Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act and Modernization of the Commission's Competitive Bidding Rules and Procedures, 16470-16471 [2012-6946]
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16470
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
if both of the following conditions are
met:
(1) The current MLR reporting year
and each of the two previous MLR
reporting years included experience of
at least 1,000 life-years; and
(2) Without applying any credibility
adjustment, the issuer’s MLR for the
current MLR reporting year and each of
the two previous MLR reporting years
were below the applicable MLR
standard for each year as established
under § 158.210 in this subpart.
Dated: October 11, 2011.
Donald M. Berwick,
Administrator, Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services.
Approved: November 3, 2011.
Kathleen Sebelius,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–6359 Filed 3–16–12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4120–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 1
[WT Docket No. 05–211; FCC 12–12]
Implementation of the Commercial
Spectrum Enhancement Act and
Modernization of the Commission’s
Competitive Bidding Rules and
Procedures
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
The Federal Communications
Commission removes two modifications
to its competitive bidding rules
pursuant to a mandate by the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
DATES: Effective March 21, 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
Auctions and Spectrum Access
Division: Audrey Bashkin at (202) 418–
0660.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of an Order released on
February 1, 2012. The complete text of
the Order, including an attachment and
related Commission documents, is
available for public inspection and
copying from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern
Time (ET) Monday through Thursday or
from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET on Fridays
in the FCC Reference Information
Center, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY–
A257, Washington, DC 20554. The
Order and related Commission
documents also may be purchased from
the Commission’s duplicating
contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc.
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:17 Mar 20, 2012
Jkt 226001
(BCPI), 445 12th Street SW., Room CY–
B402, Washington, DC 20554, telephone
202–488–5300, fax 202–488–5563, Web
site https://www.BCPIWEB.com. When
ordering documents from BCPI, please
provide the appropriate FCC document
number, for example, FCC 12–12. The
Order and related documents also are
available on the Internet at the
Commission’s Web site: https://
wireless.fcc.gov/auctions, or by using
the search function for WT Docket No.
05–211 on the Commission’s Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS) Web
page at https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.
ministerial order issued at the direction
of the United States Court of Appeals for
the Third Circuit.
I. Background
1. In Council Tree Communications,
Inc. v. FCC, 619 F.3d 235 (3d Cir. 2010),
cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 1784 (2011), the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit vacated two modifications the
Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) had made in 2006 to its
competitive bidding rules for designated
entities on the ground that the
Commission had failed to provide the
public an adequate opportunity for
notice and comment. The Commission
removes the two modifications in
accordance with the Third Circuit’s
mandate.
2. The Third Circuit held that the
Commission’s impermissible material
relationship rule in 47 CFR
1.2110(b)(3)(iv)(A) and its extension of
the unjust enrichment period from five
years to ten years in 47 CFR 1.2111(d)(2)
had been adopted without the notice
and opportunity for comment required
by the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Court thus vacated the
impermissible material relationship rule
and ordered reinstatement of the
Commission’s previous five year unjust
enrichment payment schedule. The
Court also denied Council Tree’s
petition for review with respect to the
attributable-material-relationship rule
articulated in 47 CFR 1.2110(b)(1) and
(b)(3)(iv)(B).
Federal Communications Commission.
Bulah P. Wheeler,
Deputy Manager.
II. Discussion
3. The Order conforms Part 1 of the
Commission’s rules to the Court’s
mandate by amending 47 CFR 1.2110 to
remove paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(A) and 47
CFR 1.2111 by removing paragraph
(d)(2)(i) as no longer applicable and
reinstating the previous version of the
payment schedule in 47 CFR
1.2111(d)(2). The Order also conforms
other Part 1 rules, as necessary, to
remove several references to
impermissible material relationships.
4. The Commission finds that notice
and comment are unnecessary for these
rule amendments under 5 U.S.C.
Section 553(b), because this is a
PO 00000
Frm 00046
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
III. Congressional Review Act
5. The Commission will send a copy
of the Order to Congress and the
Government Accountability Office
pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and
procedures, Auctions, Licensing,
Telecommunications.
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble, the Federal Communications
Commission amends 47 CFR part 1 as
follows:
PART 1—PRACTICE AND
PROCEDURE
1. The authority citation for part 1
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C.
151, 154(j), 160, 201, 225, 303, and 309.
2. Section 1.2110 is amended by
removing paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(A) and
redesignating paragraphs (b)(3)(iv)(B)
and (C) as paragraphs (b)(3)(iv)(A) and
(B) and by revising newly redesignated
paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(B) and revising
paragraph (j) to read as follows:
■
§ 1.2110
Designated entities.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(3) * * *
(iv) * * *
(B) Grandfathering (1) Licensees. An
attributable material relationship shall
not disqualify a licensee for previously
awarded benefits before April 25, 2006,
based on spectrum lease or resale
(including wholesale) arrangements
entered into before April 25, 2006.
