[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 115 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14210]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 16, 1994]
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Part III
Federal Communications Commission
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47 CFR Parts 0 and 1
Implementation of Section 9 of the Communications Act--Assessment and
Collection of Regulatory Fees for the 1994 Fiscal Year and Amendment of
the Schedule of Application Fees; Rules
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 0 and 1
[MD Docket No. 94-19; FCC 94-140]
Implementation of Section 9 of the Communications Act--Assessment
and Collection of Regulatory Fees for the 1994 Fiscal Year
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Commission has adopted rules to implement section 9 of the
Communications Act of 1934 to provide for the annual assessment and
collection of regulatory fees. For fiscal year 1994, the Commission is
required to utilize the Schedule of Regulatory Fees that Congress
established in section 9(g) of the Act. The implementation of
regulatory fees will further the National Performance Review goals of
reinventing Government by requiring beneficiaries of Commission
services to pay for such services.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 18, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
H. Walker Feaster, Office of Managing Director at (202) 632-0923.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Report and Order
Adopted: June 3, 1994.
Released: June 8, 1994.
By the Commission: Commissioner Quello issuing a statement;
Commissioners Ness and Chong not participating.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Background
III. Discussion
A. Assessment of Regulatory Fees for FY 1994
B. Exemptions from Regulatory Fees
1. Governmental Entities
2. Nonprofit Entities
3. Amateur Licensees
4. Noncommercial Educational Broadcasters
5. Public Safety Services
6. Certification of Exempt Status
C. Waivers, Reductions and Deferments
D. Procedures for Payment
1. Categories of Payors
2. Installment Payments
3. Advance Payments
4. Timing of Payment
5. Method and Location of Payment
6. Multiple Payments
7. Electronic Payments
E. Enforcement
1. Penalties for Late Payment
2. Dismissal of Application
3. Revocation
4. Debt Collection Act Remedies
IV. Regulatory Fee Categories
A. Private Radio Services
1. Exclusive Use
2. Marine (Coast and Ship Stations)
3. General Mobile Radio Service
B. Mass Media Services
1. Broadcast Stations
2. Television Stations
3. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations
4. ITFS and DBS
C. Common Carrier Services
1. Cellular and Public Mobile Licensees
2. Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service
3. Space Stations
4. Earth Stations
5. Services Interexchange and Local Exchange
6. International Bearer Circuits
D. Cable Services
V. Amendments to Application Fee Rules
VI. Confidentiality
VII. Final Regulatory Analysis
VIII. Ordering Clauses
I. Introduction
1. By this Report and Order, the Commission adopts rules to
implement section 9 of the Communications Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C.
159, providing for the annual assessment and collection of regulatory
fees by the Commission.\1\ The Report and Order establishes the amounts
of the regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 1994 and the rules for the
payment of such fees for fiscal years 1994 and thereafter.\2\ Also, we
are amending several of the rules governing the collection of the fees
to be filed with applications and other filings pursuant to section 8
of the Communications Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 158.\3\
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\1\Section 9 of the Act was added by section 6002(a) of the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (hereinafter ``1993 Budget
Act''). See Pub. L. No. 103-66, Title VI, 6002(a), 107 Stat. 397
(approved August 10, 1993). Section 9 is codified at 47 U.S.C.
section 159.
\2\As discussed below, we will establish the accounting systems
necessary to make adjustments in the Schedule of Regulatory Fees
required for the assessment of fees in future years in a subsequent
and separate rulemaking proceeding. See 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(3), (i).
\3\47 U.S.C. Sec. 158. See generally 47 CFR part 1, subpart G;
Establishment of a Fee Collection Program to Implement the
Provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1985, 2 FCC Rcd 947 (1987) (hereinafter ``Fees 1''), recon. granted
in part, 3 FCC Rcd 5987 (1988) (hereinafter ``Fees 1
Reconsideration''); Establishment of a Fee Collection Program to
Implement the Provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1989, 5 FCC Rcd 3558 (1990) (hereinafter ``Fees II''), recon.
granted in part, 6 FCC Rcd 5919 (1991) (hereinafter ``Fees II
Reconsideration''). See also section 6003(a)(2) of the 1993 Budget
Act, Pub. L. 103-66, Title VI, Sec. 6003(a)(2), 107 Stat. 401 (1993)
(making conforming amendments to section 8).
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2. The rules we adopt below are designed to ensure that (1)
collection of fees does not adversely affect the Commission's
regulatory activities, (2) the most effective means possible are
employed in the collection and deposit of fees, and (3) the paperwork
(and financial burden) on the public resulting from our collection
process is kept to an absolute minimum. The accomplish this goal, we
have, to the extent possible, modeled our regulatory fee rules upon the
rules that we previously established to govern the collection of fees
filed with applications and other filings. See 47 CFR 1.1101 et seq.
Moreover, in the course of fashioning rules to govern regulatory fees,
we have revised several rules in order to improve the collection
process related to these fees and, wherever possible, to ease the
burden on those entities subject to the payment of these fees.
Implementation of rules governing the collection of regulatory fees
also furthers the National Performance Review goals of reinventing
government by requiring beneficiaries of the Commission's services to
pay the costs associated with these activities.
II. Background
3. Section 9(a) of the Communications Act requires the Commission
to collect regulatory fees to recover the annual cost of its
enforcement activities, policy and rulemaking activities, user
information services, and international activities. 47 U.S.C. 159(a).
47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A). The Schedule of Regulatory Charges sets forth
in section 9(g) the categories of regulated entities subject initially
to the regulatory fee requirement and designates the fees to be
collected for each subject category of regulatee. 47 U.S.C. 159(g). The
Schedule of Fees sets forth annual regulatory fees for specific
categories of regulatees in Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier
and Cable Services.\4\
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\4\Congress included the regulatory fees for cable services in
the Schedule of Regulatory Fees as a subpart of the fees established
to recover appropriations related to the regulation of mass media
services. 47 U.S.C. 159(g). Because we recently established a Cable
Services Bureau to administer the regulation of cable television
operations, we have amended our rules to set forth separately the
regulatory fees applicable to cable services. See section 1.1155, 47
CFR 1.1155.
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4. Section 9(f)(1) requires the Commission to adopt rules to
implement the assessment and collection of the annual regulatory fees.
47 U.S.C. 159(f)(1). On March 4, 1994, we adopted a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (``NPRM'') to implement section 9 of the Act.\5\ In the
NPRM, we concluded that Congress intended the Commission to rely upon
the Schedule of Regulatory Fees enacted in section 9(g) to recover
costs for FY 1994.
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\5\See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Implementation of
Section 9 of the Communication Act, FCC 94-46, released March 11,
1994.
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5. In addition, the NPRM proposed rules providing for: (1)
Exemptions from the regulatory fee requirements for governmental
entities, nonprofit entities, amateur licensees, noncommercial
educational broadcasters, and licensees in the public safety services,
(2) standards for waiver, reduction and deferment of regulatory fees,
(3) procedures for the payment of regulatory fees, including the timing
and method of payments, and the location for submission of payments,
and (4) procedures to assure timely payment of regulatory fees,
including announcements in the Federal Register of the filing times for
the fee payments, and penalties for late payment and nonpayment of
fees.
III. Discussion
A. Assessment of Regulatory Fees for FY 1994
6. The NPRM proposed that for FY 1994, the Commission would utilize
the Schedule of Regulatory Fees established by Congress in section 9(g)
of the Act. 47 U.S.C. 159(g). In response to this proposal, several
commenters suggest that we amend the Schedule of Fees for FY 1994. They
contend that fees in the Schedule are too high, that the schedule
provides the wrong mechanism for assessing fees, and that additional
services should be included in the fee schedule.
7. In particular, Fireweed Communications Corp.\6\ (Fireweed)
argues that the regulatory fees impose an unfair and confiscatory
financial burden on broadcast stations in small markets, and impinge on
the constitutional right of freedom of speech of Fireweed and its
listeners. Fireweed contends that the financial burden imposed by the
regulatory fee would cause it to reduce its programming or even to
cease its operations. The Joint Commenters, consisting of several cable
television interests,\7\ argue that we have authority to modify the Fee
Schedule for FY 1994, to add classes of services that Congress did not
include in section 9(g)'s fee schedule. In addition, the Joint
Commenters assert that the Commission is authorized to modify the fee
schedule for FY 1994 because section 9(b)(3), which governs permissive
adjustments to the fee schedule, including addition of services to the
schedule, does not restrict our authority for making changes to fiscal
years after 1994. In particular, the Joint Commenters contend that
Direct Broadcast Satellite, if available later this fiscal year,
Instructional Television Fixed Service, if used for commercial
purposes, and Multi-channel Multipoint Distribution Services, because
it is not expressly enumerated as a service subject to the fee
requirement, should be added to the fee schedule and assessed a fee for
FY 1994. The Joint Commenters also assert that adopting a fee
requirement for these services in this proceeding will avoid the
necessity for immediately initiating a new rulemaking to include these
services in the fee schedule for FY 1995 and thereafter.
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\6\Fireweed filed its comments late. It argues that the
Commission failed to provide proper notice to interested parties and
asserts that we failed to publish the NPRM ``in publications likely
to be obtained by small entities'' or to ``conduct open conferences
and public meetings'' concerning our proposals as provided in 5
U.S.C. Sec. 609 (2) and (4). However, section 609 requires only that
we ``assure that small entities have been given an opportunity to
participate in the rulemaking'' through means ``such as'' those
enumerated in section 609. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 609. We have met that
requirement. The NPRM was published and distributed pursuant to
section 1.412 of our rules and was distributed to over 100 members
of the trade press, newspapers, wire services, broadcasters, and
magazines, including those dealing with consumer, minority and small
business issues. In addition, the Commission's Daily Digest, which
included notice of the NPRM, was published on Internet. We will also
accept and give full consideration to the arguments in Fireweed's
comments even though they were untimely filed. Further, we will
accept the late filed comments of MCI Telecommunications
Corporation.
\7\The Joint Commenters are Blade Communications, Inc.,
Cablevision Industries Corp., Crown Media, Inc., Multivision Cable
TV Corp., Parcable, Inc., Providence Journal Company, Sammons
Communications, Inc., and Star Cable Associates.
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8. Other parties including Sprint, the Cellular Telephone Industry
Association (CTIA), Comsat, and the Utilities Telecommunications
Counsel (UTC), support our conclusion in the NPRM that Congress
intended that the Schedule set forth in section 9(g) would govern the
assessment and collection of fees for FY 1994. UTC states that
Congress' inclusion in section 9(g) of the fee schedule, as well as
other language in the Act, clearly demonstrates that Congress did not
intend that the Commission revise the fee schedule so soon after its
enactment.
9. We are not persuaded by the arguments urging a reduction in the
statutory fees or amendment of the service categories subject to the
regulatory fees. In the NPRM, we concluded that Congress did not intend
that we change the amounts or the services established by the statutory
fee schedule for 1994. Our conclusion is supported by the Conference
Report, which states that we have authority to review and adjust the
fees after one year.\8\ Congress also enacted the fee schedule after
reviewing information that we provided concerning the services subject
to the fees. We do not believe that Congress would have enacted section
9(g) intending that we immediately amend the service classifications or
fee amounts in its schedule.
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\8\H.R. Rep. No. 213, 103 Cong., 1st Sess. 499 (1993)
(Conference Report).
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10. In addition, other provisions of section 9 support our
interpretation. Section 9(i) requires that, before making adjustments
to the services included in the fee schedule, we must develop
accounting systems and provide an opportunity for public comments on
proposed cost allocations. NPRM para. 9. Section 9(b)(4)(B) requires
that any amendment to the services contained in the statutory fee
schedule not be effective until 90 days after Congress is notified of
those revisions. See 47 U.S.C. 159. As a practical matter, the
Commission could not possibly meet these requirements in time to permit
section 9 fee collections in FY 1994. Given these statutory
requirements, we conclude that Congress did not intend that we make any
changes to the services subjected to the regulatory fee requirement or
the amounts contained in the schedule for FY94.\9\
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\9\In view of our conclusion that Congress did not intend us to
make any changes to its Schedule of Fees for FY 1994, we will not at
this time assess fees on lifetime restricted radiotelephone and
radio operator applicants and permittees.
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11. Also, we do not agree with Joint Commenters that this is the
appropriate proceeding to amend the Schedule of Fees for future years.
Such amendments would be premature because we do not now have the
information necessary to establish regulatory fees for FY 1995. As we
stated in the NPRM, we intend to commence a separate proceeding in
connection with the assessment of fees for FY 1995. We will seek in
that proceeding comment concerning the allocation of costs of our
enforcement, policy and rulemaking, information services, and
international services, including any necessary adjustments to the
classes of services set forth in section 9(g)'s fee schedule. See 47
U.S.C. 159(i).
12. Therefore, as we proposed in the NPRM, in order to meet the
congressional directive to implement the collection of regulatory fees
in Fiscal Year 1994, we are adopting without modification the Schedule
of Regulatory Fees enacted by Congress in section 9(g). See 47 U.S.C.
159(b)(1)(C). The Schedule provides a listing of the specific
categories of regulatees in the Private Radio, Mass Media, Common
Carrier and Cable services that are required to pay a regulatory fee.
We have incorporated the schedule into our rules and we have
established separate sections of the rules to provide the payment
schedules for the Private Radio Services (Sec. 1.1152), Mass Media
Services (Sec. 1.1153), Common Carrier Services (Sec. 1.1154) and Cable
Services (Sec. 1.1155). In Appendix A of this Report and Order, we have
included guidelines for the payment of fees for each service subject to
the regulatory fee requirement.
B. Exemptions From Regulatory Fees
13. In the NPRM, we proposed to exempt certain discrete categories
of regulatees from the requirement of file annual regulatory fees.
Section 9(h) explicitly provides and exemption from the fees for
governmental entities, nonprofit entities and amateur radio licensees.
47 U.S.C. 159(h). We concluded that Congress also intended to exempt
all public safety licensees and noncommercial educational broadcasters
from the regulatory fee requirements. In the paragraphs below, we
review each of these categories and consider the comments that address
each exemption.
1. Governmental Entities
14. As provided in section 9(h) and proposed in the NPRM,
governmental entities will exempt from the regulatory fee requirement.
As proposed, our rule implementing the governmental exemption will
conform to existing Sec. 1.1112(f) of the rules, which provides an
exemption for governmental entities from the fee requirements for
applications and other filing fees. See 47 CFR 1.1112(f); see also 47
U.S.C. 158(d)(1) (A), (B). Section 1.1112(f) broadly defines the term
``governmental entity'' to include ``any state, possession, city,
county, town, village, municipal corporation or similar political
organization or subpart controlled by publicly elected officials
exercising sovereign direction and control over their respective
communities or programs.'' The comments generally support our proposals
with regard to the exemption for governmental entities.
15. Cellular Communications of Puerto Rico (CCPR) contends that we
should limit the government exemption so that only usual and customary
governmental functions would be exempt. In particular, CCPR argues that
the Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) which is controlled by the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and operates a cellular telephone system,
should be required to pay a regulatory fee to the extent that it
engages in for profit or competitive operations. Further, CCPR argues
that exempting PRTC from the regulatory fees for cellular telephone
systems would give PRTC an unfair competitive advantage. In opposition,
PRTC argues that Congress did not distinguish between different
activities, and that as a result all of its operations are subject to
the governmental exemption.
16. The governmental exemption is mandated by Congress. Congress
did not distinguish between various governmental functions, nor did it
restrict the exemption's availability for any specific governmental
entities. Therefore, we do not accept CCPR's proposal.
2. Nonprofit Entities
17. Section 9(h) also exempts nonprofit entities from the
requirement to file regulatory fees. In the NPRM, we tentatively found
that Congress intended its exemption for nonprofit entities to cover
any entity possessing nonprofit, tax exempt status pursuant to section
501 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 501. Congress' exemption of
nonprofit entities from regulatory fees is substantially broader than
the limited exemption from the payment of application filing fees that
Congress afforded in section 8(d)(1) to nonprofit entities licensed in
the Public Safety Radio Services and tax exempt under section
501(c)(3). See 47 U.S.C. 158(d)(1); see also 47 CFR 1.1112(b). The
comments generally support our interpretation of the exemption, and we
will adopt the exemption as proposed in the NPRM. The nonprofit
exemption will be available only to those licensees who have
established their nonprofit status under section 501.
3. Amateur Licensees
18. Pursuant to section 9(h), we proposed to establish an exemption
from regulatory fees for amateur radio operators licensed under part 97
of our rules. However, Congress included in the Schedule of Fees an
annual regulatory fee covering vanity call signs, and we proposed to
establish a fee for amateur vanity call signs. We proposed that this
fee would be assessed if our proposed rules to establish vanity call
signs become effective. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 9 FCC Rd 105
(1993).
19. We will adopt the exemption for amateur licensees as set forth
in NPRM. If our proposal to issue vanity calls signs is adopted, we
will also assess a regulatory fee in FY 1994 upon persons filing
applications, pursuant to the charges listed in Congress' fee
schedule.\10\
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\10\The American Radio Relay League, Incorporated asserts that
it has requested Congress to change the vanity call sign annual
regulatory fee to a one time application fee. We, of course, will
modify our fee schedule to be consistent with any congressional
amendment of the fees.
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4. Noncommercial Educational Broadcasters
20. In the NPRM, we concluded that regulatory fees are not
applicable to noncommercial educational broadcasters. Congress included
commercial television and AM and FM radio broadcast licensees and
permittees in its Schedule of Fees. In contrast, Congress omitted the
noncommercial educational stations from the category of stations
subject to the regulatory fee. In addition, and consistent with
existing section 1.1112(d) of the rules governing application fees, we
proposed to exempt from the regulatory fee requirement any secondary
and auxiliary broadcast services, such as low power television
(``LPTV'') stations, television translators and boosters, remote pickup
stations and intercity relay stations and other Mass Media, Common
Carrier, and Private Radio facility authorizations used with
noncommercial radio, television and instructional services qualifying
for the exemption. See 47 CFR 1.1112(d). The comments supported the
exemption for nonprofit educational broadcast stations and we will
adopt the exemption as set forth in the NPRM.
21. Further, we affirm the tentative conclusion of the NPRM that
noncommercial international short-wave will be subject to the
regulatory fees. Congress did not provide an express exemption for
these stations and none of the commenters urged us to exempt the
international short-wave stations. In addition, unlike noncommercial
LPTV and translator stations, the government does not provide financial
support to noncommercial international short wave stations through the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) or the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Thus, the
considerations that led us to conclude that Congress intended to exempt
noncommercial educational LPTV and translator stations are not present
with respect to international short-wave stations. See Fee Collection
Program, 6 FCC Rcd 5919, 5925 (1991).
