Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10793

(B) All persons in the Construction

Division are eligible for the program. All

persons who are being terminated in our

November RIF are selected for the

program.

(C) All persons who are being offered

consideration under a waiver agreement

must sign the agreement and return it to

the Personnel Office within 45 days

after receiving the waiver. Once the

signed waiver is returned to the

Personnel Office, the employee has 7

days to revoke the waiver agreement.

(D) The following is a listing of the

ages and job titles of persons in the

Construction Division who were and

were not selected for termination and

the offer of consideration for signing a

waiver:

Job title Age Number

selected

Number not

selected

(1) Mechanical Engineers, I ...................................................................................................................... 25 21 48

26 11 73

* * * * * * *

63 4 18

64 3 11

(2) Mechanical Engineers, II ..................................................................................................................... 28 3 10

29 11 17

(1)

(3) Structural Engineers, I ........................................................................................................................ 21 5 8

(1)

(4) Structural Engineers, II ....................................................................................................................... 23 2 4

(1)

(5) Purchasing Agents .............................................................................................................................. 26 10 11

(1)

1 etc., for all ages.

(g) Waivers settling charges and

lawsuits. (1) Section 7(f)(2) of the ADEA

provides that:

A waiver in settlement of a charge filed

with the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission, or an action filed in court by

the individual or the individual’s

representative, alleging age discrimination of

a kind prohibited under section 4 or 15 may

not be considered knowing and voluntary

unless at a minimum—

(A) Subparagraphs (A) through (E) of

paragraph (1) have been met; and

(B) The individual is given a reasonable

period of time within which to consider the

settlement agreement.

(2) The language in section 7(f)(2) of the

ADEA, ‘‘discrimination of a kind prohibited

under section 4 or 15’’ refers to allegations

of age discrimination of the type prohibited

by the ADEA.

(3) The standards set out in section (f) of

these regulations for complying with the

provisions of section 7(f)(1)(A)-(E) of the

ADEA also will apply for purposes of

complying with the provisions of section

7(f)(2)(A) of the ADEA.

(4) The term ‘‘reasonable time within

which to consider the settlement agreement’’

means reasonable under all the

circumstances, including whether the

individual is represented by counsel or has

the assistance of counsel.

(5) However, while the time periods under

section 7(f)(1) of the ADEA do not apply to

subsection 7(f)(2) of the ADEA, a waiver

agreement under this subsection that

provides an employee the time periods

specified in section 7(f)(1) of the ADEA will

be considered ‘‘reasonable’’ for purposes of

section 7(f)(2)(B) of the ADEA.

(6) A waiver agreement in compliance with

this section that is in settlement of an EEOC

charge does not require the participation or

supervision of EEOC.

(h) Burden of proof. In any dispute

that may arise over whether any of the

requirements, conditions, and

circumstances set forth in section 7(f) of

the ADEA, subparagraph (A), (B), (C),

(D), (E), (F), (G), or (H) of paragraph (1),

or subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph

(2), have been met, the party asserting

the validity of a waiver shall have the

burden of proving in a court of

competent jurisdiction that a waiver

was knowing and voluntary pursuant to

paragraph (1) or (2) of section 7(f) of the

ADEA.

(i) EEOC’s enforcement powers. (1)

Section 7(f)(4) of the ADEA states:

No waiver agreement may affect the

Commission’s rights and responsibilities to

enforce [the ADEA]. No waiver may be used

to justify interfering with the protected right

of an employee to file a charge or participate

in an investigation or proceeding conducted

by the Commission.

(2) No waiver agreement may include

any provision prohibiting any

individual from:

(i) Filing a charge or complaint,

including a challenge to the validity of

the waiver agreement, with EEOC, or

(ii) Participating in any investigation

or proceeding conducted by EEOC.

(3) No waiver agreement may include

any provision imposing any condition

precedent, any penalty, or any other

limitation adversely affecting any

individual’s right to:

(i) File a charge or complaint,

including a challenge to the validity of

the waiver agreement, with EEOC, or

(ii) Participate in any investigation or

proceeding conducted by EEOC.

(j) Effective date of this section. (1)

This section is effective [30 days after

publication of the final rule in the

Federal Register.]

(2) This section applies to waivers

offered by employers on or after the

effective date specified in paragraph

(j)(1) of this section.

(3) No inference is to be drawn from

this section regarding the validity of

waivers offered prior to the effective

date.

(k) Statutory authority. The

regulations in this section are legislative

regulations issued pursuant to section 9

of the ADEA and Title II of OWBPA.

[FR Doc. 97–5745 Filed 3–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6570–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[MD Docket No. 96–186; FCC 97–49]

Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees For Fiscal Year 1997

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Commission is proposing

to revise its Schedule of Regulatory Fees

in order to recover the amount of

regulatory fees that Congress has

required it to collect for fiscal year 1997.

Section 9 of the Communications Act of

1934, as amended, provides for the

annual assessment and collection of
10794 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

regulatory fees. For fiscal year 1997

sections 9(b) (2) and (3) provide for

annual ‘‘Mandatory Adjustments’’ and

‘‘Permitted Amendments’’ to the

Schedule of Regulatory Fees. These

revisions will further the National

Performance Review goals of

reinventing Government by requiring

beneficiaries of Commission services to

pay for such services.

DATES: Comments are due on or before

March 25, 1997 and Reply Comments

are due on or before April 4, 1997.

ADDRESSES; Comments and reply

comments should be sent to the Office

of the Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission,

Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter W. Herrick, Office of Managing

Director at (202) 418–0443, or Terry D.

Johnson, Office of Managing Director at

(202) 418–0445.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Adopted:

February 14, 1997; Released: March 5,

1997.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Topic Paragraph

Nos.

I. Introduction .......................... 1–3

II. Background .......................... 4–7

III. Discussion .......................... 8–51

A. Summary of FY 1997 Fee

Methodology ..................... 8–12

B. Development of FY 1997

Fees ................................... 13–25

1. Adjustment of Payment

Units .................................. 13

2. Calculation of Revenue

Requirements .................... 14

3. Calculation of Regulatory

Costs .................................. 15–16

4. Establishment of 25%

Revenue Ceiling ................ 17–18

5. Recalculation Of Fees ...... 19

6. Other Proposed Change—

Consolidation of Private

Microwave and Domestic

Public Fixed Fee Categories ............................... 20–24

7. Effect of Revenue Redistributions on Major Constituencies ......................... 25

C. Other Issues ..................... 26–43

1. Commercial AM/FM

Radio ................................. 26–37

2. Personal Communications

Service (PCS) .................... 38

3. Commercial Mobile Radio

Services (CMRS) ............... 39

4. Intelsat & Inmarsat Signatories .............................. 40–42

5. Non-Common Carrier

International Bearer Circuits ................................... 43

D. Procedures for Payment

of Regulatory Fees ............ 44–50

1. Annual Payments of

Standard Fees ................... 45

Topic Paragraph

Nos.

2. Installment Payments for

Large Fees ......................... 46

3. Advance Payments of

Small Fees ......................... 47

4. Minimum Fee Payment

Liability ............................. 48

5. Standard Fee Calculations

and Payments ................... 49–50

E. Schedule of Regulatory

Fees ................................... 51

IV. Procedural Matters ............ 52–60

A. Comment Period and

Procedures ........................ 52

B. Ex Parte Rules ................. 53

C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis .................. 54

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

Compliance ....................... 55–58

E. Authority and Further Information ........................... 59–60

Attachment A—Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis

Attachment B—Sources of Payment

Unit Estimates

Attachment C—Calculation of Revenue

Requirements

Attachment D—Calculation of

Regulatory Costs

Attachment E—Calculation of FY 1997

Regulatory Fees

Attachment F—Schedule of Regulatory

Fees

Attachment G—Comparison Between

FY 1996 and FY 1997 Fees

Attachment H—Detailed Guidance on

Who Must Pay Regulatory Fees

Attachment I—Description of FCC

Activities

I. Introduction

1. By this Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, the Commission

commences a proceeding to revise its

Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order to

recover the amount of regulatory fees

that Congress, pursuant to Section 9(a)

of the Communications Act, as

amended, has required it to collect for

Fiscal Year (FY) 1997. See 47 U.S.C.

§ 159 (a).

2. Congress has required that we

collect $152,523,000 through regulatory

fees in order to recover the costs of our

enforcement, policy and rulemaking,

international and user information

activities for FY 1997. Public Law 104–

208 and 47 U.S.C. § 159(a)(2). This

amount is $26,123,000 or nearly 21%

more than the amount that Congress

designated for recovery through

regulatory fees for FY 1996. See

Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1996,

FCC 96–295, released July 5, 1996, 61

FR 36629 (July 12, 1996). Thus, we are

proposing to revise our fees in order to

collect the increased amount that

Congress has required that we collect.

Additionally, we propose to amend the

Schedule in order to assess regulatory

fees upon licensees and/or regulatees of

services not previously subject to

payment of a fee, to simplify and

streamline the Fee Schedule, and to

clarify and/or revise certain payment

procedures. 47 U.S.C. § 159(b)(3).

3. In proposing to revise our fees, we

adjusted the payment units and revenue

requirement for each service subject to

a fee, consistent with Sections 159(b)(2)

and (3). In addition, we have made

changes to the fees pursuant to public

interest considerations. The current

Schedule of Regulatory Fees is set forth

in sections 1.1152 through 1.1156 of the

Commission’s rules. 47 CFR §§ 1.1152

through 1.1156.

