Goto Section: 73.3526 | 73.3533 | Table of Contents
FCC 73.3527
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 |
2016
§ 73.3527 Local public inspection file of noncommercial educational stations.
(a) Responsibility to maintain a file. The following shall maintain for
public inspection a file containing the material set forth in this section.
(1) Applicants for a construction permit for a new station in the
noncommercial educational broadcast services shall maintain a public
inspection file containing the material, relating to that station, described
in paragraph (e)(2) and (e)(11) of this section. A separate file shall be
maintained for each station for which an application is pending. If the
application is granted, paragraph (a)(2) of this section shall apply.
(2) Every permittee or licensee of an AM, FM, or TV station in the
noncommercial educational broadcast services shall maintain a public
inspection file containing the material, relating to that station, described
in paragraphs (e)(1) through (e)(11) of this section. In addition, every
permittee or licensee of a noncommercial educational TV station shall
maintain for public inspection a file containing material, relating to that
station, described in paragraphs (e)(12) of this section. A separate file
shall be maintained for each station for which an authorization is
outstanding, and the file shall be maintained so long as an authorization to
operate the station is outstanding.
(b) Location of the file. The public inspection file shall be located as
follows:
(1) For radio licensees, a hard copy of the public inspection file shall be
maintained at the main studio of the station. An applicant for a new station
or change of community shall maintain its file at an accessible place in the
proposed community of license or at its proposed main studio.
(2) A noncommercial educational television station licensee or applicant
shall place the contents required by paragraph (e) of this section of its
public inspection file on the Commission's Web site, with the exception of
the political file as required by paragraph (e)(5) of this section, which
may be retained at the station in the manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1)
of this section until July 1, 2014. Effective July 1, 2014, any new
political file material shall be placed on the Commission's Web site, while
the material in the political file as of July 1, 2014, if not placed on the
Commission's Web site, shall continue to be retained at the station in the
manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section until the end of its
retention period. However, any noncommercial educational station that is not
required to place its political file on the Commission's Web site before
July 1, 2014 may choose to do so instead of retaining the political file at
the station in the manner discussed in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. A
station must provide a link to the public inspection file hosted on the
Commission's Web site from the home page of its own Web site, if the station
has a Web site, and provide contact information for a station representative
on its Web site that can assist any person with disabilities with issues
related to the content of the public files. A station also is required to
include in the online public file the station's main studio address and
telephone number, and the email address of the station's designated contact
for questions about the public file. To the extent this section refers to
the local public inspection file, it refers to the public file of an
individual station, which is either maintained at the station or on the
Commission's Web site, depending upon where the documents are required to be
maintained under the Commission's rules.
(3) The Commission will automatically link the following items to the
electronic version of all licensee and applicant public inspection files, to
the extent that the Commission has these items electronically:
Authorizations; applications; contour maps; ownership reports and related
materials; portions of the Equal Employment Opportunity file held by the
Commission; and “The Public and Broadcasting”.
(c) Access to material in the file. (1) The file shall be available for
public inspection at any time during regular business hours. All or part of
the file may be maintained in a computer database, as long as a computer
terminal is made available, at the location of the file, to members of the
public who wish to review the file. Material in the public inspection file
shall be made available for printing or machine reproduction upon request
made in person. The applicant, permittee, or licensee may specify the
location for printing or reproduction, require the requesting party to pay
the reasonable cost thereof, and may require guarantee of payment in advance
(e.g., by requiring a deposit, obtaining credit card information, or any
other reasonable method). Requests for copies shall be fulfilled within a
reasonable period of time, which generally should not exceed 7 days.
(2) The applicant, permittee, or licensee who maintains its main studio and
public file outside its community of license shall:
(i) Make available to persons within its geographic service area, by mail
upon telephone request, photocopies of documents in the file (see
§ 73.3527(c)(1)), excluding the political file (see § 73.3527(e)(5)), and the
station shall pay postage;
(ii) Mail the most recent version of “The Public and Broadcasting” to any
member of the public that requests a copy; and
(iii) Be prepared to assist members of the public in identifying the
documents they may ask to be sent to them by mail, for example, by
describing to the caller, if asked, the period covered by a particular
report and the number of pages included in the report.
