Opinion ID: 725495
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Hard Look Procedures

Text: 41 Because it found that a waiver of the spacing rules in this case would not serve the public interest, the FCC was required by its hard look procedures to return Red Rock's application as unacceptable. See Malkan FM Assocs. v. FCC, 935 F.2d 1313, 1319-20 (D.C.Cir.1991) (upholding FCC dismissal of application because of non-compliance with technical criteria concerning heighth of antenna). The hard look policy focuses on the acceptability of applications at the end of the 30-day amendment-as-of-right period. At that moment, the FCC takes a figurative snapshot of the filed applications to determine their acceptability; those that are not in compliance with the requirements detailed in Appendix D are returned. Because Red Rock's application was not acceptable as of the cut-off date, it was not entitled, under the hard look rules, to file a curative amendment to correct the defect. See 50 Fed.Reg. at 19,946. 42 Red Rock insists that specification of a fully spaced site is not required by Appendix D and, accordingly, does not bear on the acceptability of an application. That is simply not the case. The Appendix states, quite explicitly, that [i]n the commercial FM service, spacing determines acceptability of an application where mutual exclusivity exists with respect to a given allocation.... 50 Fed.Reg. at 19,945. In the alternative, Red Rock contends that its application should have been reinstated once it was clear that KGMN's decision to operate a C2 rather than a C1 facility eliminated the short-spacing problem. 43 We may require the FCC to reinstate an application only if, 44 based upon the entire record, the agency's decision was not a reasonable exercise of procedural discretion. We will uphold the decision if we can discern a reasoned path [320 U.S.App.D.C. 372] from the facts and considerations before the Commission to the decision it reached. 45 Russian River Vintage Broadcasting v. FCC, 5 F.3d 1518, 1521 (D.C.Cir.1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). In upholding the Bureau's refusal to reinstate Red Rock's application, the FCC explained that pursuant to the Commission's hard look procedures, 46 the benchmark for determining the acceptability for filing of an application is the last date for filing amendments as a matter of right. As of that, [sic] Red Rock's application was short-spaced and thus not acceptable for filing, whereas EAR's application was fully-spaced and acceptable for filing. Moreover, Red Rock's amendment unlike EAR's did not fall within the good cause exception ... for the acceptance of late-filed amendments. 47 First Order, 7 F.C.C.R. at 5948. The FCC affirmed this holding on review. Second Order, 10 F.C.C.R. at 5991. Red Rock also claims that the FCC acted arbitrarily by treating Red Rock's information statement as an untimely amendment, while accepting EAR's late amendment designating a new transmitter location. 48 Unfortunately for Red Rock, the hard look policy is not misnamed. As we have confirmed, applications failing to meet specified criteria will be dismissed without a hearing. JEM Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. FCC, 22 F.3d 320, 328 (D.C.Cir.1994) (emphasis deleted). Only if the snapshot revealed that its application was acceptable could Red Rock be given an opportunity to amend its application after the expiration of the 30-day amendment period. Because Red Rock's information statement represented an attempt to correct a defect affecting the acceptability of its application, the FCC properly dismissed it as an untimely curative amendment. In contrast, the FCC properly accepted EAR's amendment specifying a new transmitter site because [t]he Commission has traditionally considered FAA disapproval to be 'good cause' for a site relocation amendment. Susan Beauchamp, 6 F.C.C.R. 490, 491-92 (Audio Servs. Div.1991) (citation omitted). Therefore, the FCC did not act arbitrarily in refusing to accept Red Rock's untimely information statement while accepting EAR's amendment. 49 Finally, Red Rock relies on Clearlake Broadcasting Co., 47 Fed.Reg. 47,931 (Broadcast Bureau 1982) to argue that the FCC should have designated its application for comparative hearing with EAR's application. In Clearlake, a short-spaced applicant raised a question about the other applicants' compliance with the agency's line-of-sight rule, which requires that there be no major obstruction between an FM station's antenna and the principal city or cities it is to serve. Id. at 47,932 & n. 2. The FCC designated the question for hearing because its review of the claims and engineering studies indicate[d] that a question of fact exist[ed] that would be best treated during the comparative hearing process. Id. We have since held that it is FCC policy to designate a short-spacing issue for resolution at a hearing 'only when an applicant can raise a substantial question of fact concerning its opponents' non-short-spaced sites.'  North Texas Media, 778 F.2d at 34 (quoting Clearlake) (emphasis added). 50 We note at the outset that Clearlake predates the hard look rule; therefore, it is not at all clear to us what relevance it has to the present case, which is concerned with the application of that rule. Nevertheless, as the FCC points out, Clearlake is inapplicable here in any event because Red Rock's allegations about EAR do not relate to the FCC's technical criteria. Red Rock insists, however, that the FAA hazard determination raised a substantial question of fact regarding the technical feasibility of EAR's proposed site; further, it argues that the Commission would have acknowledged that fact and returned EAR's application for want of a feasible antenna site if EAR had not hidden the information about the FAA's determination from the FCC for six months instead of reporting it within 30 days, as required by the Commission's regulations (citing 47 C.F.R. § 1.65). 51 We admit to some sympathy for Red Rock's position here and elsewhere in this case, but we are faced with the understandably rigid requirements of the hard look rule. Contrary to Red Rock's assertion, FAA approval is not one of the FCC's technical acceptance requirements. See Bobby Duffy, [320 U.S.App.D.C. 373] 7 F.C.C.R. 1734, 1735 (1992). Thus, Red Rock has failed to raise a substantial question of fact concerning EAR's site of a kind that we found to warrant a hearing in North Texas Media. The situation remains that, upon the expiration of the 30-day amendment period, Red Rock's application contained a clear acceptability problem while EAR's application was in full compliance with Appendix D's requirements. We conclude, therefore, that the FCC was warranted in finding that the hard look rule required the return of Red Rock's application.