§  73.30   Petition for authorization of an allotment in the 1605-1705 kHz
band.

   (a) Any party interested in operating an AM broadcast station on one of
   the ten channels in the 1605-1705 kHz band must file a petition for the
   establishment of an allotment to its community of license. Each
   petition must include the following information:

   (1) Name of community for which allotment is sought;

   (2) Frequency and call letters of the petitioner's existing AM
   operation; and

   (3) Statement as to whether or not AM stereo operation is proposed for
   the operation in the 1605-1705 kHz band.

   (b) Petitions are to be filed during a filing period to be determined
   by the Commission. For each filing period, eligible stations will be
   allotted channels based on the following steps:

   (1) Stations are ranked in descending order according to the calculated
   improvement factor.

   (2) The station with the highest improvement factor is initially
   allotted the lowest available channel.

   (3) Successively, each station with the next lowest improvement factor,
   is allotted an available channel taking into account the possible
   frequency and location combinations and relationship to previously
   selected allotments. If a channel is not available for the subject
   station, previous allotments are examined with respect to an alternate
   channel, the use of which would make a channel available for the
   subject station.

   (4) When it has been determined that, in accordance with the above
   steps, no channel is available for the subject station, that station is
   no longer considered and the process continues to the station with the
   next lowest improvement factor.

   (c) If awarded an allotment, a petitioner will have sixty (60) days
   from the date of public notice of selection to file an application for
   construction permit on FCC Form 301. (See § § 73.24 and 73.37(e) for
   filing requirements). Unless instructed by the Commission to do
   otherwise, the application shall specify Model I facilities. (See
   § 73.14). Upon grant of the application and subsequent construction of
   the authorized facility, the applicant must file a license application
   on FCC Form 302.

   Note 1: Until further notice by the Commission, the filing of these
   petitions is limited to licensees of existing AM stations (excluding
   Class C stations) operating in the 535-1605 kHz band. First priority
   will be assigned to Class D stations located within the primary service
   contours of U.S. Class A stations that are licensed to serve
   communities of 100,000 or more for which there exists no local fulltime
   aural service.

   Note 2: Selection among competing petitions will be based on
   interference reduction. Notwithstanding the exception contained in Note
   5 of this section, within each operational category, the station
   demonstrating the highest value of improvement factor will be afforded
   the highest priority for an allotment, with the next priority assigned
   to the station with next lowest value, and so on, until available
   allotments are filled.

   Note 3: The Commission will periodically evaluate the progress of the
   movement of stations from the 535-1605 kHz band to the 1605-1705 kHz
   band to determine whether the 1605-1705 kHz band should continue to be
   administered on an allotment basis or modified to an assignment method.
   If appropriate, the Commission will later develop further procedures
   for use of the 1605-1705 kHz band by existing station licensees and
   others.

   Note 4: Other than the exception specified in note 1 of this section,
   existing fulltime stations are considered first for selection as
   described in note 2 of this section. In the event that an allotment
   availability exists for which no fulltime station has filed a relevant
   petition, such allotment may be awarded to a licensed Class D station.
   If more than one Class D station applies for this migration
   opportunity, the following priorities will be used in the selection
   process: First priority--a Class D station located within the 0.5
   mV/m-50% contour of a U.S. Class A station and licensed to serve a
   community of 100,000 or more, for which there exists no local fulltime
   aural service; Second priority--Class D stations ranked in order of
   improvement factor, from highest to lowest, considering only those
   stations with improvement factors greater than zero.

   Note 5: The preference for AM stereo in the expanded band will be
   administered as follows: when an allotment under consideration
   (candidate allotment) conflicts with one or more previously selected
   allotments (established allotments) and cannot be accommodated in the
   expanded band, the candidate allotment will be substituted for the
   previously established allotment provided that: the petitioner for the
   candidate allotment has made a written commitment to the use of AM
   stereo and the petitioner for the established allotment has not; the
   difference between the ranking factors associated with the candidate
   and established allotments does not exceed 10% of the ranking factor of
   the candidate allotment; the substitution will not require the
   displacement of more than one established allotment; and both the
   candidate allotment and the established allotment are within the same
   priority group.

   [ 58 FR 27949 , May 12, 1993]