(2) Applicants. An attributable
material relationship shall not
disqualify an applicant seeking
eligibility in an application for a license,
authorization, assignment, or transfer of
control or for partitioning or
disaggregation filed before April 25,
2006, based on spectrum lease or resale
(including wholesale) arrangements
entered into before April 25, 2006. Any
applicant seeking eligibility in an
application for a license, authorization,
assignment, or transfer of control or for
partitioning or disaggregation filed after
April 25, 2006, or in an application to
participate in an auction in which
bidding begins on or after June 5, 2006,
need not attribute the material
E:\FR\FM\21MRR1.SGM
21MRR1
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 21, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
relationship(s) of those entities that are
its affiliates based solely on paragraph
(c)(5)(i)(C) of this section if those
affiliates entered into such material
relationship(s) before April 25, 2006,
and are subject to a contractual
prohibition preventing them from
contributing to the applicant’s total
financing.
*
*
*
*
*
(j) Designated entities must describe
on their long-form applications how
they satisfy the requirements for
eligibility for designated entity status,
and must list and summarize on their
long form applications all agreements
that affect designated entity status such
as partnership agreements, shareholder
agreements, management agreements,
spectrum leasing arrangements,
spectrum resale (including wholesale)
arrangements, and all other agreements
including oral agreements, establishing
as applicable, de facto or de jure control
of the entity or the presence or absence
of attributable material relationships.
Designated entities also must provide
the date(s) on which they entered into
of the agreements listed. In addition,
designated entities must file with their
long-form applications a copy of each
such agreement. In order to enable the
Commission to audit designated entity
eligibility on an ongoing basis,
designated entities that are awarded
eligibility must, for the term of the
license, maintain at their facilities or
with their designated agents the lists,
summaries, dates and copies of
agreements required to be identified and
provided to the Commission pursuant to
this paragraph and to § 1.2114.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 3. Section 1.2111 is revised by
removing paragraph (d)(2)(i) and
redesignating paragraphs (d)(2)(ii) and
(iii) as paragraphs (d)(2)(i) and (ii) and
by revising them to read as follows:
§ 1.2111 Assignment or transfer of control:
unjust enrichment.
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
*
*
*
*
*
(d) * * *
(2) Payment schedule. (i) The amount
of payments made pursuant to
paragraph (d)(1) of this section will be
reduced over time as follows:
(A) A transfer in the first two years of
the license term will result in a
forfeiture of 100 percent of the value of
the bidding credit (or in the case of very
small businesses transferring to small
businesses, 100 percent of the difference
between the bidding credit received by
the former and the bidding credit for
which the latter is eligible);
(B) A transfer in year 3 of the license
term will result in a forfeiture of 75
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:17 Mar 20, 2012
Jkt 226001
percent of the value of the bidding
credit;
(C) A transfer in year 4 of the license
term will result in a forfeiture of 50
percent of the value of the bidding
credit;
(D) A transfer in year 5 of the license
term will result in a forfeiture of 25
percent of the value of the bidding
credit; and
(E) For a transfer in year 6 or
thereafter, there will be no payment.
(ii) These payments will have to be
paid to the United States Treasury as a
condition of approval of the assignment,
transfer, ownership change or reportable
eligibility event (see § 1.2114).
*
*
*
*
*
■ 4. Section 1.2112 is amended by
revising paragraphs (b)(1)(iii) and
(b)(2)(iii) to read as follows:
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) List and summarize all
agreements or instruments (with
appropriate references to specific
provisions in the text of such
agreements and instruments) that
support the applicant’s eligibility as a
small business under the applicable
designated entity provisions, including
the establishment of de facto or de jure
control or the presence or absence of
attributable material relationships. Such
agreements and instruments include
articles of incorporation and by-laws,
partnership agreements, shareholder
agreements, voting or other trust
agreements, management agreements,
franchise agreements, spectrum leasing
arrangements, spectrum resale
(including wholesale) arrangements,
and any other relevant agreements
(including letters of intent), oral or
written;
*
*
*
*
*
(2) * * *
(iii) List and summarize all
agreements or instruments (with
appropriate references to specific
provisions in the text of such
agreements and instruments) that
support the applicant’s eligibility as a
small business under the applicable
designated entity provisions, including
the establishment of de facto or de jure
control or the presence or absence of
attributable material relationships. Such
agreements and instruments include
articles of incorporation and by-laws,
partnership agreements, shareholder
agreements, voting or other trust
agreements, management agreements,
franchise agreements, spectrum leasing
PO 00000
Frm 00047
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
arrangements, spectrum resale
(including wholesale) arrangements,
and any other relevant agreements
(including letters of intent), oral or
written;
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2012–6946 Filed 3–20–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
49 CFR Parts 191, 192, 193 and 195
[Docket No. PHMSA–2012–0001]
Pipeline Safety: Implementation of the
National Registry of Pipeline and
Liquefied Natural Gas Operators
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA), DOT.
