NOTICE


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                         NOTICE


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$// NPRM, Noncomm. Ed. Comparative Standards, DA 95-893 //$
$/ 1.45 Pleadings; filing periods /$
                                        
                                        
                                        
                                   Before the
                        Federal Communications Commission            DA 95-893
                             Washington, D.C. 20554

                             MM Docket No. 95-31


In the Matter of                   
                              
Reexamination of the Comparative 
Standards for New Noncommercial 
Educational Applicants
                    
                    
                    ORDER GRANTING EXTENSION OF TIME
                 FOR FILING COMMENTS AND REPLY COMMENTS


Adopted:  April 20, 1995      Released:    April 21, 1995

By the Chief, Mass Media Bureau:

1.  On March 17, 1995, the Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
("Notice"), FCC 95-79, 60 Fed. Reg. 15,527 (March 24, 1995) in this proceeding,
inviting additional comments relating to possible modification of the criteria currently
used to select among competing applicants for new noncommercial educational ("NCE")
broadcast facilities.  The deadline for filing comments currently is April 24, 1995, and
the deadline for filing reply comments is May 10, 1995.

2.   On April 18, 1995, a joint request for extension of time for filing comments and
reply comments was filed by The Association of America's Public Television Stations,
National Public Radio, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and
various other NCE broadcast licensees (hereafter the "Joint Petitioners").  The joint
request asks that the comment and reply deadlines be extended by three weeks.  Under
the proposed schedule, comments would be due on May 15, 1995, and reply comments
due by May 31, 1995.

3.  The Joint Petitioners state that, while the Notice is largely devoted to a discussion
of the differing proposals submitted by the commenters, they have "recently met in an
attempt to resolve some of their differences and made significant progress in finding
common ground."  Joint Request at 1-2.  The Joint Petitioners request the extension of
time in order to continue their efforts to close the gap between their widely divergent
viewpoints, claiming that the additional time is required because of "the press of other
business, including the expedited discovery proceedings in the remanded must carry
case, and the difficulty of scheduling meetings among the representatives of the
parties."  Id. at 2.  Grant of the extension request will enable the Joint Petitioners to
explore further the possibility of narrowing their differences and presenting the
Commission with comments in substantial agreement concerning how best to frame the
comparative issue in NCE cases.  This, they claim, will materially facilitate the
resolution of this proceeding and will not prejudice the interests of any other party.

4.  As set forth in Section 1.46 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. 1.46, it is our
policy that extensions of time for filing comments in rulemaking proceedings will not
be granted routinely.  This is especially the case where, as here, the Commission has
established short comment and reply periods due to its desire to resolve the questions 
presented expeditiously.  See Notice at  1.  However, under the circumstances
described above, we believe that the requested extension of time to file comments and
reply comments is warranted.  Substantial agreement between the interested and
affected parties will facilitate resolution of the issues raised in the Notice, and thus it
appears reasonable to provide the commenting parties with additional time to address
these issues.  

5.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that the Joint Request for Extension of Time filed
by the Joint Petitioners IS GRANTED, the time for filing comments in this proceeding
IS EXTENDED to May 15, 1995, and the time for filing reply comments IS
EXTENDED to May 31, 1995.

6.  This action is taken pursuant to authority found in Sections 4(i) and 303(r) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 0.204(b), 0.283, and 1.45 of
the Commission's Rules.

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

     
                         Roy J. Stewart
                         Chief, Mass Media Bureau