[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3807-3829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1274]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Chapter I
[MD Docket No. 95-3; FCC 95-14]
Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees For Fiscal Year 1995
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rule making.
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SUMMARY: The Commission is proposing to revise its Schedule of
Regulatory Fees in order to recover the amount of regulatory fees that
Congress has required it to collect for fiscal year 1995. Section 9 of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, provides for the annual
assessment and collection of regulatory fees. For fiscal year 1995
sections 9(b) (2) and (3) provide for annual ``Mandatory Adjustments''
and ``Permitted Amendments'' to the Schedule of Regulatory Fees. The
proposed revisions will further the National Performance Review goals
of reinventing Government by requiring beneficiaries of Commission
services to pay for such services.
DATES: Comments must be filed on or before February 13, 1995 and reply
comments must be filed on or before February 28, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter W. Herrick, Office of Managing Director at (202) 418-0443, or
Terry D. Johnson, Office of Managing Director at (202) 418-0445.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In the Matter of Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for
Fiscal Year 1995; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
[MD Docket No. 95-3]
Adopted: January 10, 1995; Released: January 12, 1995
Comment Date: February 13, 1995
Reply Date: February 28, 1995
By the Commission:
Table of Contents
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Paragraph
Topic numbers
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I. Introduction................................................................................... 1-3
II. Background.................................................................................... 4-7
III. Discussion................................................................................... 8-54
A. Proposed FY 1995 Regulatory Fees........................................................... 8-62
1. Private Radio Services................................................................. 15-26
a. Exclusive Use Services............................................................. 17-19
b. Shared Use Services................................................................ 20-26
c. Amateur Radio Vanity Call-Signs.................................................... 27
2. Mass Media Services.................................................................... 28-40
a. Commercial AM and FM Radio Stations................................................ 29
b. Construction Permits--Commercial AM Radio.......................................... 30
c. Construction Permits--Commercial FM Radio.......................................... 31
d. Commercial Television Stations..................................................... 32
e. Commercial Television Satellite Stations........................................... 33
f. Construction Permits--Commercial VHF Television Stations........................... 34
g. Construction Permits--Commercial UHF Television Stations........................... 35
h. Construction Permits--Commercial Television Satellite Stations..................... 36
i. Low Power Television, Translator and Booster Stations.............................. 37
j. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations....................................................... 38
k. International HF Broadcast (Short Wave)............................................ 39
3. Cable Services......................................................................... 40-43
a. Cable Television Systems........................................................... 40-41
b. Cable Antenna Relay Service........................................................ 42
4. Common Carrier Services................................................................ 43-61
a. Mobile Services.................................................................... 43-44
b. Fixed Radio Stations............................................................... 45-46
c. VSATs and Equivalent C-Band Antennas/Mobile Satellite Earth Stations............... 47-48
d. Fixed Satellite Earth Station Antennas............................................. 49-52
e. Space Stations (Geosynchronous).................................................... 53
f. International Bearer Circuits...................................................... 54
g. Inter-exchange and Local Exchange, Competitive Access Providers and Resellers...... 55-61
B. Procedures for Payment of Regulatory Fees................................................. 62-68
1. Annual Payments of Standard Fees....................................................... 63
2. Installment Payments for Large Fees.................................................... 64-65
3. Advance Payments of Small Fees......................................................... 66
4. Timing of Standard Fee Calculations and Payments....................................... 67-68
IV. Procedural Matters............................................................................ 69-73
A. Comment Period............................................................................. 69
B. Ex Parte Rules............................................................................. 70
C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.................................................... 71
D. Authority and Further Information.......................................................... 71-72
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[[Page 3808]]
Appendix A--Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Appendix B--Schedule of Regulatory Fees
Appendix C--Allocation of FTEs to the Bureaus
Appendix D--Development of Private Radio Services Regulatory Fees
Appendix E--Development of Mass Media Services Regulatory Fees
Appendix F--Development of Cable Services Regulatory Fees
Appendix G--Development of Common Carrier Services Regulatory Fees
I. Introduction
1. By this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission begins a
proceeding to revise its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order to
recover the amount of regulatory fees that Congress, pursuant to
section 9 of the Communications Act, has required it to collect for
Fiscal Year 1995 (FY 1995). See 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(2). The current
Schedule is set forth in Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1155 of the
Commission's rules. 47 CFR Secs. 1.1152-1.1155.
2. We are proposing adjustments to the Schedule in order to recover
$116,400,000 in costs, consistent with the amount that Congress has
appropriated for our enforcement, policy and rulemaking and
international activities and user information services for FY 1995.\1\
47 U.S.C. 159(a). In addition, we propose to amend the Schedule to
assess regulatory fees from licensees of services not now included in
the Schedule and to revise our method of assessing fees for certain
services currently in the Schedule. 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A), (b)(3).
Further, we propose to amend the format of the Schedule so that its fee
categories reflect changes in the Commission's new organizational
structure.\2\ 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(3). Finally, we propose to adjust the
threshold amounts for eligibility for installment payments and to amend
our procedures governing installment payments. 47 U.S.C. 159(f)(1).
\1\See Public Law 103-317, 108 Stat. 1724 at 1737-38 (Approved
August 26, 1994).
\2\Specifically, we propose to add to the Schedule a Wireless
Radio Services fee category and an International Services fee
category. Concurrently, we propose to delete the Private Radio
Service fee category since we have abolished the Private Radio
Bureau. Also, we proposed to amend the Common Carrier Service fee
category and the Mass Media Service fee category because certain
services formerly subject to regulation by the Common Carrier Bureau
and the Mass Media Bureau are now regulated by the Wireless Radio
Bureau and the International Bureau and are, thus, properly within
the scope of the Wireless Radio and International Service fee
categories. Finally, we propose to add the Multipoint Distribution
Service (MDS) and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service
(MMDS) to the Mass Media Service fee category, and delete them from
the Common Carrier Service fee category, since these services are
now regulated by the Mass Media Bureau.
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3. In many instances, the regulatory fees that we are proposing for
FY 1995 are significantly higher than the fees that we assessed under
the statutory fee schedule to recover our regulatory costs for FY 1994.
See 47 U.S.C. 159(g); see also Implementation of Section 9 of the
Communications Act (FY 1994 Order), 9 FCC Rcd 5333 (1994). These
revisions result, in large part, from increases in the amounts that
Congress has appropriated for Commission activities whose costs must be
recovered through regulatory fees. As noted, the amount appropriated
and to be recovered through regulatory fees is $116,400,000, which is
93 percent more than the $60,400,000 that the Commission was required
to recover through regulatory fees in FY 1994. The impact of this
increase is, however, offset to some extent by revenues from services
that we propose to add to the Schedule and by increases in the number
of payment units, e.g., subscribers, in certain other services.\3\
Appendix B sets forth our proposed Schedule of Regulatory Fees for FY
1995.
\3\Payment units represent the number by which a payor must
multiply the fee amount for a particular service in order to
calculate its total fee due for the service. For example,
``subscribers'' is the payment unit applicable to cable television
fees. The number of subscribers is multiplied by the cable system
fee amount to determine the system's total fee liability.
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II. Background
4. Section 9(a) of the Act authorizes the Commission to assess and
collect annual regulatory fees to recover the costs, as determined
annually by Congress, that it incurs in carrying out enforcement,
policy and rulemaking, international activities, and user information
services. 47 U.S.C. 159(a). In our FY 1994 Order, we set forth the
regulatory fee schedule for FY 1994 and prescribed rules to govern
payment of the fees, as required by Congress.\4\ 47 U.S.C. 159(f)(1).
\4\See 47 CFR Secs. 1.1151 through 1.1166.
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5. For FY 1994, we adopted the Schedule of Regulatory Fees that
Congress enacted in section 9(g) of the Act, and required regulatory
fee payments from licensees and other regulatees operating in the
Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier and Cable Television
services. We concluded that Congress did not intend for us to modify
section 9(g)'s Schedule of Regulatory Fees for FY 1994, and, thus,
declined to amend the statutory fee schedule in any way.\5\ See FY 1994
Order at para. 12.
\5\In the FY 1994 Order, we adopted rules to implement the
collection of regulatory fees, including payment procedures,
specific exemptions from the payment of regulatory fees, procedures
for requesting waivers, reductions and deferments of fee payments,
and penalties for late payment or non-payment of the fees. We shall
in the near future address petitions for reconsideration of the FY
1994 Order and consider whether to make amendments to our
implementing rules.
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6. For fiscal years after FY 1994, however, sections 9(b) (2) and
(3) provide for annual ``Mandatory Adjustments'' and ``Permitted
Amendments'' to the Schedule of Regulatory Fees. In making section
9(b)(2)'s mandatory adjustments, we are first to consider the amount we
are to collect as set forth in our Appropriations Act. 47 U.S.C.