5. Public Safety Services
22. We have received no comments opposing our proposal to exempt
all licensees in the Special Emergency Radio and Public Safety Radio
services from regulatory fees even where the licensee does not qualify
for an exemption as a governmental or nonprofit entity. In the NPRM, we
noted that the legislative history states that Congress intended to
exempt public safety licensees from regulatory fees. APCO, in
supporting our proposal, urges that we limit the public safety
exemption to entities eligible for Public Safety Radio Service licenses
pursuant to the provisions of part 90, subpart B, and not exempt
licensees merely because they are authorized to operate on a public
safety channel. We agree with APCO that only entities eligible to
operate as public safety licensees should be entitled to an exemption.
Therefore, we will restrict the public safety exemption to entities
eligible to operate in the Special Emergency Radio or Public Safety
Radio Services.\11\ Under this definition, the fact that a licensee is
authorized to use a frequency allocated to these services is
insufficient to gain an exemption as a public safety entity.
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\11\Moreover, we will not assess a regulatory fee upon Emergency
Broadcast Service (EBS) licenses for auxiliary service facilities
that use government-provided equipment because these stations are
dedicated for EBS and are used solely for public safety purposes.
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6. Certification of Exempt Status
23. In order to implement our congressional mandate concerning
exemptions, the NPRM asked the parties to comment on the appropriate
method for establishing exemptions from regulatory fees. Our goal is to
minimize the burden on applicants and licensees seeking exemption from
the regulatory fees. See NPRM at 13, 16, and 21. The commenters
supported our efforts and urged reporting and exemption certifications
designed to minimize their paperwork burdens.
24. Forest Industries Telecommunications (FIT) proposed that the
Commission allow nonprofit entities to establish their exempt status by
submitting a Determination Letter issued by the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) stating that the applicant has qualified for tax exempt
status under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Act. The Utilities
Telecommunications Council (UTC) urges that we reduce the burden on
entities seeking to obtain a nonprofit exemption by requiring only that
they file their employer identification numbers (EINs). UCC asserts
that EINs are sufficient to permit verification of an entity's
nonprofit status. The National Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA)
urges that we also exempt entities that have applied for IRS
Determination Letters so that IRS administrative delays do not result
in the denial of exemption from the regulatory fee requirement. NTCA
requests that our determination of nonprofit status remain effective
until a change in such status is determined by the IRS.
25. PRTC urges us to rely upon existing exemptions from application
fee payments held by governmental entities rather than require these
entities to provide additional certifications to obtain exemptions from
the regulatory fee requirement. Similarly, UCC contends that no
additional certification of exempt status should be required from
governmental applicants in the Private Radio services since
applications for these services require information disclosing their
exempt status.
26. We agree with PRTC and UCC that we can rely on the data in
private radio service applications and in the Commission's files to
determine a regulatee's exempt status. Further, licensees and other
regulatees for whom we have such data will not be required to file
documentation to support their exempt status. If, after reviewing the
information already on file, we are unable to determine a regulatee's
exempt status we will issue a request that an applicant or licensee
further document its claim of exempt status. With respect to amateur,
noncommercial educational broadcast stations and public safety
licensees, we do not anticipate any problem in establishing their
eligibility for exempt status because their exempt status is based on
the nature of their licenses.
27. When our records contain no evidence of a governmental entity's
exempt status, we will accept a certification of its governmental
status. Nonprofit licensees may submit section 501 Determination
Letters. Because these documents are readily available in the files of
nonprofit entities, we decline at this time to establish a mechanism to
verify nonprofit status through EINs. We will also require that an
entity with a pending request for an IRS Determination Letter submit a
regulatory fee because the IRS may deny the request for tax exempt
status. However, we will refund the fee for the period covered by a
subsequently issued Determination Letter.\12\
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\12\To obtain a refund a regulatee must demonstrate that the
period covered by the Determination Letter's finding of tax exempt
status includes the date that we established for the calculation of
its fee in the fiscal year for which the refund is requested.
Further, an entity will be subject to a regulatory fee for the
fiscal year that the IRS terminates its tax exempt status if the
termination is made prior to the date for calculating its fees.
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28. We caution that we expect regulatees to act in good faith. In
any instance in which payment is overdue, and the licensee or permittee
cannot establish its entitlement to an exemption, we will assess a 25
percent penalty for late payment as authorized by Congress.
C. Waivers, Reductions and Deferments
29. Section 9(d) provides that ``[t]he Commission may waive,
reduce, or defer payment of a fee in any specific instance for good
cause shown, where such action would promote the public interest.'' 47
U.S.C. 159(d). Section 9(d) is similar to, if not identical with
section 8(d)(2) of the Act related to waivers and deferments of
application fees. 47 U.S.C. 158(d)(2). Pursuant to section 8(d)(2), we
have permitted waivers only on a case-by-case basis following a
demonstration that the public interest clearly overrides the private
interest of the requester. Thus, in our NPRM, we proposed to restrict
similarly waivers to encompass only those requests unambiguously
articulating ``extraordinary and compelling circumstances'' outweighing
the public interest in recouping the cost of the Commission's
regulatory services from a particular regulatee.
30. For those entities required to file regulatory fees with their
applications, such as licensees in the private radio service, we
proposed procedures for filing waiver, deferral and reduction requests
similar to those we have fashioned for application fee waiver requests.
See 47 CFR 1.1115(e). Persons seeking waiver or reduction of a
regulatory fee would submit the required fees and forms along with
their requests for waiver or reduction. We noted that this procedure
assures efficient collection of necessary fees and avoids the possible
imposition of a late fee in the event that the licensee's request for
waiver or reduction is denied. In the case of standard regulatory fees,
we further proposed that the required fee accompany any request for
waiver or reduction. In either case, we proposed to return or modify
the tendered fee upon grant of the waiver or reduction request.
Finally, we proposed that a request for deferred payment of the
required fee should be submitted 60 days in advance of the date
established for the payment of the fee in order to permit review and
action prior to the fee's due date.
31. Several state broadcasting associations (State Broadcasters) in
their joint comments, suggest that the public interest would be served
by granting permanent or temporary waivers or reduction or deferment of
fees to Mass Media licensees who can demonstrate that payment of the
fees would impair their service to the public. The State Broadcasters
contend that our authority to waive, reduce or defer fee payments in
such cases is clear if a showing is made that payment of the fee would
result in degradation of service to the public, citing NBC v. United
States, 319 U.S. 190 (1943); FCC v. Sanders Bros. Radio Station, 309
U.S. 470 (1940). In order to demonstrate financial hardship, the State
Broadcasters urge that they be allowed to submit any relevant evidence,
including tax records, unaudited balance sheets or any other financial
statements. Further, the State Broadcasters argue that the fee should
be automatically waived if a Mass Media licensee is in bankruptcy,
receivership or trusteeship because this status is a clear signal of
financial hardship.
32. The Broadcasters, joined by the National Association of
Broadcasters (NAB), contend further that the requirement to file the
regulatory fee payment with a request for waiver is irrational where
the basis for the waiver request is the financial hardship of the
licensee. Further, the NAB states that it will be impossible to dispose
of waiver requests before the fee payments are due for FY 1994 because
of the short period between the completion of this proceeding and the
date for submission of fees. Moreover, the NAB stresses that Congress
contemplated that there would be situations where the financial burden
imposed by the fee requirement would be so onerous that payment should
be waived. According to the NAB, if Congress' purpose in providing for
waiver, reduction or deferment is to have any practical effect,
according to NAB, we should not require applicants requesting waivers
for financial hardship to suffer additional financial burden that they
cannot afford.
33. We are not persuaded that we should modify our proposal to
generally require the filing of the regulatory fee with each waiver or
reduction request. Rather, we continue to believe that our current
procedure will help ensure efficient collections.
34. Nevertheless, we recognize that there may be exceptional
instances in which requiring payment of the regulatory fee along with a
waiver or reduction request could result in the reduction of service to
a community or other financial hardship to the licensee or other
regulatee. In those instances, the licensee should submit, together
with its waiver request, a petition to defer payment until the waiver
request is resolved. In order to reduce the burden on regulatees, we
will accept petitions for waiver, reduction and deferment so long as
they are filed no later than by the date payment is due. The filing of
the deferment request will toll the requirement to pay the regulatory
fee until disposition of the deferment request.\13\
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\13\We deny NABER's request that we modify the fee that Congress
required for filing a petition for waiver of a private radio service
rule. Section 8 of the Communications Act empowers us only to adjust
fees for applications and other filings based upon changes in the
Consumer Price Index.
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35. Petitioners seeking a waiver, deferral or reduction of a
regulatory fee based upon financial hardship may submit any relevant
information in support of their request. We will review the supporting
documents and base our ruling upon the information submitted and any
additional information available in our records. If a petitioner
presents a compelling case of financial hardship, no payment of the
regulatory fee will be due. If the supporting materials do not present
sufficient evidence of hardship, we will deny the petition. If the fee
has not already been submitted, the petitioner will then have 30 days
to file its regulatory fee in order to avoid the assessment of penalty
charges and the invocation of any other available remedy. The filing of
a petition for reconsideration will not toll this 30-day period.
D. Procedures for Payment
1. Categories of Payors
36. Pursuant to section 9(f), we proposed to establish three
classes of regulatory fee payments, standard, small and large, based
upon the size of the payment required by the Schedule. The time for
submitting the fee would be determined by the class of fee payment.
Persons making ``large'' fee payments for Fiscal Year 1994 would be
eligible to complete their fee payment in two installments. Moreover,
we stated that consideration would be given to allowing four
installment payments for Fiscal Year 1995 and thereafter. We proposed,
however, that small fee payments be remitted when an application for a
license of a facility subject to the fee is filed and the payment
amount is the fee due for the entire term of the license or other
authorization. We proposed that regulatees subject to a standard fee
are to submit the fee in a single, annual payment. The specific date
for the payment of a standard fee would be announced by public notice
and published in the Federal Register well before the payment's due
date.\14\
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\14\GTE has urged that we allow licensees that transfer or
assign licenses during FY 1994 to pro-rate their fee payments for
the subject licenses on the basis of the amount of time the license
was held by each party. The law authorizing section 9 was enacted in
August 1993 and we believe that the negotiation between the parties
to a transfer or assignment that occurred this fiscal year would
ordinarily have included consideration of expenses related to the
payment of regulatory fees. The party holding the license on the
date the fees are due will be the party responsible for its payment.
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37. Brown and Schwaninger (B&S) states that Congress intended to
establish only two, not three, categories of regulatory fees--large
fees and small fees--because section 9(f) enumerates only two such
categories of fee payments. B&S contends that Congress would have
included in section 9 explicit authority to establish a third category
if it had intended to provide such authority. In the absence of any
language in section 9 indicative of a third category, B&S contend that
we are precluded from adopting a standard fee category and collecting
standard fees. Instead, B&S reasons that our authority under section 9
is limited to determining that a particular fee is either large, and
establishing an installment plan, or the fee is small and collecting it
in advance for a number of years not to exceed the term of the license.
38. We reject B&S's interpretation of section 9(f). In section
9(a), the general authority provision, Congress broadly empowered us
``to assess and collect regulatory fees. . . .'' Subsection 9(f)
requires only that our rules include specific provisions providing for
advance payments in the case of small fees and installment payments for
larger ones. Nothing in that section, or in logic, compels a conclusion
that every fee must necessarily fall within a category of either
``large'' or ``small.'' Section 9(f) is simply silent regarding any
other substantive aspect of our fee collection system, including
whether other categories of fee payments may be established. Moreover,
our conclusion that some regulatees are subject to payment of neither
large nor small fees and, consequently, are only subject to a single
annual regulatory ``standard'' fee payment, in no way conflicts with
Congress' directive to include specific consideration of those payors
of large and small fees. Therefore, we adopt our proposal to establish
three categories of regulatory fees.
2. Installment Payments
39. In the NPRM, we proposed that some fees would be classified as
``large'' fees and, therefore, eligible for payment by installment. For
FY 1994, we identified the following fee amounts in the specified
categories as eligible for payment on the installment plan.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regulatory fee category Large fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VHF and UHF Commercial Television Station........ Above $12,000.
Cable Television System.......................... Above $18,500.
Inter-Exchange Carrier........................... Above $500,000.
Local Exchange Carrier........................... Above $700,000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
40. Several parties urge that we expand significantly our proposed
installment payment eligibility standards. GTE and Sprint request that
we establish an installment fee benchmark of $250,000 for all classes
of services that are not allowed to make installment payments under our
proposal. The Broadcasting Association argues that all mass media
licensees should be eligible for installment payments and the New
Jersey Broadcasting Association (New Jersey Association) argues that
all radio broadcasting licensees, or in the alternative, licensees
encountering financial hardship should be permitted to make installment
payments. GE American Communications, Inc. contends that licensees of
satellite space stations should be afforded installment payment
eligibility.
41. For FY 1994, we intend to permit installment payments by a
reasonable number of regulatees whose fees greatly exceed the average
fee in a particular service category. Through this means we can ensure
that we are able to structure a fee collection system that can be
fairly and efficiently administered, given our available resources and
our relative inexperience with the regulatory fee program and its
installment component.\15\
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\15\Because our fee collection program is not yet capable of
accounting for installment payments aggregated on other than a
single service basis, regulatees must pay their fee payments on a
service by service basis.
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42. Since little time is left in which to collect fees for FY 1994,
the practical impact of permitting licensees to make installment
payments this year should be minimal in any event. In these
circumstances, we thus find it both fair and prudent to decline to
expand significantly installment payment eligibility for FY 1994. Also,
we decline to permit installment payments for radio licensees, since no
fee greater than $900.00 is imposed on these licensees.
43. As we gain experience with the regulatory fee program and, in
particular, with its installment payment component, we will consider
increasing eligibility to make installment payments. Therefore, with a
limited exception, we will adopt our proposed installment fee
standards. As discussed above, if a licensee concludes that payment of
a fee in its entirety would constitute a financial hardship or if it
cannot otherwise submit a full payment, the licensee may submit a
partial payment of the fee with a petition to defer payment of the
remaining portion of the fee. Interested parties may renew their
arguments for increased installment opportunities in their comments
concerning the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for 1995.
44. Notwithstanding our decision not to expand significantly
installment payment eligibility this year, we have decided to permit
space station and system licensees to submit their fees in
installments. These licensees are relatively few in number, and the
uniform fee structure for this service does not lend itself to the
mechanism we used to establish installment payments in categories of
services with progressive fee structures. Thus, we will permit
licensees of geosynchronous satellite space stations and low earth
orbit satellite systems to file their fee payments in installments.
45. As proposed, regulatees qualifying for installment payments for
FY 1994 may make their fee payments in two separate and equally divided
payments with the first payment due on the date set for paying standard
annual fees. The date for each installment will be announced by Public
Notice and in the Federal Register. For future fiscal years, we plan to
permit four installments annually. We have decided not to impose an
administrative fee with each installment payment. However, any late
filed installment payment will be subject to a 25 percent late fee and
the payment of interest for the delinquent amount. Further, any
regulatee paying its fees by installment will automatically lose its
eligibility to pay by installments if it fails to make any of its
payments in a timely fashion.
3. Advance Payments
46. FIT and UTC support our proposal to require that regulatory fee
payments in the Private Radio services be made in advance. We will
require that full payment for Private Radio service regulatory fees due
over the entire term of the authorization be submitted at the time an
applicant in the Private Radio service submits its new, renewal or
reinstatement application.\16\ For example, regulatees in the private,
shared use services would submit a one time regulatory fee of $35.00
per license to cover the entire five-year term of their license or
authorization. Moreover until expiration of that authorization, we will
not subject regulatees submitting advance fee payments to submit
another (supplementary) fee payment for the same authorization until
expiration of that authorization, notwithstanding any subsequent
increase in the applicable annual fee. In instances in which a license
is transferred to another service and, therefore, becomes subject to a
different annual fee, as in the case of Private Radio licensees as they
become Commercial Mobile Radio Service licensees, we have generally
decided to apply any advance payment to the new annual fee requirement
resulting from that reclassification. Thus, the licensee would become
subject to payment of the difference between its initial fee payment
and the amount required under the fee schedule for its new service.
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\16\Regulatory fee payments submitted with applications that are
subsequently dismissed or denied will be returned upon request.
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47. For FY 1994, no Mass Media or Common Carrier regulatory fees
will be subject to collection as small fees. However, in future years,
we may decide to collect advance payments of fees in these services in
the event that we conclude that the fee required is small and our
experience shows that it is inefficient to collect the fee on an annual
basis.
4. Timing of Payment
48. As noted, the date for payment of standard fees will be
announced by public notice and published in the Federal Register. For
licensees, permittees and holders of other authorizations in the Common
Carrier, Mass Media and Cable Services whose fees are not based on a
subscriber, line or circuit count, fees should be submitted for any
authorization held as of October 1, 1993. We have selected October 1 as
the date for calculating these fees since October 1 is the first day of
the fiscal year and, therefore, current licensees subject to the fees
would have benefited from out regulatory activities since the beginning
of the period covered by their payment.\17\
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\17\In light of this decision, the comments by Orbital
Communications Corporation, GE American Communications, Inc. and
Starsys Global Positioning, Inc. concerning appropriate payments for
satellites that became operational after commencement of the fiscal
year are moot.
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49. In the case of regulatees whose fee payments are based upon a
subscriber, line or circuit count, we have decided that the number of a
regulatee's subscribers, lines or circuits on December 31, 1993 will be
used to calculate the fee. We have selected the last date of the
calendar year because many of these entities file reports with us as of
that date. Others calculate their subscriber numbers as of the last day
of the calendar year for internal purposes. Therefore, calculation of
the subscriber fee as of that date will facilitate both an entity's
computation of its fee payment and our verification that the correct
fee payment has been submitted. Cable systems should calculate their FY
1994 regulatory fees using the subscriber data that was provided to the
Commission for the 1993 Annual Report of Cable Television Systems (FCC
Form 325A) submission. Accordingly, the number of subscribers will not
necessarily be based on December 31, 1993, but rather on ``a typical
day in the last full week of December 1993.'' (See FCC Form 325
Instructions at page 1). Finally, since entities in the Private Radio
services pay their fees when applying for an new, renewal or
reinstatement license, we will require Private Radio applicants to
submit a regulatory fee with new, renewal and reinstatement
applications filed following the effective date of these rules.
5. Method and Location of Payment
50. We proposed to adopt generally the same methods of payment for
regulatory fees as we established for application fees. See 47 CFR
1.1108(a). In addition, we proposed to establish a process to permit
the electronic filing of fee payments, initially on an experimental
basis. Further, we proposed to permit payment of fees by credit card
(VISA and Mastercard) in some circumstances subject to the requirement
that, when a credit card payment is made, the entire fee payment must
be made in a single credit card transaction.
