RCC Wants SCOTUS to Overturn FCC's LPPA Order

June (see 2506270043). The FCC’s LPPA order allowed low-power TV stations fulfilling certain criteria set by Congress to upgrade to Class A status. Though the FCC’s order used nearly identical language to the LPPA, RCC has repeatedly argued that the FCC mistook Congress’ intent. RCC had argued the LPPA's requirement that eligible stations operate in a designated market area (DMA) with not more than 95,000 TV households was misinterpreted by the FCC, and it actually meant the upgrades should be available based on the size of a station’s community of license. The D.C. Circuit disagreed. “Nowhere in the statute does Congress reference ‘community of license,’ nor are communities of license equivalent systems to DMAs,” said the June opinion. “RCC’s convoluted reading of these statutory provisions is plainly incorrect.” In its petition for certiorari, RCC said the D.C. Circuit opinion and FCC order gave NAB and full-power broadcasters “speculative third-party regulatory relief” by not letting more LPTV stations upgrade to Class A status. The D.C. Circuit opinion “twists the LPPA into knots, ignoring basic statutory interpretive rules, for the improper purpose of protecting NAB’s Full Power clients, the entities the LPPA seeks to constrain,” RCC said. The petition accuses the FCC of acting on NAB’s behalf, though the agency’s order implementing the LPPA stuck narrowly to the text of the statute. “Federal agencies are not alter egos for trade associations,” RCC said.