Rule2025-14013
Program Originating FM Broadcast Booster Stations
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 25, 2025
Effective
July 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget has approved new information collection requirements under OMB Control Number 3060-1334, as adopted in the Federal Communications Commission's Second Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, FCC 24-121 (Second Report and Order). This Second Report and Order established the specific processing, licensing, and service rules for the voluntary, limited use of FM booster stations to originate content on a permanent basis and initiated the accompanying use of FCC Form 2100, Schedule 336 to notify the Commission of such operations. This document is consistent with the Second Report and Order, which stated that the Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date for these amended rule sections and revise the rules accordingly.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 141 (Friday, July 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 141 (Friday, July 25, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35238-35240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14013]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 73 and 74
[MB Docket Nos. 20-401, 17-105; FCC 24-121; FR ID 304894]
Program Originating FM Broadcast Booster Stations
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget has
approved new information collection requirements under OMB Control
Number 3060-1334, as adopted in the Federal Communications Commission's
Second Report and Order and Order on
[[Page 35239]]
Reconsideration, FCC 24-121 (Second Report and Order). This Second
Report and Order established the specific processing, licensing, and
service rules for the voluntary, limited use of FM booster stations to
originate content on a permanent basis and initiated the accompanying
use of FCC Form 2100, Schedule 336 to notify the Commission of such
operations. This document is consistent with the Second Report and
Order, which stated that the Commission will publish a document in the
Federal Register announcing the effective date for these amended rule
sections and revise the rules accordingly.
DATES: Amendatory instructions 5 (47 CFR 73.3526), 6 (47 CFR 73.3527),
9 (47 CFR 74.1204), and 10 (47 CFR 74.1206), published at 89 FR 100868
on Dec. 13, 2024, are effective July 25, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathy Williams, Office of the Managing
Director, Federal Communications Commission, at (202) 418-2918 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cd8eacb9a5b4e39aa4a1a1a4aca0be8dabaeaee3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6e2d0f1a06174039070202070f031d2e080d0d40090118">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection
requirements in 47 CFR 73.3526, 73.3527, 74.1204, and 74.1206, and FCC
Form 2100, Schedule 336, on July 14, 2025. These rule sections were
adopted in the Second Report and Order, FCC 24-121. The Commission
publishes this document as an announcement of the effective date for
these amended rules. If you have any comments on the burden estimates
listed below, or how the Commission can improve the collections and
reduce any burdens caused thereby, please contact Cathy Williams,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#672406130f1e49300e0b0b0e060a142701040449000811"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="236042574b5a0d744a4f4f4a424e50634540400d444c55">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include the OMB Control Number in your
correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via email
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#42121003022421216c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d080829190b6b3b3feb7bfa6">[email protected]</span></a>.
Synopsis
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3507), the Commission is notifying the public that it received final
OMB approval on July 14, 2025, for the information collection
requirements contained in 47 CFR 73.3526, 73.3527, 74.1204, and
74.1206, and FCC Form 2100, Schedule 336. Under 5 CFR part 1320, an
agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it
displays a current, valid OMB Control Number.
No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply
with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB
Control Number for the information collection requirements in 47 CFR
73.3526, 73.3527, 74.1204, and 74.1206, and FCC Form 2100, Schedule
336, is 3060-1334.
The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents
are as follows:
OMB Control Number: 3060-1334.
Title: FM Booster Program Origination Notification; Form 2100,
Schedule 336; 47 CFR 74.1206.
Form Number: Form 2100, Schedule 336.
Type of Review: New collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,260 respondents; 1,260
responses.
Estimated Hours per Response: 1 hour-10 hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
Total Annual Burden: 1,350 hours.
Total Annual Cost: $568,500.
Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The
statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in
sections 154(i), 303, 310, and 553 of the Communications Act of 1934,
as amended.
Needs and Uses: On November 21, 2024, the Commission adopted the
Second Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, MB Docket Nos.
20-401, 17-105, FCC 24-121 (Second Report and Order), which allows FM
and low power FM (LPFM) broadcasters to use FM booster stations to
originate program content, for up to three minutes of each hour. This
option allows FM and LPFM broadcasters to air programming on booster
stations different from their primary station to better meet the needs
and interests of local listeners.
FM boosters are low power, secondary stations that operate in the
FM broadcast band. They must be licensed to the same broadcaster and on
the same frequency as the primary station, and rebroadcast that primary
station's signal within its protected contour. Until this proceeding,
FM boosters were traditionally used only as a means to enhance weak
signals of a primary FM station and could not originate programming.