Secs. 159(b)(2), (b)(1)(B). Second, we are to identify the number of
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees allocated to our enforcement,
policy and rulemaking, user information and international
activities.\6\ 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(1)(A). 159(b)(1)(A). Third, we are
to determine the amount to be recovered from each fee category, e.g.,
Common Carrier, by proportionately increasing or decreasing the revenue
requirement of each fee category relative to the ratio of FTEs in each
category to the total number of FTEs allocated to our regulatory
activities. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(2) The resulting fee category share
of the total amount to be recovered is then prorated among each service
within the fee category to determine the cost allocation applicable to
each service. Finally, the prorated cost allocation is divided by the
number of estimated payment units, e.g., subscribers, for each service
within the category in order to determine service fees. 47 U.S.C.
Sec. (b)(2)(A).
\6\Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employment is the total number of
regular straight-time hours (i.e., not including overtime or holiday
hours) worked by employees divided by the number of compensable
hours applicable to each fiscal year. See Office of Management and
Budget Circular A-11, section 13.1, Definitions relating to
employment.
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7. In addition, section 9(b)(3), relating to ``Permitted
Amendments'' to the Schedule, provides that, if we find it necessary,
we shall amend the Schedule of Regulatory Fees, as provided in section
9(b)(1)(A) to, inter alia, reflect the benefits of our regulation to
the payors of the fees by considering their service areas, the nature
of their service, and other factors that we determine are necessary in
the public interest. 47 U.S.C. Secs. 159(b)(3), (b)(1)(A). In making
these amendments, we ``shall add, delete, or reclassify services in the
Schedule to reflect additions, deletions or changes in the nature of
its services.'' 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(B)(3). Finally, we are required to
notify Congress of any permitted amendments 90 days before
[[Page 3809]]
those amendments go into effect. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(4)(B).
III. Discussion
A. Proposed FY 1995 Regulatory Fees
8. As noted above, Congress has required the recovery of
$116,400,000 for FY 1995 through the collection of regulatory fees
representing the costs applicable to our enforcement, policy and
rulemaking, international activities, and our user information
services. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(a).
9. In adjusting our regulatory fees pursuant to section 9(b)(2)'s
provisions for ``Mandatory Adjustments'', we first distributed our
directly assigned FY 1995 FTE's among our various regulatory
activities. We then allocated additional FTEs supporting the regulatory
fee activities to the Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier, and
Cable Services Bureaus.\7\ Appendix C contains a more detailed
description of our allocation of FTEs by activity. The resulting
allocation of FTEs is as follows:
\7\The FTEs attributed to Private Radio, Mass Media, Common
Carrier, and Cable services activities are primarily performed
within those Bureaus. In addition, the Compliance and Information
Bureau (CIB), formerly the Field Operations Bureau, the Office of
Engineering and Technology (OET) and the Office of Managing Director
(OMD) perform activities supporting the Bureaus. FTEs assigned to
CIB, OET and some sections of OMD supporting the regulatory
activities of the Bureaus were attributed to the Bureaus' activities
in developing the total FTEs allocated to the activities whose costs
are to be recovered through regulatory fees.
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Percentage
FTEs ratio
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Private Radio...................................... 103 7.3
Mass Media......................................... 253 18.0
Common Carrier..................................... 689 49.0
Cable Services..................................... 361 25.7
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Total........................................ 1,406 100.00
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10. Next, we allocated our $116,400,000 revenue requirement to the
Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier, and Cable Services
activities, based on the FTE percentage ratios shown above. For
example, to derive the amounts to be recovered from cable services, we
calculated that the 25.7 percent of total FTEs representing the 361
FTEs assigned to the cable services activity resulted in $29,824,911 to
be recovered through the collection of cable services fees.\8\ The
resulting allocation of costs by regulatory fee category was as
follows:
\8\We have rounded all percentages to the nearest one-tenth of a
percent.
Private Radio..................................... $8.5 million.
Mass Media........................................ 20.9 million.
Common Carrier.................................... 57.0 million.
Cable Services.................................... 29.9 million.
11. After determining the cost allocation, we estimated FY 1995
payee units for the individual services within each fee category. For
example, we estimated that there are approximately 57,000,000 payment
units for cable systems, i.e., cable subscribers. These estimates are
based upon information provided by Commission program managers and
supplemented by information contained in actual licensee data bases
maintained by the Commission, information provided by industry groups
or contained in trade publications, and actual data from FY 1994
regulatory fee collections. See Appendices D through G.
12. Next, in order to make the proportionate changes in the
statutory schedule of fees required by section 9(b)(2), we compared our
FY 1995 revenue requirement in each fee category, e.g., Cable Services,
with the total amount that would be collected from all of the services
within each category under the FY 1994 fee schedule. For example, we
estimated that approximately $21.5 million or $8.4 million less than
its FY 1995 revenue requirement, would be collected from cable system
payors based upon our FY 1994 fees. We pro-rated the difference in
these amounts to the individual services, e.g., cable systems were
allocated $29.9 million to be recovered, and then divided the revenue
requirement for each individual service by its estimated number of
payee units to derive our ``Mandatory Adjustments'' to the fee
schedule.
13. Following our calculation of the ``Mandatory Adjustments'' to
the fee schedule, we reviewed each service and its associated fee
payment to determine if the nature of a service or the public interest
warranted a fee adjustment pursuant to section 9(b)(3)'s requirements
for ``Permitted Amendments.'' Pursuant to our authority to make
permitted amendments to the fees, we are proposing to revise our method
for calculating fees for AM and FM radio stations, public mobile
service, including cellular service providers, competitive access
providers (CAPs), and small earth station antennas. Additionally, we
are proposing a separate fee for satellite television stations to
distinguish those stations from full service television stations and we
are proposing to add a fee requirement for licensees of FM translator
and booster stations. After making these proposed permitted amendments,
we propose to revise the remaining fees within the affected service's
category in order to take into account the impact of the fee
modification upon other services within the category. Finally, we
propose to combine certain services within a fee category having
analogous fee amounts, such as public mobile and cellular licenses, in
order to reduce the number of separate service categories and to
simplify the overall schedule of fees.\9\
\9\We have not proposed regulatory fees for the Personal
Communications Service (PCS), Commercial Mobile Radio Service
(CMRS), Low Earth Orbital (LEO) Satellite Service and the Direct
Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) Service because no facilities were
authorized on our proposed date for calculating fees, October 1,
1994, to operate in these services or such authorizations are so
recent that negligible portion of FTEs are assigned to these
services other than for application processing.
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14. In the following paragraphs, we describe our mandatory
adjustments and proposed permitted amendments to the Schedule of
Regulatory Fees on a service-by-service basis. The Commission proposes
to retain, for fee determination purposes, the fee classifications
(i.e., Private Radio, Common Carrier, Cable Services and Mass Media)
contained in 47 U.S.C. Section 159. Although we believe that we have
authority to change the classifications to align them more closely with
our current organizational structure, we want to minimize any adverse
impacts to the schedule brought about solely by such a classification
change. Although we have developed the fee amounts for FY 1995 based
upon the service categories in the statutory fee schedule, in order to
assist interested parties in locating particular fees, we have
formatted the FY 1995 Schedule of Fees to reflect our new
organizational structure. See Appendix B. With the exception of annual
fees in the amount of $5.00 or less, individual fee amounts have been
rounded to the nearest $5 in the case of fees under $1,000 or to the
nearest $25 in the case of fees of $1,000 or more in accordance with
section 9(b)(2). Appendices C through G describe the method in which
FTEs were assigned to the major service categories and the development
of the fees within each major service category.
1. Private Radio Services
15. Regulatory fees for services in the Private Radio category are
located in the Wireless Radio category of the proposed fee schedule. We
have developed our FY 1995 regulatory fees for Private Radio services
by making mandatory adjustments to their statutory fees that take into
account the quality of frequency allocated to those services.
[[Page 3810]]
See Appendix D. As a result, we are proposing to continue to assess two
levels of regulatory fees for these services, exclusive use services
and shared use services, on the basis of the quality of the
communications channel provided to the licensee. Our action here is
consistent with section 9's directive that fees take into account the
benefits provided to the payee of the fees and with the policy
reflected in the statutory schedule, which provides for higher fee
payments for exclusive use services within the Private Radio category
of services. See 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A), (g). Further, it is consistent
with the statutory fee schedule's formulation of fees for exclusive and
shared services.
16. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating fee
payments and submitting regulatory fee payments for private radio
services. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at paras. 2-12. Rather, due to
the relatively small regulatory fees generally assessed for these
services, we propose to continue to require applicants for new,
reinstatement and renewal licenses in these services to submit the
entire regulatory fee for the full term of their requested license at
the time they file their license applications.\10\ See 47 U.S.C.
159(f)(1). Applicants for modification or assignment of an existing
authorization will not be required to submit a regulatory fee. However,
the expiration date of these authorizations will reflect only the
unexpired term of the underlying license rather than a new license
term.
\10\In the event that the subject application is not granted,
the entire regulatory fee submitted will be returned upon request of
the payor of the fee. See 47 C.F.R. Sec. 1.1159(a)(2)(iii).
