Elective Payment of Applicable Credits (IRS final rule

Official source: Federal Register (GovInfo) (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-16/pdf/C1-2024-04604.pdf), retrieved 2026-10-03. U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. § 105).

26786 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 16, 2024 / Rules and Regulations

By direction of the Commission. Joel Christie, Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 2024–07180 Filed 4–15–24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

26 CFR Parts 1 and 301

[TD 9988]

RIN 1545–BQ63

Elective Payment of Applicable Credits

Correction

In rule document 2024–04604, beginning on page 17546, in the issue of Monday, March 11, 2024, the title is corrected to read as set for above.

[FR Doc. C1–2024–04604 Filed 4–15–24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 0099–10–D

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 11, 73, and 74

[MB Docket No. 20–401; FCC 24–35; FR ID 213398]

Program Originating FM Broadcast Booster Stations

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: In a Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) finds that allowing FM booster stations to originate content on a limited basis would serve the public interest. The Report and Order adopts rules to allow for the voluntary implementation of program originating FM booster stations, subject to future adoption of processing, licensing, and service rules proposed concurrently in a further notice of proposed rulemaking, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register . The rule changes in this document are needed to expand the potential uses of FM booster stations, which currently may not originate programming. The intended effect is to allow radio broadcasters to provide more relevant localized programming and information to different zones within their service areas.

DATES: Effective date: May 16, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Albert Shuldiner, Chief, Media Bureau, Audio Division, (202) 418–2721, Albert.Shuldiner@fcc.gov; Irene

Bleiweiss, Attorney, Media Bureau, Audio Division, (202) 418–2785, Irene.Bleiweiss@fcc.gov. For additional information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) information collection requirements contained in this document, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418–2918, Cathy.Williams@ fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission’s Report and Order (R&O), MB Docket No. 20– 401; FCC 24–35, adopted on March 27, 2024, and released on April 2, 2024. The full text of this document will be available via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), https:// www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Documents will be available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat. Alternative formats are available for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), by sending an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or calling the Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432 (TTY). The Commission published the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) at 86 FR 1909 on January 11, 2021.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

This document does not contain new or modified information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104–13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any new or modified information collection burdens for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).

Congressional Review Act

The Commission has determined, and the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that these rules are non-major under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The Commission will send a copy of the R&O to Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

Synopsis

Introduction. In the R&O, the Commission expands the potential uses of FM boosters, which are low power, secondary stations that operate in the FM broadcast band. As a secondary service, FM booster stations are not permitted to cause adjacent-channel interference to other primary services or previously-authorized secondary stations. They must operate on the same

frequency as the primary station, and have been limited to rebroadcasting the primary station’s signal in its entirety ( i.e., no transmission of original content). Historically, the sole use of FM boosters has been to improve signal strength of primary FM stations in areas where reception is poor due to terrain or distance from the transmitter. The R&O amends the Commission’s rules to allow FM and low power FM (LPFM) broadcasters to employ FM booster stations to originate programming for up to three minutes per hour. This represents a change from current requirements of 47 CFR 74.1201(f) and 74.1231 which, respectively, define FM booster stations as not altering the signal they receive from their primary FM station and prohibit FM boosters from making independent transmissions.

GeoBroadcast Solutions, LLC (GBS), the proponent of the rule changes, has developed technology designed to allow licensees of primary FM and LPFM broadcast stations to ‘‘geo-target’’ a portion of their programming by using FM boosters to originate different content for different parts of their service areas. Prior to proposing rule changes, GBS tested its technology under different conditions in three radio markets and concluded that the technology could be deployed for limited periods of time within the primary station’s protected service contour without causing any adjacentchannel interference, and that any resulting co-channel interference (selfinterference to the licensee’s own signal) would be manageable and not detrimental to listeners. GBS filed a Petition for Rulemaking (Petition) seeking to allow FM boosters to originate programming. The Petition suggested that geo-targeted broadcasting can deliver significant value to broadcasters, advertisers, and listeners in distinct communities by broadcasting more relevant localized information and advancing diversity. Stations might, for example, air hyper-local news and weather reports most relevant to a particular community. Stations also might air advertisements or underwriting acknowledgements from businesses that are only interested in reaching small geographic areas, thereby enhancing the stations’ ability to compete for local support. GBS pointed out that many other types of media, such as online content providers, cable companies, and newspapers are able to differentiate their content geographically, but that no such option has existed for radio broadcasting. On April 2, 2020, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a

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