51. Several parties have requested clarification of our
requirements for multiple fee payments by Private Radio licensees.\18\
Other parties support our proposals concerning payment methods,
particularly our decision to accept credit cards and electronic
payments.\19\
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\18\See comments filed by FIT, Naber and UTC.
\19\See comments filed by SWB and Bell Atlantic.
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52. We have designed FCC Forms 159 (Remittance Advice) and 159-C
(Continuation sheet) to replace Form 155. We are satisfied that the
forms, and our rules, provide sufficient clarification of our
requirements concerning multiple fee payments. These forms are to be
submitted with any regulatory fee payment in the mass media, common
carrier and cable services. Payors, in the Private Radio services
making a single regulatory fee payment, other than by electronic means
or credit card, are not required to file a Form 159 as long as their
accompanying application form provides the information necessary to
accomplish the payment.
6. Multiple Payments
53. Generally, we will permit any entity, including licensees in
the private radio services, to make multiple section 9 regulatory (and
section 8 application) fee payments within the same lockbox, including,
where applicable, installment payments. Under this procedure, a single
payment form and a single instrument of payment may be used to cover
multiple regulatory fee payments.\20\ A multiple regulatory fee payment
also may cover payments by more than a single regulatee. Regulatees
making combined payments of regulatory fees and application fees within
the same lockbox for the Private Radio services may make payment with a
single payment instrument and are to submit with the multiple payment a
Form 159 and, if needed, a Form 159-C. Also, any regulatee making
payment by credit card, including licensees in the private radio
services, must submit a Form 159. See the specific instructions
concerning the use of Forms 159 and 159-C. A copy of the forms and
instructions may be obtained from the Federal Communications
Commission, Forms Distribution Center, 2803 52d Avenue, Hyattsville, MD
20781.
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\20\Payors of regulatory fees for vanity call signs must submit
a Form 159 with their applications.
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54. Each regulatee will remain solely responsible for assuring that
its applications and authorizations are properly accounted for and
listed, and for submitting the full, cumulative payment covering each
of its licenses and authorizations.\21\ As described below, payment
deficiencies could lead to penalty charges, dismissal of applications
and revocation of authorizations.
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\21\Payment of a regulatory fee may be made by a third party, as
NABER and NECA request. However, the entity subject to the
requirement to pay the fee will remain responsible for ensuring
correct and timely payment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
55. As proposed in our NPRM, we are establishing a single lockbox
at our lockbox bank for the receipt of mass media, common carrier and
cable regulatory fees. The single lockbox will accept Mass Media,
Common Carrier and Cable Services regulatory fee payments, and will
enable regulatees to submit fee payments for these services to the same
lockbox and to combine their fee payments for these service categories.
However, Private Radio fees will not be accepted at this lockbox and,
instead, should be submitted to the lockbox designated for application
fees covering the category of license or authorization for which the
payment is made. See sections 1.1152 through 1.1155 for the address,
including lockbox number regarding payment of regulatory fees for the
specific categories of service.
7. Electronic Payments
56. We have decided to proceed cautiously with our implementation
of electronic fee payments. We require that regulatees intending to
make fee payments electronically submit a written request to the
Managing Director and obtain his written authorization or that of his
designee prior to making their initial electronic payment.\22\
Following authorization by the Office of the Managing Director, a payor
may either instruct its bank to make payment of a regulatory fee
directly to our lockbox bank or authorize us to direct our lockbox bank
to withdraw funds directly from the payor's bank account. It is the
responsibility of the entity subject to the regulatory fee payment to
assure compliance with our electronic payment procedures. We will
announce specific procedures for electronic payment by public notice.
Failure to comply with these procedures will result in the return of
the fee payment and a penalty of 25 percent if the subsequent refiling
of the payment is late. Any late payment resulting from a failure to
comply with our electronic fee payment procedures will also subject the
payor to the penalties set forth in Sec. 1.1163 of the rules.
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\22\NYNEX has suggested that responsibility for recommending
rules and procedures relating to the electronic payment of
regulatory fees by common carriers be given to the proposed advisory
committee that would be established to assist the Common Carrier
Bureau in the development and implementation of an electronic filing
system. See Public Notice, 9 FCC Rcd 1293 (1994). Since our system
for the electronic payment of fees will soon be operational, we
decline to combine these tasks into a single project. However, the
Commission staff involved in these undertakings will closely
coordinate their activities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
57. Credit card payments may be made only with Mastercard and Visa
since at this time these are the only credit cards authorized for
payments to the United States Treasury. Credit card payments must be
accompanied by a Form 159. Failure to accurately enter an authorized
signature and the credit card name, number and date of expiration in
blocks 22 and 23 of Form 159 will result in the return of the credit
card payment and any associated filing.
E. Enforcement
58. As provided in section 9(c) of the Act, we proposed to enforce
payment of regulatory fees by: (1) Assessing monetary penalties for
late payment, (2) dismissal of applications and, (3) in egregious
cases, revocation of existing licenses and authorizations. 47 U.S.C.
159(c). In addition, we proposed to pursue delinquent regulatees under
the Debt Collection Act, 31 U.S.C. 3711 et seq., and related statutory
provisions.
1. Penalties for Late Payment
59. Any regulatee that fails timely to pay its regulatory fee or
make an installment payment shall be assessed a 25 percent penalty. See
47 U.S.C. 159(c)(1). A regulatory fee is untimely paid when it is not
received at the lockbox bank by the date we establish for payment.\23\
A fee payment is also considered late filed if an instrument of payment
is not collectible. A 25 percent penalty will be assessed against any
outstanding amount due on a fee, including any amount past due on an
installment payment.
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\23\The NAB and the Society of Broadcast Engineers have proposed
that we consider a regulatory fee payment to be timely submitted if
the payment is postmarked by the date it is due. At least for FY
1994, we have decided to continue our practice of requiring fee
submissions to be received by the date due. We believe retention of
this practice for regulatory fee payments for FY 1994 is necessary
to enable us to process these payments efficiently.
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2. Dismissal of Application
60. We will dismiss any application, group of applications or other
filings in the private radio services when a regulatee fails timely to
submit any regulatory fee or associated penalty. 47 U.S.C. 159(c)(2). A
fee payment will be considered to be late filed if a timely filed
instrument of payment is uncollectible and the deficiency is not the
result of bank error.\24\ Thus, an application required to be submitted
with a regulatory fee will be returned without action if the fee is not
filed with the application. Moreover, if the returned application is
mutually exclusive and must be filed by a date certain (or is required
to be filed by a date certain for any other reason), the application
will be dismissed as untimely if resubmitted subsequent to the filing
deadline.\25\
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\24\As noted in the NNPRM, we will not accept instruments of
payment other than cashier's checks for payors who are notified that
payment will not be accepted by other payment methods. Of course,
while we discourage the use of cash for the payment of fees
generally, payment by cash is permissible. See 31 U.S.C. 5193. We
will not be responsible for cash lost or stolen in the process of
delivery to our lockbox bank.
\25\In any case in which a fee payor believes that a monetary or
other penalty has been wrongfully imposed, the fee payor may file a
petition requesting that the penalty be set aside.
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3. Revocation
61. Section 9(c)(3) provides the Commission with authority to
revoke an existing license or other authorization for nonpayment of a
regulatory fee. 47 U.S.C. 159(c)(3). We proposed to reserve our
revocation remedy for egregious cases of nonpayment. Section (9)(c)(3)
does not require a finding of ``willful or repeated'' failure to make
payment before a license or authorization may be revoked. Further, the
section affords the right to a hearing only if a regulatee's response
to our notice of revocation presents a ``substantial and material
question of fact.''
62. Consistent with the statutory framework for revocation, any
revocation hearing will be resolved by written evidence only and the
burden of proceeding and the burden of proof will be on the respondent.
As proposed, we will provide a period of 60 days for a regulatee to
respond to our notice of revocation in order to assure that the subject
regulatee will have a full opportunity to obtain the funds needed to
make payment and to prepare its case. Further, we will assess the
regulatee for the costs for the conduct of any revocation proceeding
unless the regulatee ``substantially'' prevails at the hearing. 47
U.S.C. 159(c)(3). Finally, pursuant to section 9(c)(3), an order of
revocation will not become final until the respondent regulatee has had
an opportunity to exhaust its rights to judicial review under section
402(b)(5) of the Act. 47 U.S.C. 402(b)(5).
63. MCI recognizes that we should use our authority to revoke
licenses and assess penalties as tools to enforce payment of fees.
However, MCI urges that we restrict their use to cases where a licensee
``willfully'' has acted in bad faith in not paying the required fee.
MCI states that this is particularly important for licensees with large
and complex operations in services where licensing information
currently is not included in our records since licensees with numerous
authorizations may have no other way to confirm existing licenses. In
these instances, according to MCI, we should attempt to resolve
nonpayment issues informally since most fee payment disputes should be
quickly and easily resolved.
64. We agree with MCI that our revocation powers should not be
lightly invoked. We stated in the NPRM that we would reserve the right
to revoke licenses held by a delinquent regulatee, but that we did not
foresee the need for revocation, except in egregious circumstances. We
will not consider a failed payment to be egregious as long as the
regulatee demonstrates that its deficiency was not due to gross neglect
in maintaining its records or in preparing to meet its obligation to
make the fee payments. However, we intend to automatically assess
delinquent payors a 25 percent penalty for late or missing payments,
and such assessments will be strictly enforced.
4. Debt Collection Act Remedies
65. In addition to those specific remedies for nonpayment or
untimely payment of regulatory fees provided in section 9, we will
invoke our powers under the Debt Collection Act against any regulatee
failing to pay a regulatory fee. See 31 U.S.C. 3711 et seq. We will
afford a regulatee a 30-day period to respond to our notice of
delinquency before invoking the procedures provided in the Debt
Collection Act. Moreover, when necessary, we will refer outstanding
debts of delinquent regulatees to the Internal Revenue Service for
offset. See 31 U.S.C. 3720A. Included in the recovery of any delinquent
fee will be an assessment of interest on the debt due, a penalty for
nonpayment, and the allowable cost incurred due to the federal
government in the collection process. See 31 U.S.C. 3717.
IV. Regulatory Fee Categories
66. In our NPRM, we provided an explanation of the regulatory fee
categories subject to the payment of a fee under the schedule
established by Congress. 47 U.S.C. 159(g). Where a regulatory fee
category required additional interpretation or clarification, we relied
on the legislative history of section 9 and our experience in
establishing and regulating the various services. The categories and
amounts set out in the schedule may, by the next fiscal year and in
subsequent fiscal years, be amended, adjusted, or modified to reflect
changes in our appropriations, costs and changes in the nature of our
regulated services. See 447 U.S.C. 159(b) (2), (3).
67. Several parties have submitted comments regarding the
regulatory fee categories. Generally, the comments addressed issues
concerning possible adjustment of the required fees, the absence of
certain services from the fee schedule, and definitions of terms
important to payment of the fees. We address these comments below. In
certain instances, we have clarified our explanation of a fee category
based upon the comments of the parties. See Appendix B.
A. Private Radio Services
68. The two basic levels of statutory fees allocated for Private
Radio Services, exclusive use and shared use services, were established
on the premise that those licensees who generally receive a higher
quality communications channel, due to exclusive or lightly shared
frequency assignments, will pay a higher fee than those who share
channels of marginal quality.\26\ House Report at 17. In addition,
because of the relatively small fee amounts levied in the Private Radio
Services, as we proposed in the Notice, applicants for new licenses,
reinstatement and renewal licenses will be required to pay a regulatory
fee covering an entire license term. Applications for modification or
assignment of an existing authorization do not require payment of a
regulatory fee since the expiration date of modified or assigned
licenses will not reflect a new license term.
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\26\As noted, for FY 1994, we will not impose a regulatory fee
upon applicants for lifetime restricted radiotelephone permits and
radio operator licenses.
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1. Exclusive Use
69. B&S disputes our interpretation of the fee schedule's
requirement for Private Radio Service fees. Essentially, B&S contends
that the term ``shared use services,'' as it appears in the Schedule of
Regulatory Fees, applies to systems that share use of their licensed
facilities with others. According to B&S, an 800 MHz Specialized Mobile
Radio Service licensee providing service to end users is an example of
a shared use service because the SMRs customers are sharing the same
base station facility. B&S argues that their analysis is consistent
with 47 CFR 90.179 and precedent interpreting that provision of our
rules. According to B&S, it follows that ``exclusive use services'' are
comprised of licensed facilities that are used only by the licensee. An
example of what B&S considers an exclusive use service is a licensee in
the Taxicab Radio service that operates an internal communications
system in the 470-512 MHz band.
70. B&S confuses the concept of shared use of a particular licensed
facility with that of shared channel assignments. Under 47 CFR 90.179,
a licensee or group of licensees may choose to share base station
facilities on a non-profit or not-for-profit basis. In contrast, shared
channel assignments require licensees to be licensed for the same
channel for the same geographic area, and it is this latter concept
that the Schedule of regulatory fees clearly addresses. As we have
recently explained in our Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in PR Docket
No. 92-235,\27\ the private land mobile radio services licensed below
470 MHz\28\ do not enjoy exclusive use of their channel assignments in
a particular geographic area, and must accept a greater degree of co-
channel interference.\29\ In contrast, channel assignments above 470
MHz, including the SMR service, are granted on either an exclusive
basis, with no other co-channel use authorized in a geographic area, or
are licensed on an ``earned exclusivity'' basis, where co-channel use
is capped. Thus, licensees of services above 470 MHz enjoy a lesser
degree of interference than those below 470 MHz, and, accordingly, are
required to pay the higher regulatory fee. To accept B&S's
interpretation would ignore the established demarcation point between
``shared'' and ``exclusive'' channel assignments that 470 MHz
represents.
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\27\8 FCC Rcd 8105, paras 11-13 (1992).
\28\The 220-222 MHz band is the sole exception, where we have
created exclusive use channels below 470 MHz.
\29\While there may be rare instances where a particular
licensee below 470 MHz does not share its channel assignment with
other licensees in a geographic area, these licensees have no
ability to preclude new licensees from requesting the same channel
assignment.
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71. RAM Mobile Data USA Limited Partnership (RMD) states that 900
MHz SMR licensees should be required to pay a fee based upon their
total number of licensed Designated Filing Areas (DFA) rather than
their number of base station and frequencies individually licensed with
a DFA. RMD contends that an assessment based upon total DFAs licensed
is more consistent with Congress' intention that regulatory fees be
``reasonably related to the benefits provided to the payor of the fee
by the Commission's activities.'' 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A). Further, RMD
states that section 9(g)'s fee requirements will compel a consolidation
of its licenses in order to minimize its fee payments. Similarly, the
Utilities Telecommunications Council (UTC) objects to the requirement
that 220 MHz licensees submit fees on a per license basis.
72. We decline to consider amending the section 9(g) fee schedule
for FY 1994. As we have stated, Congress did not intend that we adjust
any aspect of the fee schedule for FY 1994. RMD and UTC may submit
their proposals for amending the fee schedule in our proceeding to
establish regulatory fees for FY 1995.\30\
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\30\RMD asks that we waive our requirement that SMR licensees
pay their fees in advance and, instead, permit them to submit these
fees on an annual basis. RMD contends that the overall fees that may
be imposed on SMR systems are not ``small'' and, therefore, fall
outside the category of fees that Congress authorized us to collect
in advance. We decline to allow RMD to pay its fees on an annual
basis because Congress specifically indicated that fees for private
radio services licensees, including licensees of SMR systems, would
be considered small and subject to the payment of fees in advance.
See H.R. Rep. No. 207, 102d Cong., 1st Sess. 11 (1991).
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Of course, RMD and any other licensee may surrender or modify their
licenses and other authorizations in order to minimize their regulatory
fee burden.
2. Marine (Coast and Ship Stations)
73. Numerous formal and informal commenters, including the United
States Coast Guard, raise concerns about our proposal to collect a
regulatory fee from licensees in the marine service, including
licensees using radio equipment voluntarily installed on small vessels,
such as recreational boats.\31\ These parties contend that a waiver, or
exemption, for vessels that voluntarily carry radio equipment would
enhance maritime safety and promote the public interest. As support,
the parties state that marine radio provides a vital link between
recreational boaters and emergency safety entities, as well as an
important source for weather and navigational information. Further,
they contend that the regulatory fee, added to the existing application
fee, will act as a substantial disincentive for recreational boaters to
carry, maintain and operate marine communications equipment.
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\31\In addition to the USCG, the commenters include the National
Marine Electronics Association, Radio Technical Commission for
Maritime Services, State of Nevada, Division of Wildlife and the
United States Power Squadrons. We also received and considered
informal comments filed by numerous parties concerned about the
regulatory fee required from recreational boaters.
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74. We recognize that radio communication between recreational
boaters and various emergency safety entities provides an important
public service. However, our authority to waive a fee requirement is
limited to ``narrow'' and ``compelling circumstances.'' 2 FCC Rcd 947,
961 (1987); H.R. 3128, H.R. Rep. No. 453, 99th Cong., 1st Sess. 39-42,
423 (1985). In view of this strict Congressional limitation, we do not
believe that a ``blanket waiver'' granted to boaters operating marine
radios is permissible, absent legislative amendment.
3. General Mobile Radio Service
75. The Personal Radio Steering Group (PRSG) requests that we lower
the annual fee for licensees in the General Mobile Radio Service
(GMRS). PRSG states that, because the Schedule of Regulatory Fees does
not explicitly include a fee for GMRS, we have authority to reduce its
fee. Moreover, PRSG contends that the service should be subject to a
lower fee than that for other shared use services because it is
intended primarily for personal communications, similar to the Amateur
Radio Service.
76. We agree with PRSG that section 9(g)'s fee schedule contains no
explicit terms regarding the GMRS. However, that section does require
the payment of a fee by ``shared use'' services in the private radio
service. GMRS is within that category of service and was explicitly
mentioned in the House Report as a service that would be subject to a
fee. Therefore, we conclude that GMRS licensees are subject to a $7.00
fee for each year of the license term, payable in advance upon the
filing of a GMRS application. We decline to rule on the merits of
PRSG's argument that its fees should be lowered because, as discussed
above, we conclude that Congress for FY 1994 intended us to assess fees
in accordance with its Schedule.
B. Mass Media Services
1. Broadcast Stations
77. The regulatory fees in the Schedule for Mass Media services
generally include broadcast licensees, permittees and other regulatees.
As discussed above, we have exempted noncommercial educational
broadcasters from regulatory fees. To the extent possible, we intend to
use the Bureau's computer data bases to verify the identity of
regulatees subject to regulatory fees in the Mass Media services.