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a. Exclusive Use
17. Land Mobile Services, set forth in the FY 1995 regulatory fee
schedule within the wireless radio service category, include those
authorized under Part 90 of the Commission's Rules to provide limited
access wireless radio service that allows high quality voice or digital
communications between vehicles or to fixed stations to further the
business activities of the licensee. These Services, using the 220-222
MHz band and frequencies at 470 MHz and above, may be offered on a
private carrier basis in the Specialized Mobile Radio Services (SMRS).
Our FY 1995 cost allocation to the Land Mobile Services fee category is
$462,455, resulting from the mandatory adjustment of its FY 1994
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units for
Land Mobile Services are estimated to be 13,213 licenses. Dividing the
cost allocation to the Land Mobile Service fee category by its payment
units and its license term of five years results in an annual fee of $7
per license.\11\ See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that Land
Mobile licensees be subject to a $7 annual regulatory fee per license,
payable for an entire five or ten year license term at the time of
application for a new, renewal or reinstatement license. The total
regulatory fee due would be either $35 for a license with a five year
term or $70 for a license with a 10 year term. We are proposing no
change to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fees by
Land Mobile licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 4.
\11\Although this fee category includes licenses with ten year
terms, the estimated volume of ten year license applications in FY
1995 is less than one tenth of one percent and, therefore, is
statistically insignificant.
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18. Microwave Services, set forth in the FY 1995 fee schedule
within the wireless radio service category, include private microwave
systems and private carrier systems authorized under Part 94 of the
Commission's Rules to provide telecommunications services between fixed
points on a high quality channel of communications. Microwave systems
are often used to relay data and to control railroad, pipeline and
utility equipment. Our FY 1995 cost allocation to Microwave Services is
$225,400, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units for
Microwave Services are estimated to be 6,440 licenses. Dividing the
revenue requirement of Microwave Services by its payment units and
license term of five years results in an annual fee of $7 per license.
See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that microwave licensees be
subject to a $7 annual regulatory fee per license, payable for an
entire five year license term at the time of application for a new,
reinstatement or renewal license. The total regulatory fee due would be
$35 for the five year license term. We are proposing no change to the
rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by
Microwave Services. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 5.
19. Interactive Video Data Service (IVDS), set forth in the FY 1995
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, is a two-way
point-to-multi-point radio service allocated high quality channels of
communications and authorized under Part 95 of the Commission's Rules.
IVDS provides information, products and services, and also the
capability to obtain responses from subscribers in a specific service
area. IVDS is offered on a private carrier basis. Our FY 1995 revenue
requirement attributable to IVDS is $50,750, resulting from the
mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the
statutory fee schedule. Payment units for IVDS are estimated at 1,450
licenses. Dividing the revenue requirement of IVDS by its payment units
and license term of five years results in an annual fee of $7 per
license. See Appendix D. We are proposing that IVDS licensees be
subject to a $7 annual regulatory fee per license, payable for an
entire five year license term at the time of application for a new,
reinstatement or renewal license. The total regulatory fee due would be
$35 for the five year term of the license. We are proposing no change
to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments for
IVDS. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 6.
b. Shared Use Services
20. Licensees in the following services, set forth in the FY 1995
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, generally
operate on shared frequencies.
21. Marine (Ship) Service is a shipboard radio service authorized
under Part 80 of the Commission's Rules to provide telecommunications
between watercraft or between watercraft and short-based stations.
Radio installations are required by domestic and international law for
large passenger or cargo vessels. Radio equipment may be voluntarily
installed on smaller vessels, such as recreational boats. Our FY 1995
cost allocation to the Marine (Ship) Service fee category is
$5,070,420, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units for
Marine (Ship) Service are estimated to be 169,014 stations. Dividing
the revenue requirement of the Marine (Ship) Service by its payment
units and license term of ten years results in an annual fee of $3 per
station. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that marine (ship)
station licensees be subject to a $3 annual regulatory fee per station,
payable for an entire ten year license term at the time of application
for a new, reinstatement or renewal license. The total regulatory fee
due would be $30 for the ten year license term. We are proposing no
change to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fee
payments by the Marine (Ship) Service licensees. See FY 1994 Order,
Appendix B at para. 9.
[[Page 3811]]
22. Marine (Coast) Service, set forth in the FY 1995 fee schedule
within the wireless radio service category, includes land-based
stations in the maritime services, authorized under Part 80 of our
rules, to provide communications services to ships and other watercraft
in coastal and inland waterways. Our FY 1995 cost allocation to the
Marine (Coast) Services is $41,955, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment of its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee
schedule. Payment units for the Marine (Coast) Service are estimated to
be 2,797 licenses. Dividing the revenue requirement of the marine
(Coast) Service by its payment units and license term of five years
results in an annual fee of $3 per license. See Appendix D. Thus, we
are proposing that these licensees by subject to a $3 annual regulatory
fee per call sign, payable for the entire five year license term at the
time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal license. The
total regulatory fee done would be $15 per call sign for the five year
license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating
and submitting regulatory fee payments by the Marine (Coast) Service
See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 9.
23. Private Land Mobile (Other) Services, set forth in the FY 1995
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes land
mobile radio services operating under Parts 90 and 95 of the
Commission's Rules. Services in this category provide one or two way
communications between vehicles, persons or to fixed stations on a
shared basis and include radio location services, private carrier
paging services, industrial radio services and land transportation
radio services. Our FY 1995 cost allocation for Private Land Mobile
(Other) Services is $1,396,275, resulting from the mandatory adjustment
to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule.
Payment units for Private Land Mobile (Other) Services are estimated to
be 93,085 licenses. Dividing the revenue requirement of the Services by
their payment units and license term of five years results in an annual
fee of $3 per license. See Appendix D. Therefore, we are proposing that
licensees of services in this category be subject to a $3 annual
regulatory fee per call sign, payable for an entire five year license
term at the time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal
license. The total regulatory fee due would be $15 for the five year
license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating
and submitting regulatory fee payments by Private Land Mobile Service
licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 11.
24. Aviation (Aircraft) Service, set forth in the FY 1995 fee
schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes stations
authorized to provide communications between aircraft and from aircraft
to ground stations and includes frequencies used to communicate with
air traffic control facilities pursuant to part 87 of our rules. Our FY
1995 revenue requirement attributable to the Aviation (Aircraft)
Service is $1,130,430, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its
FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment
units for the Aviation (Aircraft) Service are estimated to be 37,681
stations. During the revenue requirement of the Aviation (Aircraft)
Service by its payment units and license term of ten years results in
an annual fee of $3 per station. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing
that licensees of aircraft stations be subject to a $3 annual
regulatory fee per station, payable for the entire ten year license
term at the time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal
license. The total regulatory fee due would be $30 per station for the
ten year license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by Aviation
(Aircraft) Service licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 8.
25. Aviation (Ground) Service, set forth in the FY 1995 fee
schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes stations
authorized to provide ground-based communications to aircraft for
weather or landing information, or for logistical support pursuant to
Part 87 of the rules. Our FY 1995 revenue requirement attributable to
the Aviation (Ground) Service is $39,900, resulting from the mandatory
fee adjustment to its revenue requirement under the statutory fee
schedule. Payment units for the Aviation (Ground) Service are estimated
to be 2,660 licenses. Dividing the Service's revenue requirement by its
payment units and licenses term five years results in an annual fee of
$3 per license. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that these
licensees of aviation ground stations be subject to a $3 annual
regulatory fee per license, payable for the entire five year license
term at the time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal
license. The total regulatory fee would be $15 per call sign for the
five year license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by Aviation (Ground)
Service licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 8.
26. General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), set forth in the FY 1995
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes land
mobile radio licensees providing personal and limited business
communications between vehicles or to fixed stations for short-range,
two-way communications pursuant to Part 95 of our rules. Our FY 1995
cost allocation for GMRS is $41,775, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement. Payment units for GMRS
are estimated to be 2,785 licenses. Dividing GMRS' revenue requirement
by its payment units and license term of five years results in an
annual fee of $3 per license. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing
that (GMRS) licensees be subject to a $3 annual regulatory fee per
license, payable for an entire five year license term at the time of
application for a new, reinstatement or renewal license. The total
regulatory fee due would be $15 per license for the five year license
term. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculation and
submission of regulatory fee by GMRS licensees. See FY 1994 Order,
Appendix B at para. 10.
c. Amateur Radio Vanity Call-Signs
27. Amateur Vanity Call-Signs, set forth in the FY 1995 fee
schedule within the wireless radio service category, covers voluntary
requests for specific call-signs in the Amateur Radio Service. We have
not yet concluded our rulemaking proceeding concerning authorizing
vanity call-signs. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 9 FCC Rcd 105
(1993), 59 FR 558 (January 5, 1994). Nevertheless, we are including a
fee for vanity call signs since we expect to conclude this proceeding
during FY 1995. Our FY 1995 cost allocation to Amateur Vanity Call-
Signs is $60,000, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY
1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. See Appendix
D. Payment units for Amateur Vanity Call-Signs are estimated to be
2,000 licenses. Dividing this service category's cost allocation by its
estimated payment units and license term of ten years results in a fee
of $3 per year per license. Thus, we are proposing that applicants for
amateur vanity call-signs be subject to a $3 annual regulatory fee per
call-sign, payable for an entire ten year license term at the time of
application for a vanity call sign. The total regulatory fee due would
be $30 per license for the ten
[[Page 3812]]
year license term.\12\ We are proposing no change to the rules for
calculating and submitting regulatory fees for amateur vanity call-sign
licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para 12.
