Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 71991 

approved this incorporation by 

reference action under Title 1 Code of 

Federal Regulations part 51, subject to 

the annual revision of FAA JO Order 

7400.11 and publication of conforming 

amendments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colby Abbott, Rules and Regulations 

Group, Office of Policy, Federal 

Aviation Administration, 800 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington, 

DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267–8783. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The FAA published a final rule in the 

Federal Register for Docket No. FAA– 

2023–1325 (88 FR 65311, September 22, 

2023), amending VOR Federal airway 

V–36 and establishing Canadian RNAV 

route T–675 within U.S. airspace. In the 

final rule, the FAA added a cross-border 

route segment to T–675, at NavCanada’s 

request, and explained the inclusion of 

the additional route segment as a 

difference from the proposed action 

published in the notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM). The effective date 

for that final rule is November 30, 2023. 

After publishing the final rule, the FAA 

realized that not all the necessary 

aeronautical data required for 

establishing the additional segment of 

Canadian RNAV route T–675 within 

U.S. airspace had been submitted in 

time or accomplished for updating the 

FAA’s National Airspace System 

Resource (NASR) database to meet the 

November 30, 2023, effective date. The 

FAA has determined delaying the 

effective date for the entire rule prevents 

confusion associated with amending V– 

36 and establishing T–675 in Airspace 

Docket 23–AGL–17 with two different 

effective dates for two chart cycles four 

months apart, and ensures all of the V– 

36 and T–675 actions publish accurately 

and concurrently on the same date. 

The FAA expects to complete the 

associated aeronautical data 

requirements and update the NASR 

database for establishing all segments of 

Canadian RNAV route T–675 by March 

21, 2024; therefore, the rule amending 

VOR Federal airway V–36 and 

establishing Canadian RNAV route T– 

675 within US airspace is delayed to 

coincide with that date. 

VOR Federal airways are published in 

paragraph 6010(a) and Canadian Area 

Navigation Routes (T-routes) are 

published in paragraph 6013 of FAA JO 

Order 7400.11, Airspace Designations 

and Reporting Points, which is 

incorporated by reference in 14 CFR 

71.1 on an annual basis. This document 

amends the current version of that 

order, FAA Order JO 7400.11H, dated 

August 11, 2023, and effective 

September 15, 2023. FAA Order JO 

7400.11H is publicly available online at 

www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/. 

You may also contact the Rules and 

Regulations Group, Office of Policy, 

Federal Aviation Administration, 800 

Independence Avenue SW, Washington 

DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267–8783. 

FAA Order JO 7400.11H lists Class A, 

B, C, D, and E airspace areas, air traffic 

service routes, and reporting points. 

Good Cause for No Notice and 

Comment 

Section 553(b)(3)(B) of Title 5, United 

States Code, (the Administrative 

Procedure Act) authorizes agencies to 

dispense with notice and comment 

procedures for rules when the agency 

for ‘‘good cause’’ finds that those 

procedures are ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ Under this section, an agency, 

upon finding good cause, may issue a 

final rule without seeking comment 

prior to the rulemaking. The FAA finds 

that prior notice and public comment to 

this final rule is unnecessary due to the 

brief length of the extension of the 

effective date and the fact that there is 

no substantive change to the rule. 

Delay of Effective Date 

Accordingly, pursuant to the 

authority delegated to me, the effective 

date of the final rule, Airspace Docket 

23–AGL–17, as published in the Federal 

Register on September 22, 2023 (88 FR 

65311), FR Doc. 2023–20449, is hereby 

delayed until March 21, 2024. 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g); 40103, 

40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 

1959–1963 Comp., P. 389. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 13, 

2023. 

Karen L. Chiodini, 

Acting Manager, Rules and Regulations 

Group. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22993 Filed 10–18–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Industry and Security 

15 CFR Part 744 

[Docket No. 231013–0245] 

RIN 0694–AJ41 

Entity List Additions 

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and 

Security, Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this rule, the Bureau of 

Industry and Security (BIS) amends the 

Export Administration Regulations 

(EAR) by adding 13 entities to the Entity 

List under the destination of the 

People’s Republic of China (China). 

These entities have been determined by 

the U.S. Government to be acting 

contrary to the national security or 

foreign policy interests of the United 

States. 

