| 03/14/2025 6:30PM - The Senate passed the Continuing Resolution averting a Government shutdown. |
System Availability
Dec 19, 2024: In the 2018/2019 Shutdown, we continued to have some FCC systems because of activities related to the Incentive Auction. In the 2013 Shutdown (during the Second Generation LPFM Filing Window), we lost all systems. At this time, we have no official information from the FCC regarding systems availability. In the event of a shutdown, there is a possibility that websites at the FCC will continue to operate. We are not sure yet about day to day operations at the agency and whether the days during all or the first part of any shutdown would be considered as business days. REC's contingency plans will assume that no FCC systems will be available. But again, nothing official has been announced.
In the event of a shutdown that impacts LMS, all eLMS services will be stopped and no morning updates will be performed until the FCC is reopened. REC services with stored data such as FCCdata, LPFM.us and the WIndow Tracking Tool will remain operational but real time updates will stop. Depending on the services shut down, we may lose the FCC Contours API which will impact the ability for some maps to be viewed on FCCdata as well as cut off other REC services where direct interaction with the API is used. Examples include the HAAT and elevation tools and the encorachment report in myLPFM. More information in the table below.
Deadlines and filing windows
Filing deadline date calculations are addressed in ยง1.4 of the rules. Specifically, the rules state that a holiday is considered any Saturday, Sunday or federally recognized holiday. In addition, holidays are also considered any day that the FCC is closed due to inclement weather or other conditions and does not re-open prior to 5:30PM on that day.
In the event of a government shutdown, expect your due dates for filing to be the end-of-day of the day that the Commission reopens. We do note that the individual FCC bureaus may extend those deadlines to meet the specific needs of their bureaus. Licensees and permittees should be mindful of those public notices. REC will attempt to make note of such extensions through our various channels including social media. REC can't stress any further that any filings that can be done without the need to reference shut-down systems should be ready to go on the day the government reopens. For form filings (including licenses to cover construction permits), you must wait until the government reopens before the filing systems are accessible again. Until then, make sure you have your TPOs and other parameters properly calculated and all exhibits prepared so the filing process will be go through fast. Of course, you can use REC for your filings and let us deal with that.
Emergency STAs
2023: If a broadcast station needs an emergency special temporary authority (STA) that involves life and property, the emergency number for the FCC is (202)418-1122.
Enforcement
2023: While there have been a lot of comments made throughout social media, most of them hopefully jokingly, stating that because of the shutdown, there will be an increase in out of compliance operations, we do note that the FCC plans to keep 17 employees on staff to protect life and property including staffing the High Frequency Direction Finding Center. An additional 4 employees will be retained to provide oversight or conduct interference detection, mitigation and disaster response operations wherever they are needed. Specific employees may be recalled from furlough if the need requires.
During a shutdown, all rules and statutes still apply. It's not a time when you can cuss on the air, carry commercials (if you are non-commercial), pirate or run excessive power (all of which have been discussed in social media). Because of broadcasting's Emergency Alert System requirements, any interference to broadcast stations could be viewed as a safety of life situation. Remember, Charlie may be closed but Charlie is still watching.
Updates
03/09/2025 8:15AM - REC updates the Shutdown page in the event of an upcoming shutdown noting that House Republicans have introduced a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open after 3/14/2025. This legislation will need a simple majority in the House and a 60-vote majority in the Senate to pass.
03/11/2025 6:30PM - The House passed a CR by a vote of 217-213. It now goes to the Senate where it needs 60 votes to pass. If passed, it will fund the government until the end of September, 2025.
03/14/2025 6:30PM - The Senate passed the Continuing Resolution averting a Government shutdown.