78. Several commenters contend that the statutory fee schedule is
unfair to certain categories of licensees in the Mass Media services
and complain that the schedule fails to impose a fee on other
categories of regulatees. De La Hunt Broadcasting Corporation and the
Broadcasting Associations believe that radio broadcaster licensees
should be assessed regulatory fees on a market-size basis, in a manner
similar to the fees mandated for television stations. The NAB urges
that we adjust the schedule for radio broadcast licensees when we
consider appropriate fees for future years. Further, the Broadcasting
Associations contends that we should not include a television station
as being in a major market unless that station serves the metropolitan
area of that particular market.
79. We decline to consider any adjustments to the schedule for FY
1994 for radio and television stations. As we explained above, we
believe that Congress did not intend that we adjust any aspect of the
fee schedule it established for FY 1994. Interested parties may submit
comments, however, addressed to modifying the method for assessment of
radio and television broadcasting fees at the time we issue our
proposed schedule of fees for FY 1995.
2. Television Stations
80. Section (9)(g) provides that the regulatory fee charged a
television licensee will be determined by the size of its market. We
recognized in our NPRM that Arbitron no longer provides television
rating information. However, no party has proposed that we rely on
another mechanism for determining market size. Therefore, we will
utilize Arbitron's ADI rankings for 1993-1994 for the determination of
television markets for assessing our FY 1994 regulatory fees since it
appears, at this time, that these are the most familiar and readily
available tools for determining the relative ranking of television
markets.
81. KBS License L.P. (KBS) and the NAB argue that satellite
television stations should not be subject to the same regulatory fee
payment as fully powered television stations. The NAB contends that
satellite television stations should be assessed as if they were
television translator stations. KBS argues that our proposal to assess
fees for satellite stations at the same level as full powered stations
is inconsistent with section 9. First, in KBS's view, Congress
established regulatory fees for commercial television stations, and did
not set any fee requirement for satellite television stations. Second,
according to KBS, Congress intended the Commission to charge licensees
fees based on the regulatory burden they impose, yet satellite stations
require much less regulatory oversight than full powered stations.
Also, KBS contends that the fee would place an unfair and illogical
burden on small market licensees who use satellite television stations
to reach remote areas in their markets.
82. Section 9(g)'s fee schedule establishes specific fees for
commercial television stations. These fees are to be assessed against a
licensee solely on the basis of the market in which the station
operates. The text of the schedule makes no distinction between
commercial stations that are fully operational and those that are
satellite stations. It is also clear that these satellite stations are
not ``translator stations,'' which are also listed in the schedule. TV
translator stations are low-powered facilities that rebroadcast the
signals of a full service television broadcast station, including a
satellite station, and are afforded secondary status vis-a-vis full
service television stations. Also, unlike satellite stations, they are
not subject to the technical, operational and program service
obligations that are imposed on all full service broadcast stations,
including satellite stations.\32\ Consequently, we find that in
establishing fees for commercial stations, Congress assessed the same
fee for both commercial fully operational and commercial satellite
television stations. We therefore reject KBS's argument that Congress
failed to establish a fee for television satellite stations. However,
there are anomalies concerning the treatment of satellite stations that
are a matter of concern to us and that we believe would be appropriate
for consideration on a case-by-case basis. First, where a licensee
would be required under the fee schedule to pay a higher fee for its
satellite station than for the parent station, we will entertain
petitions to reduce the satellite station's fee to the same amount as
the fee due for the parent station. In such a case, the licensee would
be required to submit with its request an amount no greater than the
fee due from the parent station. Second, in any situation in which
payment of the fee would cause a diminishment of a licensees ability to
continue to serve the public, we will entertain requests for waiver or
reduction of the fee upon an appropriate showing. In this instance, the
licensee would not be obligated to pay the fee until resolution of its
waiver request.
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\32\Unlike other full service television broadcast stations,
satellite stations have not been subject to the Commission's
multiple ownership restrictions. However, that distinction is
currently under review in our Second Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking in MM Docket No. 87-8, 6 FCC Rcd 5010 (1991).
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83. KBS and the NAB may submit comments in our future proceeding to
establish regulatory fees for FY 1995, supporting their positions
concerning the need to distinguish between satellite and fully
operational stations when assessing regulatory fees. As explained
above, for FY 1994, we shall make no adjustments to Congress' fee
schedule pursuant to section 9(b).
3. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations
84. The Society of Broadcast Engineers, Inc. (SBE) believes that
broadcast auxiliary facilities, such as remote pick-up stations, and
aural, television and low power auxiliary stations, should not be
subject to any regulatory fee. SBE explains that there is no
justification to apply a regulatory fee to these facilities since they
are essentially self-regulating and impose little burden on our
resources. As indicated above, we shall not modify any of section
9(g)'s fee requirements for FY 1994, but SBE may raise these issues in
future proceedings.
4. ITFS and DBS
85. Finally, the Joint Parties contend that we should amend the fee
schedule to add several services not subject to fees for FY 1994. These
services include the commercial offering of Instructional Television
Fixed Services (ITFS) and Direct Broadcast Satellite Service (DBS). We
decline the Joint Parties' request to add these services to the
schedule for 1994 since Congress did not provide us the authority to
add any service to the schedule for FY 1994. Moreover, we are aware
that ITFS is a predominantly nonprofit service with limited commercial
use and, further, that DBS is not expected to become operational prior
to the time for calculating fee payments for FY 1994.\33\ To the extent
that the Joint Parties wish to renew their arguments concerning the
inclusion of these services for future years, they may do so when we
consider our fee payment schedule for FY 1995.
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\33\The Joint Parties point out that the fee schedule contains
no explicit fee requirement for Multipoint Distribution Service
(MMDS). However, our schedule, modeled on the schedule contained in
section 9(g) of the Act, explicitly requires the payment of a
regulatory fee by Domestic Public Fixed licensees, operating under
Part 21 of our rules. Since MMDS is a Part 21 service, it is fully
subject to the regulatory fee prescribed for Part 21 licensees.
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C. Common Carrier Bureau
86. Most common carrier regulatory fees are based on the size of a
regulatee's communications operation as determined by its number of
stations, subscribers, access lines, or antennas. We intend to rely
upon the Common Carrier Bureau's licensing data bases to confirm the
identity and fee amount for most radio common carriers to the extent
possible. We also intend to perform periodic, random audits to
determine whether individual regulatees have reported the correct
multiplier.
1. Cellular and Public Mobile Licensees
87. The Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA) states
that we should define the term ``subscriber'' as it applies to Part 22
and personal communications services licensees. PCIA suggests that we
require Part 22 licensees to pay their fees based on the number of
customers on their billing lists and urges that we permit Part 22
licensees to submit their fee payments pursuant to systemwide
aggregations of subscribers. Also, PCIA contends that we should permit
paging licensees to calculate their fees by aggregating their total
subscribers, rather determining their fee payments by call sign, as
required by section 9(g), and to submit one instrument of payment per
carrier system.\34\
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\34\PCIA also requests that we recalculate the regulatory fee
for CMRS for FY 1995. PCIA may submit its comments regarding the fee
for CMRS in the proceeding we establish to prescribe fees for FY
1995.
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88. Our rules do not define a mobile service subscriber. For
purposes of calculating regulatory fees, we will define a subscriber to
a mobile service as an individual or entity authorized by the mobile
service provider to operate under its blanket license in exchange for
monetary consideration. Further, any Part 22 licensee may submit a
single, aggregate payment to cover the regulatory fees due for each of
its individual systems. However, each individual system and service
should be clearly enumerated on the payor's FCC Form 159 accompanying
the fee payment. PCIA may submit its proposal to modify the method for
calculating fee payments by paging licensees in our proceeding for
establishing fees for FY 1995.
2. Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service
89. Claircom Communications Group, L.P., GTE and In-Flight Phone
Corporation request clarification of the definition of ``subscriber''
in section 9(g) when applied to the payment of regulatory fees for the
Air-Ground Telephone Service. Unlike conventional telephone service,
subscribers to that service, usually operators of commercial aircraft,
lease their service for the purpose of making it available to their own
customers. There is no contractual relationship between the air-ground
service operator and the end user of its service. Consequently, as
suggested by the parties, we will treat the operator of an aircraft in
which its service is installed as the subscriber to the service and
charge the fee based upon the number of transceivers leased by the
operator. Similarly, licensees in the air-ground service should include
in their total fee a payment on a transceiver basis for service they
provide to users other than commercial aircraft, such as private
aircraft.
3. Space Stations
90. Comsat General Corporation (Comsat), GE American
Communications, Inc. (GE American), Orbital Communications Corporation
(Orbital), PanAmSat, L.P. (Panamsat) and Starsys Global Postioning,
Inc. (Starsys) have submitted comments addressed to our proposals
concerning the requirements of satellite licensees to submit regulatory
fees. Comsat and GTE state that the regulatory fee for a geosynchronous
orbit space station is excessive. Comsat argues that the fee
requirement should be lowered for FY 1994 because these systems no
longer require the regulatory attention they received in their earlier
developmental stage. It argues that the fee also is a disincentive to
maintaining older and underutilized satellites in orbit for back-up
purposes and is anticompetitive and anticonsumer. As we have stated
earlier, we shall not adjust the schedule of fees that Congress has
enacted for the assessment of fees for FY 1994. Comsat may submit its
comments in the future proceeding that we will initiate in order to
establish appropriate fees for FY 1995.
91. We also received comments from Orbital and a reply comment from
Starsys concerning when a satellite space station becomes subject to
the fee requirement. Section 9(g) requires that the payment of a
regulatory fee by the operator of any ``operational'' space station in
geosynchronous orbit. We agree with the commenters that a satellite
does not become ``operational'' immediately upon its launch. Therefore,
as proposed by the commenters, we will consider a space station in
geosynchronous orbit to be subject to the fee when it has been
certified by its operator to be operational in accordance with section
25.120(d) of the rules. This certification indicates that the satellite
has been placed in its authorized orbit and is operating in the
authorized frequency bands at the authorized power levels. Similarly, a
space station or system will be considered to have terminated its
operation when its licensee certifies to us that the satellite has
ceased to operate.
92. Also, we will consider a space system in low earth orbit (LEO)
subject to the fee payment when its first satellite becomes operational
even though all its space stations are not yet operational. Similar to
our treatment of geosynchronous satellites, the system will become
subject to a fee payment upon the certification by the licensee that
the operations of the first satellite in its system conform to the
terms and conditions of its authorization pursuant to 47 CFR 25.120(d).
4. Earth Stations
93. AMSC Subsidiary Corporation contends that no payment of
regulatory fees for earth stations and mobile terminals should be
required until their related satellite system is operational.\35\
However, we observe that the licensing of satellite earth stations is
entirely separate from the licensing of space stations and that fixed-
satellite earth stations are generally licensed to operate with any and
all domestic satellite systems located in that portion of the
geostationary orbit for which the earth station has been frequency
coordinated. It is common practice for a satellite system to provide
preliminary service via unrelated space stations before its own
stations are launched and operational.
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\35\AMSC states that its satellite will be launched in December
1995, but that its earth and mobile stations will likely be licensed
before September 1994.
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94. We will require the licensee of an earth station to pay a fee
once it has certified that the earth station's construction is
completed. However, in those rare instances in which a license limits
an earth station's operational authority to a particular satellite
system and that system is not operational on the date for calculating
the fee, the fee will not be due until the first satellite of the
related system becomes ``operational'' within the meaning of our fee
rules.
5. Interexchange and Local Exchange Services
95. Generally, the comments of local exchange carriers (LECs) and
interexchange carriers (IXCs) raise issues concerning the basis upon
which they are to calculate their fee payments, the need for a
definition of the term ``subscriber,'' and a date for calculating their
fee payments.\36\
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\36\Allnet and MCI point out that resellers and pay telephone
operators are not among those regulatees listed in the fee schedule.
We will review whether these entities should be directly subject to
a fee payment in the course of our proceeding to determine
regulatory fees for FY 1995.
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96. We will adopt our proposal to permit the holding company of
local exchange carriers to aggregate fee payments due by its operating
companies and submit a single payment to cover the fee requirements of
its subsidiaries.\37\ We have considered the proposals of several
commenters, including Ameritech, Nynex and SWB, that LECs submit fees
based upon ARMIS data. However, ARMIS data is required from
comparatively few LECs and we would still need a mechanism to calculate
the fees due from the vast majority of LECs. Therefore, we have decided
that all LECs are to calculate the amount of their regulatory fees
based upon the number of working loops as described in section 36.611
of our rules, governing the submission of Information to the National
Exchange Carrier Association (NECA).\38\ We believe that this
definition will be simple to administer since the LECs currently
compile subscriber loop data, and it will provide a consistent
formulation for the assessment of fees from all LECs.\39\ As noted, for
FY 1994, we will require LECs to calculate their fee payments for FY
1994 as of December 31, 1993.\40\
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\37\We agree with Allnet that entities operating as both LECs
and IXCs are subject to a regulatory fee for both categories of
service. However, as GTE suggests, we will require a carrier to
submit only a single payment when a single commonly-owned line
serves as both a presubscribed line and an access line.
\38\NECA has proposed to process regulatory fees on behalf of
its pooling exchange carriers and to submit their consolidated fees
to our lockbox bank in a single instrument of payment. We have no
objection to NECA's submission of the fee on behalf of its pooling
exchange carriers or others. However, we remind entities subject to
the payment of a regulatory fee that the regulatee, not an agent,
such as NECA, is responsible for ensuring that the payment is made
that it is subject to penalty for failure to submit the entire fee
due in a timely manner. LECs will be expected to pay their fees
based upon the number of access lines as determined by NECA. In case
of a dispute between a carrier and NECA concerning the carrier's
line count as of December 31, 1993, NECA will certify its
calculation of the carrier's line count and the basis for its
calculation.
\39\We expect competitive access providers (CAPs) to submit fee
payments based upon their line count as required under section 9(g).
Ameritech, GTE and other interested parties may submit their views
on the proper method of assessing regulatory fees for CAPs in our
proceeding to establish fees for FY 1995.
\40\Several LECs, including Ameritech, GTE, NYNEX and Bell
South, opposed by Allnet, contend that their regulatory fee payments
qualify for exogenous treatment under the price cap rules and ask
that we allow their regulatory fee expense to be charged directly to
their subscribers. Their request is beyond the scope of this
proceeding. LECs seeking to charge their regulatory fees directly to
subscribers should petition for a waiver of the Commission's rules.
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97. In the NPRM, we invited comments concerning section 9(g)'s
assessment of regulatory fees from IXCs on a subscriber basis. In
response, AT&T, opposed by Wiltel, Inc., argues that fee payments by
IXCs should be based on gross revenues, not by the number of a
carrier's subscribers. We decline to reach the merits of AT&T's
argument at this time because, as indicated above, we shall not adjust
the fee schedule for FY 1994. Any reformulation of the basis upon which
IXCs are to base their fee payments would constitute a substantial
adjustment to the fee schedule that Congress enacted. IXCs shall file
fees based on the total number of common lines presubscribed to that
IXC as determined pursuant to section 69.116 of the rules. 47 C.F.R.
Sec. 69.116. AT&T may submit its views concerning the appropriate
method of assessing fees from IXCs in our proceeding to establish
regulatory fees for FY 1995.
6. International Bearer Circuits
98. Panamsat requests clarification concerning the assessment of
regulatory fees for international circuits. Section 9(g)'s Schedule
provides that the fee is to be computed ``per 100 active 64 KB circuits
or equivalent.'' The fee is to be paid by the facilities-based common
carrier activating the circuit in any transmission facility for the
provision of service to an end user or resale carrier. Private
submarine cable operators also are to pay fees for circuits sold on an
indefeasable right of use (IRU) basis or leased in their private
submarine cables to any customer of the private cable operator. In the
NPRM, we stated that the fee would be based upon active 64 KB circuits,
or equivalent circuits. Under this formulation, 64 KB circuits or their
equivalent will be assessed a fee. Equivalent circuits include the 64
KB circuit equivalent of larger bit stream circuits. For example, the
64 KB circuit equivalent of a 2.048 MB circuit is 30 64 KB circuits.
Analog circuits such as 3 and 4 KHz circuits used for international
services are also included as equivalent 64 KB circuits. However,
circuits derived from 64 KB circuits such as circuits derived by the
use of digital circuit multiplication systems are not equivalent 64 KB
circuits. Such circuits are not subject to fees. Only the 64 KB circuit
from which they have been derived will be subject to payment of a fee.
For analog television channels we will assess fees as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analog television channel size in Number of equivalent 64 KB circuits
MHz
------------------------------------------------------------------------
36................................. 630
24................................. 288
18................................. 240
------------------------------------------------------------------------
D. Cable Services
99. Several commenters contend that the fee prescribed for cable
television services should be paid on an exact per subscriber count
rather than per 1,000 subscribers, as we proposed.\41\ These commenters
argue that the latter formulation would cause small cable systems to
pay a disproportionately high regulatory fee. For example, a cable
system with 100 subscribers would be subject to the same fee as a
system with 1,000 subscribers.
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\41\These commenters include the United States Small Business
Administration, Cable Services, Inc., the Cable Telecommunications
Association, the National Cable Television Associations, Nationwide
Communications, Inc. and the Small Cable Business Association.
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100. The text of section 9(g)'s fee schedule provides for the
assessment of a fee for cable television systems at the rate of $370.00
per 1,000 subscribers. Upon further consideration, we agree with the
commenters that Congress did not intend that this provision required
that a system pay its fee as if it served 1,000 subscribers when in
fact it provides services to fewer than 1,000 subscribers.\42\
Following this formulation to its logical extreme would impose on small
cable systems a disproportionate burden of the aggregate cable service
regulatory fee since it would result in the assessment of larger fees
upon small systems, particularly those with fewer than 1,000
subscribers. Thus, we believe Congress' purpose was to require cable
systems to formulate their fee based on the schedule's assessment of
$370.00 per 1000 subscribers, but to pay the fee on an exact per
subscriber count. Payment of the cable fee on the basis of the exact
count of a system's subscribers will eliminate the inequity perceived
by the commenters.
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\42\We reject the Joint Commenters' argument that the regulatory
fee for cable systems be reduced when any of a system's channels are
made available to competitors pursuant to 47 U.S.C. Sec. 532.
Congress has based the regulatory fee for cable systems upon the
number of subscribers served, not the number of a system's channels
available for the system's direct use.
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101. NCTA and Nationwide support our proposal to permit cable
systems to submit their regulatory fees on the basis of the aggregate
fee payable by commonly owned systems.\43\ Therefore, we will permit
commonly-owned cable systems to combine their fee payments for
submission to our lockbox bank. Finally, for purposes of calculating
the fee due from cable operators, we will adopt the definition of a
cable subscriber, including bulk rate subscriber, used for FCC Form
325. See FCC Form 325 Instructions (Page 3).
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\43\NCTA, the Joint Commenters and Continental request authority
for cable systems to pass through their regulatory fees to cable
television subscribers as extenal costs. Only those items currently
itemized in the rule as external costs may be passed through to
cable subscribers. Regulatory fees are not among the enumerated
items and the pass through process is not the subject of this
proceeding. Therefore, this matter should be addressed separately.
