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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  St.,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 DA  02-  1025 
 June  20,  2002 


 MEDIA  BUREAU  ANNOUNCES  EN  BANC  HEARING 
 ON  BROADCAST  AND  CABLE  EQUAL  EMPLOYMENT  OPPORTUNITY  RULES* 
 The  Federal  Communications  Commission  will  hold  an  en  banc  hearing  on  Monday,  June  24,  2002,  to  discuss  issues  and  views  on  the  proceeding  to  promulgate  new  broadcast  and  cable 


 equal  employment  opportunity  (“  EEO”)  rules.  The  date  for  filing  comments  in  the  Second  Notice  of  Proposed  Rule  Making  was  April  15;  the  reply  comment  deadline  is  May  29,  2002. 
 The  en  banc  will  convene  from  10:  00  a.  m.  to  1:  00  p.  m.  at  the  Federal  Communications  Commission,  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C.  in  the  Commission  Meeting  Room  (Room 
 TW-  C305). 
 The  purpose  of  the  en  banc  is  to  assist  the  Commission  in  its  examination  of  the  EEO  rules  applicable  to  broadcast  and  cable  entities.  In  January  2001,  the  District  of  Columbia  Circuit 


 Court  of  Appeals  vacated  the  rules  as  unconstitutional,  finding  them  insufficiently  tailored  to  address  the  Commission’s  efforts  to  prohibit  race  and  gender  discrimination  in  broadcast  and 
 cable  employment.  The  EEO  rules  before  the  court  for  review  were  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  January  2000.  Following  the  court’s  decision,  the  Commission  suspended  enforcement  of  its 
 EEO  program  outreach  and  dissemination  rules.  The  broadcast  and  cable  non-  discrimination  rules  remain  in  effect. 


 The  en  banc  will  focus  on  the  issues  raised  in  the  rulemaking  initiated  in  December  2001  (FCC  01-  363).  The  en  banc  will  feature  industry  professionals  representing  both  small  and  large 
 broadcasters  and  cable  entities,  academicians,  as  well  as  representatives  from  trade  associations  and  the  public  interest  sector. 


 The  en  banc  is  open  to  the  public  and  seating  will  be  available  on  a  first  come,  first  served  basis.  All  interested  persons  are  invited  to  attend.  Internet  users  may  listen  to  the  real-  time  audio  feed 
 of  the  hearing  via  the  Internet  in  Real  Audio/  Real  Video  format  http://  www.  fcc.  gov/  realaudio/. 
 For  more  information,  contact  Jamila  Bess  Johnson,  (202)  418-  2608. 
 *  The  en  banc  hearing  was  previously  announced  in  Public  Notice  DA  02-  1025  (May  3,  2002),  but  that  public  notice  inadvertently  was  not  published  in  the  Federal  Register.  Accordingly,  the  Commission  is 


 re-  releasing  the  public  notice  pursuant  to  0.605(  e)  of  its  rules,  47  CFR  §  0.65(  e).  The  Commission  determined  that  to  the  extent  the  previous  public  notice  was  insufficient  for  purposes  of  Section  0.605,  the 
 prompt  and  orderly  conduct  of  the  Commission’s  business  requires  that  this  notice  be  issued  less  than  one  week  prior  to  the  en  banc  hearing  and  that  earlier  notice  was  not  practicable,  since  the  failure  to  publish 
 the  earlier  public  notice  was  just  discovered. 
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