ACTION: Issuance of Advisory Bulletin.
AGENCY:
§ 1.2112 Ownership disclosure
requirements for applications.
*
16471
This notice advises owners
and operators of pipeline facilities of
PHMSA’s plan for implementing the
national registry of pipeline and
liquefied natural gas operators. This
notice provides updates to the
information contained in a PHMSA
Advisory Bulletin published on January
13, 2012 (77 FR 2126).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jamerson Pender, Information Resources
Manager, 202–366–0218 or by email at
Jamerson.Pender@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
I. Background
On November 26, 2010, PHMSA
published a final rule in the Federal
Register (75 FR 72878) titled: ‘‘Pipeline
Safety: Updates to Pipeline and
Liquefied Natural Gas Reporting
Requirements.’’ That final rule added
two new sections, 49 CFR 191.22 and
195.64, to the pipeline safety regulations
that concerned the establishment of a
national registry of pipeline and
liquefied natural gas (LNG) operators.
New operators use the national registry
to obtain an Operator Identification
(OPID) Number and existing operators
use it to notify PHMSA of certain
actions, including company name
changes, certain construction activities,
and project planning.
The national pipeline operator
registry became effective on January 1,
2012. In compliance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act requirements, PHMSA
issued a 60-day Federal Register notice
on December 13, 2010 (75 FR 77694),
and a 30-day Federal Register notice on
E:\FR\FM\21MRR1.SGM
21MRR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 21, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16470-16471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6946]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 1
[WT Docket No. 05-211; FCC 12-12]
Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act and
Modernization of the Commission's Competitive Bidding Rules and
Procedures
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission removes two
modifications to its competitive bidding rules pursuant to a mandate by
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
DATES: Effective March 21, 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
Auctions and Spectrum Access Division: Audrey Bashkin at (202) 418-
0660.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of an Order released on
February 1, 2012. The complete text of the Order, including an
attachment and related Commission documents, is available for public
inspection and copying from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)
Monday through Thursday or from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET on Fridays in
the FCC Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-
A257, Washington, DC 20554. The Order and related Commission documents
also may be purchased from the Commission's duplicating contractor,
Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI), 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-B402,
Washington, DC 20554, telephone 202-488-5300, fax 202-488-5563, Web
site https://www.BCPIWEB.com. When ordering documents from BCPI, please
provide the appropriate FCC document number, for example, FCC 12-12.
The Order and related documents also are available on the Internet at
the Commission's Web site: https://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions, or by
using the search function for WT Docket No. 05-211 on the Commission's
Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) Web page at https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.
I. Background
1. In Council Tree Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 619 F.3d 235 (3d
Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 1784 (2011), the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated two modifications the Federal
Communications Commission (Commission) had made in 2006 to its
competitive bidding rules for designated entities on the ground that
the Commission had failed to provide the public an adequate opportunity
for notice and comment. The Commission removes the two modifications in
accordance with the Third Circuit's mandate.
2. The Third Circuit held that the Commission's impermissible
material relationship rule in 47 CFR 1.2110(b)(3)(iv)(A) and its
extension of the unjust enrichment period from five years to ten years
in 47 CFR 1.2111(d)(2) had been adopted without the notice and
opportunity for comment required by the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Court thus vacated the impermissible material relationship rule and
ordered reinstatement of the Commission's previous five year unjust
enrichment payment schedule. The Court also denied Council Tree's
petition for review with respect to the attributable-material-
relationship rule articulated in 47 CFR 1.2110(b)(1) and (b)(3)(iv)(B).
II. Discussion
3. The Order conforms Part 1 of the Commission's rules to the
Court's mandate by amending 47 CFR 1.2110 to remove paragraph
(b)(3)(iv)(A) and 47 CFR 1.2111 by removing paragraph (d)(2)(i) as no
longer applicable and reinstating the previous version of the payment
schedule in 47 CFR 1.2111(d)(2). The Order also conforms other Part 1
rules, as necessary, to remove several references to impermissible
material relationships.
4. The Commission finds that notice and comment are unnecessary for
these rule amendments under 5 U.S.C. Section 553(b), because this is a
ministerial order issued at the direction of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit.
III. Congressional Review Act
5. The Commission will send a copy of the Order to Congress and the
Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review
Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and procedures, Auctions, Licensing,
Telecommunications.
Federal Communications Commission.
Bulah P. Wheeler,
Deputy Manager.
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: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(j), 160,
201, 225, 303, and 309.
