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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 115 / Thursday, June 17, 2021 / Rules and Regulations screens that appear on the list, but rather may also necessitate reviewing materials filed as part of an agents registration and using whatever search features are available to investigate the lists contents. Licensees should also check if the lessees name appears in the Commissions semi-annual reports of U.S.-based foreign media outlets. The R&O also requires, that, at regular intervals, the licensee should memorialize the results of its diligence in some manner for its own records and maintain this documentation for the remainder of the then-current license term or one year, whichever is longer.
The R&O clarifies that, under the revised rules, the lessee of the airtime, in accordance with sections 507b and c of the Act, also holds an independent obligation to communicate information to the licensee relevant to determining whether a disclosure is needed.
99. In the interest of ensuring transparency for viewers and listeners of foreign government-provided programming, the R&O requires that, if the primary language of the programming is other than English, the disclosure statement should be presented in the primary language of the programming. The disclosure for televised programming should be in letters equal to or greater than four percent of the vertical picture height and be visible for not less than four seconds to ensure readability. As this requirement tracks existing rules for televised political advertisements, television licensees are familiar with this format, minimizing their compliance burdens. For radio broadcasts, the R&O incorporates the existing DOJ interpretation for programming provided by FARA
registrants: That the disclosure shall be audible. The R&O requires that the disclosure be made at both the beginning and end of the programming, and, consistent with an existing requirement for political broadcast matter, for any broadcast of 5 minutes or less, only once. Finally, for programming longer than sixty minutes, the disclosure must be made at regular intervals during the broadcast, but no less frequently than once every sixty minutes. The R&O finds that periodic announcements are necessary, particularly in those instances where a foreign governmental entity is continually broadcasting programming without an identifiable beginning or end, such as through a lease of 100% of a stations airtime. Other than this final requirement for longer programming, the new rules are consistent with existing sponsorship identification rules
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and are thus familiar to broadcasters to reduce compliance burdens.
100. Consistent with the NPRM, the R&O adopts a requirement that stations airing foreign government-provided programming must place copies of the disclosures in their Online Public Information Files OPIFs, in a standalone folder marked as Foreign Government-Provided Programming Disclosures so that the material is readily identifiable to the public. The R&O adopts the proposal discussed in the NPRM, that, to the extent the foreign programming consists of a political matter or matter involving the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance, licensees obtain and disclose in their OPIFs a list of the persons operating the foreign governmental entity providing the programming. In response to broadcaster concerns about burdens, the R&O also does not adopt the NPRMs as soon as possible standard for updating OPIFs contained in 73.1943
of existing rules, nor interpret this phrase to mean within twenty-four hours of the material being broadcast.
Rather, for frequency of updating OPIFs, the R&O adopts rules that align with an existing requirement to update the TV
Issues/Programs Lists on a quarterly basis, as this will minimize the need for licensees to track different public filing requirements. The R&O also adopts the same OPIF two-year retention period as currently exists for the retention of lists of the executives of any entity that sponsored programming concerning a political or controversial matter.
101. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant alternatives that it has considered in adopting its rules, which may include the following four alternatives among others: 1 The establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the resources available to small entities; 2 the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small entities; 3 the use of performance, rather than design, standards; and 4 an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for small entities.
102. While the NPRM proposed that foreign sponsorship disclosure rules should apply in any circumstances in which a foreign governmental entity directly or indirectly provided material for broadcast or furnished material to a station free of charge or at nominal cost as an inducement to broadcast
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such material, the R&O narrows the rule to address specifically those circumstances in which a foreign governmental entity is programming a U.S. broadcast station pursuant to the lease of airtime. The rules adopted in the R&O require a specific disclosure at the time of broadcast if material aired pursuant to the lease of time on the station has been sponsored, paid for, or, in the case of political programming or programming involving a controversial issue, furnished for free as an inducement to air by a foreign governmental entity. The focus on leasing agreements narrows the application of the disclosure rules significantly, thereby minimizing the burden on broadcasters while ensuring that viewers and listeners are sufficiently informed as to the origin of material broadcast on stations when foreign governmental entities are providing programming. Most, and possibly all, noncommercial educational NCE programming arrangements will fall outside the ambit of the narrowed rules given limitations on the ability of NCE stations to engage in leasing arrangements. Also, while the NPRM
proposed to include foreign missions, as designated pursuant to the Foreign Missions Act, within the definition of foreign governmental entities that would trigger foreign sponsorship identification, based on broadcaster concerns regarding the difficulty and compliance burden of including these entities, the R&O eliminates then from the definition.
103. Additionally, based on comments from broadcasters, including small broadcasters, the R&O clarifies compliance obligations to ensure that, under the narrowed scope of the rules, they are no more burdensome than necessary to serve the vital need for transparency about who is attempting to influence viewers and listeners. The R&O details what is required of broadcasters to meet the reasonable diligence standard contained in section 317c of the Act so that broadcasters can determine if a foreign sponsorship identification disclosure is needed. The R&O lists specific steps broadcasters must take to satisfy the standard. The R&O also advises broadcasters to include a provision in their lease agreements requiring the lessee to notify the broadcaster about any change in the lessees status such as to trigger the foreign sponsorship identification rules.
The R&O also adopts broadcaster suggestions to reduce compliance burdens by matching, to the extent possible, disclosure language, size, frequency and duration requirements
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