An organization that wants to build a low-power FM radio station in Hazleton, Pa., has failed to convince the FCC to overturn the rejection of the application.
The FCC Media Bureau originally dismissed the application of Aire Broadcasting Foundation, filed during the 2023 LPFM window. Aire sought to broadcast on 94.5 FM but the commission said it would violate second-adjacent channel spacing requirements in respect to 94.1 WQKX, a Class B signal licensed to Sunbury.
The Local Community Radio Act authorizes the commission to waive second-adjacent spacing requirements if an applicant specifically requests a waiver in its application and demonstrates that its facilities would not result in interference to any authorized radio service.
Aire did not submit a waiver at first. It attempted to amend its application on Jan. 9, saying its engineer had made a mistake, but this was during a filing freeze for amendments to LPFM applications. When the freeze ended Aire filed a petition to seek reinstatement of its application and a waiver of the second-adjacent requirement. Aire argued that the signal would not cause interference, citing a corrected engineering exhibit.
But the commission now has upheld its decision.
It said Aire had not shown justification for a waiver, and it pointed out that the procedure notice published in advance of the application window made clear that an application that failed to protect authorizations, applications and vacant FM allotments would be “dismissed with no opportunity to correct the deficiency.”
The commission also said errors by “technical assistants” are not an excuse for failure to adhere to the rules. And it said that permitting someone to file requests to waive separation requirements after the close of the window and dismissal of their application would be “unfair to the many applicants who fully complied with the rules and filing requirements, and is therefore, contrary to the public interest.”
Thus, Aire Broadcasting Foundation’s petition that the FCC reconsider its Hazleton LPFM application was denied. (Read the decision.)
According to its application, the organization wanted a station that would focus on environmental stewardship, health and wellness, community affairs, media literacy and other local interests.
[Related: FCC Rejects Proposed LPFM Coastal Weather Network]
