Wireline Competition Bureau Sets Service Delivery Date for Emergency Connectivity Fund Program Initial Application Filing Window and Modifies Funding Application Certification Language, 41408-41409 [2021-16361]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[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 [www.gpo.gov]
[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 
[email protected]. 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 
[email protected] 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: https://www.fcc.gov/edocs/search-results?t=quick&fccdaNo=21-881.

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 
https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-connectivity-fund.

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.
* * * * *

0
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