Note to paragraph (c)(2): For purposes of this section, geographic service
area includes the area within the protected service contour in a particular
service: Grade B contour for TV, 1 mVm contour for all FM station classes
except .7 mV/m for Class B1 stations and .5 mV/m for Class B stations, and
.5 mV/m contour for AM stations.
(d) Responsibility in case of assignment or transfer. (1) In cases involving
applications for consent to assignment of broadcast station construction
permits or licenses, with respect to which public notice is required to be
given under the provisions of § 73.3580 or § 73.3594, the file mentioned in
paragraph (a) of this section shall be maintained by the assignor. If the
assignment is consented to by the FCC and consummated, the assignee shall
maintain the file commencing with the date on which notice of the
consummation of the assignment is filed with the FCC. The assignee shall
retain public file documents obtained from the assignor for the period
required under these rules.
(2) In cases involving applications for consent to transfer of control of a
permittee or licensee of a broadcast station, the file mentioned in
paragraph (a) of this section shall be maintained by the permittee or
licensee.
(e) Contents of the file. The material to be retained in the public
inspection file is as follows:
(1) Authorization. A copy of the current FCC authorization to construct or
operate the station, as well as any other documents necessary to reflect any
modifications thereto or any conditions that the FCC has placed on the
authorization. These materials shall be retained until replaced by a new
authorization, at which time a copy of the new authorization and any related
materials shall be placed in the file.
(2) Applications and related materials. A copy of any application tendered
for filing with the FCC, together with all related material, including
supporting documentation of any points claimed in the application pursuant
to § 73.7003, and copies of FCC decisions pertaining thereto. If petitions to
deny are filed against the application and have been served on the
applicant, a statement that such a petition has been filed shall be
maintained in the file together with the name and address of the party
filing the petition. Applications shall be retained in the public inspection
file until final action has been taken on the application, except that
applications for a new construction permit granted pursuant to a waiver
showing and applications for assignment or transfer of license granted
pursuant to a waiver showing shall be retained for as long as the waiver is
in effect. In addition, license renewal applications granted on a short-term
basis shall be retained until final action has been taken on the license
renewal application filed immediately following the shortened license term.
(3) Contour maps. A copy of any service contour maps, submitted with any
application tendered for filing with the FCC, together with any other
information in the application showing service contours and/or main studio
and transmitter location (State, county, city, street address, or other
identifying information). These documents shall be retained for as long as
they reflect current, accurate information regarding the station.
(4) Ownership reports and related materials. A copy of the most recent,
complete ownership report filed with the FCC for the station, together with
any subsequent statement filed with the FCC certifying that the current
report is accurate, and together with all related material. These materials
shall be retained until a new, complete ownership report is filed with the
FCC, at which time a copy of the new report and any related materials shall
be placed in the file. The permittee or licensee must retain in the public
file either a copy of the contracts listed in such reports in accordance
with § 73.3615(d)(3), or an up-to-date list of such contracts. Licensees and
permittees who choose to maintain a list of contracts must provide a copy of
any contracts to requesting parties within 7 days.
(5) Political file. Such records as are required by § 73.1943 to be kept
concerning broadcasts by candidates for public office. These records shall
be retained for the period specified in § 73.1943 (2 years).
(6) Equal Employment Opportunity file. Such information as is required by
§ 73.2080 to be kept in the public inspection file. These materials shall be
retained until final action has been taken on the station's next license
renewal application.
(7) The Public and Broadcasting. At all times, a copy of the most recent
version of the manual entitled “The Public and Broadcasting.”