II. Background

4. Section 9(a) of the Communications

Act of 1934, as amended, authorizes the

Commission to assess and collect

annual regulatory fees to recover the

costs, as determined annually by

Congress, that it incurs in carrying out

enforcement, policy and rulemaking,

international, and user information

activities. 47 U.S.C. 159(a). See

Attachment I for a description of feeable

activities. In our FY 1994 Fee Report

and Order, 59 FR 30984 (June 16, 1994),

we adopted the Schedule of Regulatory

Fees that Congress established and we

prescribed rules to govern payment of

the fees, as required by Congress. 47

U.S.C. § 159(b), (f)(1). Subsequently, in

our FY 1995 and FY 1996 Fee Reports

and Orders, 60 FR 34004 (June 29, 1995)

and 61 FR 36629 (July 12, 1996), we

modified the Schedule to increase by

approximately 93 percent and 9 percent,

respectively, the revenue generated by

these fees in accordance with the

amounts Congress required us to collect

in FY 1995 and FY 1996. Also, in both

our FY 1995 and FY 1996 Fee Reports

and Orders, we amended certain rules

governing our regulatory fee program

based upon our experience

administering the program in prior

years. See 47 CFR §§ 1.1151 et seq.

5. As noted above, for FY 1994 we

adopted the Schedule of Regulatory

Fees established in Section 9(g) of the

Act. For fiscal years after FY 1994,

however, Sections 9(b)(2) and (3),

respectively, provide for ‘‘Mandatory

Adjustments’’ and ‘‘Permitted

Amendments’’ to the Schedule of

Regulatory Fees. 47 U.S.C. § 159(b)(2),

(b)(3). Section 9(b)(2), entitled

‘‘Mandatory Adjustments,’’ requires that

we revise the Schedule of Regulatory

Fees whenever Congress changes the

amount that we are to recover through

regulatory fees. 47 U.S.C. § 159(b)(2).
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10795

1Payment units are the number of subscribers,

mobile units, pagers, cellular telephones, licenses,

call signs, adjusted gross revenue dollars, etc.

which represent the base volumes against which fee

amounts are calculated.

2We also will incorporate a similar Attachment

in the Report and Order concluding this

rulemaking. That Attachment will contain updated

information concerning any changes made to the

proposed fees adopted by the Report and Order.

3 It is important to note also that, due to revised

payment units, Congress’ required revenue increase

in regulatory fee payments of approximately 21

percent in FY 1997 will not fall equally on all

payers.

6. Section 9(b)(3), entitled ‘‘Permitted

Amendments,’’ requires that we

determine annually whether

adjustments to the fees are warranted

based upon the requirements of this

subsection and that, whenever we make

such adjustments, we take into account

factors that are reasonably related to the

payer of the fee and factors that are in

the public interest. In making these

amendments, we are to ‘‘add, delete, or

reclassify services in the Schedule to

reflect additions, deletions or changes in

the nature of its services.’’ 47 U.S.C.

§ 159(b)(3).

7. Section 9(i) requires that we

develop accounting systems necessary

to adjust our fees pursuant to changes in

the costs of regulation of the various

services subject to a fee and for other

purposes. 47 U.S.C. § 9(i). In this

proceeding, we are proposing for the

first time to rely on cost accounting data

to identify our regulatory costs and to

develop our FY 1997 fees based upon

these costs. Also, as noted, we are

proposing to limit the increase in the

amount of the fee for any service in

order to phase in our reliance on costbased fees for those services whose

proposed revenue requirement would be

more than 25 percent above the revenue

requirement which would have resulted

from the ‘‘mandatory adjustments’’ to

the FY 1996 fees without incorporation

of costs. The methodology we propose

enables us to develop regulatory fees

which more closely reflect our costs of

regulating a service and also allows us

to make annual revisions to our fees

based to the fullest extent possible, and

consistent with the public interest, on

the actual costs of regulating those

services subject to a fee. Finally, Section

9(b)(4)(B) requires that we notify

Congress of any permitted amendments

90 days before those amendments go

into effect. 47 U.S.C. § 159(b)(4)(B).

III. Discussion

A. Summary of FY 1997 Fee

Methodology

8. As noted above, Congress has

required that the Commission recover

$152,523,000 for FY 1997 through the

collection of regulatory fees,

representing the costs applicable to our

enforcement, policy and rulemaking,

international, and user information

activities. 47 U.S.C. § 159(a). Congress’

increase does not fall equally on all

payers due to revised payment units and

revenue requirement allocations

resulting from the cost accounting

system.

9. In developing our proposed FY

1997 fee schedule, we first estimated

payment units 1 for FY 1997 in order to

determine the aggregate amount of

revenue we would collect without any

revision to our FY 1996 fees. Next, we

compared this revenue amount to the

$152,523,000 that Congress has required

us to collect in FY 1997 and pro-rated

the shortfall among all the existing fee

categories. We then adjusted the

projected revenue requirements so that

they equaled the actual costs of each

service, using data generated by our cost

accounting system, described infra, to

ensure that revenues equaled our

regulatory costs for each fee category.

10. We next examined the impact of

using actual costs to establish regulatory

fees for each class of regulatees to

determine whether any regulatees

experienced an unduly large fee

increase. We found that, in many cases,

cost-based fees result in fee payments

dramatically higher in FY 1997 than

they were in FY 1996. Therefore, rather

than proposing fully cost-based fees for

FY 1997, we are proposing to phase in

full reliance on cost-based fees and, for

FY 1997, to establish a revenue ceiling

in each service no higher than 25

percent above the revenue that payers

within a fee category would have paid

if FY 1997 fees had remained at FY 1996

levels adjusted only for changes in

volume and the increase required by

Congress. Our proposed methodology

would reduce fees for services whose

regulatory costs have declined while

increasing fees for services experiencing

higher regulatory costs in order to begin

eliminating disparities disclosed by our

cost accounting system between a

service’s current costs and fees ascribed

to these services in prior fiscal years.

11. Once we established our tentative

FY 1997 fees, we evaluated various

proposals made by Commission staff

concerning other adjustments to the Fee

Schedule and to our collection

procedures. The proposals are discussed

in Paragraphs 20–40 and are factored

into our proposed FY 1997 Schedule of

Regulatory Fees, set forth in Attachment

F.

12. Finally, we have incorporated, as

Attachment H, proposed Guidance

containing detailed descriptions of each

fee category, information on the

individual or entity responsible for

paying a particular fee and other critical

information designed to assist potential

fee payers in determining the extent of

their fee liability, if any, for FY 1997.2

In the following paragraphs, we describe

in greater detail our methodology for

establishing our FY 1997 regulatory

fees.

B. Development of FY 1997 Fees

1. Adjustment of Payment Units

13. As the first step in calculating

individual service regulatory fees for FY

1997, we adjusted the estimated

payment units for each service because

payment units for many services have

changed substantially since we adopted

our FY 1996 fees. We obtained our

estimated payment units through a

variety of means, including our licensee

data bases, actual prior year payment

records, and industry and trade group

projections. Whenever possible, we

verified these estimates from multiple

sources to ensure the accuracy of these

estimates. Attachment B provides a

summary of how revised payment units

were determined for each fee category.3

2. Calculation of Revenue Requirements

14. We next multiplied the revised

payment units for each service by our

FY 1996 fee amounts in each fee

category to determine how much

revenue we would collect without any

change to the existing Schedule of

Regulatory Fees. The amount of revenue

we would collect is approximately

$136.5 million. This amount is

approximately $16.0 million less than

the amount the Commission is required

to collect in FY 1997. We then adjusted

these revenue requirements for each fee

category on a proportional basis,

consistent with Section 9(b)(2) of the

Act, to obtain an estimate of revenue

requirements for each fee category at the

$152,523,000 level required by Congress

for FY 1997. Attachment C provides

detailed calculations showing how we

determined the revised revenue amount

for each service.

3. Calculation of Regulatory Costs

15. On October 1, 1995, the

Commission established, in accordance

with 47 U.S.C. § 159(i), a cost

accounting system designed, in part, to

provide us with useful data, in

combination with other information, to

help ensure that fees closely reflected

our actual costs of regulation. The

Commission’s cost accounting system,

which is integrated with our personnel/

payroll system to ensure accuracy and
10796 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

4One feature of the cost accounting system is that

it separately identifies direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs include salary and expenses for (a) staff

directly assigned to our operating Bureaus and

performing regulatory activities and (b) staff

assigned outside the operating Bureaus to the extent

that their time is spent performing regulatory

activities pertinent to an operating Bureau. These

costs include rent, utilities and contractual costs

attributable to such personnel. Indirect costs

include support personnel assigned to overhead

functions such as field and laboratory staff and

certain staff assigned to the Office of Managing

Director. The combining of direct and indirect costs

is accomplished on a proportional basis among all

fee categories as shown on Attachment D.

5Congress’ estimate of costs to be recovered

through regulatory fees is generally determined

twelve months before the end of the fiscal year to

which the fees actually apply. As such, year-end

actual activity costs for FY 1996 do not equal

exactly the amount Congress designated for

collection for FY 1997.

6While some might argue that the Commission

should further distinguish our work activities by fee

category (e.g., television markets or radio classes),

it would not be practical to use small, timeconsuming incremental breakouts of work time.

7For example, under the FM Radio fee

classification, the actual costs attributable to FM

radio are $8,452,323. This amount is allocated to

FM Classes C,C1,C2,B; Classes A,B1,C3; and FM

Construction Permits (CP) as follows:

(1) First we determine the relationships between

the three categories by dividing the smallest of the

FY 1996 FM fees into each of the FY 1996 FM fees

to determine the appropriate ratios for allocation of

the revenue requirement.

(a) FY 1996 FM CP fee=$690

FY 1996 FM Classes A, B1, and C3=$830

FY 1996 FM Classes C, C1, C2, and B=$1,250

(b) FM CP ratio is $690 divided by $690=1:1

FM Classes A, B1, and C3 ratio is $830 divided

by $690=1:1.2

FM Classes C, C1, C2, and B ratio is $1,250

divided by $690=1:1.8

(2) Next we add the three ratios and divide the

sum into the total revenue requirement for FM to

determine the amount corresponding to the ratio of

1.

(a) 1+1.2+1.8=4

(b) $8,452,323 divided by 4=$2,113,081

(3) Finally, we determine the fee for each of the

three by multiplying the amount calculated in step

(2)(b) by each of the ratios.

