**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

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| In the Matter of                 | *  |                              |
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| Request for Waiver by            | ** |                              |
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| New Carlisle Olive Township      |    | File No. SLD-332368          |
| Public Library                   |    |                              |
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| New Carlisle, Indiana            |    |                              |
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| Federal-State Joint Board on     |    | CC Docket No. 96-45          |
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| Universal Service                |    | CC Docket No. 97-21          |
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| Changes to the Board of          |    |                              |
| Directors of the                 |    |                              |
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| National Exchange Carrier        |    |                              |
| Associations, Inc.               |    |                              |
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**ORDER**

**Adopted: March 12, 2003 Released: March 13, 2003**

By the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition
Bureau:

1.  The Telecommunications Access Policy Division has under
    consideration a request filed by New Carlisle Olive Township Public
    Library (New Carlisle Olive), seeking a waiver of the Commission's
    rules governing the schools and libraries universal service support
    mechanism.[^1] Specifically, New Carlisle Olive requests waiver of
    the filing deadline for Funding Year 2002 because of a delay in
    gathering data necessary for calculation of its discount rate.[^2]
    For the reasons set forth below, we deny the New Carlisle Olive'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.[^3] Once the applicant has filed an FCC Form 470 and
    complied with the Commission's competitive bidding requirements and
    entered into an agreement for eligible services, it must submit a
    completed FCC Form 471 application to the Administrator.[^4] The
    Commission's rules require that the applicant file the FCC Form 471
    by the filing window deadline to be considered pursuant to the
    funding priorities for in-window applicants.[^5] The last day of the
    filing window for Funding Year 2002 was January 17, 2002.[^6]

3.  New Carlisle Olive concedes that it filed its FCC Form 471 after the
    filing window had closed for Funding Year 2002.[^7] It attributes
    the delay in filing in part to a third party supplying information
    necessary for completing the FCC Form 471. New Carlisle Olive also
    attributes its delay to the difficulties of submitting the FCC Form
    471 while the library was busy finalizing plans for building a new
    library.[^8] Finally, New Carlisle Olive asks why USAC waited until
    April 12, 2002, to notify it of the tardy filing. In light of the
    foregoing, New Carlisle Olive requests a waiver of the filing
    deadline.

4.  A waiver can be granted only if it is supported by a showing of good
    cause.[^9] A deviation from a general rule is not permitted unless
    special circumstances warrant it and the deviation would better
    serve the public interest than strict adherence to the general
    rule.[^10] We have traditionally held applicants to a high standard
    for waivers, noting that ultimately it is the applicant who has
    responsibility for the timely submission of its application.

5.  We conclude that none of New Carlisle Olive's claims rise to the
    level required for a waiver. First, we are not persuaded by New
    Carlisle Olive's claim that a delay in receiving third-party data
    relieves the library of responsibly for timely submission of the
    application.[^11] At the time New Carlisle Olive filed its
    application, the FCC Form 471 instructions directed libraries to
    calculate their discounts by taking the weighted average discount of
    the school district within which the library is located.[^12] The
    instructions directed libraries to contact the appropriate school
    district for data in order to determine the discount.[^13] New
    Carlisle Olive claims that it requested the data from the school
    district administration in December 2001. The school district
    administration did not reply until several days after the
    application filing window had closed.[^14] We note that New Carlisle
    Olive could have requested the data from the school administration
    well before it did or alternatively use data it submitted in the
    previous funding year.[^15] We note that New Carlisle Olive had
    managed to gather data in the previous year for a timely submission
    of its FCC Form 471. Thus, New Carlisle Olive's assertion that it
    was delayed in gathering data because the school district delayed
    reporting these data does not provide sufficient justification for a
    waiver of the Commission's rules.

6.  Similarly, we reject New Carlisle Olive's claim that any additional
    work burden distinguishes this applicant from other applicants to
    the program who have limited staff for such applications.[^16] The
    entire schools and libraries program is geared to assist needy
    schools and libraries. Allowing waivers to all with limited funds
    and staff with large workloads would effectively mean the program
    could have no filing deadlines.