DATES: This rule is effective October 17, 

2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chair, End-User Review Committee, 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Export Administration, Bureau of 

Industry and Security, Department of 

Commerce, Phone: (202) 482–5991, 

Email: ERC@bis.doc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Entity List (supplement no. 4 to 

part 744 of the EAR (15 CFR parts 730– 

774)) identifies entities for which there 

is reasonable cause to believe, based on 

specific and articulable facts, that the 

entities have been involved, are 

involved, or pose a significant risk of 

being or becoming involved in activities 

contrary to the national security or 

foreign policy interests of the United 

States, pursuant to § 744.11(b). The EAR 

impose additional license requirements 

on, and limit the availability of, most 

license exceptions for exports, 

reexports, and transfers (in-country) 

when a listed entity is a party to the 

transaction. The license review policy 

for each listed entity is identified in the 

‘‘License Review Policy’’ column on the 

Entity List, and the impact on the 

availability of license exceptions is 

described in the relevant Federal 

Register document that added the entity 

to the Entity List. The Bureau of 

Industry and Security (BIS) places 

entities on the Entity List pursuant to 

parts 744 (Control Policy: End-User and 

End-Use Based) and 746 (Embargoes 

and Other Special Controls) of the EAR. 

The End-User Review Committee 

(ERC), composed of representatives of 

the Departments of Commerce (Chair), 

State, Defense, Energy and, where 

appropriate, the Treasury, makes all 

decisions regarding additions to, 

removals from, or other modifications to 

the Entity List. The ERC makes all 

decisions to add an entry to the Entity 

List by majority vote and makes all 

decisions to remove or modify an entry 

by unanimous vote. 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
71992 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

Entity List Decisions 

Additions to the Entity List 

The ERC determined to add Beijing 

Biren Technology Development Co., 

Ltd.; Guangzhou Biren Integrated 

Circuit Co., Ltd.; Hangzhou Biren 

Technology Development Co., Ltd.; 

Light Cloud (Hangzhou) Technology 

Co., Ltd.; Moore Thread Intelligent 

Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.; Moore 

Thread Intelligent Technology 

(Chengdu) Co., Ltd.; Moore Thread 

Intelligent Technology (Shanghai) Co., 

Ltd.; Shanghai Biren Information 

Technology Co., Ltd.; Shanghai Biren 

Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd.; Shanghai 

Biren Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.; 

Superburning Semiconductor (Nanjing) 

Co., Ltd.; Suzhou Xinyan Holdings Co., 

Ltd.; and Zhuhai Biren Integrated 

Circuit Co., Ltd., all under the 

destination of China, to the Entity List. 

These entities are involved in the 

development of advanced computing 

integrated circuits (ICs). As described in 

an upcoming amendment to regulations 

regarding advanced computing items 

and supercomputer and semiconductor 

end use, advanced computing ICs can be 

used to provide artificial intelligence 

capabilities to further development of 

weapons of mass destruction, advanced 

weapons systems, and high-tech 

surveillance applications that create 

national security concerns. This activity 

is contrary to U.S. national security and 

foreign policy interests under § 744.11 

of the EAR. For all of these entities, BIS 

imposes a license requirement for all 

items subject to the EAR, which will be 

reviewed under a presumption of 

denial. They are also given a footnote 4 

designation, which means that ‘‘items 

subject to the EAR,’’ for the purpose of 

these license requirements, include 

foreign-produced items that are subject 

to the EAR pursuant to § 734.9(e)(2) of 

the EAR. 

For the reasons described above, this 

final rule adds the following 13 entities, 

including aliases where appropriate, to 

the Entity List: 

China 

• Beijing Biren Technology 

Development Co., Ltd.; 

• Guangzhou Biren Integrated Circuit 

Co., Ltd.; 

• Hangzhou Biren Technology 

Development Co., Ltd.; 

• Light Cloud (Hangzhou) 

Technology Co., Ltd.; 

• Moore Thread Intelligent 

Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.; 

• Moore Thread Intelligent 

Technology (Chengdu) Co., Ltd.; 

• Moore Thread Intelligent 

Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.; 

• Shanghai Biren Information 

Technology Co., Ltd.; 

• Shanghai Biren Integrated Circuit 

Co., Ltd.; 

• Shanghai Biren Intelligent 

Technology Co., Ltd.; 

• Superburning Semiconductor 

(Nanjing) Co., Ltd.; 

• Suzhou Xinyan Holdings Co., Ltd.; 

and 

• Zhuhai Biren Integrated Circuit Co., 

Ltd. 

