[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 77 (Tuesday, April 21, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22028-22029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07540]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[MD Docket No. 20-58; FCC 20-15; FRS 16594]


Closure of FCC Lockbox 979088 Used To Collect Payment of 
Forfeiture Penalties Imposed by the Commission

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 979088 and modifies 
the relevant rule provisions to require electronic payment of 
forfeiture penalties imposed by the Commission.

DATES: Effective May 21, 2020.

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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order, 
FCC 20-15, MD Docket No. 20-58, adopted on February 26, 2020 and 
released on February 28, 2020, which is the subject of this rulemaking. 
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-commission-lockbox-used-collect-forfeiture-payments.

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 modifying Sec.  1.80(h) of our rules, 47 CFR 
1.80(h), which sets forth the method for parties to remit forfeiture 
penalties imposed by the Commission. The rule amendment reflects the 
closure of the P.O. Box \1\ used to collect forfeiture payments. We 
discontinue the option of manual fee payments and instead require the 
use of an electronic payment for forfeiture penalties.
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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. 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 forfeiture 
penalties imposed by the Commission reduces 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.
    6. As part of this effort, we are now closing P.O. Box 979088 and 
modifying the relevant rule provision that requires payment of 
forfeiture penalties via the closed P.O. Box. The rule change is 
contained in the Appendix of the Order. We make this change without 
notice and comment because it is a rule of agency organization, 
procedure, or practice exempt from the general notice-

[[Page 22029]]

and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, see 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(A).
    7. 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 979088. After that date, 
forfeiture payments must be made in accordance with the procedures set 
forth in each forfeiture order and on the Commission's website, 
www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees. 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

    8. 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 May 21, 2020.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1

    Administrative practice and procedure.

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 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. chs. 2, 5, 9, 13; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note, 
unless otherwise noted.


0
2. Amend Sec.  1.80 by revising paragraph (h) to read as follows:


Sec.  1.80   Forfeiture proceedings.

    * * *
    (h) Payment. The forfeiture should be paid 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. 2020-07540 Filed 4-20-20; 8:45 am]
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