**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Waiver by )

)

Watonwan County Library ) File No. SLD-179438

St. James, Minnesota )

)

Federal-State Joint Board on ) CC Docket No. 96-45

Universal Service )

)

Changes to the Board of Directors of the ) CC Docket No. 97-21

National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. )

**order**

**Adopted: September 19, 2001 Released: September 20, 2001**

By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

1.  The Accounting Policy Division has under consideration a Waiver
    Request filed by Watonwan County Library (Watonwan), St. James,
    Minnesota. Watonwan seeks a waiver of the Commission's rules
    governing discounts for services under the schools and libraries
    universal service support mechanism.[^1] For the reasons set forth
    below, we deny Watonwan's Waiver Request.

2.  Under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism,
    eligible schools, libraries, and consortia that include eligible
    schools and libraries, may apply for discounts for eligible
    telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal
    connections.[^2] In order to receive discounts on eligible services,
    the Commission's rules require that the applicant submit to the
    Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service
    Administrative Company (Administrator) a completed FCC Form 470, in
    which the applicant sets forth its technological needs and the
    services for which it seeks discounts[^3]^3^ The Administrator must
    post the FCC Form 470 on its website, and the applicant is required
    to wait 28 days before making a commitment with a selected service
    provider.[^4] Once the applicant has complied with the Commission's
    competitive bidding requirements and entered into an agreement for
    eligible services, it must file an FCC Form 471 application to
    notify the Administrator of the services that have been ordered, the
    carrier with whom the applicant has entered into an agreement, and
    an estimate of funds needed to cover the discounts to be given for
    eligible services.[^5] In Block 6 of the FCC Form 471, applicants
    are required to make certain certifications, including certification
    of compliance with state and local procurement laws, and the status
    of the entity's technology plan.[^6] Applicants that file their FCC
    Forms 471 electronically, using the Administrator's website, are
    required to separately submit a signed Block 6 certification.[^7]

3.  The Commission's rules allow the Administrator to implement an
    internal filing period ("filing window") for the FCC Form 471
    applications that treats all schools and libraries filing within
    that period as if their applications were simultaneously
    received.[^8] Applications that are received outside this filing
    window are subject to separate funding priorities under the
    Commission's rules.[^9] It is to all applicants' advantage,
    therefore, to ensure that the Administrator receives their
    applications prior to the close of the filing window. In Funding
    Year 3, the filing window for the FCC Forms 471 closed January 19,
    2000, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.[^10] The filing deadline
    for signed Block 6 certifications for applicants that filed their
    FCC Forms 471 electronically was January 31, 2000, at 11:59 p.m.
    Eastern Standard Time.[^11]

4.  Watonwan requests a waiver of the Funding Year 3 application window.
    Watonwan asserts that it completed most of the application
    electronically from January 14, 2000 to January 17, 2000, and
    believed that it had properly submitted the completed
    application.[^12] Watonwan concedes, however, that it failed to
    complete the Block 6 certification portion of the application.[^13]
    Therefore, the record demonstrates that Watonwan did not complete
    the application online within the filing window.

5.  Watonwan contends that SLD notified it on March 7, 2000 that its
    application had not been completed.[^14] On March 8, 2000, well
    after the filing window closed, Watonwan filed its completed FCC
    Form 471 electronically.[^15] Watonwan bases its Waiver Request on
    unspecified "bugs in the \[SLD\] system," and on its assertion that
    it submitted a paper copy of the Block 6 certification by mail
    before the January 31, 2000 deadline.[^16]

6.  We conclude that Watonwan has not demonstrated a sufficient basis
    for waiving the Commission's rules. Waiver is appropriate if special
    circumstances warrant a deviation from the general rule, and such
    deviation would better serve the public interest than strict
    adherence to the general rule.[^17] In requesting funds from the
    schools and libraries universal service support mechanism, the
    applicant has certain responsibilities. The applicant bears the
    burden of getting its forms and other information to SLD for
    processing within the established deadline if the applicant wishes
    to be considered with other in-window applicants.