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V. Amendments to Application Fee Rules
102. In addition to the new rules for regulatory fees, we are
revising several sections of our rules governing fees associated with
applications and other filings. Filing fees are required pursuant to
section 8 of the Communications Act and are administered separately
from the regulatory fees authorized under section 9.\44\
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\44\We will publish in the FCC Record actions, including actions
taken on delegated authority, related to the application and
regulatory fee rules that have precedential value.
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A. Fees for Resubmitted Applications
103. We have amended Sec. 1.1107(d) of the rules, as proposed.
Section 1.1107(d) governs fee payments relating to applications and
other filings when resubmitted in the appropriate timeframe following a
staff request for additional or corrected information. We have amended
Sec. 1.1107(d) to require persons submitting applications or other
filings that have been returned for additional information or
corrections and that do not require any additional fees to submit these
applications and other filings directly to the Bureau/Office making the
request. Applications requiring additional fees must be filed at our
lockbox bank with the remittance for the entire additional amount due.
In the event that the staff discovers, within 30 days after the
resubmission, that the additional fee payment was not submitted, the
application or other filing will be dismissed as deficient and the
previously submitted section 8 fee payment will be retained under this
proposal. A new fee payment (covering the entire amount of the revised
fee) will be required with any future filing of the application or
other filing. However, if the staff discovers the fee payment
deficiency more than thirty days subsequent to the resubmission, the
application or other filing will be retained, but a 25 percent late fee
will be assessed on the deficient amount even if we have completed our
action on the application or other filing involved.
B. Stale Checks
104. Our lockbox bank will not process a personal or business check
dated more than six months prior to its submission. Therefore, we have
revised Sec. 1.1108(a) of the rules to make clear that these ``stale''
checks will not be accepted as fee payments. Under this revision, we
will not accept any instrument of payment dated more than six months
prior to the date of its filing with the lockbox bank, and we will
return to the filer any application or other filing submitted with a
stale payment instrument. Further, we will not accept any third party
checks (i.e., checks with the name of any third party as the maker or
endorser).
C. Receipts
105. Our practice with regard to stamped receipts for application
fee payments is to furnish receipts only upon specific request of the
submitter rather than to provide receipts automatically for all fee
payments received. We are clarifying these procedures by amending
Sec. 1.1108 of the rules. In order to obtain a receipt for a fee
payment, section 1.1108 will require that the application and fee
package include a copy of the first page of the application or other
filing, clearly marked ``copy,'' submitted expressly for the purpose of
serving as a receipt of the filing. The copy should be the top document
in the fee payment package. The staff will date-stamp the copy
immediately and provide it to the bearer of the submission, if hand
delivered. For submissions by mail, the receipt copy will be provided
through return mail if the filer has attached to the receipt copy a
stamped self-addressed envelope of sufficient size to contain the date-
stamped copy of the application. We will provide a receipt for
regulatory fee payments, upon request, if we are furnished with a copy
of Form 159 or the first page of an application in the private radio
services accompanying the fee payment and the request otherwise
conforms with the procedures we have adopted for receipts of
application fees.
D. Electronic Application Fee Payments
106. We are adopting rules regarding the submission of regulatory
fee payments by electronic means. Revised Secs. 1.1107 and 1.1108 of
the rules allow the payment of application and other filing fees by
electronic means, although our system for electronic payment is not yet
fully in place. In our NPRM, we stated our concern about matching
electronically paid fees with submitted hard-copy applications.\45\ If
a party chooses to pay its application filing fee electronically, we
will require that the entity follow existing procedures for filing its
application at the lockbox bank. However, in lieu of the current
payment methods, the party will indicate on its remittance advice (FCC
Form 159 or the underlying application form with fee information
incorporated therein) that payment is being sent to the bank
electronically. The electronic payment must be made on or before the
day the application is filed. Upon receipt of an application, the bank
will confirm that a fee payment has been received electronically. If
the electronic payment is not received on the filing date, the
application or request will be returned without processing. We believe
these procedures are necessary to ensure the most efficient processing
of electronic fee payments (when authorized) and applications or other
filings. Finally, during the pilot phase of our electronic payment
program, regulatees will be required to obtain our prior authorization
before making electronic fee payments. (See paragraphs 56 and 57,
above.)
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\45\We note that some parts of the Commission are currently
experimenting with electronic filing of applications.
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E. One Check/One Application Rule
107. We are modifying our rules to allow the use of a single
payment instrument or method to cover multiple applications for the
same or different applicants, so long as all the applications are filed
at the same time at the same lockbox. Any applicant desiring to pay for
multiple regulatory/application filings in the same lockbox with a
single payment instrument, or when paying by credit card, must also
complete FCC Form 159, FCC Remittance Advice. Each item must be listed
separately on the form with its own Payment Type Code. If another space
is needed for multiple filings, the applicant must use FCC Form 159-C,
FCC Remittance Advice Continuation Sheet.\46\
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\46\All non-private radio section 9 regulatory fee payors must
use FCC Form 159/159C when submitting single or multiple regulatory
fees.
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F. Payment by Cashier's Check
108. To ensure that payment instruments will result in a final
payment being made to the Commission, we believe that our cashier's
check safeguard should be strengthened. Accordingly, as proposed, when
a person or organization has, on one or more occasions, submitted a
payment instrument on which final payment is not received (and is not
excused by bank error), we will immediately notify the party that
future fee payments must be made by cashier's check until further
notice. If, subsequent to such notice, payment is not made by a
cashier's check (or cash), that party's other payment instrument will
not be accepted and its application or other filing will be returned.
47 CFR 1.1108(d)(1)(i); see also 47 CFR 1.1110(a).
G. Filing Locations for Petitions and Applications for Review
109. We have revised Secs. 1.1109(a)(3) and 1.1115 to clarify that
any petition for reconsideration, application for review, and any
petition for waiver or deferral of a fee payment, accompanied by an
application or regulatory fee payment, must be submitted to our lockbox
bank. If no fee payment is required and the matter is within the scope
of either the application or regulatory fee rules, the request should
be filed with the Secretary and clearly marked to the attention of the
Managing Director.
VI. Confidentiality
110. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, GTE and
Southwestern Bell Corporation urge that we amend Sec. 0.457 of our
rules to safeguard the confidentiality of data submitted with
regulatory fees, including fee amounts that are calculated on a per
line or subscriber basis. 47 CFR 0.457. At this time, we will not amend
our rules to include a provision affording automatic confidentiality
for information submitted with regulatory fees. Generally, regulatees
are required to submit very little data with their fee payments and it
is premature for us to determine whether the disclosure of any
information submitted, including the fee amounts calculated on a per
subscriber basis, will warrant the protection afforded by Sec. 0.457.
Payments of regulatory fees may be accompanied by requests for
confidentiality pursuant to Sec. 0.459 of the Commission's rules. 47
CFR 0.459.
VII. Final Regulatory Analysis
111. Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, the
Commission's final analysis is as follows:
A. Need and Purpose of This Action
112. This Report and Order adopts the Schedule of Regulatory Fees
enacted by Congress for the assessment and collection of the
Commission's regulatory fees for FY 1994 and adopts rules to govern the
assessment and collection of regulatory fees for FY 1994 and future
years. The rules, as required by Congress, include provisions for the
advance payment of small fees, the payment of large fees by
installment, and procedures for waiver, reduction and deferral of fees
by regulatees that demonstrate that payment of the fee would be a
financial hardship, as well as penalties for late or nonpayment of
fees.
B. Summary of Comments Raised by the Public Comments in Response to the
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
113. The Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the United States Small
Business Administration (SBA) filed comments urging that cable
television system operators be permitted to pay their fees on a per
subscriber basis ($.37) rather than in increments of 1,000 subscribers
($370.00) or any portion thereof. The Report and Order adopts the SBA's
proposal.
C. Significant Alternatives Considered
114. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding offered
many proposals, including reliance on the Schedule of Regulatory Fees
as established by Congress in section 9(g) of the Communications Act,
47 U.S.C. 159(g), exemptions from regulatory fees, installment payments
for large fees, advance payments for small fees, payment procedures,
including payment by electronic transfer and credit card, procedures
for waiver, reduction and deferment of fees, and penalties for late or
nonpayment of fees. Our proposals to adopt the service categories and
fee amounts in Congress' fee schedule and for waiver, reduction and
deferment of fees were discussed by many commenters. Fireweed and the
Joint Commenters urged that we amend the fee schedule to reduce the
fees and add services subject to a fee payment. NAB and the State
Broadcasters urged that we modify our proposed procedures for
requesting a waiver, reduction or deferment of a fee payment. Upon
review, we affirmed that Congress intended that we utilize section
9(g)'s fee schedule for FY 1994. However, we adopted more flexible
procedures for obtaining a waiver, reduction or deferment of the fees
in order to afford more regulatees the opportunity to obtain a waiver,
reduction or deferment of the fees and we clarified the showing
required for adjustment of a fee based on financial hardship.
VIII. Ordering Clauses
115. Accordingly, it is ordered that the rule changes as specified
below are adopted.
116. It is further ordered that the rule changes made herein will
become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
This action is taken pursuant to sections 4(i), 4(j), 8, 9, and 303(r)
or the Communications Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C. Secs. 154(i) 154(j),
158, 159, 303(r).
List of Subjects
47 CFR Part 0
Authority delegations (Government agencies), Freedom of
information, Government publications, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
47 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and procedure, Communications common
carriers, Investigations, Penalties, Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Telecommunications, Television.
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
Rule Changes
47 CFR Parts 0 and 1 are amended as follows:
PART 0--COMMISSION ORGANIZATION
1. The authority citation for Part 0 continues to read:
Authority: Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 155,
225, unless otherwise noted.
2. Section 0.231 is amended by revising paragraph (a) to read as
follows:
Sec. 0.231 Authority delegated.
(a) The Managing Director, or his designee, upon securing
concurrence of the General Counsel, is delegated authority to act upon
requests for waiver, reduction or deferment of fees, establish payment
dates, and issue notices proposing amendments or adjustments to the fee
schedules established under part 1, subpart G, of this chapter.
* * * * *
3. Section 0.406 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(2) to read as
follows:
Sec. 0.406 The rules and regulations.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(2) Part 1 of this chapter, practice and procedure. Part 1, subpart
A, of this chapter contains the general rules of practice and
procedure. Except as expressly provided to the contrary, these rules
are applicable in all Commission proceedings and should be of interest
to all persons having business with the Commission. Part 1, subpart A
of this chapter also contains certain other miscellaneous provisions.
Part 1, subpart B, of this chapter contains the procedures applicable
in formal hearing proceedings (see Sec. 1.201 of this chapter). Part 1,
subpart C, of this chapter contains the procedures followed in making
or revising the rule or regulations. Part 1, subpart D, of this chapter
contains rules applicable to applications for licenses in the Broadcast
Radio Services, including the forms to be used, the filing
requirements, the procedures for processing and acting upon such
applications, and certain other matters. Part 1, subpart E, of this
chapter contains general rules and procedures applicable to common
carriers. Additional procedures applicable to certain common carriers
by radio are set forth in Part 21 of this chapter. Part 1, subpart F,
of this chapter contains rules applicable to applications for licenses
in the Private Radio Services, including the forms to be used, the
filing requirements, the procedures for processing and acting on such
applications, and certain other matters. Part 1, subpart G, of this
chapter contains rules pertaining to the application processing fees
established by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1985 (Pub. L. 99-272, 100 Stat. 82 (1986)) and also contains rules
pertaining to the regulatory fees established by the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-66, 107 Stat. 397 (1993)). Part
1, subpart H, of this chapter, concerning ex parte presentations, sets
forth standards governing communications with commission personnel in
hearing proceedings and contested application proceedings. Part 1,
subparts G and H, of this chapter will be of interest to all
regulatees, and Part 1, subpart H, of this chapter will, in addition,
be of interest to all persons involved in hearing proceedings.
* * * * *
PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
4. The authority citation for Part 1 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154, 303, and 309(j), unless otherwise
noted.
5. Section 1.742 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1.742 Place of filing, fees and number of copies.
All applications which do not require a fee shall be filed at the
Commission's main office in Washington, DC., Attention: Office of the
Secretary. Hand-delivered applications will be dated by the Secretary
upon receipt (mailed applications will be dated by the Mail Branch) and
then forwarded to the Common Carrier Bureau. All applications
accompanied by a fee payment should be filed with the Commission's
lockbox bank in accordance with Sec. 1.1105, Schedule of Fees. The
number of copies required for each application and the nonrefundable
processing fees and any applicable regulatory fees (see subpart G of
this part) which must accompany each application in order to qualify it
for acceptance for filing and consideration are set forth in the rules
in this Chapter relating to various types of applications. However, if
any application is not of the type covered by this Chapter, an original
and two copies of each such application shall be submitted.
5a. Sections 1.1106 through 1.1117 are redesignated as Secs. 1.1107
through 1.1118, respectively.
5b. In the list below, for each newly designated section indicated
in the left column, remove the reference indicated in the middle column
everywhere it appears, and add the reference indicated in the right
column:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section Remove Add
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1107................. Sec. 1.1105............ Sec. 1.1106.
1.1107................. Sec. 1.1111............ Sec. 1.1112.
1.1113 introductory Sec. 1.1105............ Sec. 1.1106.
text.
1.1113(d) and (e) Sec. 1.1112(c)......... Paragraph (c) of this
introductory text. section.
1.1113(e)(3)........... Sec. 1.1112(e)(2)...... Paragraph (e)(2) of
this section.
1.1114(a).............. Sec. 1.1105............ Sec. 1.1106.
1.1115(a).............. Sec. 1.1107(b)......... Sec. 1.1108(b).
1.1116(e).............. Sec. 1.1107............ Sec. 1.1108.
1.1118(b).............. Sec. 1.1110............ Sec. 1.1111.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Newly designated Sec. 1.1108 is amended by revising paragraphs
(a) through (d) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1108 Payment of charges.
(a) Electronic fee payments do not require the use of a FCC Form
159, Remittance Advice. An electronic fee payment must be made on or
before the day the application and appropriate processing form are
filed.
(b) The schedule of fees for applications and other filings lists
those applications and other filings that must be accompanied by a FCC
Form 159, Remittance Advice. A separate FCC Form 159 will not be
required once the information requirements of that form (payor
information) is incorporated into the underlying application form.
(c) Applications and other filings that are not submitted in
accordance with these instructions will be returned as unprocessable.
Note: This requirement for the simultaneous submission of fee
forms with applications or other filings does not apply to the
payment of fees for which the Commission has established a billing
process. See Sec. 1.1118 of this subpart.
(d) Applications returned to applicants for additional information
or corrections will not require an additional fee when resubmitted,
unless the additional information results in an increase of the
original fee amount. Those applications not requiring an additional fee
should be resubmitted directly to the Bureau/Office requesting the
additional information. The original fee will be forfeited if the
additional information or corrections are not resubmitted to the
appropriate Bureau/Office by the prescribed deadline. If an additional
fee is required, the original fee will be returned and the application
must be resubmitted with a new remittance in the amount of the required
fee to the Commission's lockbox bank. Applicants should attach a copy
of the Commission request for additional or corrected information to
their resubmission.
(1) If the Bureau/Office staff discovers within 30 days after the
resubmission that the required fee was not submitted, the application
will be dismissed.
(2) If after 30 days the Bureau/Office staff discovers the required
fee has not been paid, the application will be retained and a 25
percent late fee will be assessed on the deficient amount even if the
Commission has completed its action on the application. Any Commission
actions taken prior to timely payment of these charges are contingent
and subject to recession.
* * * * *
7. Newly designated Sec. 1.1109 is amended by revising paragraphs
(a), (d) and (f) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1109 Form of payment.
(a) Fee payments should be in the form of a check, bank draft, on
money order denominated in U.S. dollars and drawn on a United States
financial institution and made payable to the Federal Communications
Commission or by a Visa or MasterCard credit card. No other credit card
is acceptable. Fees for applications and other filings paid by credit
card will not be accepted unless the credit card section of FCC Form
159 is completed in full. The Commission discourages applicants from
submitting cash and will not be responsible for cash sent through the
mail. Personal or corporate checks dated more than six months prior to
their submission to the Commission's lockbox bank and postdated checks
will not be accepted and will be returned as deficient. Third party
checks (i.e., checks with a third party as maker or endorser) will not
be accepted.
(1) Specific procedures for electronic payment will be announced by
Public Notice. Applicants must submit a written request to the
Commission for authorization to make electronic payments of a fee for
applications and other filings, as follows.
(2) No electronic payment of an application fee will be accepted
unless the payor has obtained the written authorization of the
Commission to submit application fees electronically. It is the
responsibility of the payor to insure that any electronic payment is
made in the manner required by the Commission. Failure to comply with
the Commission's procedures will result in the return of the
application or other filing and the fee payment.
(3) Payments by wire transfer will be accepted. Prior to making a
payment by wire, the payor shall obtain the approval of the Managing
Director or his designee. A completed FCC Form 159 shall be submitted
to the Managing Director or his designee prior to initiating the wire
transfer.
* * * * *
(d) The Commission may require payment of fees with a cashier's
check upon notification to an applicant or filer or prospective group
of applicants under the conditions set forth below in paragraphs (d)
(1) and (2) of this section.
(1) Payment by cashier's check may be required when a person or
organization has made payment, on one or more occasions with a payment
instrument on which the Commission does not receive final payment and
such failure is not excused by bank error.
(2) The Commission will notify the party in writing that future
payments must be made by cashier's check until further notice. If,
subsequent to such notice, payment is not made by cashier's check, the
party's payment will not be accepted and its application or other
filing will be returned.
* * * * *
(f) The Commission will furnish a stamped receipt of an application
only upon request. In order to obtain a stamped receipt for an
application (or other filing), the application package must include a
copy of the first page of the application, clearly marked ``copy'',
submitted expressly for the purpose of serving as a receipt of the
filing. The copy should be the top document in the package. The copy
will be date-stamped immediately and provided to the bearer of the
submission, if hand delivered. For submissions by mail, the receipt
copy will be provided through return mail if the filer has attached to
the receipt copy a stamped self-addressed envelope of sufficient size
to contain the date stamped copy of the application. No remittance
receipt copies will be furnished.
8. Newly designated Sec. 1.1110 is amended by revising paragraph
(a) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1110 Filing locations.
(a) Except as noted in this section applications and other filings,
with attached fees and FCC Form 159, must be submitted to the locations
and addresses set forth in Secs. 1.1102 through 1.1106.
