[The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations]
[Federal Communications Commission Regulatory Plan]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC)

Statement of Regulatory Priorities
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent Federal 
regulatory agency. Established by the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.), it was created to regulate interstate and foreign 
communications by radio and wire, in order to make available throughout 
the United States the provision of rapid, efficient, nationwide and 
worldwide wire and radio communications at reasonable rates.
The FCC encourages continuing economic growth by paving the way for 
continuing advances in telecommunications. It does this by:
 Promoting competition in all communications markets, on all 
            five lanes of the information superhighway--broadcast, 
            cable, telephone, wireless, and satellite; and
 Defining and pursuing the public interest in 
            telecommunications, particularly with the goal of 
            delivering advanced communications services to all 
            Americans.
These responsibilities, in an explosively expanding sector of the 
economy, have significantly increased the Commission's workload. In 
addition to responding to the rapid growth and attendant public 
interest in this sector, Congress passed 21 separate pieces of 
legislation from 1985 to 1994 that significantly added to the 
Commission's responsibilities.
The FCC is already setting out forward-looking rules of the road that 
are blueprints for opening up competition. For example, the FCC needs 
to establish standards for open network access to make sure that 
dominant providers do not use their technological infrastructures as 
bottlenecks to deny entry to others. The FCC also needs to assure that 
dominant telecommunications providers do not use their revenues to 
cross-subsidize their entry into other service markets. The FCC's rules 
are encouraging emerging competitors, such as telephone companies 
competing against cable companies in video distribution and cable 
companies competing against telephone companies in local telephony. 
Writing these rules of the road has become a significant portion of the 
FCC's increasing workload.
Further, the FCC is promoting competition by facilitating the 
introduction of new services. For example, the FCC has:
 Created rules that foster a competitive market in low-earth-
            orbit satellite communications services, so that American 
            industry will build the first privately owned global 
            satellite systems that can provide mobile voice and data 
            communications;
 Introduced increased local telephone competition by setting 
            rules for expanded interconnection to competitive access 
            providers; and
 Generated potential competition in multichannel video services 
            through vigorous application of the program access rules, 
            by issuing the ground rules and approving applications for 
            video dialtone systems and by devising new procedures to 
            expedite wireless cable licenses.
One noteworthy example of new solutions is the FCC's auctions of the 
electromagnetic spectrum. With the support of Congress in the 1993 
Budget Act, FCC has begun authorizing new services and promoting 
competition by auctioning the airwaves. These auctions, which got 
underway just over a year ago, have to date raised more than $9 billion 
for the Treasury. This amount is nearly 50 times the FCC budget request 
for fiscal year 1997.
As important as revenues are, auctions are also a faster, more 
efficient, and fairer way to allocate the public airwaves. The auctions 
permit the market, rather than bureaucrats and lobbyists, to determine 
who gets valuable wireless licenses. Moreover, the auctions will jump-
start the competition for advanced wireless telephone and data 
services.
The promotion of competition will stimulate tens of billions of dollars 
in investment and create hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the 
country. FCC auctions authorizing personal communications services will 
provide new competition to the cellular telephone business.
The FCC carries out the public interest in telecommunications as 
dictated by Federal law and interpreted by FCC rules. The FCC's public-
interest responsibilities include, for example: (a) setting aside radio 
spectrum for public safety agencies and establishing and overseeing the 
Emergency Broadcast System (now called the Emergency Alert System); (b) 
ensuring that radio and television broadcasting are based on a network 
of local outlets that meet local needs; (c) ensuring a place for 
children's programming on broadcast television; (d) cooperating with 
the States to ensure that affordable phone service is provided to 
rural, elderly, and low-income populations; and (e) optimizing use of 
the public airwaves, free of interference.
Eliminating and Improving Regulations
The President's March 4, 1995, Regulatory Reinvention Initiative 
directs Executive Branch agencies to focus on four tasks as part of the 
Administration's overall regulatory reform initiative. The Commission 
supports this effort. It is committed to a program of continually 
reviewing its regulations. FCC has eliminated numerous regulations and 
streamlined many others. In so doing, it has sought to ensure that 
those regulation that are kept, and new ones that are adopted, further 
the development of procompetitive markets and new services, to the 
benefit of American consumers.
FCC ongoing reviews ensure that its rules are current, accurate, and 
useful to the public and that they minimize reporting burdens on 
regulated industries. In addition, the review program ensures the 
cleanup of any old rules and resolves any conflicts or overlaps with 
other rules. Regulatory reviews resulting in a decision to revise, 
eliminate, or otherwise change a current regulation are generally 
conducted under the notice-and-comment provisions of the Administrative 
Procedure Act, which provide for appropriate input from the public, 
regulated entities, and other interested parties.
In addition, earlier this year the then Special Counsel for Reinventing 
Government completed an extensive review of current FCC regulations. 
The Counsel's report, ``Creating a Federal Communications Commission 
for the Information Age,'' recommended over 70 legislative and 
administrative actions that would streamline FCC processes, reduce the 
regulatory burden on the public, and promote full competition in the 
telecommunications industry.
In May 1995, the Commission submitted to Congress a package of 37 
recommendations for legislative changes that would streamline or 
deregulate Commission functions.
Rewarding Results
The Commission is committed to the development and implementation of 
agency performance measures as required by the Government Performance 
and Results Act (GPRA), Public Law 103-62. The GPRA requires agencies 
to:
 Develop, with assistance from the public and stakeholders, a 
            comprehensive mission statement and strategic plan;
 Establish objective, quantifiable, and measurable goals using 
            quality and effectiveness indicators to measure citizen 
            satisfaction;
 Identify output performance indicators;
 Develop annual performance plans;
 Measure actual performance against long-term goals and annual 
            performance plans; and
 Make performance plans and actual performance results a matter 
            of public record, submit an Annual Program Performance 
            Report to the President and Congress, and make managers 
            more accountable.
