[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20478-20480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08816]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[GN Docket No. 12-268; AU Docket No. 14-252; MB Docket No. 16-306; DA 
17-282]


Procedures for Submitting Financial Information Required for the 
Disbursement of Incentive Payments and Reimbursement Payments After the 
Incentive Auction Closes

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Incentive Auction Task Force, Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau, and Media Bureau announce instructions to 
full power and Class A broadcasters and multichannel video programming 
distributors who anticipate receiving incentive and/or reimbursement 
payment(s) following the incentive auction. Specifically, the 
instructions describe the essential steps that must be taken before 
receiving incentive payments based on winning reverse auction bids or 
payments from the Television Broadcaster Relocation Fund for expenses 
eligible for reimbursement.

DATES: Reverse auction winning bidders must submit an FCC Form 1875 for 
each station with a winning bid within 20 business days after the 
release of the Auction 1000 Closing and Channel Reassignment Public 
Notice.

ADDRESSES: Full power and Class A broadcasters and multichannel video 
programming distributors who anticipate receiving incentive and/or 
reimbursement payment(s) must mail the original hard-copy of their 
completed, signed, and notarized FCC Form 1875 or 1876, as applicable, 
to: Federal Communications Commission, Travel & Operations Group, Attn: 
Chief of TOG, 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general auction questions, contact 
Linda Sanderson, [email protected], (717) 338-2868. For reverse 
auction incentive payment questions, contact Erik Salovaara, 
[email protected], (202) 418-0660, or Kathryn Hinton, 
[email protected], (202) 418-0660. For reimbursement questions, 
contact Pam Gallant, [email protected], (202) 418-0614. Press 
contact: Charles Meisch, [email protected], (202) 418-2943. For 
FCC User Registration-related questions, contact the FCC User 
Registration System and CORES Help Desk, [email protected], (202) 
418-4120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Auction 1000 
Financial Procedures Public Notice, GN Docket No. 12-268, AU Docket No. 
14-252, MB Docket No. 16-306; DA 17-282, released on March 29, 2017. 
The complete text of the Auction 1000 Financial Procedures Public 
Notice is available for public inspection and copying from 8:00 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday or from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET 
on Fridays in the FCC Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street 
SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. The complete text is also 
available on the Commission's Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/media, the 
Auction 1000 Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/auctions/1000, or by using 
the search function on the ECFS Web page at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Alternative formats are available to persons with disabilities 
by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling the Consumer & 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 
(TTY).
    1. The Auction 1000 Financial Procedures Public Notice provides 
instructions describing the essential steps that full power and Class A 
broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) 
who anticipate receiving incentive and/or reimbursement payment(s) 
following the incentive auction (collectively, Payment Applicants) must 
take before receiving payments. Specifically, the Auction 1000 
Financial Procedures Public Notice describes and explains FCC Forms 
1875 and 1876, the forms that Payment Applicants must use to provide 
the Commission with directions for making payments. These forms enable 
Payment Applicants to certify their agreement with and

[[Page 20479]]

acknowledgement of required payment terms, to identify the 
individual(s) authorized to give the Commission instructions regarding 
payments, and to identify the financial institution and account into 
which payments should be made. The Auction 1000 Financial Procedures 
Public Notice also describes the CORES Incentive Auction Financial 
Module, the web-based software that enables Payment Applicants to enter 
bank account information electronically and view payment information.

