[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 29, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37317-37318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12467]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket No. 02-278; DA 05-1346]


Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer 
Protection Act of 1991

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; petition for declaratory ruling, comments 
requested.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission seeks comment on a petition 
for declaratory ruling filed by a coalition of 33 organizations, 
including trade associations, individual companies, and non-profit 
entities engaged in interstate telemarketing activities (``Joint 
Petitioners''), raising issues concerning the scope of the Commission's 
jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing calls under the Telephone 
Consumer Protection Act (``TCPA''). In particular, Joint Petitioners 
ask the Commission to issue a ruling declaring the Commission's 
exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing calls 
and barring state regulation of such calls.

DATES: Comments are due on or before July 29, 2005, and reply comments 
are due on or before August 18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for further filing 
instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelli Farmer, Consumer Policy 
Division, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, (202) 418-2512 
(voice), [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
document, DA 05-1346, released May 13, 2005. On July 3, 2003, the 
Commission released a Report and Order (2003 TCPA Order) revising its 
rules under the TCPA, published at 68 FR 44144, July 25, 2003. In the 
2003 TCPA Order, the Commission determined that it would consider any 
alleged conflicts between state and federal requirements and the need 
for preemption on a case-by-case basis. Accordingly, the Commission 
instructed any party that believes a state law is inconsistent with 
section 227 of the Communications Act or the Commission's rules to seek 
a declaratory ruling from the Commission. This petition argues that the 
Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing 
rules and need not deal with preemption petitions on a case-by-case 
basis. When filing comments on the joint petition, please reference CG 
Docket No. 02-278, DA 05-1346. Comments may be filed using the 
Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper 
copies. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 
63 FR 24121, May 1, 1998. Comments filed through the ECFS can be sent 
as an electronic file via the Internet to http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html. Generally, only one copy of an electronic submission must be 
filed. In completing the transmittal screen, commenters should include 
their full name, U.S. Postal Service mailing address, and the 
applicable docket or rulemaking number. Parties may also submit an 
electronic comment by Internet e-mail. To get filing instructions for 
e-mail comments, commenters should send e-mail to [email protected], and 
should include the following words in the body of the message, ``get 
form .'' A sample form and directions will be sent 
in reply.
    Parties who choose to file by paper must send an original and four 
(4) copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger 
delivery, by electronic media, by commercial overnight courier, or by 
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although the 
Commission continues to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal 
Service mail). The Commission's contractor, Natek, Inc., will receive 
hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings or electronic media 
for the Commission's Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 
110, Washington, DC 20002. The filing hours at this location are 8 a.m. 
to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands 
or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the 
building. Commercial and electronic media sent by overnight mail (other 
than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent 
to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal 
Service first-class mail, Express Mail, and Priority Mail should be 
addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. All filings 
must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, 
Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th 
Street, SW., Room TW-B204, Washington, DC 20554.
    This proceeding shall be treated as a ``permit but disclose'' 
proceeding in accordance with the Commission's ex parte rules, 47 CFR 
1.1200. Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that 
memoranda summarizing

[[Page 37318]]

the presentations must contain summaries of the substances of the 
presentations and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed. More 
than a one or two sentence description of the views and arguments 
presented is generally required. See 47 CFR 1.1206(b). Other rules 
pertaining to oral and written ex parte presentations in permit-but-
disclose proceedings are set forth in section 1.1206(b) of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1206(b).
    The full text of this document and copies of any subsequently filed 
documents in this matter will be available for public inspection and 
copying during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information 
Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 
20554, (202) 418-0270. This document may be purchased from the 
Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing (BCPI), 
Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 
20554. Customers may contact BCPI, Inc. at their Web site: http://www.bcpiweb.com or by calling 1-800-378-3160. To request materials in 
accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, 
electronic files, audio format) send an e-mail to [email protected] or 
call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 
(voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY). This document can also be downloaded 
in Word or Portable Document Format (PDF) at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/policy.

