FCC Grants NCE Waiver to Tribal Chairmen's Association

The FCC chose the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, a consortium of tribal chairmen of several Southern California Native American tribes, as the tentative selectee for a noncommercial educational FM construction permit for Warner Springs, California, using rules that prioritize tribal applications, said an order Tuesday. The agency granted SCTCA a waiver of requirements that at least 50% of the station’s contour be composed of the applicant’s tribal lands, the order said. SCTCA told the FCC none of the 30 tribal reservations in San Diego and Riverside counties could meet the agency’s tribal population requirements “owing to ‘small size and native population dilution within surrounding areas.’” It “would be extremely difficult for a Tribe or Tribal consortium to claim a Tribal Priority in this area without a waiver of the Tribal Coverage criterion,” the order said.