Sec. 73.3522  Amendment of applications.

    (a) Predesignation amendment. (1) Subject to the provisions of 
Secs. 73.3525, 73.3571, 73.3572, 73.3573, and 73.3580, and except as 
provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, any application, other 
than an application for a low power TV, TV translator, TV booster or a 
nonreserved band FM station may be amended as a matter of right prior to 
the adoption date of an order designating such applications for 
hearings,

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merely by filing the appropriate number of copies of the amendments in 
question duly executed in accordance with Sec. 73.3513. If a petition to 
deny (or to designate for hearing) has been filed, the amendment shall 
be served on the petitioner.
    (2) Subject to the provisions of Secs. 73.3525, 73.3571, 73.3572, 
73.3573 and 73.3580, and except for applications for low power TV, TV 
translator, TV booster or non-reserved band FM stations, mutually 
exclusive broadcast applications may be amended as a matter of right by 
the date specified (not less than 30 days after issuance) in the FCC's 
Public Notice announcing the acceptance for filing of the last-filed 
mutually exclusive application. Subsequent amendments prior to 
designation of the proceeding for hearing will be considered only upon a 
showing of good cause for late filing or pursuant to Sec. 1.65 or 
Sec. 73.3514. Unauthorized or untimely amendments are subject to return 
by the FCC's staff without consideration.
    (3) Subject to the provisions of Secs. 73.3525, 73.3572 and 73.3580, 
any application for a low power TV, TV translator or TV booster station 
may be amended as a matter of right during the application window filing 
period pursuant to Sec. 73.3564(d). If it is determined that a low power 
TV, TV translator or TV booster application is substantially complete 
but contains some defect(s) or omission(s), a deficiency letter will be 
issued affording the applicant 30 days to correct the defect.
    (4) No applicant for a low power TV, TV translator or TV booster 
station which is mutually exclusive can improve its status with respect 
to Sec. 1.1622 by amendment of its application subsequent to the release 
of the initial Public Notice announcing the public lottery that will 
resolve the applicant's mutual exclusivity pursuant to Sec. 1.1601 et 
seq., not withstanding the requirements of Sec. 1.65.
    (5) Paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section are not applicable to 
applications for low power TV, TV translator, or TV booster stations.
    (6) Subject to the provisions of Sec. 73.3525, 73.3573, and 73.3580, 
applications for non-reserved band FM stations (other than Class D 
stations) may be amended as a matter of right during the appropriate 
window filing period pursuant to Sec. 73.3564(d). For a period of 30 
days following the FCC's issuance of a Public Notice announcing the 
tender of the application, minor amendments may be filed as a matter of 
right. For applications received on or after August 7, 1992, an 
applicant whose application is found to meet minimum filing requirements 
but nevertheless is not complete and acceptable shall have the 
opportunity in the 30-day period specified in the FCC staff's deficiency 
letter to correct all deficiencies in the tenderability and 
acceptability of the underlying application, including any deficiency 
not specifically identified by the staff. [For minimum filing 
requirements see Sec. 73.3564(a). Examples of tender defects appear at 
 50 FR 19936  at 19945-46 (May 13, 1985), reprinted as Appendix D, Report 
and Order, MM Docket No. Docket No. 91-347, 7 FCC Red 5074, 5083-88 
(1992). For examples of acceptance defects see  49 FR 47331 .] Prior to 
the end of the period specified in the deficiency letter, a submission 
seeking to correct a tender and/or acceptance defect in an application 
meeting minimum filing requirements will be treated as an amendment for 
good cause if it would successfully and directly correct the defect. 
Other amendments prior to designation for hearing or grant will be 
considered only upon a showing of good cause for late filing or pursuant 
to Sec. 1.65 or Sec. 73.3514. Unauthorized or untimely amendments are 
subject to return by the Commission without consideration. However, an 
amendment to a non-reserved band application will not be accepted after 
the close of the appropriate filing window if the effect of such 
amendment is to alter the proposed facility's coverage area so as to 
produce a conflict with an applicant who files subsequent to the initial 
applicant but prior to the amendment application. Similarly, an 
applicant subject to ``first come/first serve'' processing will not be 
permitted to amend its application and retain filing priority if the 
result of such amendment is to alter the facility's coverage area so as 
to produce a conflict with an applicant who files subsequent to the 
initial applicant but prior to the amendment.

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    (b) Postdesignation amendment. (1) Except as provided in paragraph 
(b)(2) of this section, requests to amend an application after it has 
been designated for hearing will be considered only upon written 
petition properly served upon the parties of record in accordance with 
Sec. 1.47 and, where applicable, compliance with the provisions of 
Sec. 73.3525, and will be considered only upon a showing of good cause 
for late filing. In the case of requests to amend the engineering 
proposal (other than to make changes with respect to the type of 
equipment specified), good cause will be considered to have been shown 
only if, in addition to the usual good cause consideration, it is 
demonstrated:
    (i) That the amendment is necessitated by events which the applicant 
could not reasonably have foreseen (e.g., notification of a new foreign 
station or loss of transmitter site by condemnation); and
    (ii) That the amendment does not require an enlargement of issues or 
the addition of new parties to the proceeding.
    (2) In comparative broadcast cases (including comparative renewal 
proceedings), amendments relating to issues first raised in the 
designation order may be filed as a matter of right within 30 days after 
that Order or a summary thereof is published in the Federal Register, or 
by a date certain to be specified in the Order.
    (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, 
and subject to compliance with the provisions of Sec. 73.3525, a 
petition for leave to amend may be granted, provided it is requested 
that the application as amended be removed from the hearing docket and 
returned to the processing line. See Sec. 73.3571.

    Note 1: When two or more broadcast applications are tendered for 
filing which are mutually exclusive with each other but not in conflict 
with any previously filed applications which have been accepted for 
filing, the FCC, where appropriate, will announce acceptance of the 
earliest tendered application and place the later filed application or 
applications on a subsequent public notice of acceptance for filing in 
order to establish a deadline for the filing of amendments as a matter 
of right for all applicants in the group.


[ 44 FR 38488 , July 2, 1979, as amended at  44 FR 40311 , July 10, 1979;  51 FR 19347 , May 29, 1986;  52 FR 31400 , Aug. 20, 1987;  53 FR 26074 , July 
11, 1988;  57 FR 34878 , Aug. 7, 1992;  58 FR 51250 , Oct. 1, 1993;  59 FR 31556 , June 20, 1994]