(8) Issues/Programs lists. For nonexempt noncommercial educational broadcast
stations, every three months a list of programs that have provided the
station's most significant treatment of community issues during the
preceding three month period. The list for each calendar quarter is to be
filed by the tenth day of the succeeding calendar quarter (e.g., January 10
for the quarter October-December, April 10 for the quarter January-March,
etc.). The list shall include a brief narrative describing what issues were
given significant treatment and the programming that provided this
treatment. The description of the programs shall include, but shall not be
limited to, the time, date, duration, and title of each program in which the
issue was treated. The lists described in this paragraph shall be retained
in the public inspection file until final action has been taken on the
station's next license renewal application.
(9) Donor lists. The lists of donors supporting specific programs. These
lists shall be retained for two years from the date of the broadcast of the
specific program supported.
(10) Local public notice announcements. Each applicant for renewal of
license shall, within 7 days of the last day of broadcast of the local
public notice of filing announcements required pursuant to § 73.3580(h),
place in the station's local public inspection file a statement certifying
compliance with this requirement. The dates and times that the pre-filing
and post-filing notices were broadcast and the text thereof shall be made
part of the certifying statement. The certifying statement shall be retained
in the public file for the period specified in § 73.3580 (for as long as the
application to which it refers).
(11) Material relating to FCC investigation or complaint. Material having a
substantial bearing on a matter which is the subject of an FCC investigation
or complaint to the FCC of which the applicant, permittee, or licensee has
been advised. This material shall be retained until the applicant,
permittee, or licensee is notified in writing that the material may be
discarded.
(12) Must-carry requests. Noncommercial television stations requesting
mandatory carriage on any cable system pursuant to § § 76.56, 76.1614,
76.1620, and 76.1709 of this chapter shall place a copy of such request in
its public file and shall retain both the request and relevant
correspondence for the duration of any period to which the request applies.
(13) DTV transition education reports. For full-power noncommercial
educational TV broadcast stations, both analog and digital, on a quarterly
basis, a completed Form 388, DTV Consumer Education Quarterly Activity
Report. The Report for each quarter is to be placed in the public inspection
file by the tenth day of the succeeding calendar quarter. By this date, a
copy of the Report for each quarter must be filed electronically using the
Commission's Consolidated DataBase System (CDBS). Stations electing to
conform to the requirements of § 73.674(b) must also provide the form on the
station's public Web site, if such exists. The Report shall be separated
from other materials in the public inspection file. The first Report,
covering the first quarter of 2008, must be filed no later than April 10,
2008. The Reports must continue to be included up to and including the
quarter in which a station concludes its education campaign. These Reports
shall be retained in the public inspection file for one year. Licensees and
permittees shall publicize in an appropriate manner the existence and
location of these Reports.
Note 1 to paragraph (e): For purposes of this section, a decision made with
respect to an application tendered with the FCC becomes final when that
decision is no longer subject to reconsideration, review, or appeal either
at the FCC or in the courts.
Note 2 to paragraph (e): For purposes of this section, the term “all related
material” includes all exhibits, letters, and other documents tendered for
filing with the FCC as part of an application, report, or other document,
all amendments to the application, report, or other document, copies of all
documents incorporated therein by reference and not already maintained in
the public inspection file, and all correspondence between the FCC and the
applicant pertaining to the application, report, or other document, which
according to the provisions of § § 0.451 through 0.461 of the rules are open
for public inspection at the offices of the FCC.
[ 63 FR 49499 , Sept. 16, 1998, as amended at 64 FR 35947 , July 2, 1999; 65 FR 7457 , Feb. 15, 2000; 65 FR 36378 , June 8, 2000; 65 FR 53614 , Sept. 5, 2000;
73 FR 15450 , Mar. 24, 2008; 73 FR 36283 , June 26, 2008; 76 FR 71269 , Nov.
17, 2011; 77 FR 27656 , May 11, 2012]
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Goto Section: 73.3526 | 73.3533
Goto Year: 2014 |
2016
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