Invoice Filing Deadlines for TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund, 69328-69331 [2020-24191]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISION

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 212 (Monday, November 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69328-69331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24191]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISION

[MB Docket 16-306; GN Docket 12-268; DA 20-1171; FRS 17184]


Invoice Filing Deadlines for TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Incentive Auction Task Force and Media 
Bureau (Bureau) announce filing deadlines for eligible entities to 
submit all remaining invoices and other documentation on FCC Form 2100, 
Schedule 399 (Reimbursement Form) for reimbursement from the TV 
Broadcaster Relocation Fund (Reimbursement Fund or Fund). Eligible 
entities assigned repack transition completion dates in the first half 
of the 39-month post-auction transition period must submit all 
remaining invoices for incurred expenses by October 8, 2021. The 
deadline for eligible entities assigned completion dates in the second 
half of the transition period is March 22, 2022. The deadline for all 
other participants in the reimbursement program is September 5, 2022. 
These deadlines are established to help ensure that all eligible 
invoices are processed and that entities are able to complete the Fund 
close-out procedures prior to July 3, 2023, when any unobligated 
amounts in the Fund will be rescinded and deposited into the U.S. 
Treasury. Entities are encouraged to initiate close out procedures as 
early as possible and we emphasize that they need not wait for their 
assigned final invoice filing deadline to do so.

DATES: Invoices due for entities assigned completion dates in the first 
half of the repack period: October 8, 2021. Invoices due for entities 
assigned completion dates in the second half of the repack period: 
March 22, 2022. Invoices due for all other participants in the 
reimbursement program: September 5, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Reimbursement Information website: https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/incentive-auctions/reimbursement. Follow 
directions under Procedures tab to submit invoices for reimbursement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or 
questions about the reimbursement process, please call the 
Reimbursement Help Line at (202) 418-2009, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the close of the incentive auction and 
beginning of the post-auction transition period on April 13, 2017, 
there were 987 full power and Class A stations reassigned (repacked) to 
new channels. The Commission established a 39-month period running 
until July 13, 2020, for repacked television stations to transition off 
of their pre-auction channels. The Commission determined that a phased 
construction schedule would facilitate efficient use of the resources 
necessary to complete the transition and adopted the Transition 
Scheduling Plan (Plan) that assigned each repacked station to one of 10 
phases. Each phase had a designated completion date by which stations 
assigned to that phase were required to vacate their pre-auction 
channels. The completion date for Phase 1 was November 8, 2018, and the 
subsequent phases had subsequent completions dates through the Phase 10 
completion date on July 3, 2020. All 987 repacked stations have now 
vacated their pre-auction channels. As of October 6, 2020, over 92% of 
the repacked stations are operating on their final facilities. The 
remaining 76 stations have been granted special temporary authority and 
revised construction permit deadlines to continue pursuing completion 
of their final facilities. We are optimistic that these remaining 
stations will be able to meet their revised deadlines and we will 
continue to monitor and work with them to ensure the continued success 
of the post-incentive auction transition.

[[Page 69329]]