\12\Section 9(h) exempts ``amateur radio operator licenses under
part 97 of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R. Part 97)'' from
the requirement. However, section 9(g)'s fee schedule explicitly
includes ``Amateur vanity call signs'' as a category subject to the
payment of a regulatory fee.
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2. Mass Media
28. The regulatory fees for the Mass Media fee category apply to
broadcast licensees and permittees.
a. Commercial AM and FM Radio
29. These categories include licensed commercial AM (Classes A, B,
C, and D) and FM (Classes A, B, B1, C, C1, C2, and C3) radio stations
operating under Part 73 of the Commission's rules. In developing our FY
1995 individual fee amounts for AM and FM stations, we determined that
the public interest required that we retain the operational class
distinctions among AM and FM stations that Congress established in its
statutory fee schedule. Also, as a permissive amendment and consistent
with petitions for rulemaking filed by Teddy Bear Communications, Inc.
and La Paz Broadcasting, Inc., we included a further distinction in
order to recognize that the population density of a station's
geographic location was also a public interest factor warranting
recognition in the fee schedule. After due consideration, we decided
that stations located in Arbitron radio markets vis-a-vis those not
located in these markets provided a logical distinction for allocating
a fee ratio burden.\13\ We quantified this distinction by adopting a
fee ratio between the Arbitron and non-Arbitron markets similar to the
ratio of the fee requirement the statutory fee scheduled established
for the larger television station markets and the schedule's
``remaining markets.''\14\ Thus, for AM and FM stations we exercised
our authority to make permitted amendments to the fee schedule in order
to lower the fees for stations with relatively small coverage areas and
daytime only operations and for stations operating in rural areas. The
following are our proposed regulatory fees for AM and FM stations.
\13\Arbitron has identified 261 Metro Survey Areas (MSAs) that
range in population from 14,033,500 (Market 1) to 47,100 persons
(Market 261). Stations operating outside Arbitron's MSAs are
considered to be located in ``non-arbitron markets'' serving more
rural geographic areas. See Arbitron rankings, Broadcasting & Cable
Yearbook, compiled annually by R. R. Bowker, a Reed Reference
Publishing Company. For the formulation of FY 1995 AM and FM fees,
we have used the 1994 edition of the Yearbook since it provides the
most recently published market data.
\14\See Appendix for a more detailed explanation of the
development of our fees for AM and FM radio stations.
AM Radio:
Class A (Arbitron Market).................................. $1,525
Class A (Non-Arbitron Market).............................. 565
Class B (Arbitron Market).................................. 850
Class B (Non-Arbitron Market).............................. 315
Class C (Arbitron Market).................................. 340
Class C (Non-Arbitron Market).............................. 125
Class D (Arbitron Market).................................. 425
Class D (Non-Arbitron Market).............................. 155
FM Radio:
Classes C, C1, C2, B (Arbitron Market)..................... $1,525
Classes C, C1, C2, B (Non-Arbitron Market)................. 565
Classes A, B1, C3 (Arbitron Market)........................ 1,025
Classes A, B1, C3 (Non-Arbitron Market).................... 375
We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating and
submitting regulatory fees by AM and FM radio station licensees. See FY
1994 Report, Appendix B at paras. 14-17 and 19.
b. Construction Permits--Commercial AM Radio
30. This category includes holders of permits to construct new AM
stations. The FY 1995 cost allocation for commercial AM construction
permit fee category is $9,480, resulting from the mandatory adjustment
to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule.
Payment units for the category are estimated to be 79 AM construction
permits. Dividing the revenue requirement for AM construction permits
by estimated payment units results in a regulatory fee of $120 per
construction permit. See Appendix E. Thus, for FY 1995, we are
proposing to assess permittees $120 for each permit held. Upon issuance
of an operating license, this fee would no longer be applicable and
licensees would be required to pay the applicable fee for the
designated class/market of the station. We are proposing no change in
the rules for calculating and submitting the regulatory fee by AM
construction permittees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 18.
c. Construction Permits--Commercial FM Radio
31. This category includes holders of permits to construct new
commercial FM stations. The FY 1995 cost allocation for commerical FM
radio construction permits is $418,285, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment to the category's FY 1994 revenue requirement under the
statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 703 FM
construction permits. Dividing the revenue requirements for FM
construction permits by estimated payments units results in a
regulatory fee $595 per permit. See Appendix E. Thus, for FY 1995, we
are proposing to assess permittees $595 for each permit held. Upon
issuance of an operating license, this fee would no longer be
applicable. Instead, licensees would pay a regulatory fee based upon
the designated class/market of the station. We are proposing no change
in the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fees by FM
construction permittees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 20.
d. Commercial Television Stations
32. This category includes licensed commercial VHF and UHF
television stations covered under Part 73 of the Commissions rules,
except commonly owned television satellite stations, addressed
separately below. We are proposing to assess commercial television
stations annual fees based on the station's market rankings as
published by Warren Publishing in the 1994 Edition of the Television
and Cable Factbook (No. 62). The FY 1995 revenue requirements for the
different categories of VHF and UHF commercial television stations are
shown in Appendix E, including both an amount resulting from the
services mandatory adjustment and an additional amount required to
offset the reduced fee for satellite television stations, described
below, pursuant to our authority to make permitted amendments to the
fees. Payment units for each service category with the commercial
television fee category are shown in Appendix E. Dividing the revenue
requirements for each commercial television station category by the
corresponding estimate of payment units results in the following
proposed fees to be assessed on stations in each ADI market grouping:
VHF Markets 1-10............................................. $21,450
VHF Markets 11-25............................................ 19,075
VHF Markets 26-50............................................ 14,300
VHF Markets 51-100........................................... 9,525
VHF Remaining Markets........................................ 5,950
UHF Markets 1-10............................................. 17,150
UHF Markets 11-25............................................ 15,250
UHF Markets 26-50............................................ 11,450
UHF Markets 51-100........................................... 7,625
UHF Remaining Markets........................................ 4,775
See Appendix E. We are proposing no change to the rules for
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by television
stations licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 21-24.
[[Page 3813]]
e. Commercial Television Satellite Stations
33. Pursuant to our authority to make permissive amendments to our
regulatory fees, we are also proposing that commonly owned television
satellite stations in any market (authorized pursuant to Note 5 of
Section 73.3555 of the Commission's Rules) that retransmit programming
of the primary station be assessed a fee of $595 annually, based upon
the $500 fee for FY 1994 passed by the House of Representatives for
satellite stations. While not legally binding, the $500 base fee was
determined to be appropriate for licensees of television satellite
stations in our FY 1994 authorization bill passed in the House of
Representatives. See H.R. 4522. In addition, we believe that this fee
amount takes into account the public interest factors reflected in
comments filed in the proceeding to adopt the FY 1994 Schedule of
Regulatory Fees. See 447 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(3). In developing the FY
1995 fee for television satellite stations, we used the $500 fee that
the House enacted for FY 1994 for television satellite stations to
derive a FY 1995 fee requirement of $595 per television satellite
station resulting from a ``simulated'' FY 1994 revenue requirement
divided by the estimated payments units of 101 satellite television
station licenses. Therefore, we propose to exercise our authority to
make permitted amendments to the fees to establish the satellite
television fee at $595 per license. We expect that this fee will result
in approximately $60,095 of revenues. See Appendix E. We caution that
only those stations designated as satellite television stations in the
1994 edition of the Television and Cable Factbook (No. 62) are eligible
to submit the fee applicable to satellite television stations. All
other television licensees are subject to the regulatory fee payment
required for their class of station and market.\15\
\15\We acknowledge that the Commission has initiated an NPRM
seeking comment on whether satellite stations should continue to be
exempt from the Commission's national television ownership
restrictions. Be advised that the Commission's decision to assess a
regulatory fee for satellite stations that is less than the amount
for commercial television stations should not be taken as a signal
that any determination has been made with regard to this outstanding
proceeding.
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f. Construction Permits--Commercial VHF Television Stations
34. This category includes holders of permits to construct new
commercial VHF television stations. For FY 1995, the cost allocation
for this service category is $52,525, resulting from the fee category's
FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment
units for VHF construction permits are estimated to be 11 permits.
Dividing the revenue requirement for VHF construction permits by its
estimated payment units results in a fee of $4,775. See Appendix E.
