I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4208 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 28, 2021 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. SIRES, and Mr. VAN DREW) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
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. 
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 ‘‘Section 331 Obligation 
Clarification Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LICENSEE REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 331 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 331) is amended by striking 
subsection (a) and inserting the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(a) TELEVISION
STATIONS
IN
UNDERSERVED 
STATES.— 
‘‘(1) CHANNEL ALLOCATION.— 
‘‘(A) COMMISSION POLICY.—It shall be the 
policy of the Commission to allocate channels 
for commercial television broadcasting in a 
manner which ensures that not less than 1 very 
high frequency channel and not less than 1 
ultra high frequency channel shall be allocated 
to each State, if technically feasible. 
‘‘(B) REALLOCATION OF VERY HIGH FRE-
QUENCY
CHANNELS
AND
ULTRA
HIGH
FRE-
QUENCY CHANNELS.—In any case in which a li-
censee of a very high frequency commercial tele-
vision broadcast station or an ultra high fre-
quency commercial television broadcast station 
notifies the Commission to the effect that such 
licensee will agree to the reallocation of its 
channel to a community within a State in 
which, at the time of such notification, there is 
allocated no very high frequency commercial tel-
evision broadcast channel or ultra high fre-
quency commercial television broadcast channel, 
as applicable, the Commission shall, notwith-
standing any other provision of law, order such 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
reallocation and issue a license to such licensee 
for that purpose under section 307. 
‘‘(2) LICENSEE REQUIREMENTS.—A licensee of 
a commercial television broadcast station that re-
ceives a license under section 307 based on the noti-
fication provided under paragraph (1)(B) (or, with 
respect to a license received before the date of enact-
ment of the Section 331 Obligation Clarification Act, 
based on the notification provided under the second 
sentence of this subsection, as in effect before that 
date of enactment), or to which any such license is 
transferred, shall— 
‘‘(A) broadcast on the channel of the li-
censee not fewer than 14 hours of common local 
programming per week, not fewer than 7 hours 
of which shall be broadcast between the hours 
of 6:00 p.m. and midnight; 
‘‘(B) include as part of the common local 
programming broadcast under subparagraph 
(A) a substantial amount of particularized local 
content; 
‘‘(C) maintain a broadcast studio in the 
station’s community of license for each license 
so received or transferred; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(D) file with the Commission a regular 
disclosure of all programming broadcast under 
subparagraph (A) during the period covered by 
the disclosure, which— 
‘‘(i) shall include a detailed expla-
nation of how that programming satisfies 
the requirements of that subparagraph; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the Commission shall make pub-
licly available; and 
‘‘(E) when developing the programming de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), including the par-
ticularized local content required under sub-
paragraph (B), take steps to determine the pro-
gramming needs of the community to which the 
channel is allocated, which may include con-
sulting with community leaders and members of 
the general public in that community. 
‘‘(3) EFFECT
OF
CHANGES
TO
ULTRA
HIGH 
FREQUENCY STATION.—If the station of a licensee 
described in paragraph (2) changes from a very high 
frequency commercial television broadcast station to 
an ultra high frequency commercial television broad-
cast station— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) the licensee shall ensure that the 
change does not affect any special service obli-
gation imposed on the licensee— 
‘‘(i)(I) with respect to a licensee that 
receives the license before the date of en-
actment of the Section 331 Obligation 
Clarification Act, pursuant to the terms of 
that license; or 
‘‘(II) with respect to a licensee that 
receives the license on or after the date of 
enactment of the Section 331 Obligation 
Clarification Act, because of the fact that 
the licensee received the license pursuant 
to paragraph (1)(B); and 
‘‘(ii) without regard to whether the 
Commission imposed the obligation— 
‘‘(I) by rule or order; or 
‘‘(II) as part of the grant or re-
newal of the license; and 
‘‘(B) the Commission may not directly or 
indirectly reduce or eliminate the special service 
obligation described in subparagraph (A) be-
cause of that change. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘particularized local content’ means programming— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) aired on a commercial television 
broadcast channel by a licensee described in 
paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(B) that— 
‘‘(i) has specific, articulable, and par-
ticularized appeal for the community to 
which the channel described in subpara-
graph (A) is allocated (as described in 
paragraph (2)) that is separate and dis-
tinct from the general national or general 
local television market appeal; 
‘‘(ii) includes news or public affairs 
information about the State, or the region 
of the State, in which the community de-
scribed in clause (i) is located; and 
‘‘(iii) is responsive to the unique con-
cerns of the community described in clause 
(i) as part of a State that lacks a television 
market that is centered in that State.’’. 
