The Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding promotion of new LPFM stations and FM translators has been published in the Federal Register, and that means it is now time for the stakeholders and other interested parties to weigh in.
And the deadlines are: 5/7/12 for comments; 5/21/12 for reply comments.
From the FCC, here are provisions of the rulemaking it would like respondents to address:
* Adoption of rule changes to implement Section 3(b)(2)A) of the LCRA which authorizes the Commission to waive LPFM second-adjacent channel distance separation requirements;
* Modification of third-adjacent channel interference complaint and remediation procedures to conform to LCRA requirements;
* Elimination of the LP10 class of service and an increase in the maximum permissible power level for LPFM facilities in certain areas;
* Rule amendments to permit Native Nations to own and operate LPFM stations, to hold LPFM and other radio station licenses, and to add a Native Nation criterion to the point system used to select among mutually exclusive LPFM applications;
* Revision of the cross-ownership rule to permit cross-ownership of an LPFM station and FM translator stations;
* Modifications to the way the FCC processes mutually exclusive applications;
* Removal of the Intermediate Frequencies protection requirements for LPFM stations operating with less than 100 watts effective radiated power; and
* Extension of the NCE FM mandatory time-sharing rules to the LPFM service.
