Mid-Term EEO NPRM and Media Modernization Item Noncontroversial; Officials Expect OK
The FCC’s draft NPRM on mid-term equal employment opportunity reports is expected to receive broad support from all commissioners, and a draft item eliminating requirements for hard copies of FCC rules should be approved unanimously, possibly even before Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting (see 1801310065), FCC officials told us. Docket 17-105 has seen little activity on either issue since the items were put on the February agenda. Both are seen as minor and noncontroversial, said Wiley Rein broadcast attorney Greg Masters.
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The draft mid-term EEO reports NPRM would seek comment on eliminating a rule requiring broadcasters to file a mid-term EEO report with the FCC in addition to their annual EEO report requirement. The item doesn’t propose getting rid of mid-term EEO reviews, just the separate filing currently associated with it. Since EEO reports are kept in stations’ online public file and all broadcasters will be required to have online public files after March 1, it’s no longer necessary to have the separate filing requirement, said numerous broadcast attorneys, commenters in the FCC’s media modernization docket, and the draft NPRM. Nearly all the information in the mid-term EEO reports can be found in online public files, said Garvey Schubert broadcast attorney Melodie Virtue.
If mid-term EEO reports are done away with, the agency will need a new way to identify which broadcasters meet the requirements for mid-term EEO review, one FCC official noted. The mid-term EEO report previously flagged this for agency staff. The draft NPRM seeks comment on replacement options, such as having broadcasters that meet that requirement identify themselves as such in their online public files. This issue is also seen as largely uncontroversial, broadcast attorneys said.
The draft item on eliminating a requirement that broadcasters and cable carriers keep a physical book of FCC regulations on their premises is likely to be approved unanimously on circulation before Thursday’s meeting and deleted from the agenda, an FCC official said. The proposal was the first of Chairman Ajit Pai’s media modernization effort (see 1709060073), and he has conceded it’s “hardly the biggest deal.”