Historic FCC Documents
(Hosted at REC)
08/2023 - Plan for Orderly Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriations
01/02/2019 - Impact of potential lapse in funding on Commission operations
Impacts of the Government Shutdown on REC tools
| REC tool | Operational status in the event of a shutdown and FCC systems are not available | Remarks |
| myLPFM 3.0 (LPFM Channel Search and station management tool) | Limited functionality | Many myLPFM services that do not require direct interaction with FCC live systems will be available. Certain features such as those that rely on height above average terrain and determination of service contours will not be available. myLPFM features unlikely to operate during a government shutdown include: LPFM Encorachment Report, LPFM Power Check, Translator Interference, IBOC Digital (HD) ERP Study, LPFM Channel Search (information on search such as effective radiated power determination, height above average terrain calculation, minor move check for distances over 11.2 km, determination of site elevation and reduced interference report) |
| FCC.today | Limited functionality | FCC.today uses real-time data from the FCC's systems based on the current and previous day's business. As the Commission will be closed and business will not be conducted, there will be no information to display on this site. Even if the FCC was to shut down systems, such as LMS, they will normally keep their main website operational. Any news releases that are made by the agency through their Electronic Documents (EDOCS) system will continue to post on fcc.today. |
| eLMS | Frozen | As no real time data is coming in from the FCC, all data in eLMS will remain active as it is hosted in the REC DataStore. |
| LPFM Voluntary Public File | Operational | This tool does not have any real-time interaction with the FCC and it is expected to be up. Files can be uploaded and data elements can be updated during the shutdown. |
| FCCdata.org | Partially operational | FCCdata.org uses interactive functionality from the FCC for HAAT calculations in order render contour maps. This includes coverage outside of the United States. During the shutdown, maps may either be slow to render, missing contours or not appear at all. FM contour maps that are stored in eLMS will continue to display. AM contour maps previously obtained by REC will continue to display. Logos for full-service broadcast stations relies on the FCC's Online Public Inspection File and will not be displayed. LPFM station logos will be displayed. Daily updates to ULS (amateur radio) will not be done. Updates from non-US administrations (ACMA, Ofcom, etc.) will continue on schedule. |
| REC EZforms | Not operational | REC EZforms is currently out of service and will be reconstructed in 2025.. |
| Curves | Operational | The Curves page is a Javascript that is not dependent on any data from the FCC and will serve as an authoriative replacement fo the FCC's Propagation Curves website during the shutdown. |
| Runway Slope | Operational | Runway Slope can serve as a non-authorative replacement for the FCC's TOWAIR tool during the shutdown. REC recommends re-verifying construction proposals in the FCC TOWAIR tool before proceeding. |
| Tower Finder | Operational | REC's tower finder will continue to use its last update of Antenna Structure Registrations. |
| PREMIS | Likely operational | All information except height above average terrain data should be available in the event of a shutdown. |
| NADCON | Operational | Replacement for the NOAA site for getting conversions between NAD27 & NAD83. |
| FM Model | Operational | Tool used to calculate power density to determine compliance with the National Environmental Proection Act (NEPA). This is a direct duplication of the FCC's FM Model application and therefore is considered authoritative. |
REC live operations during a shutdown
On days when the FCC is closed, REC goes into "shutdown operations" on days where operations are superseded by other issues such as family priority or holidays. During shutdown operations, phone support will continue to be available at most times however we will be limited on the functions that we will be able to do during this time due to the lack of FCC systems. REC does have some backup methods where we can preliminarily check things while waiting for the government to reopen. During shutdowns, we do appreciate any donations to the REC advocacy. Please use the Ko-Fi donate link on most REC pages to show your support. Thank you.
FCC Form Instructions
In the event the FCC systems are down, we are providing copies of the FCC form instruction documents that will help you prepare an application for when electronic filing has been resumed. Unless specifically instructed by the FCC or Media Bureau staff, never submit a "paper" version of an application in lieu of electronic filing through LMS.
FCC Schedule 318 - Used for Low Power FM applications for construction permits, including modifications of existing stations.
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Databases
For those who use the raw database files from the FCC who need them but can't get them because of an FCC website outage, here are recent versions automatically downloaded by REC as a part of our update process. (NOTE: These files are only updated here for each shutdown episode. These files are not regularly updated.)
We will update this data around March 14, 2025 if it appears that a lapse of appropriations is eminent.
LMS Broadcast Data (Radio & TV) - From close of business, December 18, 2024.
Antenna Structure Registrations - From ULS, September 1, 2024.
Ship Registrations - From ULS, August 26, 2024.
Coast Station Licenses - From ULS, August 26, 2024.
Private Land Mobile Licenses (including TIS) - From ULS, September 1, 2024.
Broadcast Auxiliary Licenses (RPU) - From ULS, September 1, 2024.
Microwave Licenses (including broadcast STL/ENG) - From ULS, September 1, 2024.