FM CP revenue requirement=1 times

$2,113,081=$2,113,081

FM Classes A, B1, and C3 revenue

requirement=1.2 times $2,113,081=$2,535,697

FM Classes C, C1, C2, and B revenue

requirement=1.8 times $2,113,081=$3,803,546

8For example, the regulatory cost associated with

the Aviation (Aircraft) service is $933,492. If no

change were made to this service’s FY 1996

regulatory fee ($3 per year), the total revenue

collected from licensees in this service would be

only $117,327 in FY 1997, a shortfall of $816,165.

Application of the proposed 25 percent revenue

ceiling to this service results in a capped revenue

ceiling of $146,659 ($117,327×125%).

9Revenues from current fee payers already offset

costs attributable to regulatees exempt from

payment of a fee or otherwise not subject to a fee

pursuant to section 9(h) of the Act or the

Commission’s rules. For example, CB and ship

radio station users, amateur radio licensees,

governmental entities, licensees in the public safety

radio services, and all non-profit groups are not

required to pay a fee. The costs of regulating these

entities is borne by those regulatees subject to a fee

requirement.

10Application of the 25% ceiling was

accomplished by choosing a ‘‘target’’ fee revenue

requirement for each individual fee category. This

‘‘target’’ was either the actual calculated revenue

requirement (for those categories at or below the

25% ceiling) or, in the case where the calculated

revenue exceeded the ceiling, an amount equal to

the ceiling. The shortfall created by reducing the

revenue requirement of those whose revenue

requirement exceeded the revenue ceiling was

proportionately spread among those fee categories

whose revenue requirements were below the

ceiling. This computation required more than one

round of adjustment because the allocation of this

revenue, in a few instances, caused the new

revenue requirement amount to exceed the 25%

ceiling. After two iterations (rounds), all the

revenue requirements were at or below the revenue

ceiling. See Attachment E.

timeliness of cost information,

accumulates both personnel and nonpersonnel costs on a service-by-service

basis.

16. In order to utilize actual costs for

fee development purposes, we first had

to add indirect support costs to the

direct costs 4 and then adjust the results

to approximate the amount of revenue

that Congress requires us to collect in

FY 1997 ($152,523,000).5 Thus, we

adjusted the actual cost data pertaining

to regulatory fee activities recorded for

the period October 1, 1995 through

September 30, 1996 proportionally

among the fee categories so that total

costs approximated $152,523,000. For

fee categories where fees are further

differentiated by class or market (e.g.,

Markets 1–10 under the general VHF

and UHF Commercial Television fee

category), we distributed the costs to the

class or market group by maintaining

the same ratios between the classes or

market groups as between the fees in the

FY 1996 schedule.6 The results of these

calculations are shown in detail in

Attachment D and represent our best

estimate of actual total attributable costs

relative to each fee category for FY

1997.7

4. Establishment of 25% Revenue

Ceiling

17. Our next step was to determine

whether reliance on actual costs to

develop FY 1997 regulatory fees would

result in fees which are too disparate

from corresponding FY 1996 fees. As a

result of this analysis, we are proposing

to establish a ceiling of 25 percent on

the increase in the revenue requirement

of any service over and above the

Congressionally mandated increase in

the overall revenue requirement and the

difference in unit counts.8 Because

Congress has increased our overall fee

collection requirement, we are already

required to collect substantially more

than we collected in FY 1996.

Nevertheless, capping each service’s

revenue requirement at no more than a

25 percent increase enables us to begin

the process of reducing fees for services

with lower costs and increasing fees for

services with higher costs in order to

close the gap between actual costs and

fees designed to recover these costs. We

are not suggesting that fee increases be

limited to a 25 percent increase over the

FY 1996 fees. The 25 percent increase

is over and above the revenue which

would be required after adjusting for the

projected FY 1997 payment units and

the proportional share of the 21 percent

increase in the amount that Congress

requires us to collect. Thus, FY 1997

fees may increase more than 25 percent

over FY 1996 fees depending upon the

number of payment units.

18. An important consideration in

proposing the establishment of a

revenue ceiling is the impact on other

fee payers. Because the Commission is

required to collect a full $152,523,000 in

FY 1997 regulatory fees, the additional

revenue ($28,024,533) that would have

been collected from classes of licensees

subject to the revenue ceiling had there

been no ceiling, needs to be collected

instead from licensees not subject to the

ceiling. This results in a certain amount

of subsidization between fee payer

classes.9 We believe, however, that the

public interest is best served by

adopting our proposed revenue ceiling

methodology. To do otherwise would

subject several entities to unexpected

major increases which would severely

impact the economic well being of

certain licensees who will not be able to

adjust their business plans accordingly.

Attachment E displays the step-by-step

process we used to calculate adjusted

revenue requirements for each fee

category for FY 1997, including the

reallocation of revenue requirements

resulting from the application of our

proposed revenue ceilings.10 We invite

comments on our proposed

methodology to incorporate actual costs

into the computation of regulatory fees

and to establish the 25% revenue

ceiling.

5. Recalculation of Fees

19. Once we determined the amount

of fee revenue necessary to collect from

each class of licensee, we divided the

revenue requirement by the number of

payment units (and by the license term,

if applicable, for ‘‘small’’ fees) to obtain

actual fee amounts for each fee category.

These calculated fee amounts were then

rounded in accordance with Section

9(b)(3) of the Act. See Attachment E.

6. Other Proposed Change—

Consolidation of Private Microwave &

Domestic Public Fixed Fee Categories

20. We examined the results of our

calculations made in Paragraphs 15–19
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10797

11Although the Multipoint Distribution Service

(MDS) and the Multichannel Multipoint

Distribution Service (MMDS) were originally

grouped with Domestic Public Fixed services, we

have, since FY 1995, listed them separately in our

Fee Schedule.

to determine if further adjustments of

the fees and/or changes to payment

procedures were warranted based upon

the public interest and other criteria

established in 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(3). As a

result of this review, we are proposing

the following change to our Fee

Schedule:

21. In our FY 1994, FY 1995 and FY

1996 fee schedules, Private Microwave

licensees were required to pay a ‘‘small’’

regulatory fee, in advance, for the entire

license term at the time of application.

In contrast, the Domestic Public Fixed

category was considered a ‘‘large’’

regulatory fee subject to an annual

payment. The domestic public fixed

category is comprised of several

commercial microwave services; e.g.,

microwave multiple address, microwave

common carrier fixed, microwave

digital electronic message, and

microwave local TV transmission.11

22. Since inception of the regulatory

fee program, many parties holding

microwave licenses have expressed

confusion concerning which fee they are

required to pay. In order to alleviate this

confusion and because operational and

technical characteristics of private

microwave and commercial microwave

systems are similar, we are proposing to

combine these two fee categories into a

single Microwave category for FY 1997.

23. Accordingly, we are proposing to

adjust the anticipated number of

payment units and combine the revenue

requirements for the Private Microwave

and Domestic Public Fixed categories

and establish a ‘‘small’’ fee, payable in

advance for the entire license term, for

the new consolidated Microwave

category. The annual regulatory fee for

all microwave licensees would be $10

per license. This new fee was calculated

as follows:

(a) From Attachments C and E:

(1) 5,350 private microwave stations

(units) (Revenue requirement =

$523,083)

(2) 18,845 commercial microwave/

public fixed stations (units)

(Revenue requirement = $118,026)

(b) Converting from annual payment

(‘‘large fee’’) to license term payment

(‘‘small fee’’):

(1) 18,845 commercial microwave units

divided by 10 year license term =

1,885 commercial microwave units

to be licensed each year.

(c) Calculation of new microwave fee:

The sum of the two revenue

requirements divided by the sum of the

units to be licensed and divided by the

license term as follows:

(1) (($523,083 + $118,026) divided by

(5,350 + 1,885)) divided by 10 years

= $8.86

(d) Round fee to the nearest $5 = $10

(47 U.S.C § 159(b)(2)).

24. We invite comments on our

proposal to combine the Private

Microwave and Domestic Public Fixed

(Commercial Microwave) service

categories for regulatory fee purposes

into a single Microwave category and to

establish an appropriate ‘‘small’’ fee for

this single category.

7. Effect of Revenue Redistributions on

Major Constituencies

25. The chart below illustrates the

relative percentages of the revenue

requirements borne by the major

constituencies since inception of

regulatory fees in FY 1994.

REVENUE REQUIREMENT PERCENTAGES BY CONSTITUENCIES

FY 1994

(Actual)

FY 1995

(Actual)

FY 1996

(Actual)

FY 1997

(Proposed)

Cable TV Operators (Inc. CARS Licenses) ..................................................................... 41.36 24.02 28.19 23.74

Broadcast Licensees ........................................................................................................ 23.84 13.76 14.77 14.96

Satellite Operators (Inc. Earth Stations) .......................................................................... 3.32 3.62 4.28 4.28

Common Carriers ............................................................................................................. 25.01 44.52 45.54 46.27

Wireless Licensees ........................................................................................................... 6.47 14.07 7.23 10.75

Total ....................................................................................................................... 100.00 99.99 100.01 100.00

C. Other Issues

1. Commercial AM/FM Radio

26. In November 1996 the

Commission released a Notice of Inquiry

to determine if, in FY 1997, it is feasible

to utilize a methodology based on

market size and class of station to assess

annual regulatory fees upon licensees of

commercial AM and FM broadcast radio

stations. We invited interested parties to

comment upon a methodology proposed

by the Montana Broadcasters

Association (Montana), or to propose

any other methodology for assessing AM

and FM fees they believe would serve

the public interest. See Amendment of

Part 1 of the Commission’s Rules

Pertaining to the Schedule of Annual

Regulatory Fees for Mass Media

Services, FCC 96–422, released

November 6, 1996, 61 FR 59397

(November 22, 1996).

27. In establishing our regulatory fee

program, we recognized that Congress

had required the Commission to adopt

the Schedule of Regulatory Fees for FY

1994 contained in Section 9(g) of the

Communications Act, as amended. 47

U.S.C. § 159(g). The Schedule assessed

AM and FM radio fees based upon class

of station. Thus, each licensee paid a fee

identical to other licensees with the

same class of station, without regard to

the size or population of its service area.

