Rule2023-28617
Review of the Commission's Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees; Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 28, 2023
Effective
October 16, 2023
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) amends its rules to simplify and streamline the Commission's procedures for filing waiver, deferral, and reduction requests for regulatory fees and the procedures for filing installment payment requests for all debt owed to the Commission, including regulatory fees, to reduce administrative expenses and ensure more rapid disposition of such requests.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 248 (Thursday, December 28, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 89608-89610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28617]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 1
[MD Docket Nos. 22-301, 23-159; FCC 23-34; FR ID 191170]
Review of the Commission's Assessment and Collection of
Regulatory Fees; Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for
Fiscal Year 2023
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final action.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) amends its rules to simplify and streamline the
Commission's procedures for filing waiver, deferral, and reduction
requests for regulatory fees and the procedures for filing installment
payment requests for all debt owed to the Commission, including
regulatory fees, to reduce administrative expenses and ensure more
rapid disposition of such requests.
DATES: The revision to the Commission's waiver procedure, 47 CFR
1.1166, became effective on October 16, 2023. The revision to 47 CFR
1.1914 is delayed indefinitely until after review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), as required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roland Helvajian, Office of Managing
Director, at (202) 418-0444.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report
and Order (May Report and Order), in MD Docket Nos. 22-301 and 23-159,
FCC 23-34, adopted on May 12, 2023, and released on May 15, 2023, as
amended by the sua sponte technical corrections the Commission made to
the language of 47 CFR 1.1166 and 1.1914 in the Commission's Report and
Order, FCC 23-66, MD Docket Nos. 22-310 and 23-159, adopted and
released on August 10, 2023 (August Report and Order), 88 FR 63694,
(Sept. 15, 2023). The full text of the Commission's May Report and
Order and August Report and Order are available for public inspection
by downloading the text from the Commission's website at <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees/regulatory-fees">https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees/regulatory-fees</a>.
I. Administrative Matters
A. Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis
1. The Commission adopted amendments to 47 CFR 1.1166 and
[[Page 89609]]
1.1914 in the May Report and Order, and made technical corrections to
the language of those rules in the August Report and Order, which may
contain new or substantively modified information collection
requirements subject to the PRA and new or modified information
collection burdens 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). The amendments to 47 CFR
1.1166, as adopted in the May Report and Order, and as technically
corrected in the August Report and Order, were approved by OMB on
August 17, 2023, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act, as non-
substantive modifications to an information collection under the PRA.
The effective date of the amended 47 CFR 1.1166 was October 16, 2023,
which was 30 days after it was published in the Federal Register on
September 15, 2023. The amendments to 47 CFR 1.1914 will not become
effective until 30 days after publication of a document in the Federal
Register announcing that the Office of Management and Budget has
completed review of any information collection requirements that the
Office of Managing Director determines are required under the Paperwork
Reduction Act. The Commission will publish a document in the Federal
Register announcing the effective date of the revisions to 47 CFR
1.1914.
B. Congressional Review Act
2. The Commission will not send a copy of the May Report and Order
to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the
Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), because the adopted
rule is a rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice that does
not ``substantially affect the right or obligations of non-agency
parties.''
II. Discussion
3. In the May Report and Order, the Commission codified several of
the temporary measures it had implemented in FY 2020 through FY 2022 to
permanently simplify and streamline the process for filing waiver,
deferral, and reduction requests for regulatory fees and the process
for filing installment payment requests for all debt owed to the
Commission, including regulatory fee debt. Specifically, it amended 47
CFR 1.1166 and 1.1914 as follows: (i) parties seeking multiple forms of
regulatory fee relief, including installment payment of their
regulatory fees, may file a single pleading in which all requested
relief is included; (ii) parties must submit their requests
electronically to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8dffe8eaebe8e8ffe8e1e4e8ebcdebeeeea3eae2fb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0c7e696b6a69697e696065696a4c6a6f6f226b637a">[email protected]</span></a>; and (iii) parties seeking only
installment payment relief to pay debt owed to the Commission,
including regulatory fee debt, must submit such requests in writing,
electronically to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c3b1a6a4a5a6a6b1a6afaaa6a583a5a0a0eda4acb5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f98b9c9e9f9c9c8b9c95909c9fb99f9a9ad79e968f">[email protected]</span></a>. The Commission received many
more requests for waiver, reduction, deferral, and installment payment
relief in FYs 2020, 2021, and 2022 than it had received in previous
years. As in other years, many of the requests were submitted by
regulatory fee payors without the assistance of counsel. The Commission
found that the procedural flexibility used during this time eased the
Commission's administrative burden and thereby reduced administrative
expenses of collection. The Commission made 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.