Savings Clause 

For the changes being made in this 

final rule, shipments of items removed 

from eligibility for a License Exception 

or export, reexport, or transfer (incountry) without a license (NLR) as a 

result of this regulatory action that were 

en route aboard a carrier to a port of 

export, reexport, or transfer (in-country), 

on October 17, 2023, pursuant to actual 

orders for export, reexport, or transfer 

(in-country) to or within a foreign 

destination, may proceed to that 

destination under the previous 

eligibility for a License Exception or 

export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) 

without a license (NLR) before 

November 16, 2023. Any such items not 

actually exported, reexported or 

transferred (in-country) before midnight, 

on October 17, 2023, require a license in 

accordance with this final rule. 

Export Control Reform Act of 2018 

On August 13, 2018, the President 

signed into law the John S. McCain 

National Defense Authorization Act for 

Fiscal Year 2019, which included the 

Export Control Reform Act of 2018 

(ECRA) (50 U.S.C. 4801–4852). ECRA 

provides the legal basis for BIS’s 

principal authorities and serves as the 

authority under which BIS issues this 

rule. 

Rulemaking Requirements 

1. This rule has been determined to be 

not significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

2. Notwithstanding any other 

provision of law, no person is required 

to respond to or be subject to a penalty 

for failure to comply with a collection 

of information, subject to the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.) (PRA), unless that collection of 

information displays a currently valid 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Control Number. This regulation 

involves an information collection 

approved by OMB under control 

number 0694–0088, Simplified Network 

Application Processing System. BIS 

does not anticipate a change to the 

burden hours associated with this 

collection as a result of this rule. 

Information regarding the collection, 

including all supporting materials, can 

be accessed at https://www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain. 

3. This rule does not contain policies 

with federalism implications as that 

term is defined in Executive Order 

13132. 

4. Pursuant to section 1762 of the 

Export Control Reform Act of 2018, this 

action is exempt from the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

553) requirements for notice of 

proposed rulemaking, opportunity for 

public participation, and delay in 

effective date. 

5. Because a notice of proposed 

rulemaking and an opportunity for 

public comment are not required to be 

given for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or 

by any other law, the analytical 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., are 

not applicable. Accordingly, no 

regulatory flexibility analysis is 

required, and none has been prepared. 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 744 

Exports, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Terrorism. 

Accordingly, part 744 of the Export 

Administration Regulations (15 CFR 

parts 730–774) is amended as follows: 

PART 744—END-USE AND END-USER 

CONTROLS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 744 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 50 U.S.C. 4801–4852; 50 U.S.C. 

4601 et seq.; 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 

3201 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 2139a; 22 U.S.C. 7201 

et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 7210; E.O. 12058, 43 FR 

20947, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 179; E.O. 

12851, 58 FR 33181, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 

608; E.O. 12938, 59 FR 59099, 3 CFR, 1994 

Comp., p. 950; E.O. 13026, 61 FR 58767, 3 

CFR, 1996 Comp., p. 228; E.O. 13099, 63 FR 

45167, 3 CFR, 1998 Comp., p. 208; E.O. 

13222, 66 FR 44025, 3 CFR, 2001 Comp., p. 

783; E.O. 13224, 66 FR 49079, 3 CFR, 2001 

Comp., p. 786; Notice of November 8, 2022, 

87 FR 68015, 3 CFR, 2022 Comp., p. 563; 

Notice of September 7, 2023, 88 FR 62439 

(September 11, 2023). 

