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[Senate Report 115-192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                      Calendar No. 282
115th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session      }                                      {     115-192
_______________________________________________________________________

  A BILL TO REQUIRE THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES TO 
 CONDUCT A STUDY AND SUBMIT A REPORT ON FILING REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE 
                    UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND PROGRAMS

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                                 S. 875

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

               December 11, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                   ______

                         U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 

79-010                         WASHINGTON : 2017 

       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                     one hundred fifteenth congress
                             first session

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
 ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida
 ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
 TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
 DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
 JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
 DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
 DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey
 JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma            TOM UDALL, New Mexico
 MIKE LEE, Utah                       GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
 RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
 SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West           TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
    Virginia
 CORY GARDNER, Colorado               MARGARETWOODHASSAN,NewHampshire
 TODD C. YOUNG, Indiana               CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
           Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
                                                      Calendar No. 282
115th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session      }                                      {     115-192
======================================================================

 
   A BILL TO REQUIRE THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES TO 
 CONDUCT A STUDY AND SUBMIT A REPORT ON FILING REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE 
                    UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND PROGRAMS
                                _______
                                

               December 11, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 875]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 875) to require the Comptroller 
General of the United States to conduct a study and submit a 
report on filing requirements under the Universal Service Fund 
programs, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and 
recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    S. 875 would direct the Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) to study the various filing requirements the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC) and Universal Service 
Administrative Company (USAC) impose on companies receiving 
Universal Service Fund (USF) support. The GAO would be required 
to submit a report assessing the financial impact of these 
filings and recommending how to consolidate any redundant 
filing requirements. S. 875 also would require the FCC to 
incorporate the GAO report in an FCC rulemaking regarding 
consolidation of redundant filing requirements. The FCC also 
would be required to consider whether any recommendation would 
affect the FCC's ability to prevent and take enforcement action 
against waste, fraud, and abuse.

                          Background and Needs

    The FCC's USF supports four main programs: the Connect 
America Fund which provides support for wireline providers and, 
through the Mobility Fund, for mobile providers, in rural 
areas; lifeline, which provides support for low-income 
consumers for fixed or mobile service; Schools and Libraries, 
also known as E-Rate, which supports broadband for schools and 
libraries; and Rural Health Care, which supports broadband for 
health care providers. The USF is administered by the USAC, 
which distributes almost $10 billion in USF support 
annually.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), ``USAC 2016 
Annual Report,'' p.20, at https://www.usac.org/--res/documents/about/
pdf/annual-reports/usac-annual-report-interactive-2016.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Participants in programs funded by the USF are required to 
submit a wide variety of reports to both the FCC and to USAC 
annually.\2\ For example, Cordova Telephone Cooperative, Inc., 
a small rural telephone cooperative providing wireline and 
wireless service covering approximately 4,000 square miles in 
Alaska with a population of just over 2000, reported that, in 
2014, it was required to submit 91 regulatory filings to the 
FCC and USAC.\3\ Many of those filings required the use of 
outside consultants. A comprehensive review of these varied 
filing requirements may identify redundancies, unnecessary 
collections, or overly burdensome requirements not justified by 
their contribution to the operation of the fund or the 
prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\See, e.g., USAC, ``2017 High Cost Program Filing Deadlines,'' at 
http://www.usac.org/--res/documents/hc/pdf/handouts/hc-filing-
deadlines.pdf.
    \3\Letter from Michael Garrett, President, Alaska Telephone 
Association, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications 
Commission, April 23, 2015, WC Docket No. 10-90, attachment, at https:/
/ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/60001044502.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Legislative History

    S. 875 was introduced on April 6, 2017, by Senator Sullivan 
and was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate. On June 29, 2017, the Committee 
met in open Executive Session and, by a voice vote, ordered S. 
875 reported favorably with an amendment (in the nature of a 
substitute). Senator Sullivan offered a substitute amendment 
that was adopted by the Committee.
    A similar bill, H.R. 3523, was introduced in the House of 
Representative by Representative Don Young on July 27, 2017, 
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives.