I. Procedures for Providing Payment Applicant's Payment Instructions to 
the Commission

    2. A Payment Applicant must submit payment instructions for each 
station (Facility ID) or MVPD (File Number) for which it anticipates 
receiving a payment in connection with the incentive auction through a 
two-step process to reduce the risk of error or fraud. First, a Payment 
Applicant must submit a signed and notarized FCC Form 1875 (for reverse 
auction winning bidders) or FCC Form 1876 (for reassigned stations and 
MVPDs), along with a bank account verification letter or redacted bank 
statement that confirms ownership of the bank account, for each 
Facility ID/File Number receiving an incentive payment or reimbursement 
payment. After determining that all of the required information has 
been provided in the FCC Form 1875/1876, as applicable, FCC staff will 
grant the Payment Applicant access to the CORES Incentive Auction 
Financial Module. Next, the Payment Applicant must enter bank account 
information for the payment recipient in the CORES Incentive Auction 
Financial Module. FCC staff will review the information submitted 
electronically in the CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module to 
confirm that it matches the bank account information submitted in the 
signed and notarized FCC Form 1875/1876, as applicable. FCC staff will 
contact the Payment Applicant to resolve any discrepancies between 
information received in the FCC Form 1875/1876, as applicable, and in 
the CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module and will instruct the 
Payment Applicant how to submit updated payment instructions. No 
incentive payment or reimbursement payment will be made if the bank 
account information in the CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module 
does not match the bank account information in the FCC Form 1875/1876, 
as applicable.
    3. When filling out an FCC Form 1875/1876, as applicable, and 
entering bank account information electronically in the CORES Incentive 
Auction Financial Module, a Payment Applicant should follow the 
instructions in the Auction 1000 Financial Procedures Public Notice, 
the forthcoming CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module User Manual, 
and any related Commission releases. A Payment Applicant should be 
fully familiar with other public notices and/or decisions that have 
been issued in this proceeding, any future public notices and/or 
decisions that may be issued in this proceeding, and any other relevant 
public notices and/or decisions the Commission issued in other 
proceedings that may relate to the incentive auction. Additional 
guidance, data, and information related to the post-auction transition 
will be available at www.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions. Additionally, 
copies of these and other relevant documents are available at the FCC's 
headquarters located at 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554 
during normal business hours. On March 13, 2017, the Incentive Auction 
Task Force, in conjunction with the Media Bureau, hosted a public 
workshop to review procedures related to the post-auction broadcast 
transition. A recording of the workshop is accessible from www.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions and can also be accessed directly at www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2017/03/post-incentive-auction-transition-workshop.

II. Processing Reverse Auction Incentive Payments

A. Complete Payments

    4. Consistent with making only a single incentive payment to a 
single payee and into a single account for each station with a winning 
bid, each incentive payment disbursed by the U.S. Treasury will be for 
the station's total incentive payment. The amount received in the 
account designated by the Payment Applicant may reflect offsets and 
withholding. In such circumstances, the amount received may be less 
than the amount of the winning bid.

B. Sequencing, if Necessary

    5. It may be possible to disburse funds to cover the full amount of 
incentive payments for all stations with winning bids at one time. In 
the event, however, that this is not possible, incentive payments for 
stations with winning bids will be disbursed after sufficient funds 
become available to cover those payments. To allow stations with 
winning bids to vacate their spectrum in a manner that will maintain 
the transition schedule for stations remaining on the air, the order in 
which stations with winning bids will receive incentive payments will 
be determined by the post-auction transition schedule.

C. Public Notice of Ready to Pay

    6. When the Commission is ready to direct the U.S. Treasury to make 
incentive payments, a public notice will specify each station with a 
winning bid, along with its respective winning bidder as identified in 
the Auction 1000 Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice 
(Closing and Reassignment Public Notice), for which a payment is ready 
to be disbursed (Ready to Pay Public Notice). The precise timing of any 
such public notice cannot be known with certainty in advance. A single 
public notice may cover all incentive payments for all winning bidders 
or multiple public notices may be needed should incentive payments need 
to be disbursed at more than one time for any reason. In addition, 
notwithstanding the availability of sufficient funds to make all 
incentive payments, technical issues or factors relating to a 
particular payee may require additional time to resolve. In that case, 
the Commission will issue a Ready to Pay Public Notice covering other 
stations' incentive payments and subsequently issue another Ready to 
Pay Public Notice as soon as the particular issues relating to the 
delayed payment are resolved.
    7. The release of a Ready to Pay Public Notice for specified 
stations with winning bids will indicate that Commission staff has 
directed the U.S. Treasury to make the related incentive payments. 
However, the Commission does not control the precise date on which the 
U.S. Treasury makes each incentive payment or when each incentive 
payment is received in the account identified by the winning bidder or 
becomes available to the account holder. For purposes of implementing 
Commission rules and procedures that establish deadlines based on when 
a winning bidder receives its incentive payment, a station with a 
winning bid will be considered to have received its incentive payment 
five (5) business days after the date of the Ready to Pay Public Notice 
stating that the incentive payment for the particular station with a 
winning bid is ready to be disbursed.
    8. The Auction Payments component of the CORES Incentive Auction 
Financial Module separately will report the U.S. Treasury scheduled 
disbursement date. That date is provided for purposes of tracking 
payments. The scheduled disbursement date reported in the Auction 
Payments component of the CORES Incentive

[[Page 20480]]

Auction Financial Module, however, will not be considered the date of 
receipt by the winning bidder for purposes of implementing the 
Commission's rules. Instead, the winning bidder will be considered to 
have received its payment five (5) business days after the date of the 
Ready to Pay Public Notice stating that the incentive payment for a 
particular station with a winning bid is ready to be disbursed.
    9. The U.S. Treasury has authority to offset federal payments, 
including incentive payments, based on information not available to the 
Commission. Consequently, the Auction Payments component of the CORES 
Incentive Auction Financial Module cannot report information regarding 
any such offsets. A winning bidder needing information regarding any 
discrepancy between the amount of its winning bid and the incentive 
payment received that is not accounted for by offsets or withholdings 
identified by the Commission must seek the information directly from 
the U.S. Treasury by calling 1-800-304-3107. Hearing impaired callers 
may use the Federal Relay Service by dialing 1-800-877-8339 to reach a 
communications assistant who will dial the toll free number.

