The following provides background information on the Notice of Availability of Funds for the Low-Power Television and Translator Upgrade Program published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, May 12, 2009.

On October 9, 2008, NTIA published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Public Meetings in the Federal Register. NTIA held two meetings on October 24 (Washington, DC) and October 28 (Las Vegas, NV) to discuss NTIA's implementation of the program. Available from this site is the PowerPoint Presentation, and an Audio Recording of the October 24 meeting.

Section 121 of Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009, Public Law 110-329, permitted NTIA to use the funds authorized for the Upgrade Program under section 3009 of the Act for additional administrative expenses of the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program that was authorized under section 3005 of the Act. Under this authority, and based on program demand for the converter boxes, NTIA transferred $16,230,000 to the converter box program.

Status Report (08/28/2008): Public Law No. 110-295, The DTV Transition Assistance Act, amended the original legislation establishing the Upgrade Program. Public Law 110-295 expanded NTIA's authority to make up to $65 million in reimbursements for the Upgrade Program from the original one year period, fiscal 2009, to the four-year period, fiscal years 2009 through 2012. The law also moved the date when NTIA could start issuing reimbursements to stations from the original date of October 1, 2010, to February 18, 2009.

The Department of Commerce's Office of General Counsel has determined that NTIA cannot perform preparatory work for the Upgrade Program, such as drafting regulations, before October 1, 2008, (the start of fiscal year 2009).

On Tuesday, May 12, 2009, a Notice of Availability of Funds for the Low-Power Television and Translator Upgrade Program was published in the Federal Register.

Please also see About the Program for the Low Power TV and Translator Upgrade Program.