Rule2021-16361
Wireline Competition Bureau Sets Service Delivery Date for Emergency Connectivity Fund Program Initial Application Filing Window and Modifies Funding Application Certification Language
Primary source
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Published
August 2, 2021
Effective
August 2, 2021
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) establishes a June 30, 2022, service delivery date for equipment and other non-recurring services funding requests filed during the initial application filing window of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, if the equipment or services have not been received at the time the funding request is made. The Bureau also modifies the certification language of the Commission's rules to clarify that applicants may request funding for eligible equipment and services that have not yet been ordered for the upcoming school year (i.e., July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 145 (Monday, August 2, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 145 (Monday, August 2, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41408-41409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16361]
[[Page 41408]]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 54
[WC Docket No. 21-93; DA 21-881; FR ID 40821]
Wireline Competition Bureau Sets Service Delivery Date for
Emergency Connectivity Fund Program Initial Application Filing Window
and Modifies Funding Application Certification Language
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau)
establishes a June 30, 2022, service delivery date for equipment and
other non-recurring services funding requests filed during the initial
application filing window of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program,
if the equipment or services have not been received at the time the
funding request is made. The Bureau also modifies the certification
language of the Commission's rules to clarify that applicants may
request funding for eligible equipment and services that have not yet
been ordered for the upcoming school year (i.e., July 1, 2021 through
June 30, 2022).
DATES: Effective August 2, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Johnnay Schrieber, Wireline
Competition Bureau, (202) 418-7400 or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aae0c5c2c4c4cbd384f9c9c2d8c3cfc8cfd8eaccc9c984cdc5dc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="602a0f080e0e01194e330308120905020512200603034e070f16">[email protected]</span></a>. The Commission asks that requests for
accommodations be made as soon as possible in order to allow the agency
to satisfy such requests whenever possible. Send an email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6f090c0c5a5f5b2f090c0c41080019"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="63050000565357230500004d040c15">[email protected]</span></a> or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at
(202) 418-0530.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's
Public Notice in WC Docket No. 21-93; DA 21-881, released July 22,2021.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission's headquarters will be
closed to the general public until further notice. The full text of
this document is available at the following internet address: <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/edocs/search-results?t=quick&fccdaNo=21-881">https://www.fcc.gov/edocs/search-results?t=quick&fccdaNo=21-881</a>.
SYNOPSIS
1. By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau)
establishes a June 30, 2022 service delivery date for equipment and
other non-recurring services funding requests filed during the initial
application filing window of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program,
if the equipment or services have not been received at the time the
funding request is made. The Bureau also modifies the certification
language for Sec. 54.1710(a)(1)(x) of the Commission's rules to
clarify that applicants may request funding for eligible equipment and
services that have not yet been ordered for the upcoming school year
(i.e., July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022).
2. As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Congress
appropriated $7.171 billion to the Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) to promulgate rules providing for the distribution of
funding from the Emergency Connectivity Fund to eligible schools and
libraries for the purchase of eligible equipment and/or advanced
telecommunications and information services for use by students, school
staff, and library patrons at locations that include locations other
than a school or library. On May 10, 2021, the Commission issued a
Report and Order, 86 FR 29136, May 28, 2021, establishing the Emergency
Connectivity Fund Program to administer the $7.171 billion in
congressionally appropriated funding. The Commission and the Universal
Service Administrative Company (USAC) opened a 45-day Emergency
Connectivity Fund application filing window on June 29, 2021, which
will close on August 13, 2021. During this initial filing window,
applicants may request funding for eligible equipment and services that
will be received or delivered between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
3. Service Delivery Date. The Commission established an invoice
filing deadline rule for the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program in the
Report and Order. Section 54.1711(d) provides that ``[i]nvoices must be
submitted to the Administrator within 60 days from the date of the