Therefore, for FY 1995, we are proposing to assess permittees $4,775
for each VHF construction permit held. Upon issuance of an operating
license, this fee would no longer be applicable. Instead, licensees
would pay a fee based upon the designated market of the station. We are
proposing no change to the rules for calculating and submitting
regulatory fees by VHF television station construction permittees. See
FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 24.
g. Construction Permits--Commercial UHF Television Stations
35. This category includes holders of permits to construct new UHF
television stations. For FY 1995, the cost allocation for this service
category is $554,625, resulting from the mandatory increase to its
statutory fee schedule. Payment units for UHF construction permits are
estimated to be 145 permits. Dividing the revenue requirement for this
service category by its estimated payment units results in a fee of
$3,825 for each UHF construction permit held. Therefore, we are
proposing a fee of $3,825 per UHF television station construction
permit. See Appendix E. Upon issuance of an operating license, this fee
would no longer be applicable. Instead, licensees would pay a fee based
upon the designated market of the station. We are proposing no change
to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fees by UHF
television station permittees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para.
25.
h. Construction Permits--Satellite Television Stations
36. We are proposing to add a new service category to the fee
schedule in recognition that the holders of construction permits for
UHF and VHF television satellite stations should be charged a separate,
lower fee than the fee for holders of construction permits for fully
operational television stations. See above, where we propose to
exercise our authority to make permitted amendments to the fee schedule
relating to the fee for television satellite stations. We developed the
fee for television satellite construction permits by taking the average
fees for VHF and UHF television stations ($12,655) and relating it to
the average fee for construction permits for VHF and UHF television
stations ($4,300). Using this relationship, (.339:1) for satellite
stations results in a computed fee of $200 for construction permits for
television satellite stations ($595 times .339). See Appendix E. An
individual regulatory fee payment is to be made for each television
satellite station construction permit held.
i. Low Power Television, Translator and Booster Stations
37. This category includes Low Power UHF/VHF Television stations
operating under Part 74 of the Commissions rules with a transmitter
power output limited to 0.01kw for a UHF facility and, generally, 1kw
for a VHF facility. Low Power Television (LPTV) stations may retransmit
the programs and signals of a TV broadcast station, originate
programming, and/or operate as a subscription service. This category
also includes translators and boosters operating under Part 74 which
rebroadcast the signals of full service stations on a frequency
different from the parent station (translators) or on the same
frequency (boosters). We propose to exercise our authority to make
permitted amendments to the fee schedule to include FM translator and
booster stations in this fee service because we believe these
facilities were inadvertently omitted from the statutory fee schedule
and we are unaware of any reason not to establish a fee for these
services. The stations in this category are secondary to full service
stations in terms of frequency priority. The FY 1995 cost allocation
for this service category is $1,368,640, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee
schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 8,554 licenses, including
licenses covering FM translators. Dividing the revenue requirement for
this category by its estimated payment units results in a fee of $160
per license. See Appendix E. Thus, for FY 1995, we are proposing to
assess licensees of low power television stations and licensees of both
FM and TV translators and boosters an annual regulatory fee of $160 for
each license held. We are proposing no change to the rules for
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by licensees in this
service category. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at paras. 26-27.
j. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations
38. This category includes licensees of remote pickup stations,
aural broadcast auxiliary stations, television broadcast auxiliary
stations, and low power auxiliary stations, authorized under Part 74 of
the Commission's Rules. Auxiliary stations are generally associated
with a
[[Page 3814]]
particular television or radio broadcast station or cable television
system. The FY 1995 cost allocation for this category is $1,500,000,
resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue
requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units are
estimated to be 50,000 licenses. Dividing the category's revenue
requirement by its estimated payment units results in a fee of $30 per
license. See Appendix E. Thus, we are proposing that licensees of
commercial auxiliary stations be assessed a $30 annual regulatory fee
for FY 1995 on a per call sign basis. We are proposing no change to the
rules for calculating or submitting regulatory fee payments by
licensees of facilities in this service category. See FY 1994 Report,
Appendix B at para. 28.
k. International HF Broadcast (Short Wave)
39. This category covers international broadcast stations licensed
under Part 73 to operate on a frequency in the 5,950 Khz to 26,100 Khz
range to provide service to the general public in foreign countries.
The proposed fees for International HF Broadcast are set forth in the
International Service category in the FY 1995 fee schedule. For FY
1995, the cost allocation for the category is $4,560, resulting from
the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the
statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 19 licenses.
Dividing the category's revenue requirements by its estimated payment
units results in a fee of $240 per license. See Appendix E. Thus, for
FY 1995, we are proposing to assess an annual regulatory fee of $240
per station license. We are proposing no change to the rules for
calculating and submitting fees by licensees of facilities in this
service category. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 29.
3. Cable Services
a. Cable Television Systems
40. This category includes operators of cable television systems,
as the term is defined in Section 76.5 of our rules, providing or
distributing programming or other services to subscribers under Part 76
of our Rules. For FY 1995, the cost allocation for cable television
systems is $29,070,000, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to the
category's FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee
schedule. Estimated payment units are 57,000,000 subscribers. Dividing
the categories cost allocation by its estimated payment units results
in a fee of $.51 per subscriber. See Appendix F. Therefore, we are
proposing a fee of $.51 per cable television subscriber.\16\
\16\Consistent with our earlier interpretation of Congressional
intent, we propose to require payment of the cable system regulatory
fees on a per subscriber basis rather than per 1,000 subscribers as
set forth in the statutory fee schedule. See FY 1994 Order at para.
100.
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41. Payments for cable systems are to be made on a per subscriber
by community unit basis as of December 31, 1994 as reported on each
cable system's 1994 Annual report of Cable Systems (FCC Form 325). As
in FY 1994, cable systems should determine their subscriber numbers by
calculating the number of single family dwellings, the number of
individual households in multiple dwelling units, e.g., apartments,
condominiums mobile home parks, etc., paying at the basic subscirber
rate, the number of bulk rate customers and the number of courtesy or
fee customers. In order to determine the number of bulk rate
subscribers, a system should divide its bulk rate charge by the annual
subscription rate for individuals households. We are proposing no
change in the rules for calculating or submitting regulatory fees by
cable system operators. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 31.
b. Cable Antenna Relay Service
42. This category includes cable television relay service (CARS)
stations used to transmit television and related audio signals, signals
of AM and FM broadcast stations and cablecasting from the point of
reception to a terminal point from where the signals are distributed to
the public by a cable television system. For FY 1995, the cost
allocation for CARS is $635,010, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement based upon the statutory
fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 2,082 licenses.
Dividing the revenue requirement for CARS by its estimated payment
units results in a fee of $305 per license. See Appendix F. Thus, for
FY 1995, we are proposing to assess a $305 regulatory fee per CARS
license. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating and
submitting regulatory fees by CARS licensees.
4. Common Carrier Services
a. Mobile Services
43. Public Mobile/Cellular Radio Services, set forth in the FY 1995
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, include common
carriers and others (e.g., cellular radio licensees) offering, under
Parts 22 and 24, a wide variety of land-based or air-to-ground mobile
telephone, paging or data transmission services to the public.
Licensees include those using radio to provide telephone services at
fixed locations, such as Basic Exchange Telecommunications Radio
Services, Rural Radio and Offshore Radio. For FY 1994, we required a
fee payment on a subscriber basis pursuant to the statutory requirement
to charge a per subscriber fee. See 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(g).
44. We recognize that the statutory language permitted a licensee
to submit a single per subscriber fee for an entity subscribing to its
service no matter how many actual units of communication services that
subscriber obtained from the licensee. Nevertheless, we believe that a
more equitable payment formulation would require each licensee to
submit a fee based upon the total number of telephone numbers or call
signs that it provides to customers so that its fee payment would
better reflect the benefit that the licensee receives from its use of
frequencies of communications. Therefore, for FY 1995, we propose to
exercise our authority to make permitted amendments to the fee schedule
to propose that each licensee in the Public Mobile/Cellular Radio
Services pay an annual regulatory fee for each mobile or cellular unit
(mobile or cellular call sign or telephone number), including paging
units, assigned to its customers, including resellers of its services.
For FY 1995, the service category's cost allocation is $4,420,000,
resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue
requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units under our
proposed formulation are estimated to be 34,000,000 subscribers.
Dividing the category's cost allocation by its estimated subscribers
results in a regulatory fee of $.13 per payment unit. See Appendix G.
Thus, we are proposing a fee of $.13 per subscriber. With the exception
of extending the regulatory fee to all units provided by licensees in
this service category, we are proposing no change to the rules for
payment of fees by licensees in the Public Mobile/Cellular Radio
Services. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 31.17
\17\As noted above, we are proposing no regulatory fee for
Personal Communications Services (PCS) and Commercial Mobile Radio
Services (CMRS) for FY 1995 because no facilities were authorized
for PCS and CMRS by our proposed date for calculating fees, October
1, 1994.
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b. Fixed Radio Services
45. Domestic Public Fixed Radio Service includes stations
authorized under Part 21 of the Commission's Rules to use microwave
frequencies for video and data distribution within the United States.
