Title: Local Television Service and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2018
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Local Television Service and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2018
This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission, upon the request of a very high frequency commercial television broadcast station that has relocated to an underserved state, to issue an order providing that the virtual major channel number of such station shall be considered to be the same as the radio frequency channel number of that station.
The order shall apply to a station only if the licensee includes in the request a certification that such station will provide at least one hour daily of news, information, or public affairs programming focused on, or of general interest to, local audiences in the state to which the channel of such station has been reallocated. The order shall cease to apply if the licensee fails to initiate the programming within a 90-day period or fails to make the programming available to other television broadcast stations or through Internet streaming.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6416 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6416

     To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal 
 Communications Commission, upon the request of a very high frequency 
   commercial television broadcast station that has relocated to an 
underserved State, to provide that the virtual major channel number of 
such station shall be considered to be the same as the radio frequency 
                    channel number of such station.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2018

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. Payne) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal 
 Communications Commission, upon the request of a very high frequency 
   commercial television broadcast station that has relocated to an 
underserved State, to provide that the virtual major channel number of 
such station shall be considered to be the same as the radio frequency 
                    channel number of such station.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Local Television Service and 
Emergency Preparedness Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 307(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 307(b)) provides that the Federal Communications 
        Commission ``shall make such distribution of licenses, 
        frequencies, hours of operation, and of power among the several 
        States and communities as to provide a fair, efficient, and 
        equitable distribution of radio service to each of the same''.
            (2) In 1982, Congress added section 331(a) to such Act (47 
        U.S.C. 331(a)) with the clear intent of providing high quality, 
        competitive, commercial very high frequency (VHF) television 
        service identifiable as such to the public in States without 
        VHF television service. Such section was adopted, in part, to 
        address the need for focused local news and emergency 
        information in States without dedicated VHF television service, 
        and as important, without an in-State Nielsen designated market 
        area with the usual accompaniment of stations affiliated with 
        the major networks and oriented toward local news.
            (3) Key reasons for ensuring that a VHF station's virtual 
        major channel number matches its radio frequency channel number 
        when allocated pursuant to such section 331(a) include the 
        following:
                    (A) More comprehensive deployment of the Emergency 
                Alert System.
                    (B) Increased public awareness through ongoing, 
                over-the-air education of crisis management by Federal, 
                State, and local officials.
                    (C) Augmented public emergency preparedness.
                    (D) Enhanced focus and in-State coordination of 
                communications to facilitate improved public 
                responsiveness to calls for action from alerts issued 
                through the Emergency Alert System, whether local, 
                State, or national in origination.
                    (E) Continuing comprehensive local news reports and 
                dissemination of pertinent emergency management 
                information within a State to which a VHF station 
                relocates during and following such alerts.
                    (F) Ensuring viewers will know to select the proper 
                VHF antenna for over-the-air reception of such 
                participating Emergency Alert System station.
                    (G) Having a common universal numerical VHF tuning 
                address throughout the viewing area ensures an easily 
                remembered channel number for accessing the VHF station 
                and Emergency Alert System information.
            (4) The right to obtain and retain a matching virtual major 
        channel number and radio frequency channel number is crucial to 
        providing high-quality VHF television service as described in 
        the preceding paragraphs of this section.

SEC. 3. COMMON VIRTUAL MAJOR CHANNEL NUMBER AND RADIO FREQUENCY CHANNEL 
              NUMBER FOR CERTAIN VHF TELEVISION STATIONS.

    Section 331(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 331(a)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``It shall be the policy'' and inserting 
        the following:
            ``(1) Policy.--It shall be the policy''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Common virtual major channel number and radio 
        frequency channel number.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the 
                submission of a request to the Commission by the 
                licensee of a station retaining a channel which has 
                been reallocated and relocated to a community in a 
                State under paragraph (1) with main facilities in such 
                State, the Commission shall, subject to subparagraph 
                (C) but notwithstanding any other provision of law and 
                its rules, issue an order providing that the channel 
                numbers described subparagraph (B) shall be considered 
                to be the same as the number of the radio frequency 
                channel of the station as specified in the Digital 
                Television Table of Allotments.
                    ``(B) Channel numbers described.--The channel 
                numbers described in this subparagraph are the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The number of the very high frequency 
                        channel on which the station is broadcast over 
                        the air for purposes of section 614(b)(6) and 
                        the associated regulations of the Commission.
                            ``(ii) The virtual major channel number 
                        specified in the Program and System Information 
                        Protocol of the station, as determined under 
                        the ATSC standard entitled `Program and System 
                        Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast 
                        and Cable' (or any successor standard) with 
                        which the rules of the Commission require the 
                        transmission of digital broadcast television 
                        signals to comply.
                    ``(C) Requirements relating to local news, 
                information, or public affairs programming.--
                            ``(i) Initial certification.--Subparagraph 
                        (A) shall apply with respect to a station only 
                        if the licensee of such station includes in the 
                        request submitted under such subparagraph a 
                        certification that, beginning not later than 90 
                        days after the date of such request, such 
                        station will provide at least one hour daily of 
                        news, information, or public affairs 
                        programming focused on, or of general interest 
                        to, local audiences in the State to which the 
                        channel of such station has been reallocated 
                        under paragraph (1).
                            ``(ii) Initiation and continuation of 
                        programming; annual recertification.--
                        Subparagraph (A) shall cease to apply with 
                        respect to a station if the licensee of such 
                        station fails to--
                                    ``(I) initiate the programming 
                                described in clause (i) within the 90-
                                day timeframe described in such clause;
                                    ``(II) produce and air the 
                                programming described in clause (i) on 
                                a continuing basis; or
                                    ``(III) recertify on an annual 
                                basis that such station is providing 
                                the programming described in clause 
                                (i).
                            ``(iii) Availability to other television 
                        stations and services.--Subparagraph (A) shall 
                        cease to apply with respect to a station if the 
                        licensee of such station fails to--
                                    ``(I) make available, on a 
                                reasonable basis, the programming 
                                described in clause (i) to other 
                                television broadcast stations and other 
                                television distribution services (such 
                                as cable or satellite television 
                                systems), for distribution outside the 
                                Nielsen designated market area of the 
                                station the channel of which has been 
                                reallocated under paragraph (1) but 
                                within the State to which such channel 
                                has been so reallocated; or
                                    ``(II) after the programming 
                                described in clause (i) has aired, make 
                                such programming available through 
                                streaming on the internet.''.
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