    In addition to repacked stations, certain low power TV and TV 
translator stations (LPTV/translators) were displaced by the rebanding 
and repacking process. Over 2,000 such stations were granted 
construction permits in a Special Displacement Window to construct new 
facilities. Some of the LPTV/translator stations were displaced and 
completed construction of displacement facilities early in the 
transition period. Others are still working toward meeting their 
construction permit deadlines. FM radio spectrum was not subject to 
repacking, but some FM stations whose antennas are collocated on or 
near a tower supporting a repacked television station antenna incurred 
costs due to construction of repacked television facilities. 
Multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) also incurred costs 
to continue to carry the signal of repacked stations. Some FM stations 
and MVPDs have already incurred costs and a limited number may incur 
additional costs as repacked stations complete transition to final 
facilities.
    Congress provided $2.75 billion for the Reimbursement Fund in the 
Spectrum Act and Reimbursement Expansion Act (REA) to reimburse certain 
costs associated with the post-incentive auction transition and for the 
Commission to undertake education efforts for over-the-air television 
viewers. The reimbursement program for full power and Class A TV 
stations and MVPDs began in 2017 and, pursuant to the REA, was expanded 
in 2019 to include FM stations and LPTV/translator stations. To date, 
participants in the Reimbursement Fund include 872 LPTV/translator 
stations and 89 FM stations in addition to 957 repacked full power and 
Class A stations. The procedures used to disburse monies from the Fund 
enable us to timely process reimbursement requests and assure that only 
eligible expenses are paid and that available funds are spread 
appropriately across all eligible entities.
    All entities participating in the reimbursement program were 
required to file estimates using the Reimbursement Form. The estimates 
were then reviewed and adjusted for eligibility and reasonableness by 
Commission staff, who were assisted by a Fund Administrator experienced 
in television broadcast engineering and federal funds management. 
Thereafter, each entity received an initial allocation from the Fund 
based on a percentage of the entity's verified estimates. The total 
allocation amount was calculated based in part on the total amount of 
estimated repacking expenses, as well as the amount of money available 
in the Reimbursement Fund for certain categories of entities. To ensure 
that reimbursement funds are allocated fairly and consistently, and to 
have sufficient flexibility to make equitable allocation decisions that 
maximize the funds available for reimbursement, funds have been 
allocated in tranches and supplemented via additional allocations. To 
date, full power, Class A, and FM stations and MVPDs have received 
allocations of 92.5 percent of each entity's verified estimates and 
LPTV/translator stations have received allocations of 85 percent of 
each entity's verified estimates.
    As participating entities incur expenses, they submit invoices and 
other supporting documentation reflecting those expenses, again using 
the Reimbursement Form. The Commission and Fund Administrator review 
the submissions for reasonableness and eligibility and, if approved, 
forward them to Treasury for payment. Consistent with our experience in 
managing the Fund to date, we expect that the number of reimbursement 
requests will continue to increase over the life of the Fund. We rely 
on drawdown amounts and submitted estimates, including revisions, to 
make allocation decisions, and we continue to encourage eligible 
entities to promptly submit invoices for reimbursement of incurred 
costs and to revise their cost estimates, if applicable, based on more 
refined quotations from vendors and other real-time information. As of 
September 29, 2020, the total of all verified estimates in the 
Reimbursement Fund was over $2.177 billion, the total allocation was 
over $2.016 billion, over $1.323 billion had been forwarded to Treasury 
for payment, and over $78 million in invoices were at various stages of 
the review process.
    On February 11, 2019, we announced procedures for entities to close 
out their books and accounts in the Reimbursement Fund. These 
procedures are necessary to bring each entity's participation in the 
Reimbursement Fund to a close and to help us prevent waste, fraud and 
abuse associated with the disbursement of federal funds. Because 
entities are allocated a pro rata portion of their total verified 
estimates, close out is a two-step process consisting of an interim and 
final close-out procedure. When an entity has submitted all of its 
invoices and supporting documentation, it must use the Reimbursement 
Form to notify the Media Bureau. The Fund Administrator then provides 
the entity with a financial reconciliation statement that details 
verified estimated amounts; allocated amounts; amounts requested for 
reimbursement; and amounts disbursed by the Commission. If we discover 
any overpayments during this procedure, we notify the entity that it 
must return the excess amount to the Commission. Once the financial 
reconciliation statement has been reviewed by the station and any 
necessary changes made, it must file an executed version of the 
financial reconciliation statement with the Fund Administrator, after 
which we will issue an interim close-out letter. To date, 8 entities 
have completed interim close out procedures.
    After all or nearly all entities eligible for reimbursement from 
the Fund have entered the close-out process--or at an earlier time when 
the Media Bureau can reasonably extrapolate that the total available 
funding will be sufficient to meet the total cost of the program--we 
may make a final allocation to reimburse the entity for the total 
amount of remaining incurred expenses. At that time, each entity will 
enter the final close-out procedures and receive a final close-out 
letter. That final close-out letter will serve as the official notice 
of account close-out, include a summary of any financial changes that 
occurred during the interim closing period, and remind entities of 
their ongoing document retention requirements. Pursuant to the REA, any 
unobligated amounts in the Fund as of July 3, 2023, will be rescinded 
from the Fund and deposited into the Treasury and dedicated for the 
sole purpose of deficit reduction.

