united-states radio
On what Constitutional basis does the federal government regulate radio?
<p>From reading the constitution, it appears that regulation of radio is outside the scope of Congress's powers, and should therefore be determined by states. Why is radio federally regulated?</p>

<h2>Commerce Clause</h2>
<p>US Constitution Article I Section 8:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Congress shall have power [...] To regulate commerce [...] among the several states [...]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was explicitly used as the justification for federal regulation of radio, going all the way back to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Act_of_1912" rel="noreferrer">Radio Act of 1912</a>, <a href="https://govtrackus.s3.amazonaws.com/legislink/pdf/stat/37/STATUTE-37-Pg302b.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Pub. L. 62-263 (37 Stat. 302)</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That a person, company, or
corporation within the jurisdiction of the United States shall not
use or operate any apparatus for radio communication as a means of
commercial intercourse among the several States, or with foreign
nations, or upon any vessel of the United States engaged in interstate
or foreign commerce, or for the transmission of radiograms or signals
the effect of which extends beyond the jurisdiction of the State or
Territory in which the same are made, or where interference would
be caused thereby with the receipt of messages or signals from beyond
the jurisdiction of the said State or Territory, except under and in
accordance with a license, revocable for cause, in that behalf granted
by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor upon application therefor ;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nearly every meaningful radio transmission has an effect that extends beyond state lines, so this covers practically everything.</p>
<p>This has been upheld by the Supreme Court:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/289/266/#279" rel="noreferrer">Federal Radio Commission v. Nelson Brothers Bond &amp; Mortgage Co., 289 U.S. 266 (1933)</a>: &quot;No question is presented as to the power of the Congress, in its regulation of interstate commerce, to regulate radio communications. No state lines divide the radio waves, and national regulation is not only appropriate, but essential, to the efficient use of radio facilities.&quot;</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/297/650/" rel="noreferrer">Fisher's Blend Station, Inc. v. State Tax Comm'n, 297 U.S. 650 (1936)</a>: &quot;By its very nature, broadcasting transcends state lines, and is national in its scope and importance -- characteristics which bring it within the purpose and protection, and subject it to the control, of the commerce clause.&quot;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>As a general rule, any time you wonder why the federal government is allowed to regulate something that isn't explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, nine times out of ten the answer will be &quot;Commerce Clause&quot;.</p>

<p>The Commerce Clause is the primary reason (and so Nate's answer is correct) but the secondary reason for radio (and communications spectra generally) is because officially the federal government retains sovereign ownership of all broadcast rights in all frequencies and merely leases them to private users.  You can think of the radio spectra as analogous to public lands.  Once they were discovered, the federal government claimed ownership of them, and unlike public lands they have never <em>sold</em> any of them.</p>
<p>Even if a more restrictive reading of the Commerce Clause powers were to become current in the federal courts, little about the government's ability to regulate radio would change, because they could simply impose whatever regulatory regime they desired as a condition of leasing any part of the spectrum.</p>
