall, within
‘‘(A) The Commission shall revise such
table of allotments to preserve each class A sta-
tion unless the preservation of such station (i)
would render impossible the assignment of an
additional license for advanced television serv-
ices to a full-power station, or (ii) would require
the Commission to revoke or rescind a construc-
tion permit issued to such full-power station.
‘‘(B) If the Commission cannot revise the
table of allotments to preserve a class A station
as required by subparagraph (A), the Commis-
sion shall, to the maximum extent possible, re-
vise the table of allotments to preserve the class
A station in the same community of license,
using the same facilities, by assigning to such
station a different frequency.
‘‘(C) If the Commission cannot revise the
table of allotments to preserve a class A station
as required by subparagraph (A) or (B), the
Commission shall seek to provide such licensee
with a class A license in a community of license
that is adjacent to the station’s previous com-
munity of license.
‘‘(D) If the Commission cannot preserve a
class A station as required by subparagraph