NAB: FCC Must Provide Notice of Changed 'Lease' Definition
The FCC is required by legal precedent to provide notice of redefined terms in regulations, even if that new definition is only in the preamble of the final rule, said NAB in a supplemental filing Wednesday in its case challenging…
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the FCC’s foreign-sponsored content ID rules in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. During oral argument Monday, D.C. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas questioned whether the FCC’s broadening of the definition of a “lease” of TV station airtime in the rule's preamble was bound by notice-and-comment requirements (see 2504070019). NAB’s challenge to the order is in part based on arguments that the FCC didn’t sufficiently provide notice of plans to widen the definition to include political issue ads and public service announcements. Even if the court deemed the preamble definition of "lease" exempt from notice and comment, it would still be subject to legal challenges because it's “final agency action representing the consummation of agency decision-making and [has] pragmatic legal consequences for licensees,” NAB said.