**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Review of the )

Decision of the )

Universal Service Administrator by )

)

Lake and Peninsula School District ) File Nos. SLD-214805

King Salmon, Alaska )

)

Schools and Libraries Universal Service ) CC Docket No. 02-6

Support Mechanism )

**order**

**Adopted: May 14, 2004 Released: May 18, 2004**

By the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition
Bureau:

1.  The Telecommunications Access Policy Division has under
    consideration a Request for Review filed by the Lake and Peninsula
    School District (LPSD), King Salmon, Alaska.[^1] LPSD requests
    review of a decision by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of
    the Universal Service Administrative Company (Administrator)
    reducing funding requests for 15 Funding Request Numbers (FRNs)
    because they were not submitted in a timely manner.[^2] For the
    reasons set forth below, we affirm SLD's decision and deny LPSD's
    Request for Review.

2.  On August 6, 2001, LPSD submitted an FCC Form 486 that included 23
    Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) reflected in three Block 3 pages.[^3]
    On October 18, 2001, after making several attempts to contact SLD,
    LPSD learned that its August Form 486 had been posted to Funding
    Year 2000 because LPSD had entered Block 1, item 3, incorrectly as
    07/01/2000-06/30/2002.[^4] LPSD resubmitted FCC Form 486 on October
    18, 2001.[^5] Shortly thereafter, LPSD received from SLD its August
    Form 486 with a Form 486 Return Letter stating that it was unable to
    process the form as filed.[^6] After LSPD filed the October Form
    486, it learned that 15 FRNs were not data entered in the
    application.[^7] LPSD believes that the October Form 486 was
    complete, and that SLD may have misplaced two of the three Block 3
    pages.[^8] On December 19, 2001, LPSD submitted a third FCC Form
    486, which included the FRNs that SLD had not data entered.[^9] On
    January 9, 2002, SLD issued a Form 486 Notification Letter stating
    that although the Form 486 was accepted, SLD was adjusting the
    funding awarded because of failure to meet the Children's Internet
    Protection Act (CIPA) deadline.[^10] Specifically, the notification
    letter reduced LSPD's funding commitment for the FRNs included in
    the December Form 486 to provide discounts only for service provided
    on or after the FCC Form 486 filing date of December 19, 2001,
    instead of the requested funding year start date of July 1,
    2001.[^11] LPSD filed the instant Request for Review, seeking full
    funding.[^12]

3.  First, LSPD asserts that SLD should have processed the original FCC
    Form 486 that was filed on August 1, 2001.[^13] LPSD states that it
    did inadvertently fail to note a typo in Block 3 defining the
    funding year as "7/1/2000-6/30/2002." Other items in the form,
    however, indicated that the funding request was for Funding
    Year 2001. In addition, LPSD contacted SLD and reviewed the
    information on the form. As a result, LPSD contends that SLD should
    have processed the original Form 486 because it had sufficient
    information and knowledge to do so.[^14] Based on the precedent for
    minimum processing standards set in *Naperville*, we are not
    persuaded by this argument. In *Naperville*, the Commission
    determined that SLD should not have returned an application without
    consideration for failure to meet SLD's minimum processing standards
    where "(1) the request for information was a first-time information
    requirement on a revised form, thereby possibly leading to confusion
    on the part of the applicants; (2) the omitted information could be
    easily discerned by SLD through examination of other information
    included in the application; and (3) the application is otherwise
    substantially complete."[^15] We conclude that LPSD's request does
    not meet the standards articulated in *Naperville*. The Block 3
    information that was incorrectly submitted was not a new information
    request.[^16] Thus, the first requirement of *Naperville* is not
    satisfied.

4.  Second, LPSD requests that SLD process FCC Form 486 in its entirety
    as of the October 18, 2001 date of submission.[^17] LPSD attests
    that the October Form 486 was complete and contends that SLD lost
    two of the three Block 3 pages submitted. Although LPSD has included
    a copy of the form, including all three Block 3 pages, in its
    Request for Review, we find that it has failed to provide persuasive
    evidence that the pages were filed in the October Form 486
    submission.[^18] The record shows that SLD received and processed
    only one Block 3 page in the FCC Form 486 dated October 18, 2001.