Filing Deadlines for Remaining Invoices

    The Commission authorized the Media Bureau to set deadlines for 
final submission to the Reimbursement Fund. Consistent with the 
Commission's decision to use a phased approach for the Transition 
Scheduling Plan, we will also utilize a phased approach to set 
deadlines for filing all remaining reimbursement submissions. This 
approach recognizes our experience to date that repacked stations with 
phase assignments earlier in the transition period are more likely to 
have completed their transition to final facilities than those with 
more recent phase deadlines and are therefore more likely to have 
completed all construction and incurred all costs associated with the 
transition. A phased approach will also sequence our processing work so 
that the Fund Administrator and Commission staff are not overwhelmed 
with a deluge of filings at the program's end, which could not only 
jeopardize the timely

[[Page 69330]]

completion of the program but also prevent entities from receiving full 
reimbursement for their expenses. We also recognize that program 
participants require human capital to complete the close-out process, 
and we believe the phased approach will lessen the resourcing burden to 
station groups and other participants who must manage multiple entities 
in the reimbursement program. We are also aware that MVPDs and FM 
stations may incur costs toward the end of repacked stations' 
construction projects. Similarly, we recognize that because LPTV/
translator stations do not have transition deadlines in the Transition 
Scheduling Plan, and some may not yet have received notice from 
wireless licensees announcing that they intend to commence operations 
on the LPTV/translator station's pre-auction channel, they may incur 
expenses toward the end of the program. Because some stations have not 
yet completed all necessary construction or incurred all costs for all 
reimbursable work, we are setting all deadlines well in advance. We 
believe providing this lengthy advance notice will permit all entities 
more than enough time to finish any remaining work, submit their final 
invoices, and complete the reimbursement close-out process. The 
staggered deadlines therefore balance the burden on stations that have 
remaining work to complete with the need to have all documentation 
reflecting incurred costs on file in a timely manner that permits the 
Fund Administrator and Commission staff to fully process all 
reimbursement requests and complete the interim and final close out 
procedures prior to the July 3, 2023, deadline set by Congress, at 
which time unobligated funds must be rescinded to Treasury.
    Deadline for Final Submissions from Phases 1-5 Repacked Stations: 
October 8, 2021. All repacked stations assigned to Phases 1 through 5, 
and repacked stations that were granted permission to transition prior 
to the Phase 1 testing period, must submit all remaining invoices and 
supporting documentation using the Reimbursement Form, and initiate 
interim close-out procedures, no later than October 8, 2021. All 510 
repacked stations in this group had already satisfied the requirement 
to vacate their pre-auction channel prior to September 11, 2019. As of 
October 6, 2020, all but 27 of such stations were operating on their 
final facilities.
    Deadline for Final Submissions from Phases 6-10 Repacked Stations: 
March 22, 2022. All repacked stations assigned to Phases 6 through 10, 
and repacked stations that were granted permission to transition 
shortly after the end of Phase 10 due to circumstances beyond their 
control, must submit all remaining invoices and supporting 
documentation using the Reimbursement Form, and initiate interim close-
out procedures, no later than March 22, 2022. With five exceptions, all 
of which transitioned by September 30, 2020, all 444 repacked stations 
in this group had satisfied the requirement to transition by July 13, 
2020. As of October 6, 2020, all but 47 such stations were operating on 
their final facilities.
    Deadline for Final Submissions from All Other Entities: September 
5, 2022. All MVPDs, FM stations, and LPTV/translator stations 
participating in the reimbursement program must submit all remaining 
invoices and supporting documentation using the Reimbursement Form, and 
initiate interim close-out procedures, no later than September 5, 2022. 
This group includes 1,140 entities.
    In light of the fact that the first deadline for final submissions 
is October 8, 2021--over a year after the July 13, 2020, statutory end 
of the transition period and more than a year from this announcement of 
the deadline--we do not anticipate a need to grant extensions of the 
assigned submission deadlines. In this regard, we note that expenses 
are reimbursable when costs are incurred and therefore can be submitted 
while final construction is underway. However, in the unlikely event 
that an entity faces circumstances beyond its control, we will consider 
a limited extension by means of shifting an entity with the first or 
second deadline assignment to the second or third deadline assignment. 
An entity requesting such a shift will have to provide evidence that 
circumstances requiring the extension were outside of its control, such 
as local zoning or a force majeure event occurring proximate to the 
final submission deadline. Note that we will not consider the 
availability of reimbursement for specific purchases a mitigating 
factor in evaluating extension requests. Furthermore, we advise 
entities that we will not be able to grant extensions that do not 
provide the staff with sufficient processing time to complete close-out 
procedures for all stations. Thus, an entity's failure to complete 
construction in a timely manner and to make final submissions by the 
assigned deadlines could preclude that entity from receiving full 
reimbursement because unobligated amounts in the Fund must be rescinded 
to Treasury by July 3, 2023.
    We stress that entities need not wait until their assigned final 
invoice filing deadline to enter the interim close out process. Indeed, 
we strongly encourage all entities in the program to initiate interim 
close out procedures as soon as they have incurred and submitted 
invoices for all reimbursable costs. Because all repacked stations have 
vacated their pre-auction channel but only eight have completed interim 
close-out procedures, we believe that many entities are unnecessarily 
delaying making final submissions to the program and initiating interim 
close-out procedures. We note that payments up to the total amount of 
each entity's allocation are available upon processing of documents 
reflecting reasonably incurred costs. Furthermore, we will not be able 
to make a final allocation up to the full amount of verified estimates 
until all or virtually all invoices for incurred costs are submitted or 
at such time as we can reasonably extrapolate that the total available 
funding will be sufficient to meet the total cost of the program.

