Update on EEO 395-B Filing Mandate

The FCC’s Order reinstating the EEO Form 395-B filing requirement for broadcasters became effective June 3, 2024, but the Media Bureau has not yet issued the public notice announcing that stations must file the form by September 30^th of this year.  Given the status of legal challenges to the new mandate and that the form itself and its instructions are still being finalized, time appears to be running out on the prospect of stations having to file the form this fall.  If the Media Bureau’s public notice isn’t issued in coming weeks, stations would not be obligated to file the form until September 2025.

In addition to the petitions for review that were filed in the US Court of Appeals (District of Columbia) by the National Religious Broadcasters and in the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the NAB has now filed its on petition for partial reconsideration with the FCC arguing, among other things, that the FCC lacked authority to reimpose the form for radio stations.