                            Estimated Costs

    In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget 
Office:

 S. 875--A bill to require the Comptroller General of the United States 
        to conduct a study and submit a report on filing requirements 
        under the Universal Service Fund programs

    S. 875 would require the Government Accountability Office 
(GAO) to undertake a study and produce a report on 
consolidating filing requirements for participants in Universal 
Service Fund (USF) programs. Under the bill, the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC) would be required to initiate a 
rulemaking that includes recommendations from the GAO report 
and an analysis of whether the benefits of consolidated filing 
outweigh the potential risks of increased waste, fraud, and 
abuse in the USF program.
    Based on an analysis of information from the FCC, CBO 
estimates that implementing the provisions of S. 875 would 
require four additional employees and cost $1 million over the 
2018-2022 period for FCC to conduct the rulemaking and to 
produce the required analysis. However, under current law, the 
FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset the 
costs of its regulatory activities each year; therefore, CBO 
estimates that the net cost to the FCC to implement S. 875 
would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent 
with that authority. Based on the costs of similar reports 
produced by GAO, CBO estimates that the costs to the agency to 
conduct the required analysis and report would not be 
significant.
    Enacting S. 875 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting S. 875 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    S. 875 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no 
costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    If the FCC increases annual fee collections to offset the 
costs of the rulemaking and analysis required by the bill, S. 
875 would increase the cost of an existing private-sector 
mandate on commercial entities required to pay those fees. 
Based on information from the FCC, CBO estimates that the 
incremental cost of the mandate would be small--no more than 
about $1 million over the 2018-2022 period--and would fall well 
below the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-
sector mandates ($156 million in 2017, adjusted annually for 
inflation).
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Stephen Rabent 
(for federal costs) and Logan Smith (for private-sector 
mandates). The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Statement

    In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the 
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the 
legislation, as reported:

                       number of persons covered

    The bill would only apply to those persons already subject 
to filing requirements associated with the USF, and is intended 
to reduce those filing requirements. The bill would have no 
effect on the number or types of individuals and businesses 
regulated in the United States.

                            economic impact

    By reducing duplicative, unnecessary, and unduly burdensome 
reporting requirements, the bill is expected to have a positive 
economic impact.

                                privacy

    The bill is not expected to have an adverse effect on the 
personal privacy of any individuals.

                               paperwork

    The Committee does not anticipate an increased paperwork 
burden on regulated entities as a result of this bill.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no 
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the 
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the 
rule.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

Section 1. Study and report on filing requirements under Universal 
        Service Fund programs.

    This section would define terms used in the bill and would 
require the GAO, within 18 months of enactment of S. 875, to do 
the following: conduct a study analyzing the filing 
requirements for covered carriers participating in USF 
programs, including any filings required by the USAC; analyze 
the financial impact of those filing requirements on those 
carriers; and make recommendations, if any, on how to 
consolidate redundant filing requirements on those carriers. 
The GAO would be required to submit the study to the FCC, the 
Committee, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives. The Committee understands that, under 
the bill, the GAO is not required to study or consider filing 
requirements imposed upon specified carriers by the National 
Exchange Carrier Association (NECA). Nonetheless, the Committee 
believes that the GAO may still consider all relevant NECA 
reporting requirements in assessing opportunities to streamline 
FCC and USAC reporting requirements.
    Within 60 days of receiving the report developed by the 
GAO, the FCC would be required to initiate a rulemaking 
regarding, or to include in an ongoing rulemaking, GAO's 
recommendations, if any, to consolidate redundant filing 
requirements. The FCC also would be required to seek comment on 
whether the benefit of each recommendation is outweighed by any 
potential increased risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. In the 
event the FCC has completed a rulemaking to consolidate 
redundant filing requirements for carriers participating in USF 
programs before the GAO report is submitted to the FCC, the FCC 
would not be required to conduct a new rulemaking. The 
Committee believes that the FCC's July 7, 2017, report and 
order in WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 14-58 (FCC 17-87), which 
streamlined the annual reporting requirements for eligible 
telecommunications carriers receiving high-cost universal 
service support, does not constitute the broad review of all 
USF programs envisioned by S. 875.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the 
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.

                                  [all]
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