Audits, Data Validations, and Disbursement Validations

    The Commission has determined ``that audits, data validations, and 
site visits are essential tools in preventing waste, fraud, and abuse, 
and that use of these measures will maximize the amount of money 
available for reimbursement.'' The Commission also specifically 
contemplated that a third-party audit firm acting on behalf of the 
Commission ``may conduct audits of entities receiving disbursements 
from the Reimbursement Fund, and these audits may occur both during and 
following the three-year Reimbursement Period.'' The Commission also 
provided notice that any ``[e]ntities receiving money from the 
Reimbursement Fund must make available all relevant documentation upon 
request from the Commission or its contractor.''
    The Commission also noted that the Media Bureau or a third-party 
auditor will continue to validate expenses after the reimbursement 
period ends and, ``where appropriate, recover any money that should be 
returned, consistent with the Commission's obligation to recover 
improper payments.'' We stress that entities eligible for reimbursement 
may be selected for audits, data validations, and site visits before or 
after a station has taken all steps necessary to complete its 
construction project, or during the interim close-out period, or 
thereafter.
    We have performed, and intend to continue to perform, disbursement 
validations in order to confirm that entities receiving reimbursement 
funding for third party services have in fact disbursed monies received 
from the Fund in a manner consistent with

[[Page 69331]]

representations made to the Commission in the Reimbursement Form. 
Evidence of valid disbursements may consist of copies of cancelled 
checks, financial institution statements detailing the disbursement, 
wire or electronic fund transfer confirmations, credit card statements, 
or other relevant third-party banking information that affirmatively 
demonstrates the proper payment of funds to third-party vendors. Not 
every station may be selected for additional disbursement data 
validations, but all Fund participants are reminded that they must 
retain documents for a period ending 10 years after the date they 
receive their final payments from the Reimbursement Fund.

    Federal Communications Commission.
Thomas Horan,
Chief of Staff, Media Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2020-24191 Filed 10-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P