See Implementation of Section 9 of the

Communications Act, 9 FCC Rcd 5333,

5339 (1994), 59 FR 30984 (June 16,

1994). We declined to consider any

revision to the fee schedule for FY 1994,

but we invited interested parties to

propose alternative methodologies for

various services subject to the regulatory

fees, including AM and FM radio, for

consideration in our proceeding to

adopt the FY 1995 Schedule of

Regulatory Fees. 9 FCC Rcd 5360.

Subsequently, in our NPRM proposing

fees for FY 1995, we recognized that

‘‘population density of a [AM or FM]

station’s geographic location was also a

public interest factor warranting

recognition in the fee schedule.’’

Therefore, we proposed for

consideration by interested parties a

methodology incorporating market size

in the calculation of AM and FM fees,

by assessing higher fees for radio

stations located in Arbitron Rating Co.

(Arbitron) designated markets. We

proposed a two-tiered fee schedule with

stations in Arbitron rated markets

paying higher fees than the same classes

of stations located in smaller, non-
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14By contrast, according to the FY 1996 Schedule

of Regulatory Fees, AM class A stations are assessed

a fee of $1,250; Class B stations $690; Class C

stations $280; and Class D stations $345. Similarly,

FM Class C, C1, C2 and B stations (Montana’s FM

Class I) are assessed a fee of $1,250; and FM Class

A, B1 and C3 stations (Montana’s FM Class II) a fee

of $830.

Arbitron rated markets. See Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking in the Matter of

Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1995,

MD Docket No. 95–3, FCC 95–14,

released January 12, 1995 at Paragraph

29. In our Report and Order establishing

our FY 1995 fees, we declined to adopt

this proposed method because, after

consideration of the public comments,

we found that it did not provide a

‘‘sufficiently accurate and equitable

methodology for determining fees.’’ See

Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1995, 10

FCC Rcd 13512, 13531–32 (1996), 60 FR

34004 (June 29, 1995).

28. In our Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking to establish regulatory fees

for FY 1996, we stated, with regard to

the fees for AM and FM radio stations,

that we ‘‘were particularly interested in

a proposal which would associate

population density and service area

contours with license data’’ and we

again requested interested parties to

propose viable alternative

methodologies for assessment of AM

and FM fees. Assessment and Collection

of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1996,

FCC 96–153, at Paragraphs 20–21 (April

9, 1996), 61 FR 16432 (April 15, 1996).

In response, Montana filed comments

proposing an AM and FM fee structure

based on class of station and on market

size. We received no comments

addressing Montana’s proposal.

However, following our own review of

the proposal, we decided not to take any

action until we had an opportunity to

evaluate more extensively the impact of

Montana’s proposal on AM and FM

licensees through a Notice of Inquiry.

Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1996,

FCC 96–295, at Paragraphs 23–29, July

5, 1996, 61 FR 36629 (July 12, 1996).

29. Montana’s proposed methodology

utilizes broad groupings of radio

markets determined by Arbitron market

size, with the fee for each market

grouping predicated on the ratios that

Congress initially established in Section

9(g) of the Act (47 U.S.C. § 159(g)) for

assessing fees for licensees of television

stations serving different sized markets.

Montana proposed four specific radio

market classifications: Markets 1–25;

Markets 26–50; Markets 51–100; and

Remaining Markets. Montana’s proposal

assigned stations to each market

grouping based upon Arbitron television

market designations and relied on an

analysis of broadcast markets prepared

by Dataworld MediaXpert Service

(‘‘Dataworld’’), which grouped radio

stations by class of station within a

particular market size. It then calculated

the fees for stations in different markets

utilizing the ratios between the fees for

television markets in Section 9(g).

Montana argued that its proposal was

more equitable than the groupings based

on class of station relied on by the

Commission because, under its

proposal, stations in smaller markets

would pay lower fees than stations

serving more populous markets.

30. In order to collect the total

aggregate fees to be recovered from AM

and FM radio stations as proposed in

the FY 1995 NPRM, Montana’s proposed

methodology would have allocated fees

among radio stations as follows:

Markets AM

Class A

AM

Class B

AM

Class C

AM

Class D

FM

Class I12

FM

Class II13

1–25 .................................................................................. $2,890 $1,710 $645 $815 $2,890 $1,940

26–50 ................................................................................ 2,040 1,140 455 575 2,040 1,370

51–100 .............................................................................. 1,360 760 305 385 1,360 910

Remaining ......................................................................... 850 475 190 240 850 570

12 Class I includes FM Classes C, C1, C2 and B. 13 Class II includes FM Classes A, B1 and C3.

31. However, subsequent to the filing

of Montana’s proposal, Congress

increased the aggregate amount of fees

to be recovered by the Commission and

amended the Commission’s regulatory

fee schedule for television stations to

increase the fees paid by licensees in

larger markets and to reduce the fees

paid by licensees located in Markets 51–

100 and the Remaining Markets. Public

Law 104–134. See Assessment and

Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal

Year 1996, supra at Paragraph 14. This

substantially changed the ratios between

the fees for television stations in

different sized markets used by Montana

to compute its proposed radio fees.

Substituting the actual ratios between

the regulatory fees for television stations

in different sized markets for the old

ratios utilized in Montana’s proposal

would have produced the following

radio fees for FY 1996: 14

Markets AM

Class A

AM

Class B

AM

Class C

AM

Class D

FM

Class I15

FM

Class II16

1–25 .................................................................................. $11,500 $6,325 $2,575 $3,150 $4,875 $3,250

26–50 ................................................................................ 6,675 3,675 1,500 1,850 2,850 1,900

51–100 .............................................................................. 3,550 1,975 800 980 1,525 1,000

Remaining ......................................................................... 1,000 555 225 275 430 285

15 Class I includes FM Classes C, C1, C2 and B. 16 Class II includes FM Classes A, B1 and C3.

32. The above fees illustrate the

impact of the Montana proposal when

the changes mandated by Congress to

the Regulatory Fee Schedule are

considered. We are particularly

concerned about the size of the

increases in larger markets which, in

addition to having more potential

listeners, have greater concentrations of

stations, thereby increasing the

competition for listeners in those

markets. Moreover, the accuracy of both

sets of calculations are predicated on

assumptions that the total aggregate

amount of fees to be collected remains

unchanged, that the revenue

requirement allocated to all broadcast

licensees remains unchanged, and that
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there are no changes in the numbers and

classes of licensees subject to broadcast

fees. The calculations presented herein

are illustrative only, because the fees are

predicated on assumptions that will not

recur in FY 1997. A change in any or all

three of these factors would result in

individual fees different than those

illustrated in Paragraphs 30 and 31.

33. In response to the NOI, the

National Association of Broadcasters

(‘‘NAB’’) submitted a proposed fee table

for AM and FM radio stations relying on

a database prepared by Dataworld. NAB

states that Dataworld developed its

database by using the engineering

specifications for every operating AM

and FM radio station to calculate the

populations served by those stations

using 1990 census information. Under

NAB’s proposal, stations with more

powerful signals would generally pay

higher fees because they usually serve

more people than stations with weaker

signals. NAB maintains that a fee

schedule based on the Dataworld

information would equitably allocate

fees among all stations.

34. In support of its proposal, NAB

notes that Congress has recognized the

importance of service classes in the fee

schedule it enacted in Section 9(g) of

the Act, and that there are significant

differences in the value and revenue

potential of stations in different classes.

47 U.S.C. § 159(g). Thus, NAB contends

that radio station fees should not be

calculated on the basis of predicted

audience alone. Moreover, NAB

recognizes that Dataworld’s data does

not reflect population changes since

1990 and that, in certain instances, there

will be discrepancies between the

Dataworld calculations and some

stations’ actual engineering

characteristics. Thus, NAB proposes

fees based on the estimate of population

served and the class of station rather

than strictly on the basis of population

served.

35. The proposed NAB fee table

includes 24 fee levels for AM and 12 fee

levels for FM. NAB’s proposed fee table

would collect $6,104,196 from FM

licensees and $2,235,956 from AM

licensees, as follows:

Population served AM Class A AM Class B AM Class C AM Class D

<= 100,000 ....................................................................................................................... $325 $260 $125 $165

100,001–250,000 .............................................................................................................. 375 325 175 225

250,001–500,000 .............................................................................................................. 575 450 250 325

500,001–1,500,000 ........................................................................................................... 975 650 325 425

1,500,001–3,000,000 ........................................................................................................ 1,500 950 450 575

> 3,000,000 ...................................................................................................................... 1,800 1,300 650 750

Population served FM classes

A, B1, C3

FM Classes

B, C, C1,

C2

<= 40,000 ......................................................................................................................................................................... $300 $450

40,001–100,000 ............................................................................................................................................................... 450 925

100,001–250,000 ............................................................................................................................................................. 925 1,350

250,001–750,000 ............................................................................................................................................................. 1,150 1,750

750,001–1,750,000 .......................................................................................................................................................... 1,300 2,000

> 1,750,000 ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1,650 2,750

36. While the NAB proposal has

merit, further study and refinement of

its methodology is required. First, we

note that the NAB proposal increases

fees based on the average increase in the

amount that Congress has required us to

collect for FY 1997 without taking into

account our cost of regulation of AM

and FM stations as measured by our cost

accounting system. As a result, its

proposal would fail to raise sufficient

revenue to cover the pro rata share of

the Commission’s revenue requirements

for AM and FM radio. Moreover, NAB’s

proposal does not disclose the number

of stations in each of its payment

categories so that its proposal can be

modified to meet our revenue

requirements, there are discrepancies

between our estimate of the number of

stations and the number of stations

included in Dataworld’s database, and it

is not clear whether the Dataworld

station count includes government and

non-commercial stations which are

exempt from regulatory fee

requirements. In addition, NAB has not

presented an explanation or rationale

for its specific fee classifications. Nor is

there sufficient information to permit

the Commission to determine how

NAB’s proposed fee table can be

modified to cover changes in station

characteristics and populations. If we

were to adopt NAB’s proposal, we

would also be required to develop a

methodology for advising each

individual station of its fee based on our

estimate of the population in its service

area.