■ 2. Supplement no. 4 is amended 

under CHINA, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 

by adding, in alphabetical order, entries 

for ‘‘Beijing Biren Technology 

Development Co., Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Guangzhou 

Biren Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd.;’’ 

‘‘Hangzhou Biren Technology 

Development Co., Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Light Cloud 

(Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd.;’’ 

‘‘Moore Thread Intelligent Technology 

(Beijing) Co., Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Moore Thread 

Intelligent Technology (Chengdu) Co., 

Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Moore Thread Intelligent 

Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.’’, 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 71993 

‘‘Shanghai Biren Information 

Technology Co., Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Shanghai Biren 

Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Shanghai 

Biren Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.;’’ 

‘‘Superburning Semiconductor 

(Nanjing) Co., Ltd.;’’ ‘‘Suzhou Xinyan 

Holdings Co., Ltd.;’’ and ‘‘Zhuhai Biren 

Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd.’’ to read as 

follows: 

Supplement No. 4 to Part 744—Entity 

List 

* * * * * 

Country Entity License requirement License review policy Federal Register citation 

*******

CHINA, PEOPLE’S 

REPUBLIC OF.

* * * * * * 

Beijing Biren Technology Development Co., 

Ltd., Building 13, Room 201, 9th Floor, 

Wangjing East Area, Zone 4, Chaoyang 

District, Beijing, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

Guangzhou Biren Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., 

Room 1061, Room 406, No. 1 Yichuang 

Street, Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, Huangpu District, Guangzhou, 

China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

Hangzhou Biren Technology Development 

Co., Ltd., Building A, Room 3029, 3rd 

Floor, No. 482 Qianmo Road, Binjiang District, Hangzhou, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

Light Cloud (Hangzhou) Technology Co., 

Ltd., Room 403, Building 15, No. 1818–2, 

Wenyi West Road, Yuhang Street, Yuhang 

District, Hangzhou, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

Moore Thread Intelligent Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., a.k.a, the following two 

aliases: 

—Moore Threads; and 

—Mo’er Xianchen. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

Room 209, Floor 2, No. 31, Haidian Street, 

Haidian District, Beijing, China; and Building 14, B655, 4th Floor, Cuiwei Zhongli, 

Haidian District, Beijing, China; and Units 

04 and 05, Floor 12, No. 3, Jinke Road, 

Shanghai, China; and Building B, B2– 

1405, No. 15 Keyuan Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China; and Building 6 

Floors 1 and 3, Wangjing East Road, 

Chaoyang District, Beijing, China; and 

R&D Center Building, No. R2505, Floors 

1–14 and 16–28, East Lake New Technology Development Zone, Wuhan, China; 

and Building 4, Room 1502, Floor 15, 

Taiwei Smart Chain Center, Xi’an, China; 

and Building 1, Room 31816, 3rd Floor, 

Puyan Street, Binjiang District, Hangzhou, 

China. 

Moore Thread Intelligent Technology 

(Chengdu) Co., Ltd., Building 2, No. 23– 

32, 12th Floor, Block E5, Chengdu Hightech Zone, Pilot Free Trade Zone, 

Chengdu, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

Moore Thread Intelligent Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Units 1–5, 12th Floor, No. 2, 

Jinke Road, Pilot Free Trade Zone, Shanghai, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

Shanghai Biren Information Technology Co., 

Ltd., Building 2, No. 692 Yongjia Road, 

Xuhui District, Shanghai, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

Shanghai Biren Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., 

Building 16, Room 1301, 13th Floor, No. 

2388 Chenhang Highway, Minhang District, Shanghai, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

Shanghai Biren Intelligent Technology Co., 

Ltd., a.k.a., the following two aliases: 

—Biren; and 

—Biren Technology. 

Building 16, Room 1302, 13th Floor, No. 

2388 Chenhang Highway, Minhang District, Shanghai, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
71994 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 201 / Thursday, October 19, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

Country Entity License requirement License review policy Federal Register citation 

Superburning Semiconductor (Nanjing) Co., 

Ltd., 

No. 8, Lanhua Road, Room 806, Building 4, 

Pukou District, Nanjing, China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

Suzhou Xinyan Holdings Co., Ltd., a.k.a., the 

following one alias: 

—Shanghai Xinzhili Enterprise Development 

Co., Ltd. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

Modern Logistics Building (no. 112), Room 

139, No. 88 Modern Avenue, Suzhou Industrial Park, Free Trade Pilot Zone 

Suzhou Area, Suzhou, China; and Building 

C, No. 888 Huanhu West 2nd Road, 

Lingang New Area, Shanghai, China. 

