§ 1.420   Additional procedures in proceedings for amendment of the FM or TV
Tables of Allotments, or for amendment of certain FM assignments.

   (a)  Comments  filed  in  proceedings for amendment of the FM Table of
   Allotments (§ 73.202 of this chapter) or the Television Table of Allotments
   (§ 73.606 of this chapter) which are initiated on a petition for rule making
   shall be served on petitioner by the person who files the comments.

   (b)  Reply  comments  filed  in proceedings for amendment of the FM or
   Television Tables of Allotments shall be served on the person(s) who filed
   the comments to which the reply is directed.

   (c) Such comments and reply comments shall be accompanied by a certificate
   of service.

   (d) Counterproposals shall be advanced in initial comments only and will not
   be considered if they are advanced in reply comments.

   (e) An original and 4 copies of all petitions for rulemaking, comments,
   reply comments, and other pleadings shall be filed with the Commission.

   (f) Petitions for reconsideration and responsive pleadings shall be served
   on  parties  to  the proceeding and on any licensee or permittee whose
   authorization may be modified to specify operation on a different channel,
   and shall be accompanied by a certificate of service.

   (g) The Commission may modify the license or permit of a UHF TV station to a
   VHF  channel  in  the  same community in the course of the rule making
   proceeding to amend § 73.606(b), or it may modify the license or permit of an
   FM  station  to  another  class  of channel through notice and comment
   procedures, if any of the following conditions are met:

   (1) There is no other timely filed expression of interest, or

   (2)  If  another  interest in the proposed channel is timely filed, an
   additional  equivalent  class of channel is also allotted, assigned or
   available for application.

   Note to paragraph (g): In certain situations, a licensee or permittee may
   seek  an  adjacent,  intermediate  frequency  or co-channel upgrade by
   application. See § 73.203(b) of this chapter.

   (h) Where licensees (or permittees) of television broadcast stations jointly
   petition to amend § 73.606(b) and to exchange channels, and where one of the
   licensees (or permittees) operates on a commercial channel while the other
   operates on a reserved noncommercial educational channel within the same
   band,  and  the stations serve substantially the same market, then the
   Commission may amend § 73.606(b) and modify the licenses (or permits) of the
   petitioners to specify operation on the appropriate channels upon a finding
   that  such  action  will promote the public interest, convenience, and
   necessity.

   Note 1 to paragraph (h): Licensees and permittees operating Class A FM
   stations who seek to upgrade their facilities to Class B1, B, C3, C2, C1, or
   C on Channel 221, and whose proposed 1 mV/m signal contours would overlap
   the Grade B contour of a television station operating on Channel 6 must meet
   a particularly heavy burden by demonstrating that grants of their upgrade
   requests are in the public interest. In this regard, the Commission will
   examine the record in rule making proceedings to determine the availability
   of existing and potential non-commercial education service.

   (i) In the course of the rule making proceeding to amend § 73.202(b) or
   § 73.606(b), the Commission may modify the license or permit of an FM or
   television broadcast station to specify a new community of license where the
   amended  allotment  would be mutually exclusive with the licensee's or
   permittee's present assignment.

   (j) Whenever an expression of interest in applying for, constructing, and
   operating a station has been filed in a proceeding to amend the FM or TV
   Table of Allotments, and the filing party seeks to dismiss or withdraw the
   expression of interest, either unilaterally or in exchange for financial
   consideration,  that party must file with the Commission a request for
   approval of the dismissal or withdrawal, a copy of any written agreement
   related to the dismissal or withdrawal, and an affidavit setting forth:

   (1) A certification that neither the party withdrawing its interest nor its
   principals has received or will receive any money or other consideration in
   excess of legitimate and prudent expenses in exchange for the dismissal or
   withdrawal of the expression of interest;

   (2) The exact nature and amount of any consideration received or promised;

   (3) An itemized accounting of the expenses for which it seeks reimbursement;
   and

   (4) The terms of any oral agreement related to the dismissal or withdrawal
   of the expression of interest.

   (5) In addition, within 5 days of a party's request for approval, each
   remaining party to any written or oral agreement must submit an affidavit
   setting forth:

   (i) A certification that neither it nor its principals has paid or will pay
   money  or  other consideration in excess of the legitimate and prudent
   expenses of the party withdrawing its expression of interest; and

   (ii) The terms of any oral agreement relating to the dismissal or withdrawal
   of the expression of interest.

   Note to § 1.420: The reclassification of a Class C station in accordance with
   the procedure set forth in Note 4 to § 73.3573 may be initiated through the
   filing of an original petition for amendment of the FM Table of Allotments.
   The Commission will notify the affected Class C station licensee of the
   proposed reclassification by issuing a notice of proposed rule making,
   except that where a triggering petition proposes an amendment or amendments
   to the FM Table of Allotments in addition to the proposed reclassification,
   the Commission will issue an order to show cause as set forth in Note 4 to
   § 73.3573, and a notice of proposed rule making will be issued only after the
   reclassification issue is resolved. Triggering petitions will be dismissed
   upon the filing, rather than the grant, of an acceptable construction permit
   application to increase antenna height to at least 451 meters HAAT by a
   subject Class C station.

   (Secs. 4, 303, 307, 48 Stat., as amended, 1066, 1082, 1083; 47 U.S.C. 154,
   303, 307)

   [ 39 FR 44022 , Dec. 20, 1974, as amended at  40 FR 53391 , Nov. 18, 1975;  41 FR 1287 , Jan. 7, 1976;  51 FR 15629 , Apr. 25, 1986;  51 FR 20291 , June 4, 1986;
    52 FR 8260 , Mar. 17, 1987;  52 FR 25866 , July 9, 1987;  54 FR 16366 , Apr. 24,
   1989;  54 FR 26201 , June 22, 1989;  55 FR 28914 , July 16, 1990;  58 FR 38535 ,
   July 19, 1993;  59 FR 59503 , Nov. 17, 1994;  61 FR 43472 , Aug. 23, 1996;  65 FR 79776 , Dec. 20, 2000;  71 FR 76215 , Dec. 20, 2006]

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