GAO-01-955R

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, DC 20548

B-288296

July 26, 2001

The Honorable Ernest F. Hollings

Chairman

The Honorable John McCain

Ranking Minority Member

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

United States Senate

The Honorable W.J. “Billy” Tauzin

Chairman

The Honorable John D. Dingell

Ranking Minority Member

Committee on Energy and Commerce

House of Representatives

Subject: Federal Communications Commission: Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2001

Pursuant to section 801(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, this is our report on a

major rule promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), entitled

“Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2001” (MD Docket

No. 01-76, FCC 01-196). We received the rule on July 2, 2001. It was published in the

Federal Register as a final rule on July 11, 2001. 66 Fed. Reg. 36177

The final rule revises the regulatory fee schedule to bring it into compliance with the

amount of such fees Congress has required the FCC to collect for fiscal year 2001.

For FY 2001, the amount to be recovered is $200,146,000, or almost 7.75 percent

more than was required for FY 2000. The purpose of the fees is to recover the costs

of regulation in the areas of enforcement, policy and rulemaking, international and

user information activities.

Enclosed is our assessment of the FCC’s compliance with the procedural steps

required by section 801(a)(1)(B)(i) through (iv) of title 5 with respect to the rule.

Our review indicates that the FCC complied with the applicable requirements.

If you have any questions about this report, please contact James W. Vickers,

Assistant General Counsel, at (202) 512-8210. The official responsible for GAO

evaluation work relating to the subject matter of the rule is John Anderson,
Page 2 GAO-01-955R

Managing Director, Physical Infrastructure. Mr. Anderson can be reached at (202)

512-2834.

signed

Kathleen E. Wannisky

Managing Associate General Counsel

Enclosure

cc: Terry Johnson

Program Analyst, AMD-PERM

Federal Communications Commission
GAO-01-955R

ENCLOSURE

ANALYSIS UNDER 5 U.S.C. § 801(a)(1)(B)(i)-(iv) OF A MAJOR RULE

ISSUED BY THE

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

ENTITLED

"ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF

REGULATORY FEES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2001"

(MD DOCKET NO. 01-76, FCC 01-196)

(i) Cost-benefit analysis

The FCC’s submission to our Office stated that it was not required to prepare and did

not prepare a cost-benefit analysis of the rule.

(ii) Agency actions relevant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 603-605,

607, and 609

The FCC prepared both Initial and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analyses, which were

incorporated into the proposed and final rule, respectively. The analyses contain the

required information, including the steps taken to reduce the burden on small

entities. These include the use of a single form for all fee-filing licensees and

regulatees. Because the collection of the fees is statutory in nature, other

alternatives that the FCC could use are necessarily restricted.

(iii) Agency actions relevant to sections 202-205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform

Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. §§ 1532-1535

As an independent regulatory agency, the FCC is not subject to title II of the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

(iv) Other relevant information or requirements under acts and executive orders

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.

The FCC promulgated this rule under the notice and comment procedures of 5 U.S.C.

553. A notice of proposed rulemaking was published on April 16, 2001, in the Federal

Register. 66 Fed. Reg. 19681. Comments were received from nine firms in response

to the notice and were considered in the issuance of the final rule.

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3520

The FCC requires the submission of FCC Form 159 with the payment of the annual

fees. The FCC had previously received Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

clearance for the form (OMB # 3060-0589).
Page 2 GAO-01-955R

Statutory authorization for the rule

The authority for this final rule is contained in sections 4(i) and (j), 8, 9, and 303(r) of

the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i) and (j), 159, and

303(r).

Executive Order No. 12866

As the rule is promulgated by an independent regulatory agency, it is not subject to

the review requirements of Executive Order No. 12866.