4. On August 10, 2023, the Commission adopted the August Report and
Order, which included sua sponte technical corrections to the amended
language of 47 CFR 1.1166 and 1.1914. Specifically, the Commission
deleted ``or installment payment'' in the introductory paragraph of 47
CFR 1.1166 and in 47 CFR 1.1166(a), made grammatical changes to move
the word ``or'' twice, and deleted ``and 1.1914'' in 47 CFR 1.1166(a).
The Commission also restored the following text (bolded) that was
inadvertently deleted from 47 CFR 1.1166(a) in the May Report and
Order: ``All requests for waiver, reduction and deferral shall be acted
upon by the Managing Director with the concurrence of the General
Counsel.'' The Commission also (1) modified the heading of section
1.1166 to delete ``and installment payment'' and to add ``and'' before
the word ``deferrals''; (2) revised the final sentence of the
introductory paragraph of section 1.1166 to delete the phrase
``interest charges or penalties''; and (3) revised section 1.1166(b) to
delete a comma and the phrase ``from the date of the filing of the
deferral request''.
5. The Commission also made technical corrections to 47 CFR 1.1914
to clarify the language of the rule. Specifically, the third sentence
of 47 CFR 1.1914(a) was revised to read as follows: ``Requests for
installment payment of non-regulatory fee debt shall be filed
electronically, by submission to the following email address:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bfd6d1cccbded3d3d2dad1cbcfd3ded1cddacecadacccbffd9dcdc91d8d0c9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="066f687572676a6a6b636872766a6768746377736375724660656528616970">[email protected]</span></a>.'' The Commission explained that it made
this change to ensure that, for administrative simplicity purposes,
installment payment requests that are non-regulatory fee in nature are
submitted to a different email address than the email address to which
all regulatory fee relief requests, including for installment payment
of regulatory fees, are to be submitted. The Commission also revised
the fourth sentence of 47 CFR 1.1914(a) to more clearly state that
requests for installment payment of regulatory fees may be combined
with other regulatory fee relief requests that are filed pursuant to 47
CFR 1.1166. Additionally, the Commission revised the fifth sentence of
section 1.1914(a) to delete the phrase ``their debt to the
Commission.'' Further, the Commission stated that the amendments to 47
CFR 1.1914 in the May Report and Order will continue as temporary
measures until such time as they become effective.
6. On August 17, 2023, OMB approved the amendments to 47 CFR
1.1166, including the technical language corrections the Commission
made in the August Report and Order. On September 15, 2023, the August
Report and Order was published in the Federal Register, including 47
CFR 1.1166 and 1.1914, as fully amended and technically corrected. The
effective date of 47 CFR 1.1166 was October 16, 2023, which was 30 days
after it was published in the Federal Register. The Commission will
publish a document in the Federal Register to announce the effective
date for the revisions to 47 CFR 1.1914, once OMB has approved the
rule.
III. Ordering Clauses
7. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to sections 4(i),
4(j), 9, 9A, and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended,
47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), 159, 159a, 303(r), this May Report and Order
is hereby adopted.
8. It is further ordered that the amendments to section 1.1914 of
the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1914, which were technically corrected
by the Commission on August 10, 2023, WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE 30 days
after publication of a document in the Federal Register announcing that
the Office of Management and Budget has completed review of any
information collection requirements that the Office of Managing
Director determines as required under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The
Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing
the effective date of the amendments to 47 CFR 1.1914. The amendments
to section 1.1166 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1166, which were
technically corrected by the Commission on August 10, 2023, and
approved by the Office of Management and Budget, pursuant to the
Paperwork
[[Page 89610]]
Reduction Act, on August 17, 2023, became effective on October 16,
2023.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-28617 Filed 12-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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