37. Thus, while the Montana and

NAB proposals hold the promise of a

more equitable fee schedule, there are

problems with these proposals that must

be addressed before they can be relied

on to develop a revised fee schedule for

AM and FM radio. Therefore, interested

parties are invited to comment not only

on both the NAB and Montana

proposals, but also on any alternative

methods for assessing radio station fees.

Parties who have filed comments on the

NOI need not duplicate them in this

proceeding. Comments are also invited

with respect to the revised schedule for

AM and FM radio stations set forth in

Attachment F based on the general

methodology for calculating FY 1997

fees.

2. Personal Communications Service

(PCS)

38. Our FY 1996 Report and Order

deferred assessing a regulatory fee upon

licensees in the Personal

Communications Service (‘‘PCS’’) in FY

1996 because the service was in a very

early start-up phase. See FY 1996 Report

and Order at Appendix F, Paragraph 15.

We now believe that there are sufficient

operational PCS systems to justify their

inclusion among those licensees who

are assessed fees in the CMRS Mobile

Services and CMRS One-Way Paging fee

categories for FY 1997. We have

therefore incorporated fees for PCS in

Paragraphs 14 and 15 of Attachment H.

3. Commercial Mobile Radio Services

(CMRS)

39. In our FY 1996 Report and Order

at Paragraph 22, we discussed a

proposal offered by Destineer, Inc., a

PCS licensee, that we establish a CMRS

Messaging Service fee category to
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replace our CMRS One-Way Paging fee

category. Destineer stated that, with the

exception of two-way paging services,

our CMRS Mobile Services fee category

includes only broadband services which

provide two-way interactive voice

communications. Destineer

recommended establishing a CMRS

Messaging Service to include all

narrowband services, including twoway paging services. We invite

interested parties to file comments on

Destineer’s proposal or propose

alternative methods to assess CMRS fees

for FY 1997. We are particularly

interested in the number of estimated

units associated with an alternative

proposal and the impact the proposed

changes would have on projected

revenues.

4. Intelsat & Inmarsat Signatories

40. The Commission incurs regulatory

costs for satellite policy and rulemaking,

enforcement and user information

activities. As directed by Congress,

these costs must be recovered through

the collection of regulatory fees. In

accordance with the provisions of

Section 9, the Commission’s overall goal

is to recover all of the costs associated

with satellite regulatory activities and to

distribute these costs fairly amongst fee

payers, taking into account factors

reasonably related to the benefits

provided by the payer, and ‘‘other

factors we determine are necessary in

the public interest.’’

41. In FY 1994 and FY 1995 the

Commission recovered satellite

regulatory costs by collecting fees from

satellite earth station and

geosynchronous space station regulatees

(Part 25) only. Satellite providers using

international bearer circuits to provide

service were assessed a separate fee

under the International Bearer Circuits

category in order to recover the

regulatory costs associated with

international telecommunications

policy and rulemaking, enforcement and

user information activities. The

Commission received comments during

both years’ regulatory fees proceedings

concerning the distribution of the

burden of costs. In an effort to explore

alternative methods of fee collection the

Commission conducted focus group

sessions in FY 1995 which were

attended by satellite industry

representatives. One of the major issues

raised was a perceived inequity in the

distribution of the total satellite

regulatory fee burden. Commission

activities associated with Intelsat,

Inmarsat and the U.S. signatory to both

were identified as areas where space

and earth station regulatees were

unfairly bearing the regulatory fee

burden.

42. In response to distribution issues

raised in the focus group sessions and

comments filed in previous years, we

examined satellite regulatory activities

and determined that since the

Commission incurs regulatory costs

associated with Signatory-related

activities, a regulatory fee for

Signatories was the proper vehicle for

recovering these costs. In its comments

on the proposed FY 1996 fees, Comsat

challenged the Commission’s proposal

regarding the Signatory fee, contending

that it would be unlawful and excessive.

Each of these arguments was discussed

in our FY 1996 Report and Order, in

which we adopted the Signatory fee.

However, in Paragraph 47 of the FY

1996 Report and Order, we indicated

our intent to explore alternative means

of recovering these costs and to seek

public comment on such alternatives.

We therefore request interested parties

to comment on alternative methods of

collecting costs associated with

Signatories. We request that comments

specify whether other regulatees should

be assessed a portion of the fee

applicable to the signatory category,

and, if so, the estimated percentage of

the fee that should be assessed upon

other regulatees. We are particularly

interested in ways to recover our costs

without unfairly burdening other

regulatees. If no specific alternative is

identified, we propose to retain the

current Signatory fee category for FY

1997.

5. Non-Common Carrier International

Bearer Circuits

43. International bearer circuit fees

are currently assessed upon domestic

and international common carriers only.

In its comments responding to proposals

contained in our FY 1996 NPRM,

Comsat contended that payment of

international bearer circuit fees should

be expanded to non-common carriers

providing international services. See FY

1996 Report and Order at Paragraph 65.

In our FY 1996 Report and Order we

declined to expand collection of

international bearer circuit fees to noncommon carriers. As we noted at that

time, the Commission is unable, due to

lack of appropriate data, to calculate a

fee applicable to bearer circuits

provided directly to end users over noncommon carrier domestic and

international facilities. The foregoing

situation has not changed. We,

therefore, are proposing to assess the

international bearer circuit fee only on

domestic and international common

carriers in FY 1997. However, we invite

interested parties to comment on

Comsat’s proposal. We are especially

interested in information concerning the

number of bearer circuits provided

directly to end users over non-common

carrier domestic and international

facilities.

D. Procedures for Payment of Regulatory

Fees

44. Generally, we propose to retain

the procedures that we have established

for the payment of regulatory fees.

Section 9(f) requires that we permit

‘‘payment by installments in the case of

fees in large amounts, and in the case of

small amounts, shall require the

payment of the fee in advance for a

number of years not to exceed the term

of the license held by the payer.’’ See 47

U.S.C. § 159(f)(1). Consistent with

Section 9(f), we are again establishing

three categories of fee payments, based

upon the category of service for which

the fee payment is due and the amount

of the fee to be paid. The fee categories

are (1) ‘‘standard’’ fees, (2) ‘‘large’’ fees,

and (3) ‘‘small’’ fees.

1. Annual Payments of Standard Fees

45. Standard fees are those regulatory

fees that are payable in full on an

annual basis. Payers of standard fees are

not required to make advance payments

for their full license term and are not

eligible for installment payments. All

standard fees are payable in full on the

date we establish for payment of fees in

their regulatory fee category. The

payment dates for each regulatory fee

category will be announced either in the

Report and Order in this proceeding or

by public notice in the Federal Register

following the termination of this

proceeding.

2. Installment Payments for Large Fees

46. While we are mindful that time

constraints may preclude an

opportunity for installment payments,

we propose that regulatees in any

category of service with a liability of

$12,000 or more be eligible to make

installment payments and that

eligibility for installment payments be

based upon the amount of either a single

regulatory fee payment or combination

of fee payments by the same licensee or

regulatee. We propose that regulatees

eligible to make installment payments

may submit their required fees in two

equal payments (on dates to be

announced) or, in the alternative, in a

single payment on the date that their

final installment payment is due. Due to

statutory constraints concerning

notification to Congress prior to actual

collection of the fees, however, it is

unlikely that there will be sufficient

time for installment payments, and that
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10801

17Applicants for new, renewal and reinstatement

licenses in the following services will be required

to pay their regulatory fees in advance: Land Mobile

Services, Microwave services, Marine (Ship)

Service, Marine (Coast) Service, Private Land

Mobile (Other) Services, Aviation (Aircraft) Service,

Aviation (Ground) Service, General Mobile Radio

Service (GMRS). In addition, applicants for

Amateur Radio vanity call signs will be required to

submit an advance payment.

18Cable system operators are to compute their

subscribers as follows: Number of single family

dwellings + number of individual households in

multiple dwelling unit (apartments, condominiums,

mobile home parks, etc.) paying at the basic

subscriber rate + bulk rate customers + courtesy and

free service. Note: Bulk-Rate Customers = Total

annual bulk-rate charge divided by basic annual

subscription rate for individual households. Cable

system operators may base their count on ‘‘a typical

day in the last full week’’ of December 1996, rather

than on a count as of December 31, 1996.

regulatees eligible to make installment

payments will be required to pay these

fees on the last date that fee payments

may be submitted. The dates for

installment payments, or a single

payment, will be announced either in

the Report and Order terminating this

proceeding or by public notice

published pursuant to delegated

authority in the Federal Register.

3. Advance Payments of Small Fees

47. As we have in the past, we are

proposing to treat regulatory fee

payments by certain licensees as

‘‘small’’ fees subject to advance payment

consistent with the requirements of

Section 9(f)(2). Advance payments will

be required from licensees of those

services that we decided would be

subject to advance payments in our FY

1994 Report and Order, and to those

additional payers set forth herein.17

Payers of advance fees will submit the

entire fee due for the full term of their

licenses when filing their initial,

renewal, or reinstatement application.

Regulatees subject to a payment of small

fees shall pay the amount due for the

current fiscal year multiplied by the

number of years in the term of their

requested license. In the event that the

required fee is adjusted following their

payment of the fee, the payer would not

be subject to the payment of a new fee

until filing an application for renewal or

reinstatement of the license. Thus,

payment for the full license term would

be made based upon the regulatory fee

applicable at the time the application is

filed. The effective date for payment of

small fees established in this proceeding

will be announced in our Report and

Order terminating this proceeding or by

public notice published pursuant to

delegated authority in the Federal

Register.

4. Minimum Fee Payment Liability

48. Regulatees whose total fee

liability, including all categories of fees

for which payment is due by an entity,

amounts to less than $10 are exempted

from fee payment in FY 1997.

5. Standard Fee Calculations and

Payment Dates

49. As noted, the time for payment of

standard fees and any installment

payments will be published in the

Federal Register pursuant to delegated

authority. For licensees, permittees and

holders of other authorizations in the

Common Carrier, Mass Media, and

Cable Services whose fees are not based

on a subscriber, unit, or circuit count,

fees should be submitted for any

authorization held as of October 1, 1996.