(1) Tariff filings shall be filed with the Secretary, Federal
Communications Commission, Washington, DC 20554. On the same day, the
filer should submit a copy of the cover letter, the FCC Form 159, and
the appropriate fee to the Commission's lockbox bank at the address
established in Sec. 1.1105.
(2) Bills for collection will be paid at the Commission's lockbox
bank at the address for the appropriate service as established in
Secs. 1.1102 through 1.1106, as set forth on the bill sent by the
Commission. Payments must be accompanied by the bill and a FCC Form 159
to ensure proper credit.
(3) Petitions for reconsideration or applications for review of fee
decisions pursuant to Sec. 1.1117(b) of this subpart must be
accompanied by the required fee for the application or other filing
being considered or reviewed.
(4) Applicants claiming an exemption from a fee requirement for an
application or other filing under 47 U.S.C. 158(d)(1) or Sec. 1.1113 of
this subpart shall file their applications in the appropriate location
as set forth in the rules for the service for which they are applying,
except that request for waiver accompanied by a tentative fee payment
should be filed at the Commission's lockbox bank at the address for the
appropriate service set forth in Secs. 1.1102 through 1.1105.
* * * * *
9. Newly designated Sec. 1.1116 is amended by revising the section
heading and paragraph (c) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1116 Petitions and applications for review.
* * * * *
(c) Petitions for waivers, deferrals, fee determinations,
reconsideration and applications for review will be acted upon by the
Managing Director. Petitions and applications for review submitted with
a fee must be submitted to the Commission's lockbox bank at the address
for the appropriate service set forth in Secs. 1.1102 through 1.1105.
If no fee payment is required, and the matter is within the scope of
the fee rules in this subpart, the petition or application for review
should be filed with the Commission's Secretary and clearly marked to
the attention of the Managing Director. Requests for deferral of a fee
payment for financial hardship must be accompanied by supporting
documentation.
* * * * *
10. Section 1.1151 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1151 Authority to prescribe and collect regulatory fees.
Authority to impose and collect regulatory fees is contained in
title VI, section 6002(a) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1993 (Pub. L. 103-66, 107 Stat. 397), enacting section 9 of the
Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 159, which directs the Commission to
prescribe and collect annual regulatory fees from designated regulatees
in order to recover the costs of certain of its regulatory activities
in the private radio, mass media, common carrier, and cable television
services.
11. Section 1.1152 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1152 Schedule of annual regulatory fees and filing locations
for private radio service.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee
Services amount Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive use services (per
license)
1. Land Mobile (Above 470 MHZ, $16.00 FCC, Land Mobile, P.O. Box
Base Station and SMRS) (47 ____\1\ Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
CFR Part 90). 5---
2. Microwave (47 CFR Part 94). 16.00 FCC, Microwave, P.O. Box
____\1\ Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5---
3. Interactive Video Data 16.00 FCC, IVDS, P.O. Box ____\1\
Service. Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5---
Shared Use Services........... 7.00 FCC, Shared Use Services, P.O.
Box ____\1\ Pittsburgh, PA
15251-5---
Amateur Vanity Call Signs..... 7.00 FCC, Amateur Vanity Call
Signs, P.O. Box ____\1\
Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5---
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1: Refer to Private Radio Service Fee Filing Guide for
appropriate Post Office Box. Fee Filing Guides may be obtained by
writing to the Federal Communications Commission, Public Service
Division, room 254, Washington, DC 20554.
12. Section 1.1153 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1153 Schedule of annual regulatory fees and filing locations
for mass media services.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee
Services amount Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AM Radio (47 CFR Part 73):
1. Class D Daytime.......... $250.00 FCC, AM Branch, P.O. Box
358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5835.
2. Class A Fulltime......... 900.00 ..............................
3. Class B Fulltime......... 500.00 ..............................
4. Class C Fulltime......... 200.00 ..............................
5. Construction Permits..... 100.00 ..............................
FM Radio (47 CFR Part 73):
1. Classes C, C1, C2, B..... 900.00 FCC, FM Branch, P.O. Box
358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15252-
5835.
2. Classes A, B1, C3........ 600.00 ..............................
3. Construction Permits..... 500.00 ..............................
TV (47 CFR Part 73) VHF
Commercial:
1. Markets 1 thru 10........ 18,000 FCC, TV Branch, P.O. Box
358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5835.
2. Markets 11 thru 25....... 16,000 ..............................
3. Markets 26 thru 50....... 12,000 ..............................
4. Markets 51 thru 100...... 8,000 ..............................
5. Remaining Markets........ 5,000 ..............................
6. Construction Permits..... 4,000 ..............................
UHF Commercial:
1. Markets 1 thru 10........ 14,400 FCC, UHF Commercial, P.O. Box
358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5835.
2. Markets 11 thru 25....... 12,800 ..............................
3. Markets 26 thru 50....... 9,600 ..............................
4. Markets 51 thru 100...... 6,400 ..............................
5. Remaining Markets........ 4,000 ..............................
6. Construction Permits..... 3,200 ..............................
Low Power TV, TV Translator, 135 FCC, Low Power, P.O. Box
and TV Booster (47 CFR Part 358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
74). 5835.
Broadcast Auxiliary........... 25 FCC, Auxiliary, P.O. Box
358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5835.
International (HF) Broadcast.. 200 FCC, International, P.O. Box
358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5835.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Sec. 1.1154 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1154 Schedule of annual regulatory charges and filing locations
for common carrier services.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee
Services amount Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Facilities:
1. Cellular Radio (per 1,000 $60 FCC, Cellular, P.O. Box
subscribers). 358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
5835.
2. Personal Communications.. 60 ..............................
3. Space Station (geo orbit) 65,000 ..............................
4. Space Station (low earth) 90,000
5. Public Mobile (per 1,000 60 ..............................
subscribers).
6. Domestic Public Fixed.... 55 ..............................
7. International Public 110
Fixed.
Earth Stations:
1. VSAT and Equivalent C- 6 FCC, Earth Station, P.O. Box
Band antennas (per 100 358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
antennas). 5835.
2. Mobile Satellite Earth 6
Stations (per 100 antennas).
3. Less than 9 meters (per 6
100 antennas).
4. 9 Meters or More Transmit/ 85 ..............................
Receive and Transmit Only
(per meter).
Receive Only (per meter).... 55 ..............................
Carriers:
1. Inter-Exchange Carrier 60 FCC, Carriers, P.O. Box
(per 1,000 presubscribed 358835, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-
lines). 5835.
2. Local Exchange Carrier 60 ..............................
(per 1,000 access lines).
3. Competitive Access 60 ..............................
Provider (per 1,000
subscribers).
4. International Circuits 220 ..............................
(per 100 active 64 KB
circuit or equivalent).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Sec. 1.1155 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1155 Schedule of regulatory fees and filing locations for cable
television services
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee
Services amount Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Cable Antenna Relay Service $220 FCC, Cable, P.O. Box 358835,
Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5835.
2. Cable TV System (per 1,000 370
subscribers).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Section 1.1156 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1156 Payment of charges for regulatory fees.
Payment of a regulatory fee, required under Secs. 1.1152 through
1.1155, shall be filed in the following manner:
(a) Payments of regulatory fees shall be submitted with the filing
of any application for a new, renewal or reinstatement of a license or
other authorization in the private radio services.
(1) Any regulatory fee submitted with an application in the private
radio services shall include an advance payment of the total annual
regulatory fee payment due for the entire term of the license or other
authorization. The amount of the regulatory fee payment due with any
application in the private radio service shall be the multiple of the
number of years in the entire term of the requested license or other
authorization multiplied by the annual fee payment required in the
Schedule of Regulatory Fees, effective at the time the application is
filed. Except as set forth in Sec. 1.1159, advance payments shall be
final and shall not be readjusted during the term of the license or
authorization, notwithstanding any subsequent increase or decrease in
the annual amount of a fee required under the Schedule of Regulatory
Fees.
(2) Failure to file the appropriate regulatory fee with an
application in the private radio service will result in the return of
the accompanying application, including an application for which the
Commission has assigned a specific filing deadline.
(b)(1) Payments of standard regulatory fees, applicable to mass
media, common carrier and cable services, shall be filed in full on an
annual basis at a time announced by the Commission or the Managing
Director, pursuant to delegated authority, and published in the Federal
Register.
(2) Large regulatory fees, as annually defined by the Commission,
may be submitted in installment payments.
(i) For Fiscal Year 1994, large regulatory fees may be submitted in
two (2) equal installment payments at times announced by the Commission
or the Managing Director, pursuant to delegated authority, and
published in the Federal Register.
(ii) For Fiscal Year 1994, installment payments may be submitted
for:
(A) VHF and UHF Commercial Television Stations with a fee
requirement above $12,000;
(B) Cable Television Systems whose community units' fee payments
total more than $18,500;
(C) Inter-Exchange Carriers with a fee requirement above $500,000;
(D) Local Exchange Carriers or Holding Companies with a fee
requirement above $700,000; and
(E) Space Stations with a fee of $65,000 or above.
(iii) Beginning in Fiscal Year 1995, payors of a large standard
regulatory fee, as annually defined by the Commission, may submit their
fee payments in four (4) equal installments at times to be announced by
the Commission or by the Managing Director, pursuant to delegated
authority, and published in the Federal Register.
(c) Standard regulatory fee payments, as well as any installment
payment, must be filed with a FCC Form 159, FCC Remittance Advice, and
a FCC Form 159C, Remittance Advice Continuation Sheet, if additional
space is needed. Failure to submit a copy of FCC Form 159 with a
standard regulatory fee payment, or an installment payment, will result
the return of the submission and a 25 percent penalty if the payment is
resubmitted after the date the Commission establishes for the payment
of standard regulatory fees and for any installment payment.
(1) Any late filed regulatory fee payment will be subject to the
penalties set forth in Sec. 1.1163.
(2) If one or more installment payments are untimely submitted or
not submitted at all, the eligibility of the subject regulatee to
submit installment payments may be cancelled and the regulatee required
to pay its fee in a single annual payment.
16. Section 1.1157 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1157 Form of payment for regulatory fees.
Any regulatory fee payment must be submitted in the form of a
check, bank draft or money order denominated in U.S. dollars and drawn
on a United States financial institution and made payable to the
Federal Communications Commission or by Visa or Mastercard credit cards
only. The Commission discourages applicants from submitting cash
payments and will not be responsible for cash sent through the mail.
Personal or corporate checks dated more than six months prior to their
submission to the Commission's lockbox bank and postdated checks will
not be accepted and will be returned as deficient.
(a) Upon authorization from the Commission following a written
request, electronic payment of a regulatory fee may be made as follows:
(1)(i) The payor may instruct its bank to make payment of the
regulatory fee directly to the Commission's lockbox bank; or
(ii) The payor may authorize the Commission to direct its lockbox
bank to withdraw funds directly from the payor's bank account.
(2) No electronic payment of a regulatory fee will be accepted
unless the payor has obtained the written authorization of the
Commission to submit regulatory fees electronically. Procedures for
electronic payment of regulatory fees will be announced by Public
Notice. It is the responsibility of the payor to insure that any
electronic payment is made in the manner required by the Commission.
Failure to comply with the Commission's procedures for electronic fee
payment will result in the return of the fee payment, and a penalty fee
of 25 percent if the subsequent refiling of the fee payment is late.
Failure to comply will also subject the payor to the penalties set
forth in section 1.1163.
(b) Multiple payment instruments for a single regulatory fee are
not permitted, except that the Commission will accept multiple money
orders in payment of any fee where the fee exceeds the maximum amount
for a money order established by the issuing entity and the use of
multiple money orders is the only practicable means available for
payment.
(c) Payment of multiple standard regulatory fees (including an
installment payment) due on the same date, may be made with a single
payment instrument and cover mass media, common carrier and cable
service fee payments. Each regulatee is solely responsible for
accurately accounting for and listing each license or authorization and
the number of subscribers, access lines, or other relevant units on the
accompanying FCC Form 159 and, if needed, FCC Form 159C and for making
full payment for every regulatory fee listed on the accompanying form.
Any omission or payment deficiency of a regulatory fee will result in a
25 percent penalty of the amount due and unpaid.
(d) Any regulatory fee payment (including a regulatory fee payment
submitted with an application in the private radio service) made by
credit card or money order must be submitted with a completed FCC Form
159. Failure to accurately enter the credit card number and date of
expiration and the payor's signature in blocks number 22 and 23 of FCC
Form 159 will result in rejection of the credit card payment.
17. Section 1.1158 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1158 Filing locations and receipts for regulatory fees.
(a) Regulatory fee payments must be directed to the location and
address set forth in sections 1.1152 through 1.1155 for the specific
category of fee involved. Any regulatory fee required to be submitted
with an application must be filed as a part of the application package
accompanying the application. The Commission will not take
responsibility for matching fees, forms and applications submitted at
different times or locations.
(b) Petitions for reconsideration or applications for review of fee
decisions submitted with a standard regulatory fee payment pursuant to
Secs. 1.1153 through 1.1155 are to be filed with the Commission's
lockbox bank in the manner set forth in Secs. 1.1153 through 1.1155 for
payment of the fee subject to the petition for reconsideration or the
application for review. Petitions for reconsideration and applications
for review that are submitted with no accompanying payment should be
filed with the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Attention:
Managing Director, Washington, DC 20554.
(c) Any request for exemption from a regulatory fee shall be filed
with the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, Attention:
Managing Director, Washington, DC 20554, except that requests for
exemption accompanied by a tentative fee payment shall be filed at the
lockbox set forth for the appropriate service in Secs. 1.1152 through
1.1155.
(d) The Commission will furnish a receipt for a regulatory fee
payment only upon request. In order to obtain a receipt for a
regulatory fee payment, the package must include an extra copy of the
Form FCC 159 or, if a Form 159 is not required with the payment, a copy
of the first page of the application or other filing submitted with the
regulatory fee payment, submitted expressly for the purpose of serving
as a receipt for the regulatory fee payment and application fee
payment, if required. The document should be clearly marked ``copy''
and should be the top document in the package. The copy will be date
stamped immediately and provided to the bearer of the submission, if
hand delivered. For submissions by mail, the receipt copy will be
provided through return mail if the filer has attached to the receipt
copy a stamped self-addressed envelope of sufficient size to contain
the receipt document.
18. Section 1.1159 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1159 Refunds of regulatory fees.
(a) Regulatory fees will be refunded, upon request, only in the
following instances:
(1) When no regulatory fee is required or an excessive fee has been
paid. In the case of an overpayment, the refund amount will be based on
the applicants', permittees', or licensees' entire submission. All
refunds will be issued to the payor named in Block Number 3 of the FCC
Form 159.
(2) In the case of advance payment of regulatory fees, subject to
Sec. 1.1152, a refund will be issued based on unexpired full years:
(i) When the Commission adopts new rules that nullify a license or
other authorization, or a new law or treaty renders a license or other
authorization useless;
(ii) When a licensee in the private radio service surrenders the
license or other authorization subject to a fee payment to the
Commission; or
(iii) When the Commission declines to grant an application
submitted with a regulatory fee payment.
(3) When a waiver is granted in accordance with Sec. 1.1165 of this
subpart.
(b) No pro-rata refund of an annual fee will be issued.
(c) No refunds will be issued based on unexpired partial years.
(d) No refunds will be processed without a written request from the
applicant, permittee, licensee or agent.
19. Section 1.1160 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1160 Conditional license grants and delegated authorizations.
(a) Grant of any application or an instrument of authorization or
other filing, for which a regulatory fee is required to accompany the
application or filing, will be conditioned upon final payment of the
regulatory fee. Final payment shall mean receipt by the U.S. Treasury
of funds cleared by the financial institution on which the check, bank
draft, money order, credit card, wire or electronic payment is drawn.
(1) If, prior to a grant of an instrument of authorization, the
Commission is notified that final payment of the regulatory fee has not
been made, the application or filing:
(i) Will be dismissed and returned;
(ii) Shall lose its place in the processing line; and
(iii) Will not be treated as timely filed if resubmitted after the
relevant filing deadline.
(2) If, subsequent to a grant of an instrument of authorization or
other filing, the Commission is notified that final payment has not
been made, the Commission will:
(i) Automatically rescind that instrument of authorization;
(ii) Notify the grantee of this action; and
(iii) Treat as late filed any application resubmitted after the
original deadline for filing the application.
(3) Upon receipt of a notification of rescission of the
authorization, the grantee will immediately cease operations initiated
pursuant to the authorization.
(b) In those instances where the Commission has granted a request
for deferred payment of a regulatory fee, further processing of the
application or filing or the grant of authority shall be conditioned
upon final payment of the regulatory fee and any required penalties for
late payment prescribed by the deferral decision. Failure to comply
with the terms of the deferral decision shall result in the automatic
dismissal of the submission or rescission of the Commission
authorization. Further, the Commission shall:
(1) Notify the grantee that the authorization has been rescinded.
Upon such notification, the grantee will immediately cease operations
initiated pursuant to the authorization; and
(2) Treat as late filed any application resubmitted after the
original deadline for filing the application.
(c) Where the procedures described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of
this section would not provide a meaningful incentive to pay a
regulatory fee that is due or would not be a meaningful sanction for
failure to pay such a fee, the Commission may, in its discretion,
whether the regulatory fee is required to be paid with an application
for an instrument of authorization or otherwise, withhold processing
and/or grant of any application or filing made by a person or
organization who has failed to make full payment of any regulatory fee
due.
(1) Before taking such action, the staff will make a written
request for the fee, together with any penalties that may be rendered
under this subpart. Such request shall inform the regulatee that
failure to pay may result in the Commission withholding action on any
application or request filed by the applicant. The staff shall also
inform the regulatee of the procedures for seeking Commission review of
the staff's fee determination.
(2) If, after final determination that the fee is due, payment is
not made in a timely manner, the staff may terminate processing and/or
withhold any grant or petition requested by the person or organization
subject to the fee payment requirement, until the matter is resolved.
20. Section 1.1161 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1161 General exemptions from regulatory fees.
No regulatory fee established in Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1155 of
this subpart, unless otherwise qualified in this section shall be
required for:
(a) Applicants, permittees or licensees in the Amateur Radio
Service, except that any person requesting a vanity call-sign,
following July 18, 1994 shall be subject to the payment of a regulatory
fee, as prescribed in Sec. 1.1152 of this Subpart.
(b) Applicants, permittees, or licensees who qualify as government
entities. For purposes of this exemption, a government entity is
defined as any state, possession, city, county, town, village,
municipal corporation, or similar political organization or subpart
thereof controlled by publicly elected or duly appointed public
officials exercising sovereign direction and control over their
respective communities or programs.
(c) Applicants, permittees or licensees who qualify as nonprofit
entities. For purposes of this exemption, a nonprofit entity is defined
as an organization possessing nonprofit, tax exempt status under
section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 501.
