#### § 54.621 Filing window for requests and prioritization of support.

(a) *Filing window for requests.*

(1) The Administrator shall open an initial application filing window with an end date no later than 90 days prior to the start of the funding year (*i.e.,* no later than April 1). Prior to announcing the initial opening and closing dates, the Administrator shall seek the approval of the proposed dates from the Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau.

(2) The Administrator, after consultation with the Wireline Competition Bureau, may implement such additional filing periods as it deems necessary. To the extent that the Administrator opens an additional filing period, it shall provide notice and include in that notice or soon thereafter the amount of remaining available funding.

(3) The Administrator shall treat all health care providers filing an application within a filing window period as if their applications were simultaneously received. All funding requests submitted outside of a filing window will not be accepted unless and until the Administrator opens another filing window.

(b) *Prioritization of support.* The Administrator shall act in accordance with this section when a filing window period for the Telecommunications Program and the Healthcare Connect Fund Program, as described in paragraph (a) of this section, is in effect. When a filing period described in paragraph (a) of this section closes, the Administrator shall calculate the total demand for Telecommunications Program and Healthcare Connect Fund Program support submitted by all applicants during the filing window period.

(1) *Circumstances in which prioritization applies.* If the total demand during the filing window period exceeds the total remaining support available for the funding year, prioritization will apply in the following circumstances:

(i) *Internal cap.* If the internal cap is exceeded, the Administrator shall determine whether demand for upfront payments and the first year of multi-year commitments exceeds the internal cap. If such demand exceeds the internal cap, the Administrator shall not fund the second and third year of multi-year commitment requests and then apply the prioritization schedule in paragraph (b)(2) of this section to all eligible requests for upfront payments and the first-year of multi-year commitments to limit the demand for upfront payments and the first year of multi-year commitments within the internal cap. If demand for upfront payments and the first year of multi-year commitments does not exceed the internal cap, the Administrator shall apply the prioritization schedule in paragraph (b)(2) of this section to the second and third year of all eligible requests for multi-year commitments until the internal cap is reached, to ensure that the internal cap is not exceeded.

(ii) *Overall cap.* If the internal cap is not exceeded or if, after demand for upfront payments and multi-year commitments is limited within the internal cap in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, the total remaining demand still exceeds the total remaining support available for the funding year, the Administrator shall apply the prioritization schedule in paragraph (b)(2) of this section to all remaining eligible funding requests.

(2) *Application of prioritization schedule.* When prioritization is necessary under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the Administrator shall fully fund all applicable eligible requests falling under the first prioritization category of table 1 to this paragraph (b)(2) before funding requests in the next lower prioritization category. The Administrator shall continue to process all applicable requests by prioritization category until there are no applicable funds remaining. If there is insufficient funding to fully fund all requests in a particular prioritization category, then the Administrator will pro-rate the applicable remaining funding among all applicable eligible requests in that prioritization category only pursuant to the proration process described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section.

| Health care provider site is located in: | In a medically
underserved area/
population
(MUA/P) | Not in MUA/P |
| --- | --- | --- |
| *Extremely Rural Tier* (areas entirely outside of a Core Based Statistical Area) | *Priority 1* | *Priority 4.* |
| *Rural Tier* (areas within a Core Based Statistical Area that does not have an urban area or urban cluster with a population equal to or greater than 25,000) | *Priority 2* | *Priority 5.* |
| *Less Rural Tier* (areas within a Core Based Statistical Area with an urban area or urban cluster with a population equal to or greater than 25,000, but where the census tract does not contain any part of an urban area or urban cluster with population equal to or greater than 25,000) | *Priority 3* | *Priority 6.* |
| *Non-Rural Tier* (all other non-rural areas) | *Priority 7* | *Priority 8.* |

Table 1 to Paragraph (b)(2)—Prioritization Schedule

(3) *Pro-rata reductions.* When proration is necessary under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, the Administrator shall take the following steps:

(i) The Administrator shall divide the total applicable remaining funds available for the funding year by the applicable demand within the specific prioritization category to produce a pro-rata factor; and

(ii) The Administrator shall multiply the pro-rata factor by the dollar amount of each applicable funding request in the prioritization category to obtain prorated support for each funding request.

(4) *Evergreen designations.* The Administrator shall designate the underlying contracts associated with any multi-year commitment requests that are not fully funded as a result of the prioritization process in this section as “evergreen” provided that those contracts meet the requirements under § 54.622(i)(3)(ii).

[84 FR 54979, Oct. 11, 2019, as amended at 88 FR 17396, Mar. 23, 2023]