Legislation

The Local Community Radio Act is a popular, bipartisan bill that will greatly expand the number of low power FM (LPFM) stations in the United States. By repealing restrictions that drastically limit channels available to LPFM stations, the Act will allow hundreds of community groups nationwide to access the public airwaves.

When the FCC introduced the LPFM service in 2000, they proposed that LPFM stations be allowed on “third adjacent channels,” FCC-speak for three clicks away (from full power stations) on the FM dial. Despite the FCC’s recommendations, commercial radio broadcasters complained that LPFM stations could cause interference with full power commercial stations, which is a little like saying a reading light is going to outshine a lighthouse.

In response to these grievances, Congress mandated that the FCC commission a study to investigate concerns of interference. In the meantime, Congress restricted LPFM stations to the fourth adjacent channels, causing hundreds of LPFM applications to be thrown out.

In 2003, a two million dollar study, conducted by the MITRE Corporation, concluded that interference between full power stations and LPFM stations on third adjacent channels was not an issue, as the FCC had known all along. Unfortunately, these conclusive findings did not automatically repeal the restrictions on community radio. The facts have been in for six years, but as we all know, politics have a way of delaying things. Legislation must be passed to repeal the restrictions that Congress placed on this service prior to the results of the study. The Local Community Radio Act is essential to community broadcasting because it opens up the nation’s public airwaves to local community groups, democratizing the national and local media landscape.

Help pass the Local Community Radio Act! Take Action and Donate to Prometheus.

Want to know more? Read The Fact Are In: Summary of the MITRE Report