§  73.3598   Period of construction.

   (a) Except as provided in the last two sentences of this paragraph (a),
   each original construction permit for the construction of a new TV, AM,
   FM or International Broadcast; low power TV; low power FM; TV
   translator; TV booster; FM translator; or FM booster station, or to
   make changes in such existing stations, shall specify a period of three
   years from the date of issuance of the original construction permit
   within which construction shall be completed and application for
   license filed. An eligible entity that acquires an issued and
   outstanding construction permit for a station in any of the services
   listed in this paragraph (a) shall have the time remaining on the
   construction permit or eighteen months from the consummation of the
   assignment or transfer of control, whichever is longer, within which to
   complete construction and file an application for license. For purposes
   of the preceding sentence, an "eligible entity" shall include any
   entity that qualifies as a small business under the Small Business
   Administration's size standards for its industry grouping, as set forth
   in 13 CFR parts 121 through 201, at the time the transaction is
   approved by the FCC, and holds:

   (1) 30 percent or more of the stock or partnership interests and more
   than 50 percent of the voting power of the corporation or partnership
   that will hold the construction permit; or

   (2) 15 percent or more of the stock or partnership interests and more
   than 50 percent of the voting power of the corporation or partnership
   that will hold the construction permit, provided that no other person
   or entity owns or controls more than 25 percent of the outstanding
   stock or partnership interests; or

   (3) More than 50 percent of the voting power of the corporation that
   will hold the construction permit if such corporation is a publicly
   traded company.

   (b) The period of construction for an original construction permit
   shall toll when construction is prevented by the following causes not
   under the control of the permittee:

   (1) Construction is prevented due to an act of God, defined in terms of
   natural disasters (e.g., floods, tornados, hurricanes, or earthquakes);

   (2) The grant of the permit is the subject of administrative or
   judicial review (i.e., petitions for reconsideration and applications
   for review of the grant of a construction permit pending before the
   Commission and any judicial appeal of any Commission action thereon),
   or construction is delayed by any cause of action pending before any
   court of competent jurisdiction relating to any necessary local, state
   or federal requirement for the construction or operation of the
   station, including any zoning or environmental requirement;

   (3) A request for international coordination, with respect to an
   original construction permit for a new DTV station, has been sent to
   Canada or Mexico on behalf of the station and no response from the
   country affected has been received, or the licensee or permittee is
   challenging the response from Canada or Mexico on the grounds that the
   facility as approved would not permit the station to serve the
   population that is both approved by the Commission and served by the
   station's TV (analog) facility to be vacated by June 12, 2009;

   (4) A request for international coordination, with respect to a
   construction permit for stations in the Low Power FM service, on FM
   channels reserved for noncommercial educational use, and for
   noncommercial educational full power television stations, has been sent
   to Canada or Mexico on behalf of the station and no response from the
   country affected has been received; or

   (5) Failure of a Commission-imposed condition precedent prior to
   commencement of operation.

   (c) A permittee must notify the Commission as promptly as possible and,
   in any event, within 30 days, of any pertinent event covered by
   paragraph (b) of this section, and provide supporting documentation.
   All notifications must be filed in triplicate with the Secretary and
   must be placed in the station's local public file. For authorizations
   to construct stations in the Low Power FM service, on FM channels
   reserved for noncommercial educational use, and for noncommercial
   educational full power television stations, the Commission will
   identify and grant an initial period of tolling when the grant of a
   construction permit is encumbered by administrative or judicial review
   under the Commission's direct purview (e.g., petitions for
   reconsideration and applications for review of the grant of a
   construction permit pending before the Commission and any judicial
   appeal of any Commission action thereon), a request for international
   coordination under paragraph (b)(4) of this section, or failure of a
   condition under paragraph (b)(5) of this section. When a permit is
   encumbered by administrative or judicial review outside of the
   Commission's direct purview (e.g., local, state, or non-FCC Federal
   requirements), the permittee is required to notify the Commission of
   such tolling events.

   (d) A permittee must notify the Commission promptly when a relevant
   administrative or judicial review is resolved. Tolling resulting from
   an act of God will automatically cease six months from the date of the
   notification described in paragraph (c) of this section, unless the
   permittee submits additional notifications at six-month intervals
   detailing how the act of God continues to cause delays in construction,
   any construction progress, and the steps it has taken and proposes to
   take to resolve any remaining impediments. For authorizations to
   construct stations in the Low Power FM service, on FM channels reserved
   for noncommercial educational use, and for noncommercial educational
   full power television stations, the Commission will cease the tolling
   treatment and notify the permittee upon resolution of either:

   (1) Any encumbrance by administrative or judicial review of the grant
   of the construction permit under the Commission's direct purview;

   (2) The request for international coordination under paragraph (b)(4)
   of this section; or

   (3) The condition on the commencement of operations under paragraph
   (b)(5) of this section.

   (e) Any construction permit for which construction has not been
   completed and for which an application for license has not been filed,
   shall be automatically forfeited upon expiration without any further
   affirmative cancellation by the Commission.

   [ 63 FR 70050 , Dec. 18, 1998, as amended at  65 FR 7648 , Feb. 15, 2000;
    68 FR 12761 , Mar. 17, 2003;  69 FR 53352 , Sept. 1, 2004;  73 FR 5684 ,
   Jan. 30, 2008;  73 FR 28369 , May 16, 2008;  74 FR 8879 , Feb. 27, 2009;  85 FR 7890 , Feb. 12, 2020]