Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 591.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · Mar 4, 2008
Local Community Radio Act of 2007 - Repeals provisions in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, that required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) modify rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations to prescribe minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels; (2) prohibit applicants who have engaged in the unlicensed operation of any station from obtaining a low-power FM license; and (3) conduct a program to test whether low-power FM radio stations will result in harmful interference to existing FM radio stations if minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels are not required.
Requires the FCC to: (1) modify its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum distance separation requirements between specified stations; and (2) retain rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for full-power noncommercial FM stations that broadcast radio reading services via a subcarrier frequency from potential low-power FM station interference.
Requires the FCC, when licensing FM translator stations, to ensure: (1) that licenses are available to both FM translator stations and low-power FM stations; and (2) that such decisions are made based on the needs of the local community.
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Requires the FCC to: (1) modify rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations, as proposed in a specified docket, to prohibit any applicant from obtaining a low-power FM license if the applicant has engaged in any manner in the unlicensed operation of any station; (2) retain its rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for full-power FM stations that are licensed in states with more than 3,000,000 housing units and a population density greater than 1,000 people per square mile land area; and (3) conduct an economic study on the impact that low-power FM stations will have on full-power commercial FM stations.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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