WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has admitted that it inadvertently removed some rules relating to NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 and has moved to correct the problem by issuing an Order restoring and recodifying those rules.
“In this Order, we re-codify language that was inadvertently eliminated from sections 73.3801(f)(6)(iii), 73.6029(f)(6)(iii), and 74.782(g)(6)(iii) of the Commission’s rules (Rules) relating to information that must be provided in “non-expedited” applications for ATSC 3.0 service," the agency said. "This amendment to the Rules does not change any regulatory obligations.”
The order noted that the FCC made updates to the required information “for ATSC 3.0 applications in sections 73.3801(f)(6)(i)-(ii), 73.6029(f)(6)(i)-(ii), and 74.782(g)(6)(i)-(ii) of the Rules in order to facilitate multicast licensing, but it did not make changes to the requirements for non-expedited applicants set forth in sections 73.3801(f)(6)(iii), 73.6029(f)(6)(iii), and 74.782(g)(6)(iii). However, after Federal Register publication of the Next Gen TV Third Report and Order, these subsections were removed from the Code of Federal Regulations.”
In the new order, the FCC ruled that the “the deletion of subsections 73.3801(f)(6)(iii), 73.6029(f)(6)(iii), and 74.782(g)(6)(iii) of the Rules from the Code of Federal Regulations was inadvertent…The Next Gen TV First Report and Order codified these provisions to provide clarity about the information that must be provided by non-expedited applicants for ATSC 3.0 service. The Commission never stated or implied in the Next Gen TV Third Report and Order that it intended to rescind these subsections…The Next Gen TV Third Report and Order specifically referred to these provisions as remaining applicable. Accordingly, we amend the Rules as set out in the Appendix by including the inadvertently deleted subsections that set forth the required information non-expedited applications must include to show that such applications are in the public interest.”
The agency also noted that “we find that notice and comment procedures are unnecessary under the `good cause’ exception of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because re-codifying the inadvertently deleted subsections merely restores the provisions setting forth the showing that must be made by non-expedited applicants that the Commission adopted in the Next Gen TV First Report and Order.”
The complete order and the recodified rules can be found here.