October 1 is the date to be used for

establishing liability for payment of

standard fees since it is the first day of

the federal government’s fiscal year.

50. In the case of regulatees whose

fees are based upon a subscriber, unit or

circuit count, the number of a

regulatees’ subscribers, units or circuits

on December 31, 1996, will be used to

calculate the fee payment.18 We have

selected the last date of the calendar

year because many of these entities file

reports with us as of that date. Others

calculate their subscriber numbers as of

that date for internal purposes.

Therefore, calculation of the regulatory

fee as of that date will facilitate both an

entity’s computation of its fee payment

and our verification that the correct fee

payment has been submitted.

E. Schedule of Regulatory Fees

51. The Commission’s proposed

Schedule of Regulatory Fees for FY 1997

is contained in Attachment F of this

NPRM.

IV. Procedural Matters

A. Comment Period and Procedures

52. Pursuant to procedures set forth in

Sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the

Commission’s rules, interested parties

may file comments on or before March

25, 1997, and reply comments on or

before April 4, 1997. All relevant

comments will be considered by the

Commission before final action is taken

in this proceeding. To file formally in

this proceeding, participants must file

an original and four copies of all

comments, reply comments and

supporting materials. If participants

want each Commissioner to receive a

personal copy of their comments, an

original and nine copies must be filed.

Comments and reply comments should

be sent to the Office of the Secretary,

Federal Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C. 20554. Interested

parties, who do not wish to formally

participate in this proceeding, may file

informal comments at the same address.

Comments and reply comments will be

available for public inspection during

regular business hours in the FCC

Reference Center (Room 239) of the

Federal Communications Commission,

1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20054.

B. Ex Parte Rules

53. This is a non-restricted notice and

comment rulemaking proceeding. Ex

parte presentations are permitted,

except during the Sunshine Agenda

period, provided they are disclosed

pursuant to the Commission’s rules. See

47 CFR §§ 1.1202, 1.1203 and 1026(a).

C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

54. As required by section 603 of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (Public Law

96–354, 94 Stat. 1165, 5 U.S.C. § 601 et

seq. (1981)), the Commission has

prepared an Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) of the

expected impact on small entities of the

proposals suggested in this document.

The IRFA is set forth in Attachment A.

Written public comments are requested

with respect to the IRFA. These

comments must be filed in accordance

with the same filing deadlines for

comments on the rest of the NPRM, but

they must have a separate and distinct

heading, designating the comments as

responses to the IRFA. The Secretary

shall send a copy of this NPRM,

including the IRFA, to the Chief

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration in accordance

with section 603(a) of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

Compliance

55. The Federal Communications

Commission, as part of its continuing

effort to reduce paperwork burden,

invites the general public and other

Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on the

following proposed and/or continuing

information collections, as required by

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13. Comments are

requested concerning (a) whether the

proposed collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of

the functions of the Commission,

including whether the information shall

have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of

the Commission’s burden estimates; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information collected, and

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the

collection of information on the

respondents, including the use of
10802 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

19 5 U.S.C. § 603.

20Title II of the CWAAA is ‘‘The Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996’’

(SBREFA), codified at 5 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.

21 5 U.S.C. § 601(3) (incorporating by reference the

definition of ‘‘small business concern’’ in 15 U.S.C.

§ 632). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 601(3), the statutory

definition of a small business applies ‘‘unless an

agency after consultation with the Office of

Advocacy of the Small Business Administration

and after opportunity for public comment,

establishes one or more definitions of such term

which are appropriate to the activities of the agency

and publishes such definition(s) in the Federal

Register.’’

22Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. § 632 (1996).

23 5 U.S.C. § 601(5).

24United States Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the

Census, 1992 Census of Governments (1992

Census).

25 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4841.

26 1992 Economic Census Industry and Enterprise

Receipts Size Report, Table 2D, SIC 4841 (U.S.

Bureau of the Census data under contract to the

Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business

Administration).

27 47 CFR § 76.901(e). The Commission developed

this definition based on its determination that a

small cable system operator is one with annual

revenues of $100 million or less. Implementation of

Sections of the 1992 Cable Act: Rate Regulation,

Sixth Report and Order and Eleventh Order on

Reconsideration, 10 FCC Rcd 7393 (1995), 60 FR

10534 (February 27, 1995).

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

56. Written comments should be

submitted on or before May 9, 1997. If

you anticipate that you will be

submitting comments, but find it

difficult to do so within the period of

time allowed by this notice, you should

advise the contact listed below as soon

as possible.

57. Direct all comments to Dorothy

Conway, Federal Communications

Commission, Room 234, 1919 M St.

NW., Washington, DC 20554 or via

internet to dconway@fcc.gov, and

Timothy Fain, OMB Desk Officer, 10236

NEOB, 725 17th St. NW., Washington,

DC 20503 or via internet to

fainlt@a1.eop.gov.

58. For Further Information Contact:

For additional information or copies of

the information collections, contact

Dorothy Conway at 202–418–0217 or via

internet at dconway@fcc.gov.

OMB Approval Number: (Number

should be included if it is a revision to

an existing collection).

Title:

Form No.:

Type of Review: (i.e. new collection,

revision of existing collection)

Respondents:

Number of Respondents:

Estimated Time Per Response:

Total Annual Burden:

Needs and Uses: (Brief description of

how the information will be used)

E. Authority and Further Information

59. Authority for this proceeding is

contained in sections 4(i) and (j), 9, and

303(r) of the Communications Act of

1934 as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(1)

and (j) and 159 and 303(r).

60. Further information about this

proceeding may be obtained by

contacting the Fees Hotline at (202)

418–0192.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1

Administrative practice and

procedures, Communications common

carriers, Penalties, Radio,

Telecommunications, Television.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

Attachment A—Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis

1. As required by the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA),19 as amended by

the Contract with America

Advancement Act (CWAAA), Public

Law 104–121, 110 Stat. 847 (1996),20 the

Commission has prepared an Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)

of the expected significant economic

impact on small entities by the policies

and rules proposed in this Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking In the Matter of

Assessment and Collection of

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1997.

Written public comments are requested

on the IRFA. Comments must be

identified as responses to the IRFA and

must be filed by the deadlines for

comments on the NPRM provided above

in Paragraph 53.

I. Need for and Objectives of the

Proposed Rule

2. This rulemaking proceeding is

initiated to obtain comments concerning

the Commission’s proposed amendment

of its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in

order to collect regulatory fees in the

amount of $152,523,000, the amount

that Congress has required the

Commission to recover through

regulatory fees in Fiscal Year 1997. The

Commission seeks to collect the

necessary amount through its proposed

revised regulatory fees, as contained in

the attached Schedule of Regulatory

Fees, in the most efficient manner

possible and without undue burden to

the public.

II. Legal Basis

3. The proposed action is authorized

under Sections (4)(i) and (j), 9 and

303(r) of the Communications Act of

1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i)

and (j), 159, and 303(r).

III. Description and Estimate of the

Number of Small Entities to Which the

Proposed Rule Will Apply

4. The RFA generally defines ‘‘small

entity’’ as having the same meaning as

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small

organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental

jurisdiction’’ and ‘‘the same meaning as

the term ‘small business concern’ under

the Small Business Act unless the

Commission has developed one or more

definitions that are appropriate for its

activities.21 A small business concern is

one which: (1) is independently owned

and operated; (2) is not dominant in its

field of operation; and (3) satisfies any

additional criteria established by the

Small Business Administration (SBA).22

The Small Business Enforcement

Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA)

provision of the RFA also applies to

nonprofit organizations and to

governmental organizations such as

governments of cities, counties, towns,

townships, villages, school districts, or

special districts with populations of less

than 50,000.23 There are 85,006

governmental entities in the United

States.24 5 U.S.C. § 601(3) (incorporating

by reference the definition of ‘‘small

business concern’’ in 15 U.S.C. § 632).

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 601(3), the

statutory definition of a small business

applies ‘‘unless an agency after

consultation with the Office of

Advocacy of the Small Business

Administration and after opportunity

for public comment, establishes one or

more definitions of such term which are

appropriate to the activities of the

agency and publishes such definition(s)

in the Federal Register.’’

Cable Services or Systems

5. The SBA has developed a

definition of small entities for cable and

other pay television services, which

includes all such companies generating

$11 million or less in revenue

annually.25 This definition includes

cable systems operators, closed circuit

television services, direct broadcast

satellite services, multipoint

distribution systems, satellite master

antenna systems and subscription

television services. According to the

Census Bureau, there were 1,788 total

cable and other pay television services

and 1,423 had less than $11 million in

revenue.26

6. The Commission has developed its

own definition of a small cable system

operator for the purposes of rate

regulation. Under the Commission’s

rules, a ‘‘small cable company,’’ is one

serving fewer than 400,000 subscribers

nationwide.27 Based on our most recent

information, we estimate that there were

1,439 cable operators that qualified as
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10803

28Paul Kagan Associates, Inc., Cable TV Investor,

Feb. 29, 1996 (based on figures for December 30,

1995).

29 47 U.S.C. § 543(m)(2).

30 47 CFR § 76.1403(b).

31Paul Kagan Associates, Inc., Cable TV Investor,

Feb. 29, 1996 (based on figures for Dec. 30, 1995).

32We do receive such information on a case-bycase basis only if a cable operator appeals a local

franchise authority’s finding that the operator does

not qualify as a small cable operator pursuant to

section 76.1403(b) of the Commission’s rules. See

47 CFR § 76.1403(d).

33 Direct Broadcast Services (DBS) are discussed

in depth with the international services infra.

34Multipoint Distribution Services (MDS) are

discussed in depth with the mass media services

infra.

35 13 CFR § 121.201.

36See Implementation of the Local Competition

Provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996,

First Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 15499 (1996),

61 FR 45476 (August 29, 1996), motion for stay of

the FCC’s rules pending judicial review denied,

Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions

in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Order, 11

FCC Rcd 11754 (1996), 61 FR 54099 (October 17,

1996), partial stay granted, Iowa Utilities Board v.