funding commitment decision letter; a revised funding commitment
decision letter approving a post-commitment change or a successful
appeal of previously denied or reduced funding; or service delivery
date, whichever is later.'' However, for non-recurring services or
equipment to be funded through the initial window of the Emergency
Connectivity Fund Program, the service delivery date may not be known
at the time the applicant submits the funding request. In order to
streamline and simplify the application and invoicing processes, and
pursuant to the Bureau's authority to provide additional detail and
specificity to the requirements of the Emergency Connectivity Fund
Program in consultation with the Office of the Managing Director, and
for purposes of establishing the deadline for the submission of
invoices, the Bureau establishes June 30, 2022, as the service delivery
date for equipment and other non-recurring services funding requests if
the equipment or services have not been ordered or received when the
applicant submits the funding request. As such, applicants may use June
30, 2022, as the ``service end date'' in the funding request where
indicated in the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program application
portal, and the invoicing deadline for these non-recurring services and
equipment will be 60 days from the date of the funding commitment
decision letter; a revised funding commitment decision letter approving
a post-commitment change or a successful appeal of previously denied or
reduced funding; or August 29, 2022 (i.e., 60 days after June 30,
2022), whichever is later. Adopting a uniform service delivery date for
equipment and other non-recurring services will provide certainty for
these applicants and allow USAC to provide an invoice filing deadline
to applicants at the time it provides the funding commitment letter.
4. Clarification to Section 54.1710(a)(1)(x). In the Report and
Order, the Commission adopted, and codified at Sec. 54.1710(a)(1), the
certifications that applicants must include on their funding
applications. Section 54.1710(a)(1)(x) requires applicants to certify
that ``[t]he applicant or the relevant student, school staff member, or
library patron has received, or the applicant has ordered the equipment
and services for which funding is sought.'' As explained above, the
current Emergency Connectivity Fund Program application filing window
is for prospective purchases of eligible equipment and services made
between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. Therefore, it is possible that
applicants may not have ordered the requested equipment and services at
the time they are submitting their applications for funding through the
Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. To address this circumstance, the
Bureau modifies Sec. 54.1710(a)(1)(x) to require applicants to certify
that: ``[t]he applicant or the relevant student, school staff member,
or library patron has received, or the applicant has ordered or will
order, the equipment and services for which funding is sought.'' This
clarification conforms the certification to the
[[Page 41409]]
requirement set forth in the Report and Order that eligible equipment
and services funded through the initial application filing window must
be provided or delivered between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, and
permits the certification required by the applicant or service provider
at the invoicing stage that the equipment and services have been
received or ordered.
5. These two procedural rule changes for the Emergency Connectivity
Fund Program, and the updated rules will become effective upon
publication in the Federal Register.
6. Additional Information. For more information about the Emergency
Connectivity Fund Program, please refer to the Commission's website at
<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-connectivity-fund">https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-connectivity-fund</a>.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 54
Communications common carriers, internet, Libraries, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Schools, Telecommunications
Federal Communications Commission
Cheryl Callahan,
Assistant Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline
Competition Bureau.
Final Rules
For the reasons set forth above, part 54 of title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 54--UNIVERSAL SERVICE
0
1. The authority for part 54 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 201, 205, 214, 219, 220,
229, 254, 303(r), 403, 1004, 1302, and 1601-1609, unless otherwise
noted.
0
2. Amend Sec. 54.1710 by revising paragraph (a)(1)(x) to read as
follows:
Sec. 54.1710 Emergency Connectivity Fund requests for funding.
(a) * * *
(1) * * *
(x) The applicant or the relevant student, school staff member, or
library patron has received, or the applicant has ordered or will
order, the equipment and services for which funding is sought.
* * * * *
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3. Amend Sec. 54.1711 by adding paragraph (e) to read as follows:
Sec. 54.1711 Emergency Connectivity Fund requests for reimbursement.
* * * * *
(e) Service delivery date. For the initial filing window set forth
in Sec. 54.1708(b), the service delivery date for equipment and other
non-recurring services if the equipment or services have not been
received or ordered when the applicant submits the request for funding
is June 30, 2022.
[FR Doc. 2021-16361 Filed 7-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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