7.  Finally, New Carlisle Olive's argument that SLD took approximately
    10 weeks to notify the library that it had missed the deadline is
    irrelevant to the waiver analysis. Therefore, we conclude that New
    Carlisle Olive has failed to demonstrated special circumstances upon
    which its Waiver Request can be granted.

8.  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 New Carlisle Olive, New Carlisle, Indiana, on April
    12, 2002, IS DENIED.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Mark G. Seifert

Deputy Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division

Wireline Competition Bureau

[^1]: Electronic mail from Stephen Boggs, New Carlisle Olive Township
    Public Library, to Federal Communications Commission, filed April
    12, 2002 (Waiver Request). Section 54.719(c) of the Commission's
    rules provides that any person aggrieved by an action taken by a
    division of the Universal Service Administrative Company
    (Administrator) may seek review from the Commission. 47 C.F.R. §
    54.719(c).

[^2]: *See* Waiver Request*.* Previously, this funding period would be
    referred to as Funding Year 5. Funding periods are now described by
    the year in which the funding period starts. Thus the funding period
    which began on July 1, 2001 and ends on June 30, 2002, previously
    described as Funding Year 4, and is now called Funding Year 2001.
    The funding period which began on July 1, 2002 and ends on June 30,
    2003, previously described as Funding Year 5, and is now called
    Funding Year 2002, and so on.

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.501--54.503.

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(c).

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.504(c), 54.507(g).

[^6]: SLD website, What's New Archives (January 10, 2002)
    \<[http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/012002.asp#011002b]{.underline}\>.

[^7]: FCC Form 471, New Carlisle Olive, filed January 29, 2002.

[^8]: Waiver Request.

[^9]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.3.

[^10]: *Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC*, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166
    (D.C. Cir. 1990).

[^11]: *See, e.g.,* *Request for Review by Homer Community Consolidate
    S.D 33C, Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to
    the Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association,
    Inc.,* File No. NEC.70C.03-10-00.09700014, CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and
    97-21, Order, 16 FCC Rcd 9353 (Com. Car. Bur. 2001) (rejecting claim
    by applicant that it should be excused because it relied upon a
    third-party that was late in filing).

[^12]: S*ee* Instructions for Completing the Schools and Libraries
    Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB
    3060-0806 at 17 (November 2001) (FCC Form 471 Instructions). We note
    that the Commission's rules direct libraries to calculate their
    discounts by determining poverty and high-cost status, and selecting
    the appropriate discount rate from the matrix. 47 C.F.R.§54.505(b)
    and (c).

[^13]: FCC Form 471 Instructions, 17 (stating libraries should contact
    schools for the discount amount or for data).

[^14]: Waiver Request. *See also* FCC Form 471, New Carlisle Olive
    Public Library, filed January 2002. (enclosing data from New Prairie
    United School Corporation dated January 23, 2002).

[^15]: While the Commission's rules do not set out a time-frame for the
    school lunch data being used, schools are given guidance in the
    instructions for FCC Form 471 to use data from the October 1 prior
    to the filing of the form or the most current data. *See*
    54.505(b)(2); *see also* FCC Form 471 Instructions, at 17. Schools
    gather that data regularly as it is the schools that rely on the
    free and reduced lunch program data to implement such programs.
    Libraries do not gather such data from students themselves, but are
    allowed to use past school district data. We note that if a school
    district has participated in the Universal Service program in the
    previous year, such data would be posted on the SLD website,
    \<[http://www.sl.universalservice.org/funding]{.underline}/\>.

[^16]: *See* *Request for Review by Winnebago Public School District,
    Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board
    of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.,*
    File No. SLD-109845, CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 15 FCC
    Rcd 6999 (Com. Car. Bur. 1999) ("To simply advert... to its limited
    resources and the needs of its students, does not distinguish its
    situation from other applications the SLD must process each funding
    year in accordance with its filing deadlines."