* * * * * * 

Zhuhai Biren Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., 

Building 18, Room 419, No. 1889 Huandao 

East Road, Hengqin New District, Zhuhai, 

China. 

For all items subject to the 

EAR. (See §§ 734.9(e)(2) 

and 744.11 of the EAR) 4. 

Presumption of denial ............ 88 FR [INSERT FR PAGE 

NUMBER ] 10/19/2023. 

******

*******

******* 4For this entity, ‘‘items subject to the EAR’’ includes foreign-produced items that are subject to the EAR under § 734.9(e)(2) of the EAR. See § 744.11(a)(2)(ii) for 

related license requirements and license review policy. 

Thea D. Rozman Kendler, 

Assistant Secretary for Export 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23048 Filed 10–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–33–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 64 

[CG Docket Nos. 03–123, 10–51; FCC 23– 

78; FR ID 177808] 

Video Relay Service Compensation 

Formula 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, to ensure 

that the providers of 

Telecommunications Relay Services 

(TRS) are compensated for the provision 

of Video Relay Service (VRS), the 

Federal Communications Commission 

(Commission) adopts a formula to 

compensate such providers from the 

Interstate TRS Fund (TRS Fund) for the 

provision of service for the next fiveyear compensation period. 

DATES: This rule has been classified as 

a major rule subject to Congressional 

review. The effective date is December 

18, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Scott, Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, 202–418– 

1264, Michael.Scott@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Report 

and Order, in CG Docket Nos. 03–123 

and 10–51; FCC 23–78, adopted on 

September 22, 2023, released on 

September 28, 2023. The Commission 

previously sought comment on these 

issues in a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, published at 86 FR 29969, 

June 4, 2021, with a correction 

published at 86 FR 31668, July 15, 2021. 

The full text of this document can be 

accessed electronically via the FCC’s 

Electronic Document Management 

System (EDOCS) website at https://

docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC23-78A1.pdf or via the FCC’s Electronic 

Comment Filing System (ECFS) website 

at www.fcc.gov/ecfs. To request 

materials in accessible formats for 

people with disabilities (Braille, large 

print, electronic files, audio format), 

send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov, or call 

the Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at (202) 418–0530 (voice). 

Synopsis 

1. Section 225 of the Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), 

requires the Commission to ensure the 

availability of Telecommunications 

Relay Services (TRS) to persons who are 

deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind or 

have speech disabilities, ‘‘to the extent 

possible and in the most efficient 

manner.’’ 47 U.S.C. 225(b)(1). TRS are 

defined as ‘‘telephone transmission 

services’’ enabling such persons to 

communicate by wire or radio ‘‘in a 

manner that is functionally equivalent 

to the ability of a hearing individual 

who does not have a speech disability 

to communicate using voice 

communication services.’’ 47 U.S.C. 

225(a)(2). VRS, a relay service that 

allows people with hearing or speech 

disabilities who use sign language to 

communicate with voice telephone 

users through video equipment, is 

supported entirely by the TRS Fund. 

VRS providers are compensated for the 

reasonable costs of providing VRS in 

accordance with payment formulas 

approved by the Commission. In a 

number of decisions over the past 20 

years, the Commission has addressed 

whether certain cost categories are 

reasonable costs eligible for recovery 

from the TRS Fund. Reasonable costs 

are generally defined as those costs that 

providers must incur to provide relay 

service in accordance with mandatory 

minimum TRS standards. 

2. In 2007, to ensure that VRS users 

could choose from a range of service 

offerings, despite significant disparities 

in VRS providers’ market shares and 

per-minute costs, the Commission 

introduced a tiered compensation 

structure for VRS. Under this approach, 

a VRS provider’s monthly compensation 

payment is calculated based on the 

application of different per-minute 

amounts to each of three specified 

‘‘tiers’’ of minutes of service. The 

highest per-minute amount applies to an 

initial tier of minutes up to a defined 

maximum number, a lower amount 

applies to the next tier, again up to a 

second defined maximum number of 

minutes, and a still lower amount 

applies to any minutes of service in 

excess of the second maximum. Under 

the tiered approach, providers that 

handle a relatively small amount of 

minutes and therefore have relatively 

higher per-minute costs will receive 

compensation on a monthly basis that 

likely more accurately correlates to their 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1