This category includes licensees
[[Page 3815]]
in the Point-to-Point Microwave Radio Service, Local Television
Transmission Radio Service, Digital Electronic Message Service,
Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS), and Multichannel Multipoint
Distribution Service (MMDS).18 For FY 1995, the cost allocation
for the Domestic Public Fixed Radio Services is $158,000, resulting
from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under
the statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 1,320
licenses. Dividing the Service's cost allocation by its estimated
payment units results in a fee of $120 per call sign. See Appendix G.
Therefore, we are proposing that Domestic Public Fixed Radio Service
licensees be subject to a $120 annual regulatory fee per call sign,
payable on a specified date to be announced by the Commission. We are
proposing no change to the rules for calculation and submission of the
fee payment by licensees in the Domestic Public Fixed Radio Services.
See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 37.
\18\MDS and MMDS are now regulated by the Mass Media Bureau and,
therefore, the regulatory fees for these services are shown within
the Mass Media category in the FY 1995 fee schedule. See Appendix B.
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46. International Public Fixed Radio Service, set forth in the FY
1995 fee schedule within the International fee category, includes
common carriers authorized under Part 23 of the Commission's Rules to
provide radio communications between the United States and a foreign
point via microwave or HF troposcatter systems, other than satellites
and satellite earth stations, but not including service between the
United States and Mexico and the United States and Canada using
frequencies above 72 MHz. The cost allocation for the International
Public Fixed Radio Service is $4,800, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment to its revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule.
Payment units for the Service are estimated to be 20 call signs.
Dividing the Service's revenue requirement by its estimated payment
units results in a fee of $240 per call sign. See Appendix F. thus, we
are proposing that international public fixed radio service licensees
be subject to a $240 annual regulatory fee per call sign, payable on a
specified date to be announced by the Commission. We are proposing no
change to the rules for calculating and submitting fees by licensees in
the International Public Fixed Radio Services. See FY 1994 Order,
Appendix B at para. 38.
c. VSATs and Equivalent C-Band Antennas/Mobile Satellite Earth Stations
47. VSATs and Equivalent C-Band Antennas includes VSAT earth
stations and equivalent C-Band earth stations and antennas and earth
station systems comprised of very small aperture terminals operating in
the 12 and 14 GHz bands and providing a variety of communications
services to other stations in the network. VSAT systems consist of a
network of technically-identical small fixed-satellite earth stations
which often include a larger hub station. VSAT earth stations and C-
Band equivalent earth stations are authorized pursuant to Part 25 of
the Commission's Rules. Mobile Satellite Earth Stations, operating
pursuant to Part 25 of the rules under blanket licenses for mobile
antennas (transceivers), are smaller than one meter and provide voice
or data communications, including position location information for
mobile platforms such as cars, buses or trucks. The 1995 cost
allocation for this category is $56,810, resulting from the category's
mandatory adjustment under the FY 1994 statutory fee schedule. Payment
units are estimated to be 437,000 antennas. See Appendix G. Dividing
the revenue requirement by estimated payments units results in a
regulatory fee for FY 1995 of $.13 per authorized antenna. Therefore,
we propose to assess licensees of VSATs an annual regulatory fee of
$.13 per authorized antenna for FY 1995. The proposed fee for this
service is set forth in the International category in the FY 1995 fee
schedule. See Appendix B. We are not proposing to change the rules for
calculation and payment of the fee for VSATs, VSAT equivalents and
mobile earth station antennas.
d. Fixed Satellite Earth Station Antennas
48. Transmit/Receive and Transmit Only Earth Stations. This
category includes fixed-satellite transmit/receive and transmit only
earth sation antennas, authorized or registered under Part 25 of the
Commission's rules, operated by private and public carriers to provide
telephone, television, data, and other forms of communications. The
proposed fees for this fee category are set forth in the FY 1995 fee
schedule in the International Service category. Included in this
category are telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) earth stations and
earth station uplinks.
49. In our FY 1994 Order, we adopted this statutory fee schedule's
requirement that assessed a higher fee for fixed satellite earth
stations antennas of 9 meters or more than for those less than 9
meters. This distinction resulted in the anomaly that antennas
performing the same function were subjected to different fees, one
several thousand percent higher than the other. To rectify this
disparity, we propose to exercise our permitted authority to eliminate
the differing fee levels for these earth stations. We are proposing
that any earth station in this service category be charged a fee based
upon size as measured in meters. This modification will eliminate the
disparity in fees under the former schedule, but assure that smaller
antennas will continue to be subject to a smaller fee requirement than
larger antennas.
50. The FY 1995 cost allocation for transmit and transmit/receive
earth stations is $3,533,500, resulting from the mandatory adjustment
under the FY 1994 revenue requirement for this fee category. Payment
units are estimated to be 19,100 antenna meters. Dividing the cost
allocation for this category by its estimate payment units results in a
fee of $185 per meter. See Appendix G. Therefore, we are proposing a
regulatory fee of $185 per meter for transmit/receive and transmit only
earth stations. In determining the number of meters of an earth
station, all measurements should be made to the tenth of a meter.
51. Receive Only Earth Stations. For the reasons discussed above,
we propose to eliminate the disparity in the fee requirement for
receive only antennas above and below 9 meters. Thus receive only earth
stations will be assessed a per meter fee, regardless of whether they
are above or below 9 meters in size. The FY 1995 cost allocation for
receive only earth stations is $4,116,000, resulting from the mandatory
adjustment to the fee category's revenue requirement under the
statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 34,300
antenna meters. Dividing the cost allocation for the category by its
estimated payment units results in a fee of $120 per meter. See
Appendix G. Thus, we are proposing a regulatory fee of $120 per meter
for receive only earth stations. All measurements will be to the tenth
of a meter.
e. Space Stations (Geosynchronous)
52. Geosynchronous space stations, set forth in the FY 1995 fee
schedule within the International Service category, are domestic and
international satellites positioned in orbit to remain approximately
fixed relative to the earth. They are authorized under Part 25 of the
Commission's rules to provide communications between satellites and
[[Page 3816]]
earth stations on a common carrier and/or private carrier basis. The FY
1995 cost allocation for geosynchronous space stations is $4,978,750,
resulting from the mandatory increase in the category's FY 1994 revenue
requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units estimated
to be 35 operational space stations in orbit. Dividing the revenue
requirement for this category by its estimated payment units results in
a fee of $142,250 per operational space station in orbit. See Appendix
G. Thus, we are proposing that entities authorized to operate
geosynchronous space stations in accordance with section 25.120(d) will
be assessed an annual regulatory fee of $142,250 per operational
station in orbit. Payment is required for any geosynchronous satellite
that has been launched and tested and is authorized to provide service.
We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating and submitting
regulatory fee payments by licensees of geosynchronous space stations.
See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 35.
f. International Bearer Circuits
53. Regulatory fees for international bearer circuits are computed
``per 100 active 64 Kbps circuits or equivalent.'' International bearer
circuits are set forth in the International Service category in the FY
1995 fee schedule. The proposed fee is to be paid by the facilities-
based common carrier activating the circuit in any transmission
facility for the provision of service to an end user or resale carrier.
However, we propose to modify our requirements for payment of the fee
for bearer circuits by private submarine cable operators to require
that they pay fees for circuits sold on an indefeasible right of use
(IRU) basis or leased to any customer other than an international
common carrier authorized by the Commission to provide U.S.
international common carrier services. Compare FY 1994 Order at 5367.
The fee is based upon active 64 Kbps circuits, or equivalent circuits.
Under this formulation, 64 Kbps circuits or their equivalent will be
assessed a fee. Equivalent circuits include the 64 Kbps circuit
equivalent of larger bit stream circuits. For example, the 64 Kbps
circuit equivalent of a 2.048 Mbps circuit is 30 64 Kbps circuits.
Analog circuits such as 3 and 4 KHz circuits used for international
service are also included as 64 Kbps circuits. However, circuits
derived from 64 Kbps circuits by the use of digital circuit
multiplication systems are not equivalent 64 Kbps circuits. Such
circuits are not subject to fees. Only the 64 Kbps circuit from which
they have been derived will be subject to payment of a fee. The FY 1995
cost allocation is $310,000 based on an estimated volume of 62,000
active 64 Kbps circuits or equivalent. For FY 1995, we are proposing an
annual regulatory fee of $5.00 for each active 64 Kbps circuit or
equivalent. For analog television channels we will assess fees as
follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. of
equivalent
Analog television channel size in MHz 64 Kbps
circuits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
36.......................................................... 630
24.......................................................... 288
18.......................................................... 240
------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Appendix G. for a description of the development of the fees
for international bearer circuits. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at
para. 45.
g. Inter-exchange and Local Exchange Carriers, Competitive Access
Providers, Pay Telephone Providers, and Other Non-mobile Providers of
Interstate Service
54. In the FY 1994 Order, we adopted the fees and calculation
methodology for Inter-Exchange Carriers (IXC's), Local Exchange
Carriers (LECs) and Competitive Providers (CAPs) contained in the
section 9(g)'s fees schedule. We rejected proposals to modify the fees
schedule because Congress intended us to adopt that schedule in its
entirety for FY 1994. Under the statutory schedule, CAPs are assessed
fees based upon their number of subscribers. As a consequence, some
CAPs filed very small fee payments because they serve only a few
subscribers even though these subscribers are large entities with heavy
communications requirements.