5.  Third, LPSD requests a waiver of the October 28, 2001, deadline.
    Although the Commission has authority to waive regulatory
    requirements, it does not have authority to waive a requirement
    imposed by statute.[^19] The October 28, 2001 deadline for schools
    receiving Internet access and internal connections discounts to
    submit their CIPA certifications in Funding Year 2001 was set by
    statute.[^20] Because LPSD was receiving discounts on Internet
    access, and was therefore subject to the October 28, 2001 deadline
    imposed by the CIPA statute, we are without authority to waive that
    deadline in this case.[^21]

6.  Finally, LPSD argues that the CIPA certification provided in the
    August or October Forms 486 should apply to the FRNs included in the
    December Form 486.[^22] Alternatively, LPSD requests that we adjust
    the service start date to August 21, 2001, 120 days prior to the
    December Form 486 filing.[^23] The Bureau has previously addressed
    this issue in *Craig County* and determined that certification of
    compliance with CIPA is required for each Funding Request Number
    (FRN) for Internet access or internal connections submitted.[^24]
    The Commission also stated that an applicant who fails to meet the
    October 28, 2001 deadline for Funding Year 2001 discounts could
    obtain discounts for services received on or after the date that its
    FCC Form 486 was postmarked.[^25] Consistent with our precedent in
    *Craig County*, we affirm SLD's decision and deny LPSD's Request for
    Review.

7.  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 request filed
    by Lake and Peninsula School District, King Salmon, Alaska, on
    September 16, 2002 is DENIED.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    Narda Jones

> Deputy Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division Wireline
> Competition Bureau

[^1]: Letter from Dennis Niedermeyer, Lake and Peninsula School
    District, to Federal Communications Commission, filed September 16,
    2002 (Request for Review).

[^2]: *Id.*

[^3]: FCC Form 486, Lake and Peninsula School District, filed August 6,
    2001 (August Form 486).

[^4]: Request for Review at 2.

[^5]: *Id.*; FCC Form 486, Lake and Peninsula School District, filed
    October 22, 2001 (October Form 486).

[^6]: Request for Review at 2; Letter from Schools and Libraries
    Division, Universal Service Administrative Company, to Dennis
    Niedermeyer, Lake and Peninsula School District, dated October 19,
    2001.

[^7]: Request for Review at 2.

[^8]: *Id.* at 3.

[^9]: FCC Form 486, Lake and Peninsula School District, filed December
    19, 2001 (December Form 486).

[^10]: Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, to Dennis Niedermeyer, Lake and Peninsula
    School District, dated January 16, 2002.

[^11]: *Id.*

[^12]: *See* Request for Review.

[^13]: Request for Review at 2-3.

[^14]: *Id.*

[^15]: *Request for Review by Naperville Community Unit School District
    203*, *Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to
    the Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association,
    Inc*., File No. SLD-203343, CC Dockets No. 96-45 and 97-21, Order,
    16 FCC Rcd 5032, para. 16 (2001) (*Naperville*).

[^16]: *Compare* Universal Service for Schools and Libraries, Receipt of
    Service Confirmation Form, OMB 3060-0806 Funding Year 2000 Form 486
    *with* Funding Year 2001 Form 486 (April 2000).

[^17]: Request for Review at 3.

[^18]: See Request for Review, Attachment 1.

[^19]: Request for Review at 3-4; *see Federal-State Joint Board on
    Universal Service*, CC Docket No. 96-45, Memorandum Opinion and
    Order, 15 FCC Rcd 7170, para. 13 (1999); *see also Chrysler. v.
    Brown*, 441 U.S. 281, 302 (1979)("the exercise of quasi-legislative
    authority by governmental departments an agencies must be rooted in
    a grant of such power by the Congress and subject to the limitations
    which that body imposes.")

[^20]: See 47 U.S.C. § 254(h)(5)(E)(i)(I), (h)(6)(E)(i)(I) requiring
    that CIPA certifications be made within 120 days of the start of the
    first Funding Year after the effective date of the statute. *See
    Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Children's Internet
    Protection Act*, CC Docket No. 96-45, Report and Order, 16 FCC Rcd
    8182, paras. 10-14 (2001).

[^21]: *See* Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal
    Service Administrative Company, to Dennis Niedermeyer, Lake and
    Peninsula School District, dated July 23, 2001. *See Request for
    Review by East Carroll Parish School Board, Federal-State Joint
    Board on Universal Service Changes to the Board of Directors of the
    National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc*., File No. SLD-232946,
    CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 17 FCC Rcd 24591 (Wireline
    Comp. Bur. 2002).

[^22]: *See* Request for Review at 4.

[^23]: *Id.*

[^24]: *Request for Review by Craig County Public Schools*, File No.
    SLD-241515, CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 18 FCC Rcd 1718
    (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2003).

[^25]: *Id.*, 18 FCC Rcd at 1720.