
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 47USC394]

 
          TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
 
                 CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
 
          SUBCHAPTER III--SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO
 
      Part IV--Assistance for Planning and Construction of Public 
   Telecommunications Facilities; Telecommunications Demonstrations; 
         Corporation for Public Broadcasting; General Provisions
 
   subpart b--national endowment for children's educational television
 
Sec. 394. Establishment of National Endowment


(a) Purpose

    It is the purpose of this section to enhance the education of 
children through the creation and production of television programming 
specifically directed toward the development of fundamental intellectual 
skills.

(b) Establishment; contracts and grants

    (1) There is established, under the direction of the Secretary, a 
National Endowment for Children's Educational Television. In 
administering the National Endowment, the Secretary is authorized to--
        (A) contract with the Corporation for the production of 
    educational television programming for children; and
        (B) make grants directly to persons proposing to create and 
    produce educational television programming for children.

The Secretary shall consult with the Advisory Council on Children's 
Educational Television in the making of the grants or the awarding of 
contracts for the purpose of making the grants.
    (2) Contracts and grants under this section shall be made on the 
condition that the programming shall--
        (A) during the first two years after its production, be made 
    available only to public television licensees and permittees and 
    noncommercial television licensees and permittees; and
        (B) thereafter be made available to any commercial television 
    licensee or permittee or cable television system operator, at a 
    charge established by the Secretary that will assure the maximum 
    practicable distribution of such programming, so long as such 
    licensee, permittee, or operator does not interrupt the programming 
    with commercial advertisements.

The Secretary may, consistent with the purpose and provisions of this 
section, permit the programming to be distributed to persons using other 
media, establish conditions relating to such distribution, and apply 
those conditions to any contract or grant made under this section. The 
Secretary may waive the requirements of subparagraph (A) if the 
Secretary finds that neither public television licensees and permittees 
nor noncommercial television licensees and permittees will have an 
opportunity to air such programming in the first two years after its 
production.

(c) Criteria for contracts and grants; applications for contracts and 
        grants

    (1) The Secretary, with the advice of the Advisory Council on 
Children's Educational Television, shall establish criteria for making 
contracts and grants under this section. Such criteria shall be 
consistent with the purpose and provisions of this section and shall be 
made available to interested parties upon request. Such criteria shall 
include--
        (A) criteria to maximize the amount of programming that is 
    produced with the funds made available by the Endowment;
        (B) criteria to minimize the costs of--
            (i) selection of grantees,
            (ii) administering the contracts and grants, and
            (iii) the administrative costs of the programming 
        production; and

        (C) criteria to otherwise maximize the proportion of funds made 
    available by the Endowment that are expended for the cost of 
    programming production.

    (2) Applications for grants under this section shall be submitted to 
the Secretary in such form and containing such information as the 
Secretary shall require by regulation.

(d) Amount of grants

    Upon approving any application for a grant under subsection 
(b)(1)(B) of this section, the Secretary shall make a grant to the 
applicant in an amount determined by the Secretary, except that such 
amounts shall not exceed 75 percent of the amount determined by the 
Secretary to be the reasonable and necessary cost of the project for 
which the grant is made.

(e) Advisory Council on Children's Educational Television

    (1) The Secretary shall establish an Advisory Council on Children's 
Educational Television. The Secretary shall appoint ten individuals as 
members of the Council and designate one of such members to serve as 
Chairman.
    (2) Members of the Council shall have terms of two years, and no 
member shall serve for more than three consecutive terms. The members 
shall have expertise in the fields of education, psychology, child 
development, or television programming, or related disciplines. Officers 
and employees of the United States shall not be appointed as members.
    (3) While away from their homes or regular places of business in the 
performance of duties for the Council, the members of the Council shall 
serve without compensation but shall be allowed travel expenses, 
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with section 
5703 of title 5.
    (4) The Council shall meet at the call of the Chairman and shall 
advise the Secretary concerning the making of contracts and grants under 
this section.