55. Several of the commenters in the FY 1994 proceeding urged that
we extend the fee requirement to other providers of interstate
communications services, including resellers, in addition to those
subject to a fee requirement under the statutory fee schedule. We
declined to do so. However, we stated that we would review the fee
schedule to determine if other carriers should be subject to the
regulatory fee requirement for FY 1995.
56. We now believe that resellers and other carriers providing
interstate services subject to our jurisdiction and directly benefiting
from our regulation of the interstate network should be subject to a
regulatory fee payment. In particular, we are cognizant that our
decisions requiring facilities based carriers to eliminate any
restrictions on the resale and sharing of their interstate private line
communications services and facilities and our continuing market
surveillance has fostered the growth of a strong communications resale
industry. In opening up the interstate network to resellers, we
asserted our jurisdiction over their activities pursuant to Title II of
the Communications Act.\19\ We believe that carriers subject to our
regulation should bear the costs of that regulation. For these reasons,
we are proposing, as described below, to subject any carrier, whether
facilities based or reseller, using the interstate network to a
regulatory fee payment.
\19\See Resale and Shared Use of Common Carrier Services, 60 FCC
2d 588, 600 (1977) (In addition to allowing resellers to obtain
lines from facilities based carriers, we declared that ``' [resale
carriers],' whether they be brokers or value added carriers * * * ,
are equally subject to the requirements of Title II of the
Communications Act.''); see also American Tel & Tel. Co. v. F.C.C.,
978 F.2d 727, 735 (D.C. 1992) (finding that resellers and other
nondominant carriers must file tariffs and offer their services
pursuant to just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rates and
practices pursuant to sections 201 and 202 of the Act.) Resellers
currently are subject to filing fees pursuant to section 8 of the
Act.
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57. We propose to expand the schedule of fees for carriers to
include not only IXCs, LECs and CAPs, but also domestic and
international carriers that provide operator services, WATS, 800, 900,
telex, telegraph, video, other switched, interstate access, special
access, and alternative access services either by using their own
facilities or by reselling facilities and services of other carriers or
telephone carrier holding companies, and companies other than
traditional local telephone companies that provide interstate access
services to long distance carriers and other customers.\20\
\20\A holding company may combine fee payments of its operating
companies and pay their combined fees for a particular service in a
single combined payment or by installments, if the aggregate of
their fees in a single service qualifies the holding company to make
installment payments.
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58. The FY 1995 cost allocation for this category is $39,000,000,
resulting from the mandatory adjustment of the Commission's FY 1994
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. See Appendix G.
Because our proposal and a proposed alternative method of calculating
fees for the carrier category, represent a significant modification of
the method in which regulatory fees are calculated, interested parties
are requested to file comments concerning the most efficient and
equitable method for assessment of regulatory fees.
59. We propose to calculate carrier fees based on the number of
customer units, i.e., the number of users of a service, provided by a
carrier as of December 31, 1994. For access service
[[Page 3817]]
provided by local exchange carriers, the number of customer units would
equal the number of presubscribed lines as described in Section 69.116
of the Commission's Rules. For pay telephone service, the number of
customer units would equal the number of pay telephones used as the
basis for pay telephone compensation. For MTS provided by pre-selected
interexchange carriers, the number of customer units would equal the
number of presubscribed lines as described in Section 69.116 of the
Commission's Rules. For pay telephone service, the number of customer
units would equal the number of pay telephones used as the basis for
pay telephone compensation. For MTS provided by pre-selected
interexchange carriers, the number of customer units would equal the
number of presubscribed lines as described in Section 69.116 of the
Commissions Rules. For other switched services, such as MTS, WATS, 800,
900 and operator service not billed to the number from which the call
is placed, the number of customer units would equal the number of
billing accounts less those accounts already associated with
presubscribed lines reported by the carrier. For non-switched services,
including service provided by CAPs, special access, and private
(alternative access) line providers, the number of customer units would
be based on the total capacity provided to customers measured as voice
equivalent lines. For this purpose, 4 Khz or 64 Kbps equivalents would
equate to one voice equivalent line. Dividing the $39,000,000 cost
allocation by an estimated 300,000,000 customer units\21\ results in a
fee of $.13 per customer unit.
\21\Local exchange carriers and toll carriers will each report a
total of 142 million presubscribed lines. Allowing for \1/2\ million
privately owned pay telephone lines, 4 million special access lines,
and approximately 5% resale and competitive access provision, it
appears that carriers would report approximately 300 million
customer units.
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60. In addition, as an alternative to the fee structure described
above, we are proposing to base our carrier fees on the number of
minutes of interstate service in calendar year 1994. For access service
provided by local exchange carriers, the number of interstate minutes
would equal the number of originating and terminating access minutes.
For interstate service upon which access charges are paid, the number
of minutes would equal the number of originating and terminating access
minutes. For other interstate services billed based on timed usage, the
number of minutes would equal the number of billed minutes. For
interstate services not billed on the basis of timed usage, minutes
would be estimated as the billed revenue in dollars times 10. This
represents a cross-over assumption that customers would substitute
ordinary MTS for any service which cost more than ten cents per minute.
Hence, revenue in dollars time 10 represents a lower bound number of
minutes. Dividing the $39,000,000 cost allocation by 508 billion
minutes\22\ results in a fee of $.08 per 1000 minutes.
\22\There will be approximately 393 billion common carrier line
access minutes in 1994 based on minutes reported for the first half
of the year times 2. Adding 5% for resale results in 413 billion
minutes. Based on 1992 published TRS Fund data, carriers provided
nine and one half billion dollars of nonswitched interstate service,
which adds 95 million minutes to the total.
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D. Procedures for Payment of Regulatory Fees
61. Generally, we propose to retain the procedures that we
established in our FY 94 Report and Order for the payment of regulatory
fees. Section 9(f) requires that we permit ``payment by installments in
the case of fees in large amounts, and in the case of small amounts,
shall require the payment of the fee in advance for a number of years
not to exceed the term of the license held by the payor.'' See 47
U.S.C. Sec. 1559(f). Consistent with the section, we are again
proposing three categories of fee payments, based upon the category of
service for which the fee payment is due and the amount of the fee to
be paid. The fee categories are (1) ``standard'' fees, (2) ``large''
fees, and (3) ``small'' fees.
1. Annual Payments of Standard Fees'
62. Standard fees are those regulatory fees that are payable in
full on an annual basis. Payers of standard fees are not required to
make advance payments for their full license term and are not eligible
for installment payments. All standard fees are payable in full on the
date we establish for payment of fees in their regulatory fee category.
The payment dates for each regulatory fee category will be announced
either in the Report and Order in this proceeding or by public notice
in the Federal Register following the termination of the proceeding.
2. Installment Payments for Large Fees
63. In our FY 1994 Order, we classified fees for several services
at certain payment amounts and above as ``large'' fees, eligible to be
paid by installment payments, and afforded eligible payers the
opportunity to submit fees for these services in two equally divided
payments.\23\ We indicated, however, that based on our experience with
the fee program, we would consider increasing eligibility to make
installments payments. After gaining some experience, we are proposing
to now lower eligibility or installment payments. Our decision to lower
the eligibility threshold results from a determination that our payment
processing system feasibly can handle a reasonable increase in the
number of regulatees who pay in installments. Therefore, we propose to
set the eligibility requirement at the lowest installment payment level
permitted in FY 1994, $12,000, and propose that regulatees in any
category of service with a payment liability of $12,000 or more be
eligible to make installment payments. Eligibility for payment by
installment will be based upon the amount of either a single regulatory
fee payment or a combination of fee payments by the same licensee or
regulatee.
\23\See FY 1994 Order at paragraphs 39 through 45.
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64. In our FY 1994 Order, we permitted payment of ``large'' fees in
two installments and stated that for future years we would permit four
installment payments by eligible regulatees. The limited time that will
be available following completion of this proceeding and the required
90 day notification period to Congress of our amendments to the
Schedule of Regulatory Fees following completion of this proceeding
makes the use of four installment payments impractical for installment
payers and unduly burdens our fee collection process. Therefore, we
propose that regulatees eligible to pay by installment payments may
submit their required fee in two equal payments (on dates to be
announced in the Report and Order terminating this proceeding or in the
Federal Register following the proceeding's termination), or, in the
alternative, may submit a single full payment on the date that their
final installment payment is due.
