Groups Invoke APA on Both Sides of Radio Duplication Item

19-310. “Given the long time lapse since the reconsideration petition was filed, and the lack of any new evidence to justify reversal,” it would be “unwise” for the FCC to reinstate the rule without more information, NAB said. The FCC “does not appear to have inquired in any meaningful way about whether, how or why stations have changed their operations following elimination of the rule,” NAB said. Meanwhile, REC Networks, the musicFIRST Coalition and the Future of Music Coalition told an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that the FCC already violated the APA by eliminating the FM portion of the non-duplication rule without proper notice. The rule was eliminated on a 3-2 vote in 2020, under then-Chairman Ajit Pai. In her dissent, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, then a commissioner, said that just 36 hours before the vote the draft was changed from eliminating non-duplication rules for AM only to doing so for AM and FM (see 2008060072). REC and the music licensing groups said the “sudden elimination of the FM portion of the Radio Duplication Rule, without notice and adequate opportunity to comment, violated the Administrative Procedure Act.” Said NAB, “There were some complaints that the FM portion of the removal order came late in the process.” NAB continued, “If that’s one’s feeling, then compounding a perceived procedural foot fault with another by simply putting the rule back in place makes no sense.”