(d) Applicants, permittees or licensees in the Special Emergency
Radio and Public Safety Radio services.
(e) Applicants, permittees or licensees of noncommercial
educational broadcast stations in the FM or TV services, as well as AM
applicants permittees or licensees operating in accordance with
Sec. 73.503 of this chapter.
(f) Applicants, permittees or licensees qualifying under
Sec. 1.1161(e) requesting Commission authorization in any other mass
media radio service (except the international broadcast (HF) service),
private radio service, or common carrier communications service
requiring payment of a regulatory fee, if the service is used in
conjunction with their noncommercial educational broadcast station on a
noncommercial educational basis.
(g) Other applicants, permittees or licensees providing, or
proposing to provide, a noncommercial educational or instructional
service, but not qualifying under Sec. 1.1161(e), may be exempt from
regulatory fees, or be entitled to a refund, in the following
circumstances:
(1) The applicant, permittee or licensee is an organization that,
like the Public Broadcasting Service or National Public Radio, receives
funding directly or indirectly through the Public Broadcasting Fund, 47
U.S.C. 396(k), distributed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
where the authorization requested will be used in conjunction with the
organization on a noncommercial educational basis;
(2) An applicant, permittee or licensee of a translator or low
power television station operating proposing a noncommercial
educational service who, after grant, provides proof that it has
received funding for the construction of the station through the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) or
other showings as required by the Commission; or
(3) An applicant, permittee, or licensee provided a fee refund
under Sec. 1.1159 and operating as a noncommercial education station,
is exempt from fees for broadcast auxiliary stations (Part 74, Subparts
D, E, and F, of this chapter) or stations in the private radio or
common carrier services where such authorization is to be used in
conjunction with the noncommercial educational translator or low power
station.
(h) An applicant, permittee or licensee that is the licensee of an
instructional television fixed station is exempt from regulatory fees
where the authorization requested will be used by the applicant in
conjunction with the provision of the instructional service.
(i) Applications filed in the private radio service for the sole
purpose of modifying an existing authorization (or a pending
application for authorization). However, if the applicant also requests
a renewal or reinstatement of its license or other authorization for
which the submission of a regulatory fee is required, the appropriate
regulatory fee for such additional request must accompany the
application.
21. Section 1.1162 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1162 Adjustments to regulatory fees.
(a) For Fiscal Year 1994, the amounts assessed for regulatory fees
are set forth in Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1155.
(b) For Fiscal Year 1995 and thereafter, the Schedule of Regulatory
Fees, contained in Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1155, may be adjusted
annually by the Commission pursuant to section 9 of the Communications
Act. 47 U.S.C. 159. Adjustments to the fees established for any
category of regulatory fee payment shall include of projected cost
increases or decreases of the in volume of licensees or units upon
which the regulatory fee is calculated.
(c) The fees assessed shall:
(1) Be derived by determining the full-time equivalent number of
employees performing enforcement activities, policy and rulemaking
activities, user information services, and international activities
within the Private Radio Bureau, Mass Media Bureau, Common Carrier
bureau, Cable Services Bureau and other offices of the Commission,
adjusted to take into account factors that are reasonably related to
the benefits provided to the payor of the fee by the Commission's
activities, including such factors as service coverage area, shared use
versus exclusive use, and other factors that the Commission determines
are necessary in the public interest;
(2) Be established at amounts that will result in collection,
during each fiscal year, of an amount that can reasonably be expected
to equal the amount appropriated for such fiscal year for the
performance of the activities described in paragraph (c)(1) of this
section.
(d) The Commission shall by rule amend the Schedule of Regulatory
Fees by proportionate increases or decreases that reflect, in
accordance with paragraph (c)(2) of this section changes in the amount
appropriated for the performance of the activities described in
paragraph (c)(1) of this section for such fiscal year. Such
proportionate increases or decreases shall be adjusted to reflect
unexpected increases or decreases in the number of licensees or units
subject to payment of such fees and result in collection of an
aggregate amount of fees that will approximately equal the amount
appropriated for the subject regulatory activities.
(e) The Commission shall, by rule, amend the Schedule of Regulatory
Fees if the Commission determines that the Schedule requires amendment
to comply with the requirements of paragraph (c)(1) of this section. In
making such amendments, the Commission shall add, delete or reclassify
services in the Schedule to reflect additional deletions or changes in
the nature of its services as a consequence of Commission rulemaking
proceedings or changes in law.
(f) In making adjustments to regulatory fees, the Commission will
round such fees to the nearest $5.00 in the case of fees under
$1,000.00, or to the nearest $25.00 in the case of fees of $1,000.00 or
more.
22. Section 1.1163 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1163 Penalties for late or insufficient regulatory fee
payments.
Any late payment or insufficient payment of a regulatory fee, not
excused by bank error, shall subject the regulatee to a 25 percent
penalty of the amount of the fee or installment payment which was not
paid in a timely manner. A timely fee payment or installment payment is
one received at the Commission's lockbox bank by the due date specified
by the Commission or by the Managing Director. A payment will also be
considered late filed if the payment instrument (check, money order,
bank draft or credit card) is uncollectible.
(a) The Commission may, in its discretion, following one or more
late filed installment payments, require a regulatee to pay the entire
balance of its regulatory fee by a date certain, in addition to
assessing a 25 percent penalty.
(b) In cases where a fee payment fails due to error by the payor's
bank, as evidenced by an affidavit of an officer of the bank, the date
of the original submission will be considered the date of filing.
(c) If a regulatory fee is not paid in a timely manner, the
regulatee will be notified of its deficiency. This notice will
automatically assess a 25 percent penalty, subject the delinquent
payor's pending applications to dismissal, and may require a delinquent
payor to show cause why its existing instruments of authorization
should not be subject to rescission.
(d)(1) Where a regulatee's new, renewal or reinstatement
application is required to be filed with a regulatory fee (as is the
case with private radio services), the application will be dismissed if
the regulatory fee is not included with the application package. In the
case of a renewal or reinstatement application, the application may not
be refiled unless the appropriate regulatory fee plus the 25 percent
penalty charge accompanies the refiled application.
(2) If the application that must be accompanied by a regulatory fee
is a mutually exclusive application with a filing deadline, or any
other application that must be filed by a date certain, the application
will be dismissed if not accompanied by the proper regulatory fee and
will be treated as late filed if resubmitted after the original date
for filing the application.
(e) Any pending or subsequently filed application submitted by a
party will be dismissed if that party is determined to be delinquent in
paying a standard regulatory fee or an installment payment. The
application may be resubmitted only if accompanied by the required
regulatory fee and by any assessed penalty payment.
(f) In instances where the Commission may revoke an existing
instrument of authorization for failure to file a regulatory fee, the
Commission will provide prior notice to the regulatee of such action
and shall allow the licensee no less than 60 days to either pay the fee
or show cause why the payment assessed is inapplicable or should
otherwise be waived or deferred.
(1) An adjudicatory hearing will not be designated unless the
response by the regulatee to the Order to Show Cause presents a
substantial and material question of fact.
(2) Disposition of the proceeding shall be based upon written
evidence only and the burden of proceeding with the introduction of
evidence and the burden of proof shall be on the respondent regulatee.
(3) Unless the regulatee substantially prevails in the hearing, the
Commission may assess costs for the conduct of the proceeding against
the respondent regulatee. See 47 U.S.C. 402(b)(5).
(4) Any regulatee failing to submit a regulatory fee, following
notice to the regulatee of failure to submit the required fee, is
subject to collection of the fee, including interest thereon, any
associated penalties, and the full cost of collection to the Federal
government pursuant to section 3720A of the Internal Revenue Code, 31
U.S.C. 3720A and to the provisions of the Debt Collection Act, 31
U.S.C. 3711. See 47 CFR 1.1901-1.1952. The debt collection processes
described may proceed concurrently with any other sanction in this
section.
23. Section 1.1164 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1164 Payment by cashier's check for regulatory fees.
Payment by cashier's check may be required when a person or
organization makes payment, on one or more occasions, with a payment
instrument on which the Commission does not receive final payment and
such error is not excused by bank error.
24. Section 1.1165 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1165 Waivers, reductions and deferrals of regulatory fees.
The fees established by Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1155 of this subpart
may be waived, reduced or deferred in specific instances, on a case-by-
case basis, where good cause is shown and where waiver, reduction or
deferral of the fee would promote the public interest. Requests for
waivers, reductions or deferrals of regulatory fees for entire
categories of payors will not be considered.
(a) Requests for waivers, reductions or deferrals will be acted
upon by the Managing Director with the concurrence of the General
Counsel. If the request for waiver, reduction or deferral is
accompanied by a fee payment, the request must be submitted to the
Commission's lockbox bank at the address for the appropriate service
set forth in Sec. 1.1152 through 1.1155 of this subpart. If no fee
payment is submitted and the matter is within the scope of the fee
rules in this subpart the request should be filed with the Commission's
Secretary and clearly marked to the attention of the Managing Director.
(b) Deferrals of fees will be granted for a period of six months
following the date that the fee is initially due.
(c) Petitions for waiver of a regulatory fee must be accompanied by
the required fee and FCC Form 159. Submitted fees will be returned if a
waiver is granted. Waiver requests that do not include the required
fees or forms will be dismissed unless accompanied by a petition to
defer payment due to financial hardship, supported by documentation of
the financial hardship.
(d) Petitions for reduction of a fee must be accompanied by the
full fee payment less the amount of the requested reduction and FCC
Form 159. Petitions for reduction accompanied by a fee payment must be
addressed to the Federal Communications Commission, Post Office Box
358835, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15251-5835.
25. Section 1.1166 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1166 Error claims related to regulatory fees.
(a) Challenges to determinations of an insufficient regulatory fee
payment should be made in writing. Challenges submitted with a fee
payment must be submitted to the same location as the original fee
payment, marked ``Attention: Fee Supervisor''. Challenges not
accompanied by a fee payment should be filed with the Commission's
Secretary and clearly marked to the attention of the Managing Director.
(b) The filing of a petition for reconsideration or an application
for review of a fee determination will not toll the requirement that
full and proper payment of the underlying fee payment be submitted, as
required by the Commission's action, or delegated action, on a request
for waiver, reduction or deferment. Petitions for reconsideration and
applications for review submitted with a fee payment must be submitted
to the same location as the original fee payment. Petitions for
reconsideration and applications for review not accompanied by a fee
payment should be filed with the Commission's Secretary and clearly
marked to the attention of the Managing Director.
(1) Failure to submit the fee by the date required will result in
the assessment of a 25 percent penalty.
(2) If the fee payment should fail while the Commission is
considering the matter, the petition for reconsideration or application
for review will be dismissed.
Note: These appendices will not appear in the Code of Federal
Regulations
Appendix A
Guidelines for Regulatory Fee Categories
1. The guidelines below provide an explanation of regulatory fee
categories established by the Schedule of Regulatory Fees in section
9(g) of the Communications Act. 47 U.S.C. 159(g). Where regulatory
fee categories need interpretation or clarification, we have relied
on the legislative history of Section 9, our own experience in
establishing and regulating the various services subject to a fee
requirement and the comments of the parties in our proceeding to
adopt fees for Fiscal Year 1994 and establish rules to implement the
regulatory fee program. The categories and amounts set out in the
schedule might, by the next fiscal year and in subsequent fiscal
years, be amended, adjusted, or modified to reflect changes in the
Commission's appropriations, our costs of providing the regulatory
services to be recovered by the fee program, and additions,
reductions and changes in the services subject to the fee
requirement. See 47 U.S.C. 159(b) (2), (3).
1. Private Radio Bureau
2. The two levels of statutory fees for Private Radio services,
exclusive use service and shared use services, were established on
the basis that those licensees who generally receive a higher
quality communications channel, due to exclusive or lightly shared
frequency assignments, will pay a higher fee than those who share
marginal quality channels. House Report at 17. In addition, because
of the relatively small annual fee amounts in the Private Radio
Services, applicants for new licenses and reinstatements and for
renewal of their current licenses will be required to pay a
regulatory fee covering an entire license term, with only a
percentage of all licensees paying a regulatory fee in any one year.
3. Applications for modification or assignment of an existing
authorization do not require payment of a regulatory fee. The
expiration date of these authorizations will not reflect a new
license term when either modifications or assignments are processed.
In an effort to reduce public confusion, the Commission has provided
separate post office box addresses for these actions.
a. Exclusive Use Services
4. Land Mobile. Regulatees covered under this category include
those authorized under Part 90 of the Commission's Rules to provide
limited access private radio service that allows high quality voice
or digital communications between vehicles or to fixed stations to
further the business activities of the licensee. These services,
using the 220-222 MHz band and frequencies at 470 MHz and above, may
be offered on a private carrier basis in the Specialized Mobile
Radio Services (SMRS). These land mobile licensees are subject to a
regulatory fee of $16 per license per year. They will pay either a
$80 or $160 regulatory fee (depending whether their license term is
5 or 10 years).\1\
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\1\Some of these services may be reclassified when the
Commission implements the recent amendments to section 332 governing
the provision of mobile radio services. See n. 11.
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5. Microwave. Private microwave systems, authorized under part
94 of the Commission's Rules, provide telecommunications services
between fixed points and are often used to relay data and to control
railroad, pipeline and utility equipment. Microwave licensees are
required to pay the total regulatory fee for the entire term of
their license when filing their initial or renewal application. The
annual fee is $16 for a total of $80 to be filed with the
application.
6. Interactive Video Data Service (IVDS). IVDS is a two-way
point-to-multi-point radio service which provides information about
products and services, and allows subscribers to respond through
their television sets. IVDS is offered on a private carrier basis
and is authorized under Part 95, Subpart F of the Commission's
Rules. IVDS licensees will be assessed a regulatory fee of $80 per
license to cover each five year license term ($16 per year).
b. Shared Use Services and Other Authorizations
7. The specific categories of shared-use services listed below
are not on the statutory schedule but were listed in the House
Report. As discussed above, we propose that emergency and public
safety services would be exempted from regulatory fees.
8. Aviation (Aircraft and Ground Stations). The aircraft radio
service provides communications between aircraft or from aircraft to
ground stations and includes frequencies used to communicate with
air traffic control facilities. See generally 47 CFR Part 87.
Aviation aircraft transceiver stations are subject to a regulatory
fee of $7 per year per station (the total fee of $70 per station for
ten year license term is to be paid at the time a renewal or new
application is filed). Aviation ground stations provide
communications to aircraft for weather or landing information, or
for logistical support to aircraft operations. These stations are
subject to a regulatory fee of $7 per year per license (the total
fee of $35 per license for five year license term is to be paid at
the time a renewal or new application is filed).
9. Marine (Coast and Ship Stations). Marine coast stations are
land-based stations in the maritime services, authorized under Part
80 of our rules, which provide communications services to ships and
other watercraft in coastal and inland waterways. Coast stations are
subject to a $35 regulatory fee for each license, covering the five
year license term ($7 per year). Marine ship stations, also
authorized under Part 80, provide telecommunications between
watercraft or between watercraft and shore-based stations. Shipboard
radio installations are required by domestic and international law
for large passenger or cargo vessels. Radio equipment may be
voluntarily installed on smaller vessels, such as recreational
boats. Ship stations are assessed a $70 regulatory fee per station,
covering the ten year license term ($7 per year) and is to be paid
at the same time a license renewal application or new application is
filed.
10. General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). GMRS, authorized under
Part 95 of the Rules, is a land mobile radio service that provides
personal and limited business communications between vehicles or to
fixed stations for short-range, two-way communications. Each GMRS
license is subject to a $35 regulatory fee, which covers the five
year license term ($7 per year) and is to be paid at the same time a
license renewal application or new application is filed.
11. Other Land Mobile. Licensees in the land mobile services not
covered in the exclusive use category provide one or two way
communications between vehicles, persons or to fixed stations on a
shared basis. These services, authorized under Part 90 of the Rules,
include radiolocation services, private carrier paging, industrial
radio services and land transportation radio services. Regulatory
fees will be assessed on a per license basis with the $35 fee
covering the five year license term ($7 per year) and is to be paid
at the same time a license renewal application or new application is
filed.
c. Amateur Vanity Call-Signs
12. If Part 97 of the Rules is amended by the Commission to
authorize the use of vanity call-signs, amateur radio operators
would be able to request a specific call-sign. See Notice of
Proposed Rule Making in PR Docket No. 93-305, 9 FCC Rcd 105 (1993).
Each amateur licensee with a vanity call-sign will be assessed a
regulatory fee of $7 per year. The total fee of $70 will cover the
ten year license term during which the call sign will be in use. The
first 10-year fee must be paid at the time a request for a vanity
call-sign(s) is made. If a requested vanity call-sign is not
available or otherwise cannot be issued to the requestor, the
regulatory fee will be refunded since amateurs are expressly exempt
under the statute from regulatory fees, unless they have received
their vanity call-sign.
2. Mass Media Bureau
13. The regulatory fees for Mass Media services generally apply
to broadcast licensees and permittees and to other regulatees.\2\ We
have exempted noncommercial educational broadcasters from regulatory
fees.
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\2\We note that some Mass Media services, such as the direct
broadcast satellite service (``DBS''), the Instructional Television
Fixed Service (``ITFS''), and FM translators and boosters were not
specifically listed in the statutory schedule. We believe that ITFS
was excluded because of its general educational noncommercial
status. We also believe that the omission of DBS and FM translators
and boosters was inadvertent and that Congress did not intend to
exempt all DBS permittees and licensees and licensees of FM
translators and boosters from regulatory fees as these services
result in the Commission incurring costs for necessary regulatory
functions. Since these services are not on the statutory schedule,
we have not assessed fees for these services during the 1994 fiscal
year. However, pursuant to our authority in section 9(b)(3) to
modify the schedule, we intend to add regulatory fee categories for
DBS licenses and for FM translators and boosters to be assessed and
collected during the 1995 fiscal year.
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a. AM Radio Stations
14. Class A. Class A AM radio stations are unlimited time
stations operating on a clear channel and designed to render primary
and secondary service over an extended service area and at
relatively long distances from their transmitters. Class A stations'
primary service areas are protected from objectionable interference
from other stations on the same and adjacent channels, with
secondary service areas protected from interference from other
stations on the same channel. The operating power shall not be less
than 10 kW nor more than 50 kW. For FY 1994, each licensee of a
Class A AM station will be assessed a $900 annual regulatory fee.\3\
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\3\Regulatees are to pay the fee to which their facility is
subject on the date the fee is due.
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15. Class B. Class B AM radio stations are unlimited time
stations rendering service only over a primary service area. These
stations are authorized to operate with a minimum power of 0.25 kW
(or, if less than 0.25 kW, an equivalent RMS antenna field of at
least 141 mV/m at 1 km) and a maximum power of 50 kW (or 10kW for
stations that are authorized to operate in the 1605-1705 kHz band).