(b) RULEMAKING; GAO REPORT.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
(A) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the 
Federal Communications Commission; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
(B) the term ‘‘section 331’’ means section 
331 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 331), as amended by subsection (a). 
(2) RULES.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
issue final rules to implement the amendments made 
by subsection (a). 
(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The rules required under 
paragraph (2) shall— 
(A) contain specific procedures and re-
quirements for how an individual who lives in a 
community to which a commercial television 
broadcast channel is reallocated in accordance 
with subsection (a)(1)(B) of section 331 can 
challenge whether the licensee with respect to 
that channel has satisfied the requirements of 
the licensee under section 331, particularly 
when that licensee seeks to renew the license 
with respect to that channel; 
(B) include guidance regarding what type 
of evidence the Commission shall accept and re-
view in determining whether a licensee de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) is satisfying the re-
quirements of the licensee under section 331; 
and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
(C) ensure that the procedure by which an 
individual described in subparagraph (A) can 
participate in the review by the Commission of 
a licensee described in that subparagraph— 
(i) is simple and straightforward; and 
(ii) includes holding community fo-
rums as necessary. 
(4) GAO REPORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date on which the rules issued under 
paragraph (2) take effect, the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States shall submit to Con-
gress a report that examines the process by 
which the Commission renews broadcast tele-
vision licenses to determine if that process ade-
quately meets the obligations of the Commission 
under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.), particularly how that proc-
ess relates to television broadcast stations that 
have specific statutory or license obligations to 
serve the needs of the communities in which the 
stations are located (and the needs of individ-
uals in those communities), including stations 
licensed under section 331. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
(B) CONTENTS.—In performing the exam-
ination required under subparagraph (A), the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall 
examine the following issues: 
(i) The extent to which the renewal 
process described in that subparagraph ex-
amines the needs of the community that a 
broadcast station is required to serve. 
(ii) The extent to which the Commis-
sion considers and weighs any evidence 
presented demonstrating that a broadcast 
station has failed to meet any applicable 
legal obligation. 
(iii) Whether the Commission has 
clarified the types of evidence that a con-
cerned local citizen is required to offer for 
the Commission to refuse to renew a li-
cense of a broadcast station under section 
309(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) or section 
331, as applicable, based on the inability 
or refusal of the broadcast station to serve 
the local community with respect to the 
station consistent with the obligations of 
the licensee. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
(iv) Whether the Commission has 
clarified the types of evidence that a broad-
cast station is required to present to estab-
lish that the station is meeting the obliga-
tions of the station under the license 
granted to the station. 
(v) Whether the Commission has 
clarified the circumstances under which the 
Commission will examine in detail the evi-
dence presented by a broadcast station to 
confirm that the station is in compliance 
with section 309(k)(1) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) 
and section 331, as applicable. 
(vi) Whether the Commission has 
made clear the circumstances under which 
the Commission will revoke the license of a 
station operating under special obligations 
under section 331. 
(vii) What, if any, enforcement actions 
or other investigations the Commission has 
undertaken to ensure that broadcast sta-
tions satisfy the requirement under section 
309(k)(1) of the Communications Act of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) to serve the 
public interest. 
(viii) The impact that the elimination 
of what is commonly referred to as the 
‘‘Main Studio Rule’’ could have on the spe-
cial obligations under section 331. 
(ix) Whether the Commission has in-
dicated how the Commission will enforce 
the obligations under section 309(k)(1) of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 309(k)(1)) and section 331 in con-
sideration of the fact that the Commission 
has permitted owners of television broad-
cast stations to eliminate the main studio 
of those stations in the community of li-
cense. 
(c) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section, 
an amendment made by this section, or the application 
of that provision or amendment to any person or cir-
cumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the other provi-
sions of this section, the amendments made by this sec-
tion, and the application of those provisions or amend-
ments to any other person or circumstance shall not be 
affected by that holding. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:26 Jul 23, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H4208.IH
H4208
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS