[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 15, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 7460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3430]



[[Page 7460]]

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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[FCC 00-6]


Separate Pleadings for Petitions for Forbearance

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Commission's rules to require that 
any petition for forbearance submitted under section 10(c) of the 
Communications Act, as amended (Act), 47 U.S.C. 160(c), be filed as a 
separate pleading and be captioned as a petition for forbearance under 
section 10(c). Adoption of this rule will help ensure that the 
Commission and all interested parties have the opportunity to consider 
fully the issues raised in petitions for forbearance within the 
statutory period for Commission consideration of such petitions.

DATES: Effective March 16, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joanne F. Wall, Office of General 
Counsel, (202) 418-1720.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Under section 10(a) of the Act, the Commission is required to 
forbear from applying any regulation or provision of the Act to a 
telecommunications carrier or service, or class of telecommunications 
carriers or services, if it determines that: (1) Enforcement of such 
regulation or provision is not necessary to ensure that the charges, 
practices, classifications, or regulations by, for, or in connection 
with that telecommunications carrier or telecommunications service are 
just and reasonable and are not unjustly or unreasonably 
discriminatory; (2) enforcement of such regulation or provision is not 
necessary for the protection of consumers; and (3) forbearance from 
applying such provision or regulation is consistent with the public 
interest. 47 U.S.C. 160(a). Under section 10(c) of the Act, any 
telecommunications carrier, or class of telecommunications carriers, 
may submit a petition to the Commission requesting that it exercise its 
forbearance authority under section 10 with respect to that carrier or 
carriers, or any service offered by that carrier or carriers. Petitions 
for forbearance are deemed granted if the Commission does not deny the 
petition for failure to meet the requirements for forbearance under 
section 10(a) within one year after receiving the petition, unless the 
Commission extends the one-year period. The Commission may extend the 
initial one-year period by an additional 90 days if it finds that an 
extension is necessary to meet the requirements of section 10(a) of the 
Act. 47 U.S.C. 160(c).
    2. The Commission has received numerous forbearance requests under 
section 10(c). Many of these forbearance requests have been combined 
with other requests for Commission action and have not been identified 
as section 10(c) forbearance petitions in the captions for such 
pleadings. As a result, it appears that a significant number of these 
requests may not have been readily identifiable by the Commission staff 
and interested parties as section 10(c) forbearance petitions. Indeed, 
it has sometimes been unclear whether parties expected that a reference 
to section 10 forbearance would be treated as a section 10(c) petition, 
e.g.,when section 10 is raised as an alternative to the party's primary 
request. Given the statutory deadline for Commission action on section 
10(c) forbearance petitions, the Commission is concerned that the 
Commission and interested parties may not have sufficient opportunity 
to consider these requests in a timely manner if they are not clearly 
identifiable as section 10(c) forbearance petitions. Section 10(c) 
forbearance requests raise important issues involving regulatory 
flexibility and competitive market conditions. Thus, the Commission 
adopts Sec. 1.53 of the rules to require that section 10(c) forbearance 
petitions be filed as separate pleadings, clearly identified in the 
caption as a petition for forbearance filed under section 10(c) of the 
Act. Any request for forbearance that is not filed as a separate 
pleading and is not clearly identified as a section 10(c) petition for 
forbearance in the caption will not be deemed a section 10(c) petition 
and thus will not trigger the statutory deadline. 47 U.S.C. 160(c).
    3. Accordingly, pursuant to sections 4(i), 4(j), 10, and 303(r) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), 
160 and 303(r), Sec. 1.53 of the rules and regulations of the Federal 
Communications Commission, 47 CFR 1.53, is adopted as set forth, to be 
effective March 16, 2000. The Order was adopted on January 6, 2000 by 
the Commission and released on January 19, 2000.
    4. Because the rule herein is a rule of agency procedure and 
practice, it may be adopted without affording prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A).

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1

    Practice and procedure.

Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.

Rule Change

    Part 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as 
follows:

PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

    1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 155, 225, 303(r), 309.

    2. Section 1.53 is added to read as follows:


Sec. 1.53  Separate pleadings for petitions for forbearance.

    In order to be considered as a petition for forbearance subject to 
the one-year deadline set forth in 47 U.S.C. 160(c), any petition 
requesting that the Commission exercise its forbearance authority under 
47 U.S.C. 160 shall be filed as a separate pleading and shall be 
identified in the caption of such pleading as a petition for 
forbearance under 47 U.S.C. 160(c). Any request which is not in 
compliance with this rule is deemed not to constitute a petition 
pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 160(c), and is not subject to the deadline set 
forth therein.

[FR Doc. 00-3430 Filed 2-14-00; 8:45 am]
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