SECTION 632 OF THE COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001 1 * * * * SEC. 632. (a)(1) The Federal Communications Commission shall modify the rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations, as proposed in MM Docket No. 99–25, to (A) prescribe minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels (as well as for co-channels and first- and secondadjacent channels); and (B) prohibit any applicant from obtaining a low-power FM license if the applicant has engaged in any manner in the unlicensed operation of any station in violation of section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301). (2) The Federal Communications Commission may not (A) eliminate or reduce the minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels required by paragraph (1)(A); or (B) extend the eligibility for application for low-power FM stations beyond the organizations and entities as proposed in MM Docket No. 99-25 (47 CFR 73.853), except as expressly authorized by an Act of Congress enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act. (3) Any license that was issued by the Commission to a lowpower FM station prior to the date on which the Commission modifies its rules as required by paragraph (1) and that does not comply with such modifications shall be invalid. (b)(1) The Federal Communications Commission shall conduct an experimental program to test whether low-power FM radio stations will result in harmful interference to existing FM radio stations if such stations are not subject to the minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels required by subsection (a). The Commission shall conduct such test in no more than nine FM radio markets, including urban, suburban, and rural markets, by waiving the minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels for the stations that are the subject of the experimental program. At least one of the stations shall be selected for the purpose of evaluating whether minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels are needed for FM translator stations. The Commission may, consistent with the public interest, continue after the conclusion of the experimental program to waive the minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels for the stations that are the subject of the experimental program. (2) The Commission shall select an independent testing entity to conduct field tests in the markets of the stations in the experi 1 This Act is H.R. 5548 as introduced on October 25, 2000 and enacted into law by section 1(a)(2) of Public Law 106-553 (114 Stat. 2762, 2762A-111). |