Today, we begin the process of making the FCC more open and transparent.
I’m pleased to announce this morning a pilot project that, if successful, will become a Commission practice—one that will give the public much more insight into the Commission’s activities. Specifically, at the end of my remarks, I will be releasing two documents that I have presented to my fellow Commissioners for a vote at the FCC’s February meeting.
The first is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that seeks comment on allowing television broadcasters to use ATSC 3.0, the next-generation broadcast standard. And the second is a Report and Order giving AM radio broadcasters more flexibility in siting their FM translators.
An NPRM and a Report and Order are essentially the beginning and the end of a conversation that an administrative agency has with the American public about regulation. One announces a proposal and asks for public input; the other takes stock of that input and announces a decision. I have deliberately chosen one NPRM and one Order for purposes of this test run. Between now and our monthly meeting on February 23, we will closely assess how the process plays out with respect to these items. Should things go well, my hope is to make it the norm to publicly release, well in advance, the text of all agenda items for monthly Commission meetings. And my goal is a simple but powerful one: equal access to the administrative process.
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About Gary Price