Synopsis

    On April 29, 2005, a coalition of 33 organizations, including trade 
associations, individual companies, and non-profit entities engaged in 
interstate telemarketing activities (``Joint Petitioners''), filed with 
the Commission a joint petition for declaratory ruling. The joint 
petition raises issues concerning the scope of the Commission's 
jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing calls under the TCPA. In 
particular, Joint Petitioners ask the Commission to issue a ruling 
declaring the Commission's exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over 
interstate telemarketing calls and barring state regulation of such 
calls. The Commission seeks comment on the issues raised in the joint 
petition.
    Joint Petitioners assert that, in the TCPA, Congress sought to 
``establish uniform national standards that balance the concerns of 
consumers with the legitimate interests of telemarketers.'' According 
to Joint Petitioners, states have adopted and proposed ``divergent 
rules applicable to interstate telemarketing that undermine the desired 
uniform federal regulatory regime.'' Citing dozens of existing and 
proposed state laws that differ from the Commission's TCPA rules and 
that do not distinguish between intrastate and interstate telemarketing 
calls, Joint Petitioners contend that these state regulations place 
``undue and at times impossible compliance burdens on interstate 
telemarketers, and lead state courts in enforcement actions to * * * 
impose substantial fines on telemarketers for interstate calls 
expressly permitted by the federal rules.''
    To resolve this situation, Joint Petitioners ask the Commission to 
``revisit'' determinations that it made in its 2003 TCPA Order 
concerning ``the interplay between federal and state authority'' over 
interstate telemarketing activities and ``clarify that the FCC has 
exclusive authority over interstate telemarketing.'' Joint Petitioners 
contend that the Commission's conflict preemption approach to resolving 
alleged conflicts between state and federal telemarketing laws is 
``unsound'' because, in their view, states have no authority to 
regulate interstate telemarketing. Joint Petitioners state that the 
Commission's regulatory authority under the TCPA must be understood 
against the backdrop of pre-existing federal law governing the 
regulation of interstate communications. Specifically, they assert that 
Congress: (1) Provided the Commission with exclusive jurisdiction over 
interstate communications in section 2(a) of the Communications Act; 
(2) expanded the Commission's authority over intrastate telemarketing 
calls in the TCPA amendments to section 2(b) of the Act; and thus (3) 
made clear that it considered telemarketing to be ``communication'' 
covered by section 2 of the Act. Joint Petitioners also take issue with 
the Commission's statement in its 2003 TCPA Order that section 
227(e)(1) of the Act is ``ambiguous'' as to whether states may regulate 
interstate telemarketing calls, asserting that that section instead 
reflects Congress's desire to ``(a) expand federal power over 
intrastate calls, (b) restrict, but * * * not eliminate, state 
authority over such calls, and (c) * * * not grant to the states any 
authority over interstate calls.''
    Based on the view that Congress intended the Commission to have 
exclusive jurisdiction over interstate telemarketing calls, Joint 
Petitioners contend that the Commission cannot lawfully delegate that 
jurisdiction to the states. Joint Petitioners assert that 
``acknowledging the Commission's exclusive jurisdiction over interstate 
telemarketing'' would not deprive states of their ability to protect 
their residents from unwanted interstate telephone solicitations. Joint 
Petitioners note that the TCPA both allows state attorneys general to 
enforce federal telemarketing rules in federal court and ``preserves 
the right of state attorneys general to proceed in state court against 
telemarketers ``on the basis of an alleged violation of any general 
civil or criminal statute of such State'.'' Thus, Joint Petitioners 
contend, the TCPA does not interfere with state police powers or long-
arm statutes, which are used to protect consumers generally against 
fraud.
    If the Commission determines that the Communications Act, as 
amended by the TCPA, does not already bar states from regulating 
interstate telemarketing, Joint Petitioners argue, in the alternative, 
that the Commission should exercise its own authority to 
``categorically preempt'' state regulation of interstate telemarketing 
calls. Joint Petitioners urge the Commission to categorically preempt 
all state regulation of interstate telemarketing on the basis that such 
regulation is ``inconsistent with the sound, pro-competitive policy of 
prohibiting multiple, inconsistent regulation.''

    Federal Communications Commission.
Monica Desai,
Acting Chief, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau.
[FR Doc. 05-12467 Filed 6-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P