0
2. Section 1.2110 is amended by removing paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(A) and
redesignating paragraphs (b)(3)(iv)(B) and (C) as paragraphs
(b)(3)(iv)(A) and (B) and by revising newly redesignated paragraph
(b)(3)(iv)(B) and revising paragraph (j) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.2110 Designated entities.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) * * *
(iv) * * *
(B) Grandfathering (1) Licensees. An attributable material
relationship shall not disqualify a licensee for previously awarded
benefits before April 25, 2006, based on spectrum lease or resale
(including wholesale) arrangements entered into before April 25, 2006.
(2) Applicants. An attributable material relationship shall not
disqualify an applicant seeking eligibility in an application for a
license, authorization, assignment, or transfer of control or for
partitioning or disaggregation filed before April 25, 2006, based on
spectrum lease or resale (including wholesale) arrangements entered
into before April 25, 2006. Any applicant seeking eligibility in an
application for a license, authorization, assignment, or transfer of
control or for partitioning or disaggregation filed after April 25,
2006, or in an application to participate in an auction in which
bidding begins on or after June 5, 2006, need not attribute the
material
[[Page 16471]]
relationship(s) of those entities that are its affiliates based solely
on paragraph (c)(5)(i)(C) of this section if those affiliates entered
into such material relationship(s) before April 25, 2006, and are
subject to a contractual prohibition preventing them from contributing
to the applicant's total financing.
* * * * *
(j) Designated entities must describe on their long-form
applications how they satisfy the requirements for eligibility for
designated entity status, and must list and summarize on their long
form applications all agreements that affect designated entity status
such as partnership agreements, shareholder agreements, management
agreements, spectrum leasing arrangements, spectrum resale (including
wholesale) arrangements, and all other agreements including oral
agreements, establishing as applicable, de facto or de jure control of
the entity or the presence or absence of attributable material
relationships. Designated entities also must provide the date(s) on
which they entered into of the agreements listed. In addition,
designated entities must file with their long-form applications a copy
of each such agreement. In order to enable the Commission to audit
designated entity eligibility on an ongoing basis, designated entities
that are awarded eligibility must, for the term of the license,
maintain at their facilities or with their designated agents the lists,
summaries, dates and copies of agreements required to be identified and
provided to the Commission pursuant to this paragraph and to Sec.
1.2114.
* * * * *
0
3. Section 1.2111 is revised by removing paragraph (d)(2)(i) and
redesignating paragraphs (d)(2)(ii) and (iii) as paragraphs (d)(2)(i)
and (ii) and by revising them to read as follows:
Sec. 1.2111 Assignment or transfer of control: unjust enrichment.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(2) Payment schedule. (i) The amount of payments made pursuant to
paragraph (d)(1) of this section will be reduced over time as follows:
(A) A transfer in the first two years of the license term will
result in a forfeiture of 100 percent of the value of the bidding
credit (or in the case of very small businesses transferring to small
businesses, 100 percent of the difference between the bidding credit
received by the former and the bidding credit for which the latter is
eligible);
(B) A transfer in year 3 of the license term will result in a
forfeiture of 75 percent of the value of the bidding credit;
(C) A transfer in year 4 of the license term will result in a
forfeiture of 50 percent of the value of the bidding credit;
(D) A transfer in year 5 of the license term will result in a
forfeiture of 25 percent of the value of the bidding credit; and
(E) For a transfer in year 6 or thereafter, there will be no
payment.
(ii) These payments will have to be paid to the United States
Treasury as a condition of approval of the assignment, transfer,
ownership change or reportable eligibility event (see Sec. 1.2114).
* * * * *
0
4. Section 1.2112 is amended by revising paragraphs (b)(1)(iii) and
(b)(2)(iii) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.2112 Ownership disclosure requirements for applications.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) List and summarize all agreements or instruments (with
appropriate references to specific provisions in the text of such
agreements and instruments) that support the applicant's eligibility as
a small business under the applicable designated entity provisions,
including the establishment of de facto or de jure control or the
presence or absence of attributable material relationships. Such
agreements and instruments include articles of incorporation and by-
laws, partnership agreements, shareholder agreements, voting or other
trust agreements, management agreements, franchise agreements, spectrum
leasing arrangements, spectrum resale (including wholesale)
arrangements, and any other relevant agreements (including letters of
intent), oral or written;
* * * * *
(2) * * *
(iii) List and summarize all agreements or instruments (with
appropriate references to specific provisions in the text of such
agreements and instruments) that support the applicant's eligibility as
a small business under the applicable designated entity provisions,
including the establishment of de facto or de jure control or the
presence or absence of attributable material relationships. Such
agreements and instruments include articles of incorporation and by-
laws, partnership agreements, shareholder agreements, voting or other
trust agreements, management agreements, franchise agreements, spectrum
leasing arrangements, spectrum resale (including wholesale)
arrangements, and any other relevant agreements (including letters of
intent), oral or written;
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2012-6946 Filed 3-20-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
