§  27.1204   EBS Tribal priority filing window.

   (a) The Commission will specify by public notice a window filing period
   for applications for new EBS stations on rural Tribal Lands. EBS
   applications for new facilities will be accepted only during this
   window. Applications submitted prior to the window opening date
   identified in the public notice will be returned as premature.
   Applications submitted after the deadline will be dismissed with
   prejudice as untimely.

   (b) Applicants in the Tribal priority filing window must demonstrate
   that they are eligible to file in that window. To be considered
   eligible for the Tribal priority window, an applicant must be:

   (1) A federally recognized American Indian Tribe or Alaska Native
   Village; or an entity that is owned and controlled by a
   federally-recognized Tribe or a consortium of federally-recognized
   Tribes;

   (2) Requesting a license on Tribal Land, which is defined to be any
   federally recognized Indian Tribe's reservation, pueblo or colony,
   including former reservations in Oklahoma, Alaska Native regions
   established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (85
   Stat. 688) and Indian Allotments, see § 54.400(e) of this chapter, as
   well as Hawaiian Home Lands—areas held in trust for native Hawaiians by
   the State of Hawaii, pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act,
   1920, July 9, 1921, 42 Stat 108, et seq., as amended; and any lands
   designated prior to July 10, 2019, as Tribal Lands pursuant to the
   designation process contained in § 54.412 of this chapter;

   (3) Requesting a GSA in a rural area, which is defined to be lands that
   are not part of an urbanized area or urban cluster area with a
   population equal to or greater than 50,000; and

   (4) Have a local presence on the Tribal Land for which they are
   applying.

   (c) Following the close of the Tribal priority window, the Commission
   will issue a public notice of acceptance for filing of applications
   submitted pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section that meet technical
   and legal requirements and that are not in conflict with any other
   application filed during the window. Petitions to deny such
   applications may be filed within 30 days of such public notice. A copy
   of any petition to deny must be served on the applicant.

   (d) If applications are filed in the Tribal priority window that are
   mutually exclusive, the Commission will use competitive bidding to
   resolve the mutual exclusivity. Two or more pending applications are
   mutually exclusive if the grant of one application would effectively
   preclude the grant of one or more of the others under Commission rules
   in this chapter.

   (e) For non-mutually exclusive applications, the applications will be
   processed in accordance with procedures to be specified by the Wireless
   Telecommunications Bureau.

   [ 84 FR 57365 , Oct. 25, 2019, as amended at  85 FR 1284 , Jan. 10, 2020]