21924 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices 

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 

Notice of Open Special Meeting of the 

Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory 

Committee (SAAC) of the ExportImport Bank of the United States 

(Export-Import Bank) 

SUMMARY: The Sub-Saharan Africa 

Advisory Committee was established by 

Public Law 105–121, November 26, 

1997, to advise the Board of Directors on 

the development and implementation of 

policies and programs designed to 

support the expansion of the Bank’s 

financial commitments in Sub-Saharan 

Africa under the loan, guarantee, and 

insurance programs of the Bank. 

Further, the committee shall make 

recommendations on how the Bank can 

facilitate greater support by U.S. 

commercial banks for trade with SubSaharan Africa. 

DATES: Time and Place: Wednesday, 

April 30, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

The meeting will be held at the ExportImport Bank in Room 326, 811 Vermont 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20571. 

Agenda: Agenda items include a 

briefing for new 2014 Sub-Saharan 

Africa Advisory Committee members 

regarding bank programs in Africa and 

an ethics overview. 

Public Participation: The meeting will 

be open to public participation, and the 

last 10 minutes will be set aside for oral 

questions or comments. Members of the 

public may also file written statement(s) 

before or after the meeting. If any person 

wishes auxiliary aids (such as a sign 

language interpreter) or other special 

accommodations, please contact, prior 

to April 28, 2014, Richard Thelen, 811 

Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 

20571, Email: richard.thelen@exim.gov 

or TDD (202) 565–3377. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information, contact Richard 

Thelen, 811 Vermont Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20571, via email at: 

richard.thelen@exim.gov. 

Cristopolis A. Dieguez, 

Management and Program Analyst, Office of 

the Chief Financial Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2014–08873 Filed 4–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6690–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[WC Docket No. 11–42; DA 14–450] 

Wireline Competition Bureau 

Announces Release of Final Lifeline 

Biennial Audit Plan 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the 

Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) 

in conjunction with the Office of 

Managing Director (OMD), developed 

standard procedures for independent 

biennial audits of eligible 

telecommunications carriers (ETCs). By 

establishing uniform audit procedures 

to review the internal controls and 

processes of Lifeline service providers, 

the Bureau and OMD are implementing 

another major reform established by the 

Commission to protect the federal 

universal service fund from waste, fraud 

and abuse. 

DATES: Effective April 18, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Garnet Hanly, Telecommunications 

Access Policy Division, Wireline 

Competition Bureau at (202) 418–0995 

or TTY (202) 418–0484; or Thomas 

Buckley, Office of the Managing 

Director, at (202) 418–0725. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

synopsis of the Wireline Competition 

Bureau’s Public Notice in WC Docket 

No. 11–42; DA 14–450, released April 2, 

2014. The complete text of this 

document is available for inspection 

and copying during normal business 

hours in the FCC Reference Information 

Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., 

Room CY–A257, Washington, DC 20554. 

The document may also be purchased 

from the Commission’s duplicating 

contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. 

(BCPI), 445 12th Street SW., Room CY– 

B402, Washington, DC 20554, telephone 

(800) 378–3160 or (202) 863–2893, 

facsimile (202) 863–2898, or via the 

Internet at http://www.bcpiweb.com. It 

is also available on the Commission’s 

Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/

document/release-final-lifeline-biennialaudit-plan-announced. 

I. Introduction 

1. By this document, the Wireline 

Competition Bureau (Bureau) 

announces release of the final Lifeline 

Biennial Audit Plan, attached hereto as 

Attachment 3 (Audit Plan). In the 

Lifeline Reform Order, the Commission 

directed the Bureau, in conjunction 

with the Office of Managing Director 

(OMD), to develop standard procedures 

for independent biennial audits of 

eligible telecommunications carriers 

(ETCs) receiving $5 million or more 

annually from the low-income universal 

service support program. By 

establishing uniform audit procedures 

to review the internal controls and 

processes of Lifeline service providers, 

the Bureau and OMD are implementing 

another major reform established by the 

Commission to protect the federal 

universal service fund from waste, fraud 

and abuse. The appendices to the 

Biennial Audit Plan are available for 

public inspection at http://www.fcc.gov/ 

document/release-final-lifeline-biennialaudit-plan-announced and FCC 

Headquarters at 445 12th Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

2. The independent audit firms 

conducting these biennial audits must 

plan their engagements by using the 

approved procedures outlined in the 

final Audit Plan. The independent audit 

firms must be licensed, certified public 

accounting firms and must conduct the 

audits consistent with Generally 

Accepted Government Auditing 

Standards (GAGAS). The audits shall be 

performed as agreed-upon procedures 

(AUP) attestations. In addition, to 

ensure compliance with the 

Commission’s Lifeline requirements, the 

Universal Service Administrative 

Company (USAC) will conduct training 

for independent auditors performing the 

AUP engagements to ensure that the 

audits are performed in accordance with 

the Audit Plan. The independent 

auditors will be required to collect from 

the ETCs specific documents and 

completed questionnaires, which the 

independent auditors will inspect 

before conducting fieldwork testing and 

then preparing attestation reports. 

3. ETCs receiving $5 million or more 

from the low-income program, as 

determined on a holding company basis 

taking into account all operating 

companies and affiliates, for calendar 

year 2013 will be subject to the first 

round of biennial audits. A list of ETCs 

subject to this requirement is attached 

hereto as Attachment 2. As detailed in 

the Audit Plan, the final attestation 

report for each audit must be submitted 

within one year after release of the final 

Audit Plan, which is April 2, 2015 for 

the first biennial audit. 

II. Discussion 

A. Changes to Audit Plan 

4. In order to promote clarity, 

transparency and predictability in the 

Lifeline program, the Bureau, in 

conjunction with OMD, released a 

public notice seeking comment on the 

proposed Lifeline Biennial Audit Plan. 

The Bureau received several comments 

addressing the proposed Lifeline 

Biennial Audit Plan. In response to 

comments, the Bureau and OMD hereby 

revise the Audit Plan in certain parts. 

Specifically, we make the following 

revisions to the Audit Plan: 

5. Audit Period: The audit period has 

been revised to cover the period of 

January 1 through December 31. 

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