FCC, No. 96–3321, 1996 WL 589204 (8th Cir. 1996)

at paragraphs 1328–1330 and 1342.

37See id.

38United States Department of Commerce,

Bureau of the Census, 1992 Census of

Transportation, Communications, and Utilities:

Establishment and Firm Size, at Firm Size 1–123

(1995) (1992 Census).

39 15 U.S.C. § 632(a)(1).

40 1992 Census, supra, at Firm Size 1–123.

41 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC Code 4812.

small cable system operators at the end

of 1995.28 Since then, some of those

companies may have grown to serve

over 400,000 subscribers, and others

may have been involved in transactions

that caused them to be combined with

other cable operators. Consequently, we

estimate that there are fewer than 1,439

small entity cable system operators.

7. The Communications Act also

contains a definition of a small cable

system operator, which is ‘‘a cable

operator that, directly or through an

affiliate, serves in the aggregate fewer

than 1 percent of all subscribers in the

United States and is not affiliated with

any entity or entities whose gross

annual revenues in the aggregate exceed

$250,000,000.’’ 29 The Commission has

determined that there are 61,700,000

subscribers in the United States.

Therefore, we found that an operator

serving fewer than 617,000 subscribers

shall be deemed a small operator, if its

annual revenues, when combined with

the total annual revenues of all of its

affiliates, do not exceed $250 million in

the aggregate.30 Based on available data,

we find that the number of cable

operators serving 617,000 subscribers or

less totals 1,450.31 We do not request

nor do we collect information

concerning whether cable system

operators are affiliated with entities

whose gross annual revenues exceed

$250,000,000,32 and thus are unable at

this time to estimate with greater

precision the number of cable system

operators that would qualify as small

cable operators under the definition in

the Communications Act. It should be

further noted that recent industry

estimates project that there will be a

total 65,000,000 subcribers, and we have

based our fee revenue estimates on that

figure.

8. Other Pay Services. Other pay

television services are also classified

under SIC 4841, which includes cable

systems operators, closed circuit

television services, direct broadcast

satellite services (DBS),33 multipoint

distribution systems (MDS),34 satellite

master antenna systems (SMATV), and

subscription television services.

Common Carrier Services and Related

Entities

9. According to the

Telecommunications Industry Revenue:

Telecommunications Relay Service

Fund Worksheet Data (TRS Worksheet),

there are 2,847 interstate carriers. These

carriers include, inter alia, local

exchange carriers, wireline carriers and

service providers, interexchange

carriers, competitive access providers,

operator service providers, pay

telephone operators, providers of

telephone toll service, providers of

telephone exchange service, and

resellers.

10. The SBA has defined a small

business for Radiotelephone

Communications (SIC 4812) and

Telephone Communications, Except

Radiotelephone (4813), to be small

entities when they have fewer than

1,500 employees.35 We first discuss

generally the total number of small

telephone companies falling within both

of those SIC categories. Then, we

discuss the number of small businesses

within the two subcategories, and

attempt to refine further those estimates

to correspond with the categories of

telephone companies that are commonly

used under our rules.

11. Because the small incumbent

LECs subject to these rules are either

dominant in their field of operations or

are not independently owned and

operated, consistent with our prior

practice, they are excluded from the

definition of ‘‘small entitiy’’ and ‘‘small

business concerns.’’ 36 Accordingly, our

use of the terms ‘‘small entities’’ and

‘‘small businesses’’ does not encompass

small incumbent LECs. Out of an

abundance of caution, however, for

regulatory flexibility analysis purposes,

we will consider small incumbent LECs

within this analysis and use the term

‘‘small incumbent LECs’’ to refer to any

incumbent LECs that arguably might be

defined by the SBA as ‘‘small business

concerns.’’ 37

12. Total Number of Telephone

Companies Affected. The United States

Bureau of the Census (‘‘the Census

Bureau’’) reports that, at the end of

1992, there were 3,497 firms engaged in

providing telephone services, as defined

therein, for at least one year.38 This

number contains a variety of different

categories of carriers, including local

exchange carriers, interexchange

carriers, competitive access providers,

cellular carriers, mobile service carriers,

operator service providers, pay

telephone operators, personal

communications services providers,

covered specialized mobile radio

providers, and resellers. It seems certain

that some of those 3,497 telephone

service firms may not qualify as small

entities or small incumbent LECs

because they are not ‘‘independently

owned and operated.’’ 39 For example, a

PCS provider that is affiliated with an

interexchange carrier having more than

1,500 employees would not meet the

definition of a small business. It seems

reasonable to tentatively conclude that

fewer than 3,497 telephone service firms

are small entity telephone service firms

or small incumbent local exchange

carriers.

13. Wireline Carriers and Service

Providers. The SBA has developed a

definition of small entities for telephone

communications companies except

radiotelephone (wireless) companies.

The Census Bureau reports that, there

were 2,321 such telephone companies

in operation for at least one year at the

end of 1992.40 According to the SBA’s

definition, a small business telephone

company other than a radiotelephone

company is one employing fewer than

1,500 persons.41 All but 26 of the 2,321

non-radiotelephone companies listed by

the Census Bureau were reported to

have fewer than 1,000 employees. Thus,

even if all 26 of those companies had

more than 1,500 employees, there

would still be 2,295 non-radiotelephone

companies that might qualify as small

entities or small incumbent LECs. We

do not have information on the number

of carriers that are not independently

owned and operated, and thus are

unable at this time to estimate with

greater precision the number of wireline

carriers and service providers that

would qualify as small business

concerns under the SBA’s definition.

Consequently, we estimate that there are

fewer than 2,295 small telephone
10804 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

42 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC Code 4813.

43Federal Communications Commission, CCB,

Industry Analysis Division, Telecommunications

Industry Revenue: TRS Fund Worksheet Data, Tbl.

1 (Average Total Telecommunications Revenue

Reported by Class of Carrier) (December 1996) (TRS

Worksheet).

44 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4813.

45TRS Worksheet.

46 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4813.

47TRS Worksheet.

48 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4813.

49 Id.

50 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4813.

51TRS Worksheet.

52 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4813.

53TRS Worksheet.

54We include all toll-free number subscribers in

this category, including 888 numbers.

55Federal Communications Commission, CCB,

Industry Analysis Division, FCC Releases, Study on

Telephone Trends, Tbl. 20 (May 16, 1996).

communications companies other than

radiotelephone companies.

14. Local Exchange Carriers. Neither

the Commission nor the SBA has

developed a definition for small

providers of local exchange services

(LECs). The closest applicable definition

under the SBA rules is for telephone

communications companies other than

radiotelephone (wireless) companies.42

The most reliable source of information

regarding the number of LECs

nationwide is the data that we collect

annually in connection with the TRS

Worksheet. According to our most

recent data, 1,347 companies reported

that they were engaged in the provision

of local exchange services.43 We do not

have information on the number of

carriers that are not independently

owned and operated, nor what carriers

have more than 1,500 employees, and

thus are unable at this time to estimate

with greater precision the number of

LECs that would qualify as small

business concerns under SBA’s

definition. Consequently, we estimate

that there are fewer than 1,347 small

incumbent LECs.

15. Interexchange Carriers. Neither

the Commission nor the SBA has

developed a definition of small entities

specifically applicable to providers of

interexchange services (IXCs). The

closest applicable definition under the

SBA rules is for telephone

communications companies except

radiotelephone (wireless) companies.44

The most reliable source of information

regarding the number of IXCs

nationwide is the data that we collect

annually in connection with the TRS

Worksheet. According to our most

recent data, 130 companies reported

that they were engaged in the provision

of interexchange services.45 We do not

have information on the number of

carriers that are not independently

owned and operated, nor have more

than 1,500 employees, and thus we are

unable at this time to estimate with

greater precision the number of IXCs

that would qualify as small business

concerns under the SBA’s definition.

Consequently, we estimate that there are

fewer than 130 small entity IXCs.

16. Competitive Access Providers.

Neither the Commission nor the SBA

has developed a definition of small

entities specifically applicable to

providers of competitive access services

(CAPs). The closest applicable

definition under the SBA rules is for

telephone communications companies

except radiotelephone (wireless)

companies.46 The most reliable source

of information regarding the number of

CAPs nationwide is the data that we

collect annually in connection with the

TRS Worksheet. According to our most

recent data, 57 companies reported that

they were engaged in the provision of

competitive access services.47 We do

not have information on the number of

carriers that are not independently

owned and operated, nor have more

than 1,500 employees, and thus are

unable at this time to estimate with

greater precision the number of CAPs

that would qualify as small business

concerns under the SBA’s definition.

Consequently, we estimate that there are

fewer than 57 small CAPs.

17. Operator Service Providers.

Neither the Commission nor the SBA

has developed a definition of small

entities specifically applicable to

providers of operator services. The

closest applicable definition under the

SBA rules is for telephone

communications companies except

radiotelephone (wireless) companies.48

The most reliable source of information

regarding the number of operator service

providers nationwide is the data that we

collect annually in connection with the

TRS Worksheet. According to our most

recent data, 25 companies reported that

they were engaged in the provision of

operator services.49 We do not have

information on the number of carriers

that are not independently owned and

operated, nor have more than 1,500

employees, and thus are unable at this

time to estimate with greater precision

the number of operator service

providers that would qualify as small

business concerns under the SBA’s

definition. Consequently, we estimate

that there are fewer than 25 small

operator service providers.

18. Pay Telephone Operators. Neither

the Commission nor the SBA has

developed a definition of small entities

specifically applicable to pay telephone

operators. The closest applicable

definition under SBA rules is for

telephone communications companies

except radiotelephone (wireless)

companies.50 The most reliable source

of information regarding the number of

pay telephone operators nationwide is

the data that we collect annually in

connection with the TRS Worksheet.