7.  The particular facts of this case do not rise to the level of
    special circumstances required for a deviation from the general
    rule. As an initial matter, the record does not support Watonwan's
    assertion that it submitted a paper copy of its Block 6
    certification prior to the deadline for certifications on January
    31, 2000. The only Block 6 certification on file with SLD is dated
    March 8, 2000, and was received by SLD on March 10, 2000.[^18]
    Moreover, even if Watonwan had filed a paper copy of its Block 6
    certification before the January 31, 2000 deadline for
    certifications, it concedes that it failed to complete and submit
    its FCC Form 471 within the filing window.[^19] Applications are
    deemed timely only when SLD receives the complete application within
    the established timeframe.

8.  Watonwan also blames unspecified "bugs" in the SLD electronic filing
    process for its failure to complete its FCC Form 471 in a timely
    manner.[^20] However, numerous other applicants successfully
    competed their applications electronically within the filing window
    during the same time period that Watonwan claims it attempted to
    complete its on-line filing. In sum, Watonwan fails to demonstrate a
    sufficient basis for waiving the Commission's rules.

9.  In light of the thousands of applications that SLD reviews and
    processes each year, it is administratively necessary to place on
    the applicant the responsibility of complying with all relevant
    rules and procedures. [^21] In order for the program to work
    efficiently, the applicant must assume responsibility for timely
    submission of its application materials if it wishes to be
    considered within the window. Here, Watonwan fails to present good
    cause as to why it could not timely file its application. We
    therefore find no basis for waiving the filing window deadline.

10. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to authority delegated under
    sections 0.91, 0.291, 1.3, and 54.722(a) of the Commission\'s rules,
    47 C.F.R. §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3, and 54.722(a), that the Waiver
    Request filed by the Watonwan County Library, St. James, Minnesota,
    on July 11, 2000, IS DENIED.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Mark G. Seifert

Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division

Common Carrier Bureau

[^1]: Letter from Cheryl Bjoin, Watonwan County Library, to Federal
    Communications Commission, filed July 11, 2000 (Waiver Request).

[^2]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.502, 54.503.

[^3]: ^?^ 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(b)(1), (b)(3).

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.504(b)(3), (4); § 54.511.

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(c).

[^6]: Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and
    Certification Form, OMB 3060-0806 (September 1999) (FCC Form 471).

[^7]: Instructions for Completing the Schools and Libraries Universal
    Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form (FCC Form 471), OMB
    3060-0806 (September 1999) (FCC Form 471 Instructions), at 24.

[^8]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(c).

[^9]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(g).

[^10]: SLD website, What's New (December 6, 1999)
    \<<http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/121999.asp>\>.

[^11]: SLD website, What's New (January 2000),
    \<<http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/012000.asp>\>\>. The
    filing window deadline for certifications for Funding Year 3 was
    originally January 26, 2000, but on January 25, 2000, SLD extended
    the deadline for submission of certifications to January 31, 2000.
    *Id.*

[^12]: Waiver Request; Letter from Cheryl Bjoin, Watonwan County
    Library, to Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, filed March 13, 2000 (Appeal to SLD).

[^13]: Appeal to SLD.

[^14]: *Id.*

[^15]: FCC Form 471 (Form 471), Watonwan County Library, St. James,
    Minnesota, filed March 10, 2000.

[^16]: Waiver Request; Appeal to SLD.

[^17]: *Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC*, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166
    (D.C. Cir. 1990).

[^18]: FCC Form 471.

[^19]: Appeal to SLD.

[^20]: Appeal to SLD.

[^21]: *Request for Review by Anderson School Staatsburg, Federal-State
    Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors
    of the National Exchange Carrier Association*, File No. SLD-13364,
    CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 15 FCC Rcd 25610 (Com. Car.
    Bur. 2000), at para. 8 ("In light of the thousands of applications
    that SLD reviews and processes each funding year, it is
    administratively necessary to place on the applicant the
    responsibility of understanding all relevant program rules and
    procedures.").