[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 47 (Monday, March 11, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8617-8619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04257]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[MD Docket No. 19-40; FCC 19-13]


Closure of FCC Lockbox 979094 Used To File Fees for Complaint 
Proceedings Handled by the Enforcement Bureau

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC 
or Commission) adopts an Order that closes Lockbox 979094 and modifies 
the relevant rule provisions of filing and making fee payments in lieu 
of closing the lockbox.

DATES: Effective April 10, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren Firschein, Office of Managing 
Director at (202) 418-2653 or Roland Helvajian, Office of Managing 
Director at (202) 418-0444.

[[Page 8618]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order, 
FCC 19-13, MD Docket No. 19-49, adopted on February 20, 2019 and 
released on February 25, 2019. The full text of this document is 
available for public inspection and copying during normal business 
hours in the FCC Reference Center (Room CY-A257), 445 12th Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20554, or by downloading the text from the Commission's 
website at https://www.fcc.gov/document/closure-enforcement-bureau-lockbox-979094.

I. Administrative Matters

A. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    1. Section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as amended, 
requires a regulatory flexibility analysis in notice and comment 
rulemaking proceedings. See 5 U.S.C. 603(a). As we are adopting these 
rules without notice and comment, no regulatory flexibility analysis is 
required.

B. Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    2. This document does not contain new or modified information 
collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain 
any new or modified information collection burden for small business 
concerns with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business 
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(4).

C. Congressional Review Act

    3. The Commission will not send a copy of the Order pursuant to the 
Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), because the 
adopted rules are rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice 
that do not ``substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-
agency parties. See 5 U.S.C. 804(3)(C).

II. Introduction

    4. In the Order, we reduce expenditures by the Commission and 
modernize procedures by amending Sec.  1.1106 of our rules, 47 CFR 
1.1106, which sets forth the application fee for certain complaints 
delegated to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau (EB) and currently handled by 
its Market Disputes Resolution Division. The rule amendment reflects 
the closure of the mailing drop box (P.O. Box) \1\ used for such manual 
payment of filing fees for two types of EB complaints, section 208 
formal complaints and section 224 pole attachment complaints. We 
discontinue the option of manual fee payments and instead require the 
use of an electronic payment for each complaint type. Consistent with 
this change, we also make conforming revisions to Sec.  1.734 of the 
Commission's rules to account for the electronic fee payment 
requirements of formal complaint proceedings, as described more fully 
below.
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    \1\ A P.O. Box used for the collection of fees is referred to as 
a ``lockbox'' in our rules and other Commission documents. The FCC 
collects application processing fees using a series of P.O. Boxes 
located at U.S. Bank in St. Louis, Missouri. See 47 CFR 1.1101-
1.1109 (setting forth the fee schedule for each type of application 
remittable to the Commission along with the correct lockbox).
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    5. Section 1.1106 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1106, 
provides a schedule of application fees for complaint proceedings 
handled by the EB. The rule had also directed filers that do not 
utilize the Commission's on-line filing and fee payment systems to send 
manual payments to P.O. Box 979094 at U.S. Bank in St. Louis, Missouri. 
In recent years, there have been a decreasing number of lockbox filers, 
and it now is rare that the Commission receives a lockbox payment.
    6. The Commission has begun to reduce its reliance on P.O. Boxes 
for the collection of fees, instead encouraging the use of electronic 
payment systems for all application and regulatory fees and closing 
certain lockboxes. We find that electronic payment of fees for 
complaints processed by EB will reduce the agency's expenditures 
(including eliminating the annual fee for the bank's services) and the 
cost of manually processing each transaction, with little or no 
inconvenience to the Commission's regulatees, applicants, and the 
public.
    7. As part of this effort, we are now closing P.O. Box 979094 and 
modifying the relevant rule provisions that require payment of fees via 
the closed P.O. Box. Our action here to close this lockbox and require 
electronic payments for any EB-related complaints has implications for 
existing Commission regulations other than section 1.1106. Thus, we 
also revise Sec.  1.734 of the Commission's rules to account for the 
electronic fee payment requirements adopted in this Order. We note that 
in 2014, the Commission adopted rules requiring that, with the 
exception of confidential material, complaints should be submitted 
electronically via the agency's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) 
after filers have paid the appropriate fee, and therefore this change 
does not impact the filing of the complaints themselves. The rule 
changes are contained in the Appendix of the Order. We make these 
changes without notice and comment because they are rules of agency 
organization, procedure, or practice exempt from the general notice-
and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, see 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(A).
    8. Implementation. As a temporary transition measure, for 90 days 
after publication of this document in the Federal Register, U.S. Bank 
will continue to process payments to P.O. Box 979094. After that date, 
payments for any EB-related complaint proceeding must be made in 
accordance with the procedures set forth on the Commission's website, 
https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees (Enforcement Bureau Fee 
Filing Guide). For now, such payments will be made through the Fee 
Filer Online System (Fee Filer), accessible at https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees/fee-filer. As we assess and implement U.S. 
Treasury initiatives toward an all-electronic payment system, we may 
transition to other secure payment systems with appropriate public 
notice and guidance.

III. Ordering Clauses

    9. Accordingly, it is ordered, that pursuant to sections 4(i), 
4(j), 158, 208, and 224 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 
47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), 158, 208, and 224, the Order is hereby 
adopted and the rules set forth in the Appendix of the Order are hereby 
amended effective April 10, 2019.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1

    Administrative practice and procedure, Communications common 
carriers.


Federal Communications Commission.
Cecilia Sigmund,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.

Final Rules

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 1 as follows:

PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

0
1. The authority citation for part 1 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 155, 157, 225, 227, 
303(r), 309, 1403, 1404, 1451, and 1452.


0
2. Amend Sec.  1.734 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:


Sec.  1.734  Fee remittance; electronic filing; copies; service; 
separate filings against multiple defendants.

* * * * *

[[Page 8619]]

    (b) The complainant shall remit separately the correct fee 
electronically, in accordance with part 1, subpart G (see Sec.  1.1106 
of this chapter) and shall file an original copy of the complaint using 
the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System. If a complaint is 
addressed against multiple defendants, the complainant shall pay a 
separate fee for each additional defendant.
* * * * *

0
3. Revise Sec.  1.1106 to read as follows:


Sec.  1.1106  Schedule of charges for applications for enforcement 
services.

    Remit payment for these services electronically using the 
Commission's electronic payment system in accordance with the 
procedures set forth on the Commission's website, www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees.

[FR Doc. 2019-04257 Filed 3-8-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P