3. Advance Payments of Small Fees
65. We are proposing to treat regulatory fee payments by certain
radio licensees as small fees subject to advance payments. Advance
payments will be required from licensees of those services that we
decided would be subject to advance payments in our FY 1994 Order.\24\
Payers of advance fees
[[Page 3818]]
will submit the entire fee due for the full term of their licenses when
filing their initial, reinstatement or renewal application. Those
subject to the fee payment pay the amount due for the current fiscal
year multiplied by the number of years in the term of their requested
license. In the event that the required fee is adjusted following their
payment of the fee, the payor would not be subject to the payment of a
new fee until filing an application for renewal or reinstatement of the
license. Thus, payment for the full license term would be made based
upon the regulatory fee applicable at the time the application is
filed. Refunds will not be made in cases where the fee for a service is
lower for FY 1995 than the fee paid under the FY 1994 fee schedule. The
Commission will announce by public notice in the Federal Register the
effective date for the payment of small fees pursuant to the FY 1995
fee schedule.
\24\Applicants for new, renewal and reinstatement licenses in
the following services will be required to pay their regulatory fees
in advance: Land Mobile Services, Microwave services, Interactive
Video Data Services (IVDS), Marine (Ship) Service, Marine (Coast)
Service, Private Land Mobile (Other) Services, Aviation (Aircraft)
Service, Aviation (Ground) Service, General Mobile Radio Service
(GMRS). In addition, applicants for amateur radio vanity call signs
will be required to submit an advance payment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Timing of Standard Fee Calculations and Payment Dates
66. As noted, the date for payment of standard fees and installment
payments will be published in the Federal Register. For licensees,
permittees and holders of other authorizations in the Common Carrier,
Mass Media, and Cable Services, whose fees are not based on a
subscriber, line or circuit count, fees should be submitted for any
authorization held as of October 1, 1994. As in our FY 1994 Order, we
are proposing October 1 as the date to be used for calculating standard
fees since it is the first day of the fiscal year and, therefore,
current licensees subject to the fees would have benefited from our
regulatory activities from the beginning of the period covered by the
payment.
67. In the case of regulatees whose fees are based upon a
subscriber, line or circuit count, we propose that the number of a
regulatees' subscribers, licenses or circuits on December 31, 1994,
will be used to calculate the fee payment. We have selected the last
date of the calendar year because many of these entities file reports
with us as of that date. Others calculate their subscriber numbers as
of that date for internal purposes. Therefore, calculation of the
regulatory fee as of that date will facilitate both an entity's
computation of its fee payment and our verification that the correct
fee payment has been submitted.\25\
\25\Cable systems should calculate their FY 1995 regulatory fees
using the subscriber data to be submitted to the Commission in their
1994 Annual Report of Cable Television Systems (FCC Form 325).
Accordingly, their number of subscribers will not necessarily be
based on December 31, 1994, but rather on ``a typical day in the
last full week'' of December 1994. (See FCC Form 325 Instructions.)
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IV. Procedural Matters
A. Comment Period and Procedures
68. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in sections 1.415 and
1.419 of the Commission's rules, interested parties may file comments
on or before February 13, 1995 and reply comments on or before February
28, 1995. All relevant comments will be considered by the Commission
before final action is taken in this proceeding. To file formally in
this proceeding, participants must file an original and four copies of
all comments, reply comments and supporting materials. If participants
want each Commissioner to receive a personal copy of their comments, an
original and nine copies must be filed. Comments and reply comments
should be sent to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications
Commission, Washington, D.C. 20554. Interested parties, who do not wish
to formally participate in this proceeding, may file informal comments
to the same address. Comments and reply comments will be available for
public inspection during regular business hours in the FCC Reference
Center (Room 239) of the Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20054.
B. Ex Parte Rules
69. This is a non-restricted notice and comment rulemaking
proceeding. Ex parte presentations are permitted, except during the
Sunshine Agenda period, provided they are disclosed pursuant to the
Commission's rules. See 47 C.F.R. Secs. 1.1202, 1.1203 and 1026(a).
C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
70. As required by section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(Pub. L. No. 96-354, 94 Stat. 1165, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 601 et seq. (1981),
the Commission has prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(IRFA) of the expected impact on small entities of the proposals
suggested in this document. The IRFA is set forth in Appendix A.
Written public comments are requested with respect to the IRFA. These
comments must be filed in accordance with the same filing deadlines for
comments on the rest of the Notice, but they must have a separate and
distinct heading, designating the comments as responses to the IRFA.
The secretary shall send a copy of this Notice, including the IRFA, to
the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration in
accordance with section 603(a) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
D. Authority and Further Information
71. Authority for this proceeding is contained in sections 4(i) and
(j, 9, and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934 as amended, 47
U.S.C. Secs. 154(1) and (j) and 159 and 303(r).
72. Further information about this proceeding may be obtained by
contacting Peter W. Herrick, Acting Associate Managing Director,
Program Analysis at (202) 418-0443.
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
Appendix A--Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Reason for Action
This rulemaking proceeding is initiated to obtain comment
regarding the Commission's proposed amendment of its Schedule of
Regulatory Fees in order to revise its regulatory fees to collect
$116,400,000, the amount that Congress has required the Commission
to recover through regulatory fees in Fiscal Year 1995.
Objectives
The Commission seeks to collect the necessary amount through its
proposed revised regulatory fees, as contained in the attached
Schedule of Regulatory Fees, in the most efficient manner possible
and without undue burden to the public.
Legal Basis
The proposed action is authorized under sections (4) (i) and
(j), 9 and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47
U.S.C. Secs. 154 (i) and (j), 159, and 303(r).
Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance Requirements
The Commission has developed FCC Form 159 and FCC Form 159C for
submission with regulatory fee payments. Also, the Commission has
adopted implementation rules governing the payment of regulatory
fees. See 47 C.R.R. 1.1151 et seq.
Federal Rules That Overlap, Duplicate or Conflict With Proposed Rule
None.
Description, Potential Impact, and Number of Small Entities Involved
The proposed amendment of the Schedule of Regulatory Fees will
affect permittees, licensees and other regulatees in the cable,
common carrier, mass media, private radio and international
services. After evaluating the comments in this proceeding, the
Commission will further examine the impact of any fee revisions or
additions or rule
[[Page 3819]]
changes on small entities and set forth our findings in the Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.
Any Significant Alternatives Minimizing the Impact on Small Entities
Consistent With the Stated Objectives
The Notice solicits comments on alternative methods of assessing
the regulatory fees necessary to recover the $116,400,000 in costs
that Congress has required us to recover through regulatory fees in
FY 1995.
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Appendix C--How Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) Were Calculated
(1) FTE allocations represent how the Commission anticipates
FTEs will actually be spent during the course of the fiscal
year.\26\ Many factors influence how FTEs are actually employed
during the year, including varying rates of attrition, speed of
hiring new and replacement staff, the use of part time or temporary
employees in lieu of permanent staff, changing Commission
priorities, and reorganizations and other activities requiring a
reallocation or reassignment of staff. The FTE allocations used in
the fee development process have been updated to reflect a number of
personnel reassignments made incident to recent reorganizations
within the Commission. The impact on the fee development process is
negligible since the reorganizations, although resulting in a
reassignment of staff and functions, have not significantly changed
the type of work the reassigned staff is performing.\27\
\26\It should be noted that FTE allocations are year-end
estimates and thus represent projected work time of on-board staff
as well as new and replacement staff yet to be hired.
\27\The Commission has chosen to retain, for fee determination
purposes, the fee classifications (i.e., Private Radio, Common
Carrier, Cable Services and Mass Media) contained in 47 U.S.C.
Section 159. Although we believe that we have authority to change
the classifications to align them more closely with our current
organizational structure, we wanted to minimize any adverse impacts
to the schedule brought about solely by such a classification
change.
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(2) Only the Commission's enforcement, policy and rulemaking,
international, and user information activities are covered by the
regulatory fee program.\28\ Of the Commission's total of 2,271 FTEs,
846 FTEs are directly assigned to the agency's primary operating
bureaus to perform enforcement, policy and rulemaking,
international, and user information activities. An additional 560
FTEs have been identified by the agency as supporting these feeable
activities.\29\ The results of our FTE allocations are as follows:
\28\The regulatory fee program encompasses a total of 1,406
FTEs. The agency's Authorization of Service, Legal Services and
Executive Direction Activities cover an additional 865 FTEs.
Authorization of Service regulatory costs are recovered pursuant to
Section 8 of the Communications Act.
\29\These support activities include a proportionate share of
field operations, engineering and technology and certain general
program support staff FTEs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee category FTEs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Media.................................................... 253
Common Carrier................................................ 689
Private Radio................................................. 103
Cable Services................................................ 361
---------
Total................................................... 1406
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) The total of the costs to be offset by regulatory fees in FY
1995 is $116,400,000. Each fee category was allocated its share of
costs based upon the ratio of its FTEs to the total number of FTEs
allocated to all regulatory fee categories. The results of this
allocation of costs are shown below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost
allocation
Fee category FTEs Percent (in
millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Media.............................. 253 18.0 $20.9
Common Carrier.......................... 689 49.0 57.0
Private Radio........................... 103 7.3 8.5
Cable Services.......................... 361 25.7 29.9
-------------------------------
Total............................. 1406 100.0 \30\116.4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\May not add due to rounding.
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[FR Doc. 95-1274 FIled 1-18-95; 8:45am]
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