What if we have another government shutdown?
With the potential of a government shutdown looming again, let's take a look at how this will impact LPFM.
All of you who had filed in the 2013 LPFM filing window were already impacted by the previous government shutdown. During that shutdown, all non-essential government services were shut down including services from websites. Here's how things are likely going to work in the event of another shutdown:
If the shutdown happens prior to the opening of MX Window 3:
The window will open on the date that the FCC releases the public notice with the 30-day clock for petitions to deny and the 90-day clock for time share agreements starting on the release date and the 90-day clock for technical amendments starting the business day following the release of the public notice.
If the shutdown happens after the opening of MX Window 3:
This will be a situation similar to what happened in 2013 but we would have a new variable and that is how the 30-day petition to deny window will be handled. In the previous window, REC and other advocates successfully asked the FCC to extend the window date due to the unavailability of web services that were necessary for the general public to file their applications. Since the LPFM service is intended to be consumer friendly where many applications can be filed without the need of counsel or an engineer and can be done with services provided by the FCC, we will ask for an extension of the deadlines.
Other filings that may be due during the shutdown/expiring STAs
In the past government shutdown, the FCC had extended various non-statutory deadlines (such as rulemakings, petitions to deny, informal objections, etc.) to later dates with the individual bureaus (such as the Media Bureau) having additional discretion. For statutory deadlines (petitions for reconsideration, application for review), the FCC declared several "non-work" days to accommodate the restoral of government services. This public notice from 2013 detailed how the FCC restored services and dealt with filing deadlines last year.
Lack of FCC web services during the shutdown
During the shutdown, all FCC web services will be unavailable. This means that you will not be able to access CDBS to "stage" your applications and run test filings. There will be no access to the FCC's HAAT tool, CURVES calculator and TOWAIR search.
REC web services available during the shutdown
Most REC web services will continue to operate during the shutdown. The only exception is that myLPFM will not be able to perform calculations of height above average terrain which means that myLPFM will not be able to support second adjacent waiver studies or service contour map plotting during the shutdown.
REC will launch unofficial versions of TOWAIR (which is available through myLPFM), CURVES calculator and a tool to locate registered towers (TowerFind). These tools are unofficial and should never be solely depended on in connection with a filing.
REC Broadcast Query will continue to function with information from the last business day prior to the shutdown.
REC professional services during the shutdown
During the government shutdown, REC will be unable to perform preliminary checks on locations due to the lack of availabilty of FCC and other agency web services. We will not be able to determine whether a particular site and channel can support LPFM if a second adjacent channel waiver is required. REC clients who already have applications staged for Window 3 will be OK as those applications are already on hold in the Commission's systems.
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