III. Processing Reimbursement Payments

A. Tracking Reimbursement Payments

    10. The Commission does not control the precise date on which the 
U.S. Treasury makes each reimbursement payment or when each 
reimbursement payment is received in the account identified by the 
Eligible Entity or becomes available to the account holder. After a 
payment is in fact made, the Auction Payments component of the CORES 
Incentive Auction Financial Module separately will report the U.S. 
Treasury scheduled disbursement date for the payment being made. That 
date is provided for purposes of tracking payments. The Auction 
Payments component of the CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module will 
also show the 399 file number, reference code, and the amount that the 
FCC requested be disbursed with respect to the Facility ID/File Number.
    11. The U.S. Treasury has authority to offset federal payments, 
including reimbursement payments, based on information not available to 
the Commission. Consequently, the Auction Payments component of the 
CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module cannot report information 
regarding any such offsets. An Eligible Entity needing information 
regarding any discrepancy between its approved reimbursement payment 
and the amount it actually received must seek the information directly 
from the U.S. Treasury by calling 1-800-304-3107. Hearing impaired 
callers may use the Federal Relay Service by dialing 1-800-877-8339 to 
reach a communications assistant who will dial the toll free number.

B. Effects of Ownership Changes

    12. Given that the Commission will be processing reimbursement 
payments for several years after the release of the Closing and 
Reassignment Public Notice, a licensee may assign or transfer a 
reassigned station before it has received all of its reimbursement 
allotment. If any reassigned station is the subject of a transaction 
(i.e., assignment or transfer of control) that is consummated after the 
release of the Closing and Reassignment Public Notice and results in a 
new FRN for that station (i.e., results in a new FRN-Facility ID 
relationship), FCC staff will deactivate the bank account information 
associated with the station's pre-consummation FRN, and will hold the 
station's in-process reimbursement payment(s), if any, upon acceptance 
of the consummation. Once a reimbursement payment has been processed 
(i.e., submitted to the U.S. Treasury for disbursement) a freeze will 
not preclude transmittal of the processed payment. To facilitate future 
reimbursement payments, the assignee must file a new reimbursement 
request and timely submit a new FCC Form 1876, along with a bank 
account verification letter or redacted bank statement that confirms 
ownership of the bank account. Any delay in submission of a new FCC 
Form 1876 may cause a delay in the disbursement of a reimbursement 
payment as directed by the assignee.
    13. The assignee also must submit bank account information in the 
Auction Bank Accounts component of the CORES Incentive Auction 
Financial Module even if the bank account information has not changed 
as a result of the ownership change. None of the station's payment 
information associated with the pre-consummation FRN will transfer over 
to the station's post-consummation FRN in the Auction Payments 
component of the CORES Incentive Auction Financial Module. Any pre-
consummation payment information will, however, remain available to any 
authorized users via the pre-consummation FRN account. Therefore, the 
assignor and assignee should address in any transaction agreement the 
responsibilities and expectations of each party with respect to 
reimbursement payments, use of the FRN accounts related to the 
transferred or assigned station(s), and any related matters.
    14. Reimbursement payments will be disbursed only to an Eligible 
Entity--reimbursement payments will not be disbursed to third parties. 
As a result, once the assignment or transfer of a reassigned station 
has been consummated, reimbursement payments will only be disbursed to 
the assignee or transferee. Because an assignment or transfer of 
control application could be granted and the parties could consummate 
the transaction while a reimbursement request is pending, we strongly 
encourage licensees of reassigned stations to account for this 
possibility in their transaction agreements and to consider the status 
of pending reimbursement requests when deciding to consummate a 
transaction. Failure to do so may result in a delay in grant of the 
assignment or transfer of control application and/or delay the 
Commission's reimbursement process.
    15. Prior to granting and/or accepting consummation of a post-
auction transaction involving one or more reassigned stations, the 
Media Bureau will provide additional procedural guidance to the parties 
involved in the transaction.

Federal Communications Commission.
Gary D. Michaels,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. 2017-08816 Filed 5-1-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P