Similarly, Executive Order 12862 ``Setting Customer Service Standards'' 
requires agencies to:
 Establish a benchmark of ``the best in the business'' and use 
            this to set long-term goals;
 Survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services 
            desired;
 Survey customers to determine the desired level of 
            performance;
 Measure results against expected performance and against ``the 
            best in the business''; and
 Post customer service standards for public inspection.
The FCC enlisted the services of a contractor to conduct workshops with 
our Customer Service Standards Task Force and our Quality Council to 
identify primary FCC customer groups and to develop standards that 
address customer concerns. These workshops produced customer service 
standards for our Bureaus and Offices that will:
 Identify the customers who are, or should be, served by the 
            agency;
 Provide customers with choices in the sources of service and 
            the means of delivery;
 Set service standards that address the needs of our customers;
 Assist our Bureaus and Offices in refining these service 
            standards and publish brochures for our customers 
            describing these standards; and
 Monitor customer service over time.
These standards will be utilized as performance measures and linked to 
performance plans developed for the GPRA. By using quality and 
effectiveness indicators to measure the public's satisfaction with our 
services, we intend to establish a benchmark of ``the best in the 
business'' for customer satisfaction.
The FCC is also voluntarily participating in the GPRA Program 
Performance Pilot Project to gain valuable insight into the performance 
measurement process, and hopefully assist the Administration in setting 
appropriate general guidelines for agency implementations of the GPRA. 
As a pilot agency, the FCC has developed and submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) its fiscal year 1994, 1995, and 1996 
Program Performance Plans covering the Land Mobile Radio application 
processing function of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the 
Equipment Authorization program of the Office of Engineering and 
Technology. Most recently, the FCC has completed and submitted its FY 
1994 Program Performance Report which details how well it succeeded in 
meeting established targets.
Personnel Performance
The FCC has evaluated its internal personnel performance measures to 
determine if it needs to eliminate those based on process or 
punishment. Based on this review, no FCC positions appear to have 
performance standards of the type identified as ``process-and-
punishment''-oriented.
The FCC has established a Performance Management Task Force, consisting 
of supervisors, managers, human resources staff, and union 
representatives. This task force developed a survey to obtain employee 
views on improving the current performance appraisal system. The task 
force is coordinating its efforts with the Office of Personnel 
Management.
Creating Grassroots Partnerships
Historically, the FCC has sought feedback on proposed changes to its 
rules and regulations under the notice and comment provisions of the 
Administrative Procedures Act. It has also sought customer 
participation in the development of critical technological standards 
having an impact on America's competitive position in the international 
telecommunications market. A recent and ongoing example of this effort 
is the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service. Other 
advisory committees are created to assist the agency in developing 
reasonable, equitable, and enforceable regulations. A recent example of 
this type of advisory committee is the Public Safety Wireless 
Committee, formed in partnership with the Department of Commerce's 
National Telecommunications Information Administration.
The FCC has always sought the input of industry and government experts 
at the grassroots level, for example, through attending various 
industry conventions and meetings. In the past 18 months, the FCC has 
increased its efforts to foster grassroots partnerships to a level 
never undertaken in the past. Examples of efforts at outreach programs 
include the following, which represent only a small portion of the more 
than 400 other meetings with industry representatives and the public 
that the FCC Commissioners and senior staff plan to attend this year:
 Senior FCC management officials held several meetings during 
            April and May of this year with radio, television, and 
            cable broadcasters and representatives of the common 
            carrier and land mobile industries to discuss subjects of 
            current concern to them. These meetings were held in 
            Washington, DC; Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; and 
            Dallas, Texas.
 FCC's Common Carrier Bureau has held several meetings with 
            regulatees to elicit information on how to improve internal 
            regulatory processes. A majority of the recommendations 
            resulting from these meetings focused on improving the 
            timeliness and dissemination of agency decisions and 
            documents by making them available to our customers in 
            electronic format. The agency currently has several 
            projects to provide access to FCC records via the Internet 
            and electronic bulletin boards, and it is incorporating the 
            public's suggestions into these initiatives.
 Commission staff also participated in numerous panels on 
            current and future issues in wireless communications. 
            Industry concerns with auctions and spectrum availability 
            were among the topics of general discussion at the panels. 
            The FCC is currently reviewing the recommendations received 
            at these panel discussions and fora.
Negotiated Rulemakings
To support the Administration's efforts to promote consensual 
rulemakings, the Commission has identified 20 upcoming conventional 
rulemakings which we believe should be considered for conversion to 
negotiated rulemakings. The identified rulemakings comprise subjects 
from all areas of regulation within the FCC.
Certain prospective rulemakings, such as Cable Home Wiring and Spectrum 
Needs for Public Safety, represent areas of interest to the general 
public. Other rulemakings are in areas of FCC rules which are of 
interest to consumers of particular services and the regulated 
industries involved. Among these latter rulemakings are the Part 24 
Personal Communications Services Rewrite, and Regulatory Symmetry for 
Cellular and Broadband Personal Communications Services.
The FCC also has used a more informal approach to consensual rulemaking 
in completing work on numerous rulemaking proceedings. An example is 
its proposed FY 1995 Regulatory Fee Schedule. The Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66) requires the agency to collect 
annual regulatory fees. To ensure that the fee program was fair and 
equitable for all payees, the FCC employed a contractor to conduct 
``Focus Group'' discussions with several of the licensees and others to 
determine whether there were alternative fee development methodologies 
to those proposed in the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 
The comments, concerns, and suggestions obtained from these focus group 
discussions were incorporated into the Commission's final Report and 
Order.
BILLING CODE 6712-01-F