[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2220 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2220
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2021
Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Booker) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Representatives 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 Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 331) is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the
following:
``(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 frequency channels
and ultra high frequency channels.--In any case in
which a licensee of a very high frequency commercial
television broadcast station or an ultra high frequency
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 television broadcast channel or ultra high
frequency commercial television broadcast channel, as
applicable, the Commission shall, notwithstanding any
other provision of law, order such 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 receives a license under
section 307 based on the notification provided under paragraph
(1)(B) (or, with respect to a license received before the date
of enactment 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 licensee 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;
``(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 explanation
of how that programming satisfies the
requirements of that subparagraph; and
``(ii) the Commission shall make publicly
available; and
``(E) when developing the programming described in
subparagraph (A), including the particularized local
content required under subparagraph (B), take steps to
determine the programming needs of the community to
which the channel is allocated, which may include
consulting 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
broadcast station--
``(A) the licensee shall ensure that the change
does not affect any special service obligation imposed
on the licensee--
``(i)(I) with respect to a licensee that
receives the license before the date of
enactment 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
renewal of the license; and
``(B) the Commission may not directly or indirectly
reduce or eliminate the special service obligation
described in subparagraph (A) because of that change.
``(4) Definition.--In this subsection, the term
`particularized local content' means programming--
``(A) aired on a commercial television broadcast
channel by a licensee described in paragraph (2); and
``(B) that--
``(i) has specific, articulable, and
particularized appeal for the community to
which the channel described in subparagraph (A)
is allocated (as described in paragraph (2))
that is separate and distinct 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 described in
clause (i) is located; and
``(iii) is responsive to the unique
concerns 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
(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 requirements
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 review in
determining whether a licensee described in
subparagraph (A) is satisfying the requirements of the
licensee under section 331; and
(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 forums 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 General of the United States
shall submit to Congress a report that examines the
process by which the Commission renews broadcast
television licenses to determine if that process
adequately meets the obligations of the Commission
under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et
seq.), particularly how that process 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 individuals in those communities),
including stations licensed under section 331.
(B) Contents.--In performing the examination
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 examines the
needs of the community that a broadcast station
is required to serve.
(ii) The extent to which the Commission
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 concerned local
citizen is required to offer for the Commission
to refuse to renew a license 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.
(iv) Whether the Commission has clarified
the types of evidence that a broadcast station
is required to present to establish that the
station is meeting the obligations 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 evidence presented
by a broadcast station to confirm that the
station is in compliance with section 309(k)(1)
of the Communications 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 stations
satisfy the requirement under section 309(k)(1)
of the Communications Act of 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 special
obligations under section 331.
(ix) Whether the Commission has indicated
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 consideration of the fact that the
Commission has permitted owners of television
broadcast stations to eliminate the main studio
of those stations in the community of license.
(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 circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the other
provisions of this section, the amendments made by this section, and
the application of those provisions or amendments to any other person
or circumstance shall not be affected by that holding.
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