For FY 1994, each licensee of a Class B AM station will be assessed
a $500 annual regulatory fee.
16. Class C. Class C AM radio stations operate on local channels
and are designed to render service only over a primary service area
that may be reduced as a consequence of interference. These stations
are authorized to operate at not less than 0.25 kW, nor more than 1
kW. Class C stations that were previously licensed to operate with
0.1 kW may continue to do so under our rules. For FY 1994, each
licensee of a Class C AM station will be assessed a $200 annual
regulatory fee.
17. Class D. Class D AM radio stations operate either daytime,
limited time or unlimited time with nighttime power less than 0.25
kW and an equivalent RMS antenna field of less than 141 mV/m at one
km. Class D stations operate with daytime powers not less than 0.25
kW nor more than 50 kW. Nighttime operations of Class D stations are
not afforded protection and must protect all Class A and Class B
operations during nighttime hours. For FY 1994, each licensee of a
Class D AM station will be assessed a $250 annual regulatory fee.
18. AM Construction Permits. For FY 1994, persons holding a
construction permit for a any class of a new am station are subject
to a $100 annual regulatory fee for each outstanding permit. Upon
issuance of an operating license to cover the construction permit,
this fee is no longer applicable. Instead, licensees will pay a
regulatory fee amount based upon the designated class of the
licensed station, as described above, as of the date the regulatory
fee payment is due.
b. FM Radio Stations
19. Licensed Stations. FM radio stations must meet the location,
power and antenna height requirements for stations designated as
Classes C, C1, C2, or B, as set forth in sections 73.205, 73.210 and
73.211 of the Commission's Rules. For FY 1994, each commercial
licensee of a Class C, C1, C2, or B FM station will be assessed a
$900 annual regulatory fee per license. FM radio stations meeting
the location, power and antenna height requirements for stations
designated as Classes A, B1, or C3, as set forth in the Commission's
rules, have a smaller coverage area. Thus, for FY 1994, each
commercial licensee for a Class A, B1, or C3 FM Station will be
assessed a $600 annual regulatory fee per license.
20. FM Construction Permits. Persons holding a construction
permit for any class of a new FM station, except Class D, are
subject to a $500 annual regulatory fee per outstanding permit in FY
1994. Upon issuance of an operating license to cover the
construction permit, this fee is no longer applicable. Instead
licensees will pay a regulatory fee based upon the designated class
of the licensed station, as described above, as of the regulatory
fee payment is determined.
c. Television Stations
21. VHF and UHF Commercial Licenses. Commercial VHF and UHF
television licensees, including licensees of satellite stations,
will be assessed a regulatory fee amount based on the ranking of the
station's market. Specifically, for FY 1994 these annual regulatory
fees are as follows:
VHF Commercial:
Markets 1 through 10.................................. $18,000.00
Markets 11 through 25................................. 16,000.00
Markets 26 through 50................................. 12,000.00
Markets 51 through 100................................ 8,000.00
Remaining Markets..................................... 5,000.00
UHF Commercial:
Markets 1 through 10.................................. 14,400.00
Markets 11 through 25................................. 12,800.00
Markets 26 through 50................................. 9,600.00
Markets 51 through 100................................ 6,400.00
Remaining Markets..................................... 4,000.00
Stations authorized as ``satellite'' television stations
pursuant to note 5 of Section 73.3555 of the Commission's Rules (47
CFR 73.3555 note 5) will be assessed a fee on the same basis as
other full power stations in the same market.
23. Television licensees subject to a regulatory fee above
$12,000 will be automatically eligible to make two equal installment
payments.
24. We have decided to rely upon the latest Arbitron market data
to determine a television station's market ranking for purposes of
assessing regulatory fees. These rankings may be found in the
Television and Cable Factbook published by Warren Publishing.
Changes in market rankings may affect regulatory fee amounts for the
following fiscal year.
25. Television Construction Permits. For FY 1994, persons
holding a construction permit for a new VHF television station, in
any size market, are subject to a $4,000 annual regulatory fee per
outstanding permit. UHF construction permits for stations in any
size market will be assessed a $3,200 annual regulatory fee. Upon
issuance of an operating license to cover the construction permit,
this construction permit fee is no longer applicable. Instead,
licensees will pay a regulatory fee amount based upon the licensed
station's market ranking, as described above.
d. Low Power TV, TV Translator, and TV Booster Stations
26. Under Part 74 of the Commission's Rules, low power UHF and
VHF TV stations operate with a transmitter power output limited to
0.01kw for a UHF facility and, generally, 1kw for a VHF facility,
and may retransmit the programs and signals of a full-power TV
broadcast station, originate programming, and/or operate as a
subscription service. TV translator stations are authorized to
retransmit the programs and signals of TV broadcast stations without
significantly altering the characteristic of the original signal
other than its frequency and amplitude, for the purpose of providing
TV reception to the general public.
27. TV booster stations are operated by the licensee of a full
service TV broadcast station to retransmit the programs and signals
of the licensee's station by amplifying and reradiating such
signals, without significantly altering the characteristics of the
original signal other than its amplitude. For FY 1994, licensees of
these secondary television broadcast stations will be assessed a
$135 annual regulatory fee per license.
e. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations
28. Licensees of remote pickup stations, aural broadcast
auxiliary stations, television broadcast auxiliary stations, and low
power auxiliary stations, authorized under Part 74 of the
Commission's Rules, will be assessed a $25 per license annual
regulatory fee for FY 1994. These auxiliary stations are associated
with a particular television or radio broadcast station. Hence,
those licensees will be required to pay the required regulatory fees
for each auxiliary license they hold. Individual users under 47 CFR
subpart D, F and H will similarly have to pay the required
regulatory fee for each auxiliary license they hold.
f. International (HF) Broadcast Stations
International broadcast stations are licensed to operate on
frequencies in the 5,950 khz to 26,100 khz band to provide service
to the general public in foreign countries. For FY 1994, each
international broadcast licensee will be assessed an annual
regulatory fee of $200 per license.
3. Cable Services Bureau
a. Cable Antenna Relay Service
30. Cable television antenna relay service (``CARS'') stations
are used to transmit television and related audio signals, signals
of AM and FM broadcast stations and cablecasting from the point of
reception to a terminal point from where the signals are distributed
to the public by cable television systems. See 47 C.F.R. Part 78.
For FY 1994, each CARS licensee will be assessed an annual
regulatory fee of $220 per license.
b. Cable Television Systems
31. For FY 1994, each cable television system, as that term is
defined in section 76.5 of our rules, will be assessed an annual
regulatory fee of $.37 per subscriber.\4\
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\4\The term ``subscriber'' is defined in Sec. 76.5 of the
Commission's Rules. 47 CFR 76.5.
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32. We will allow installment payments for these regulatory fees
if the annual fee of a cable television system or a group of
commonly owned systems aggregating their regulatory fees exceeds
$18,500.
4. Common Carrier Bureau
32. Most common carrier regulatory fees are based on the size of
a regulatee's communication operation as determined by number of
stations, subscribers, access lines, or antennas.
a. Mobile Services
33. Cellular and Public Mobile Licensees. Under Part 22 of our
rules, common carriers are authorized to offer land-based or air-to-
ground mobile telephone or paging services to the public. In
addition to cellular telephone service, these services include those
using radio to provide telephone services at fixed locations, such
as Basic Exchange Telecommunications Radio Services, Rural Radio and
Offshore Radio. For FY 1994, each common carrier license authorized
under Part 22 will be assessed an annual regulatory fee of $.06 per
subscriber.
34. Personal Communications Services. Licensed personal
communications services (``PCS'') will consist of a wide variety of
commercial or private mobile communications services, including
advanced paging, microcellular telephone communications, portable
facsimile and other video and data transmission services. See
generally, First Report and Order, Gen. Docket No. 90-314 and ET
Docket No. 92-100, 8 FCC Rcd 7162 (1993) (narrowband PCS); Second
Report and Order, Gen. Docket No. 90-314, 8 FCC Rcd 7700 (1993)
(broadband PCS). The statutory Schedule of Regulatory Fees enacted
in the 1993 Budget Act established an annual fee of $60 per 1,000
subscribers for PCS licensees. At the same time, the 1993 Budget Act
recognized that PCS licenses have not yet been issued. In
particular, Congress directed the Commission to conclude its PCS
rulemaking proceedings (Gen. Docket No. 90-314 and ET Docket No. 92-
100) by February 6, 1994, and to commence the PCS licensing process
by May 7, 1994.\5\ In addition, our new PCS service rules provide
licensees five years to meet minimum construction requirements.\6\
Accordingly, since it is unlikely that any PCS licensee will have a
significant number of subscribers in the immediate future, no
regulatory fees will be collected from PCS licensees during the 1994
fiscal year. We intend to begin assessing and collecting regulatory
fees for PCS in the 1995 fiscal year.
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\5\Section 6002(d)(2), 1993 Budget Act. See Second Report and
Order in Docket 93-252, FCC-94-31, adopted February 3, 1994.
\6\See First Report and Order, at 37; Second Report and Order,
at 134 (petitions for reconsideration pending).
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b. Space Stations
35. Space Stations in Geosynchronous Orbit. Domestic and
international satellites, positioned in orbit to remain
approximately fixed relative to the earth, are authorized to provide
communications between satellites and earth stations on a common
carrier and/or private carrier basis. For FY 1994, entities
authorized to operate these space stations in accordance with
Sec. 25.120(d), will be assessed an annual regulatory fee of $65,000
for each operational station in geosynchronous orbit on the date for
calculating fees. 47 CFR 25.120(d). Payment may be made in two
installments.
36. Space Stations in Low-Earth Orbit. Domestic and
international non-geostationary satellites, positioned in a low-
earth orbit (``LEO''), may be authorized to transmit to satellites
and fixed or mobile earth stations. These services include the new
non-voice, non-geostationary mobile-satellite service, see Report
and Order, CC Docket No. 92-76, 8 FCC Rcd 8450 (1993). Entities
authorized to operate LEO systems will be assessed an annual '
gulatory fee of $90,000 for each such system. For purposes of
assessing regulatory fees, a LEO operator is required to submit its
annual regulatory fees in the fiscal year in which it commences
operating its first satellite, pursuant to Sec. 25.120(d), even
though all the space stations specified in its application or
instrument of authorization have not become operational. 47 CFR
25.120(d). While it appears unlikely that a LEO system will be
operational by the date for calculating fees for the 1994 fiscal
year,\7\ should a LEO system be operational on the date for
calculating fees during that period, we will require payment of a
regulatory fee for such operational systems. The entire annual fee
amount will be required. Payment may be made in two installments.
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\7\See Report and Order, at 18 (a permittee must begin
construction of its first two satellites of its system within one
year of grant of its construction permit).
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c. Public Fixed Radio Services
37. Domestic Public Fixed Services. Licensees in the Domestic
Public Fixed Services are authorized to use microwave frequencies
for video and data distribution communications within the United
States. These services, authorized under Part 21 of the Rules,
include the Point-to-Point Microwave Radio Service, Local Television
Transmission Radio Service, Multipoint Distribution Service (single-
channel and multichannel) and Digital Electronic Message Service.
For FY 1994, these licensees will be assessed an annual regulatory
fee of $55 per call-sign.
38. International Public Fixed Service. Licensees in the
International Public Fixed Service are authorized as common carriers
to provide radio communications between the United States and a
foreign point via microwave, HF, troposcatter systems (other than
satellites and satellite earth stations). This does not include
service between the United States and Mexico and the United States
and Canada using frequencies above 72 MHz. See 47 CFR part 23. For
FY 1994, these licensees will be assessed an annual regulatory fee
of $110 per call-sign.
d. Earth Stations
39. VSAT and Equivalent C-Band Antennas. Earth station systems
comprising very small aperture terminals make up authorized networks
operating in the 12 and 14 GHz bands and provide a variety of
communications services to other stations in the network. Each
system, authorized pursuant to blanket licensing procedures in Part
25 of the Rules, consists of a network of technically-identical
small fixed-satellite earth stations which often includes a larger
hub station. For FY 1994, entities holding VSAT authorizations will
be assessed an annual regulatory fee of $.06 per antenna. Entities
with less than 100 antennas will be subject to a minimum $6 fee.
40. Mobile Satellite Earth Stations. Under Part 25 of the Rules,
mobile satellite service providers operate under blanket licenses
for mobile antennas (transceivers), which are smaller than one meter
and provide voice or data communications, including position
location information, for mobile platforms such as cars, buses or
trucks. For FY 1994, licensees will be assessed an annual regulatory
fee of $.06 per antenna. Entities with fewer than 100 antennas will
be subject to a minimum $6 fee.
41. Earth Station Antennas Less Than 9 Meters. Persons
authorized or registered under Part 25 to operate fixed-satellite
earth station antennas that are less than 9 meters in diameter are
private and public carriers that provide telephone, television,
data, and other forms of communications. This category includes
antennas used to transmit and receive, transmit only, or receive
only. Also included in this category are telemetry, tracking and
control (TT&C) earth stations. For FY 1994, we will assess an annual
regulatory fee of $.06 per antenna. Entities with less than 100
antennas will be subject to a minimum $6 fee.
42. Earth Station Antennas 9 Meters or Greater. This category
covers fixed-satellite earth station antennas authorized under Part
25 that are equal to or greater than 9 meters in diameter. These
earth stations are operated by private carriers and common carriers
to provide telephone, television, data, and other forms of
communications. Included in this category are telemetry, tracking,
and control (TT&C) earth stations equal to or greater than 9 meters
in diameter. For FY 1994, persons authorized to operate transmit/
receive and transmit-only antennas will be assessed an annual
regulatory fee of $85 per meter; receive-only antennas will be
assessed a regulatory fee of $55 per meter. All measurements will be
to the tenth of a meter.
e. Interexchange and Local Exchange Carriers
43. For FY 1994, interexchange carriers (long distance telephone
companies) (``IXCs'') will be assessed an annual regulatory fee of
$.06 per presubscribed line. Similarly, local exchange carriers
(local telephone operating companies) (``LECs'') will be assessed an
annual regulatory fee of $.06 per access line. A holding company may
combine the fee payments of its operating companies and pay their
fees for a particular service in a single combined payment or by
installments, if the aggregate of their fees in a single service
qualifies the holding company to make installment payments. For IXCs
we have identified regulatory fee payment amounts greater than
$500,000 as large. For LECs, we have identified $700,000 as a large
amount. Thus, we will permit IXCs whose annual regulatory fee
exceeds $500,000 and LECs whose fee payments exceed $700,000 to make
installment payments.
f. Competitive Access Providers
44. Competitive access providers (``CAPs'') are companies, other
than the traditional local telephone companies, that provide
interstate access services to long distance carriers and other
companies. For FY 1994, each CAP will be assessed an annual
regulatory fee of $.06 per subscriber.
g. International Bearer Circuits
45. The Schedule of Regulatory Fees provides that the fee for
international bearer circuits is to be computed ``per 100 active 64
KB circuits or equivalent.'' The fee is to be paid by the
facilities-based common carrier activating the circuit in any
transmission facility for the provision of service to an end user or
resale carrier. Private submarine cable operators also are to pay
fees for circuits sold on an indefeasible right of use (IRU) basis
or leased in their private submarine cables to any customer of the
private cable operator. The fee is based upon active 64 KB circuits,
or equivalent circuits. Under this formulation, 64 KB circuits or
their equivalent will be assessed a fee. Equivalent circuits include
the 64 KB circuit of larger bit stream circuits. For example, the 64
KB circuit equivalent of a 2.048 MB circuit is 30 64 KB circuits.
Analog circuits such as 3 and 4 KHz circuits used for international
service are also included as equivalent 64 KB circuits. However,
circuits derived from 64 KB circuits by the use of digital circuit
multiplication systems are not equivalent 64 KB circuits. Such
circuits are not subject to fees. Only the 64 KB circuit from which
they have been derived will be subject to payment of a fee. For
analog television channels we will assess fees as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. of
equivalent
Analog television channel size in MHz 64 KB
circuits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
36.......................................................... 630
24.......................................................... 288
18.......................................................... 240
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix B
Formal Comments\1\ were filed by:
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\1\Numerous informal comments were also filed. Although the
informal commenters have not been listed, full consideration has
been given to their filings.
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Government Agencies
United States Coast Guard
Small Business Administration
Private Radio Parties
Association of American Railroads
Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-
International, Inc.
American Radio Relay League, Incorporated
Dennis C. Brown and Robert H. Schwaninger
Forest Industries Telecommunications
Industrial Telecommunications Association, Inc.
National Association of Business and Educational Radio, Inc.
State of Nevada, Division of Wildlife
National Marine Electronics Association
National Marine Manufacturers
Personal Communications Industry Association
Personal Radio Steering Group, Inc.
Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services
Ram Mobile Data USA
Utilities Telecommunications Council
Mass Media Parties
Association of America's Public Television Stations
Carnegie-Mellon Student Government Corporation
De La Hunt Broadcasting Corporation
Fireweed Communications Corp.
KBS License, L.P.
National Association of Broadcasters
New Jersey Broadcasters Association
Society of Broadcast Engineers
Joint Filing by Named State Broadcasters Associations
Cable Service Parties
Joint Filing by Blade Communications, Inc., Cablevision
Industries Corp, Crown Media, Inc., Multivision Cable TV
Corp., Parcable, Inc., Providence Journal Company, Sammons
Communications, Inc., and Star Cable Associates
Cable Services, Inc.
Cable Telecommunications Association
Continental Cablevision, Inc.
Leonard Communications
Nationwide Communications, Inc.
National Cable Television Association
Pepper & Corrazzini
Small Cable Business Association
Common Carrier Parties
Allnet Communications Services, Inc.
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
Ameritech
AMSC Subsidiary Corporation
Bell Atlantic
BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.
Claircom Communications Group
Cellular Communications of Puerto Rico
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association
Comsat General Corporation
GE American Communications, Inc.
GTE Service Corporation
In-Flight Phone Corporation
MCI Telecommunications Corporation
National Exchange Carriers Association, Inc.
National Telephone Cooperative Association
NYNEX Corporation
Orbital Communications Corporation
PanAmSat, L.P.
Puerto Rico Telephone Company
Southern Bell Corporation
Sprint Corporation
Formal Reply Comments were filed by:
Ameritech
GTE Service Corporation
McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc.
MCI Telecommunications Corporation
National Telephone Cooperative Association
Puerto Rico Telephone Company
RAM Mobile Data USA
Southwestern Bell Corporation
Sprint Corporation
STARSYS Global Positioning, Inc.
Wireless Cable Association International, Inc.
Wiltel, Inc.
Young & Jatlow
[FR Doc. 94-14210 Filed 6-13-94; 10:48 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M