(f) Recordkeeping relating to grants; audits

    (1) Each recipient of a grant under this section shall keep such 
records as may be reasonably necessary to enable the Secretary to carry 
out the Secretary's functions under this section, including records 
which fully disclose the amount and the disposition by such recipient of 
the proceeds of such grant, the total cost of the project, the amount 
and nature of that portion of the cost of the project supplied by other 
sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective audit.
    (2) The Secretary and the Comptroller General of the United States, 
or any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access for 
the purposes of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, 
and records of the recipient that are pertinent to a grant received 
under this section.

(g) Issuance of rules and regulations

    The Secretary is authorized to make such rules and regulations as 
may be necessary to carry out this section, including those relating to 
the order of priority in approving applications for projects under this 
section or to determining the amounts of contracts and grants for such 
projects.

(h) Authorization of appropriations; availability

    There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 
1991, $4,000,000 for fiscal year 1992, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, 
and $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 to be used by the Secretary to carry 
out the provisions of this section. Sums appropriated under this 
subsection for any fiscal year shall remain available for contracts and 
grants for projects for which applications approved under this section 
have been submitted wtihin \1\ one year after the last day of such 
fiscal year.
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``within''.
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(i) Definitions

    For purposes of this section--
        (1) the term ``educational television programming for children'' 
    means any television program which is directed to an audience of 
    children who are 16 years of age or younger and which is designed 
    for the intellectual development of those children, except that such 
    term does not include any television program which is directed to a 
    general audience but which might also be viewed by a significant 
    number of children; and
        (2) the term ``person'' means an individual, partnership, 
    association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or State or 
    local governmental entity.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, Sec. 394, as added Pub. L. 101-437, 
title II, Sec. 203(a)(3), Oct. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 998; amended Pub. L. 
102-538, title I, Sec. 152, formerly Sec. 132, Oct. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 
3540, renumbered Sec. 152, Pub. L. 103-66, title VI, Sec. 6001(a)(2), 
Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 379.)


                            Prior Provisions

    A prior section 394, act June 19, 1934, Sec. 394, was renumbered 
section 393A by Pub. L. 101-437 and transferred to section 393a of this 
title.
    Another prior section 394, act June 19, 1934, Sec. 394, was 
renumbered section 397 by Pub. L. 90-129 and transferred to section 397 
of this title.


                               Amendments

    1992--Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 102-538 substituted ``1991,'' for ``1991 
and'' and inserted ``, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, and $6,000,000 
for fiscal year 1994'' after ``1992''.


                    Termination of Advisory Councils

    Advisory councils established after Jan. 5, 1973, to terminate not 
later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date of 
their establishment, unless, in the case of a council established by the 
President or an officer of the Federal Government, such council is 
renewed by appropriate action prior to the expiration of such 2-year 
period, or in the case of a council established by Congress, its 
duration is otherwise provided by law. See sections 3(2) and 14 of Pub. 
L. 92-463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770, 776, set out in the Appendix to 
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.


                         Congressional Findings

    Section 202 of Pub. L. 101-437 provided that: ``The Congress finds 
that--
        ``(1) children in the United States are lagging behind those in 
    other countries in fundamental intellectual skills, including 
    reading, writing, mathematics, science, and geography;
        ``(2) these fundamental skills are essential for the future 
    governmental and industrial leadership of the United States;
        ``(3) the United States must act now to greatly improve the 
    education of its children;
        ``(4) television is watched by children about three hours each 
    day on average and can be effective in teaching children;
        ``(5) educational television programming for children is aired 
    too infrequently either because public broadcast licensees and 
    permittees lack funds or because commercial broadcast licensees and 
    permittees or cable television system operators do not have the 
    economic incentive; and
        ``(6) the Federal Government can assist in the creation of 
    children's educational television by establishing a National 
    Endowment for Children's Educational Television to supplement the 
    children's educational programming funded by other governmental 
    entities.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 902 of this title.