With advances in technology it is now possible for FM broadcasters to
customize the content delivered to different parts of their service
areas by using boosters to air programming different from their primary
FM station. Since the April 2024 adoption of the First Report and Order
in this proceeding, MB Docket Nos. 20-401, 17-105, FCC 24-35, the
Commission has allowed the use of program originating FM boosters on a
temporary, experimental basis. The Second Report and Order now
establishes specific processing, licensing, and service rules and
permanently authorizes broadcasters to originate programming on FM
boosters without the need for an experimental authorization.
Program Origination Notification Form. In the Second Report and
Order, the Commission establishes that FM licensees can apply for
boosters on a first come/first served basis. Before commencing program
origination the licensee will file a notification (FM Booster Program
Origination Notification) using an electronic form that will be
available in the Media Bureau's Licensing and Management System (LMS)
database. The notification will enable the Commission and interested
parties to identify which FM boosters are originating programming.
Program originating FM booster licensees will be required to file the
notification form in LMS 15 days prior to commencing origination, and
30 days after permanently terminating origination. Per 47 CFR
74.1232(g), no more than 25 program originating booster stations may be
licensed to a single full service FM broadcast station. A separate form
is required for each FM booster station.
To facilitate the rollout of this service, the Commission directed
the Media Bureau to create a notification form and consistent with this
directive, the Media Bureau created the FM Booster Program Origination
Notification, FCC Form 2100, Schedule 336.
In addition to the standard general contact information, the FM
Booster Program Origination Notification, FCC Form 2100, Schedule 336
includes the following elements:
(1) The call sign and facility identification number of the program
originating FM booster station;
(2) If applicable, the date on which the program originating FM
booster station will commence (or has terminated) originating content;
(3) The name and telephone number of a technical representative the
Commission or the public can contact in the event of interference;
(4) A certification that the program originating FM booster station
complies with all Emergency Alert System (EAS) requirements contained
in part 11 of our rules;
[[Page 35240]]
(5) A certification that the program originating FM booster station
will originate programming for no more than three minutes of each
broadcast hour; and
(6) A certification that the program originating FM booster
minimizes interference to the primary station through synchronization
or terrain shielding.
To implement this new information requirement contained in the
Second Report and Order, the Commission added new Sec. 74.1206 to the
rules.
EAS-specific Notification. In response to public safety concerns
about the potential impact on the Emergency Alert System (EAS), the
Commission will also require primary station broadcasters whose signals
are specified in a state emergency communications plan, to notify their
State Emergency Communications Committee(s) (SECC) of their use of
program originating boosters. Broadcasters must notify the appropriate
SECC(s) at least 30 days prior to employing a program originating
booster, or implementing a change to a booster's status. This
requirement has been codified in new rule Sec. 74.1206. This
information collection regarding the EAS-specific notification and 47
CFR 74.1206 has received OMB approval.
OPIF Public Interest Certification by Licensees of Program
Originating FM Boosters. To ensure that program originating booster
stations are used appropriately, the Commission adopted a public
interest self-certification requirement. Specifically, every licensee
of a full service FM primary station using a program originating FM
booster station, as defined in 47 CFR 74.1201(f)(2), shall concurrently
with its quarterly issues programs lists for the primary station, place
a booster public interest certification in the online public file of
its FM primary station. The certification must contain the call sign(s)
of the relevant booster(s) and certify that in originating programming
over the booster(s), the licensee has considered the characteristics
and needs of the coverage area of the booster station and has not used
the booster to exclude or diminish service to other populations within
that area or any other area served by the booster's primary station.
This requirement has been codified in rule Sec. Sec. 73.3526(a)(3) and
(e)(20) and 73.3527(a)(3) and (e)(16), the online public inspection
file rule for commercial stations and noncommercial educational
stations, respectively. This information collection regarding the OPIF
public interest certification by licensees of program originating FM
boosters, and the modifications to 47 CFR 73.3526 and 73.3527, has
received OMB approval.
Interference Regarding FM Booster Applications. In the Second
Report and Order the Commission adopted the proposed amendment to Sec.
74.1204(f) of the rules to provide a mechanism for complaints of
predicted interference against a pending FM booster construction permit
application. By amending Sec. 74.1204(f) to allow complaints of
predicted interference against pending FM booster construction permit
applications, we are establishing a process that will provide the
earliest indication that a developing booster station may cause
interference that must be resolved under Sec. 74.1203 once the booster
station commences broadcasts. This information collection regarding the
predicted interference complaint process at the construction permit
application stage, and the modification to 47 CFR 74.1204(f), has
received OMB approval.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-14013 Filed 7-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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