According to our most recent data, 271

companies reported that they were

engaged in the provision of pay

telephone services.51 We do not have

information on the number of carriers

that are not independently owned and

operated, nor have more than 1,500

employees, and thus are unable at this

time to estimate with greater precision

the number of pay telephone operators

that would qualify as small business

concerns under SBA’s definition.

Consequently, we estimate that there are

fewer than 271 small pay telephone

operators.

19. Resellers (including debit card

providers). Neither the Commission nor

the SBA has developed a definition of

small entities specifically applicable to

resellers. The closest applicable SBA

definition for a reseller is a telephone

communications company except

radiotelephone (wireless) companies.52

However, the most reliable source of

information regarding the number of

resellers nationwide is the data that the

Commission collects annually in

connection with the TRS Worksheet.

According to our most recent data, 260

companies reported that they were

engaged in the resale of telephone

service.53 We do not have information

on the number of carriers that are not

independently owned and operated, nor

have more than 1,500 employees, and

thus we are unable at this time to

estimate with greater precision the

number of resellers that would qualify

as small entities or small incumbent

LEC concerns under the SBA’s

definition. Consequently, we estimate

that there are fewer than 260 small

entity resellers.

20. 800 Subscribers.54 Neither the

Commission nor the SBA has developed

a definition of small entities specifically

applicable to 800 subscribers. The most

reliable source of information regarding

the number of 800 subscribers is data

we collect on the number of 800

numbers in use.55 According to our

most recent data, at the end of 1995, the

number of 800 numbers in use was

6,987,063. We do not have information

on the number of carriers not

independently owned and operated, nor

have more than 1,500 employees, and

thus are unable at this time to estimate

with greater precision the number of

800 subscribers that would qualify as
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10805

56 13 CFR § 120.121, SIC Code 4899.

57 1992 Economic Census Industry and Enterprise

Receipts Size Report, Table 2D, SIC 4899 (U.S.

Bureau of the Census data under contract to the

Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business

Administration). 58 13 CFR 121.201, SIC 4841.

59We tentatively conclude that the SBA’s

definition of ‘‘small business’’ greatly overstates the

number of radio and television broadcast stations

that are small businesses and is not suitable for

purposes of determining the impact of the proposals

on small television and radio stations. However, for

purposes of this Policy Statement, we utilize the

SBA’s definition in determining the number of

small businesses to which the proposed rules

would apply, but we reserve the right to adopt a

more suitable definition of ‘‘small business’’ as

applied to radio and television broadcast stations or

other entities subject to this Policy Statement and

to consider further the issue of the number of small

entities that are radio and television broadcasters or

other small media entities in the future. See Report

and Order in MM Docket No. 93–48 (Children’s

Television Programming), 11 FCC Rcd 10660,

10737–38 (1996), 61 FR 43981 (August 27, 1996),

citing 5 U.S.C. 601(3). We have pending

proceedings seeking comment on the definition of

and data relating to small businesses. In our Notice

of Inquiry in GN Docket No. 96–113 (Section 257

Proceeding to Identify and Eliminate Market Entry

Barriers for Small Businesses), FCC 96–216,

released May 21, 1996, we requested commenters

to provide profile data about small

telecommunications businesses in particular

services, including television, and the market entry

barriers they encounter, and we also sought

comment as to how to define small businesses for

purposes of implementing Section 257 of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires us

to identify market entry barriers and to prescribe

regulations to eliminate those barriers.

Additionally, in our Order and Notice of Proposed

Rule Making in MM Docket No. 96–16 (In the Matter

of Streamlining Broadcast EEO Rule and Policies,

Vacating the EEO Forfeiture Policy Statement and

Amending Section 1.80 of the Commission’s Rules

to Include EEO Forfeiture Guidelines), 11 FCC Rcd

5154 (1996), 61 FR 9964 (March 12, 1996), we

invited comment as to whether relief should be

afforded to stations: (1) based on small staff and

what size staff would be considered sufficient for

relief, e.g., 10 or fewer full-time employees; (2)

based on operation in a small market; or (3) based

on operation in a market with a small minority

work force.

60 13 CFR 121.201, SIC 4833.

61Economics and Statistics Administration,

Bureau of Census, U.S. Department of Commerce,

1992 Census of Transportation, Communications

and Utilities, Establishment and Firm Size, Series

UC92–S–1, Appendix A–9 (1995).

small business concerns under the

SBA’s definition. Consequently, we

estimate that there are fewer than

6,987,063 small entity 800 subscribers.

International Services

21. The Commission has not

developed a definition of small entities

applicable to licensees in the

international services. Therefore, the

applicable definition of small entity is

the definition under the SBA rules

applicable to Communications Services,

Not Elsewhere Classified (NEC). This

definition provides that a small entity is

expressed as one with $11.0 million or

less in annual receipts.56 According to

the Census Bureau, there were a total of

848 communications services, NEC in

operation in 1992, and a total of 775 had

annual receipts of less than $9,999

million.57 The Census report does not

provide more precise data.

22. International Broadcast Stations.

Commission records show that there are

20 international broadcast station

licensees. We do not request nor collect

annual revenue information, and thus

are unable to estimate the number of

international broadcast licensees that

would constitute a small business under

the SBA definition. However, the

Commission estimates that only six

international broadcast stations are

subject to regulatory fee payments.

23. International Public Fixed Radio

(Public and Control Stations).

There are 15 licensees in this service.

We do not request nor collect annual

revenue information, and thus are

unable to estimate the number of

international broadcast licensees that

would constitute a small business under

the SBA definition.

24. Fixed Satellite Transmit/Receive

Earth Stations. There are approximately

4200 earth station authorizations, a

portion of which are Fixed Satellite

Transmit/Receive Earth Stations. We do

not request nor collect annual revenue

information, and thus are unable to

estimate the number of the earth

stations that would constitute a small

business under the SBA definition.

25. Fixed Satellite Small Transmit/

Receive Earth Stations. There are 4200

earth station authorizations, a portion of

which are Fixed Satellite Small

Transmit/Receive Earth Stations. We do

not request nor collect annual revenue

information, and thus are unable to

estimate the number of fixed satellite

transmit/receive earth stations may

constitute a small business under the

SBA definition.

26. Fixed Satellite Very Small

Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Systems.

These stations operate on a primary

basis, and frequency coordination with

terrestrial microwave systems is not

required. Thus, a single ‘‘blanket’’

application may be filed for a specified

number of small antennas and one or

more hub stations. The Commission has

processed 377 applications. We do not

request nor collect annual revenue

information, and thus are unable to

estimate the number of VSAT systems

that would constitute a small business

under the SBA definition.

27. Mobile Satellite Earth Stations.

There are two licensees. We do not

request nor collect annual revenue

information, and thus are unable to

estimate of the number of mobile

satellite earth stations that would

constitute a small business under the

SBA definition.

28. Radio Determination Satellite

Earth Stations. There are four licensees.

We do not request nor collect annual

revenue information, and thus are

unable to estimate of the number of

radio determination satellite earth

stations that would constitute a small

business under the SBA definition.

29. Space Stations (Geostationary).

Commission records reveal that there

are 37 space station licensees. We do

not request nor collect annual revenue

information, and thus are unable to

estimate of the number of geostationary

space stations that would constitute a

small business under the SBA

definition.

30. Space Stations (NonGeostationary). There are six NonGeostationary Space Station licensees,

of which only one system is operational.

We do not request nor collect annual

revenue information, and thus are

unable to estimate of the number of nongeostationary space stations that would

constitute a small business under the

SBA definition.

31. Direct Broadcast Satellites.

Because DBS provides subscription

services, DBS falls within the SBA

definition of Cable and Other Pay

Television Services (SIC 4841). This

definition provides that a small entity is

expressed as one with $11.0 million or

less in annual receipts. 58 As of

December 1996, there were eight DBS

licensees. However, the Commission

does not collect annual revenue data for

DBS and, therefore, is unable to

ascertain the number of small DBS

licensees that could be impacted by

these proposed rules. Although DBS

service requires a great investment of

capital for operation, we acknowledge

that there are several new entrants in

this field that may not yet have

generated $11 million in annual

receipts, and therefore may be

categorized as a small business, if

independently owned and operated.

Mass Media Services

32. Commercial Radio and Television

Services. The proposed rules and

policies will apply to television

broadcasting licensees and radio

broadcasting licensees. 59 The SBA

defines a television broadcasting station

that has $10.5 million or less in annual

receipts as a small business. 60

Television broadcasting stations consist

of establishments primarily engaged in

broadcasting visual programs by

television to the public, except cable

and other pay television services. 61

Included in this industry are
10806 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

62 Id. See Executive Office of the President, Office

of Management and Budget, Standard Industrial

Classification Manual (1987), at 283, which

describes ‘‘Television Broadcasting Stations’’ (SIC

Code 4833) as:

Establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting

visual programs by television to the public, except

cable and other pay television services. Included in

this industry are commercial, religious, educational

and other television stations. Also included here are

establishments primarily engaged in television

broadcasting and which produce taped television

program materials.

63Economics and Statistics Administration,

Bureau of Census, U.S. Department of Commerce,

1992 Census of Transportation, Communications

And Utilities, Establishment and Firm Size, Series

UC92–S–1, Appendix A–9 (1995).

64 Id. SIC 7812 (Motion Picture and Video Tape

Production); SIC 7922 (Theatrical Producers and

Miscellaneous Theatrical Services) (producers of

live radio and television programs).

65FCC News Release No. 31327, January 13, 1993;

Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of

Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.

66FCC News Release No. 64958, September 6,

1996.

67 Census for Communications’ establishments

are performed every five years ending with a ‘‘2’’

or ‘‘7’’. See Economics and Statistics

Administration, Bureau of Census, U.S. Department

of Commerce.

68The amount of $10 million was used to

estimate the number of small business

establishments because the relevant Census

categories stopped at $9,999,999 and began at

$10,000,000. No category for $10.5 million existed.

Thus, the number is as accurate as it is possible to

calculate with the available information.

69 13 CFR 121.201, SIC 4832.

70Economics and Statistics Administration,

Bureau of Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.

71 Id.

72 Id.

73 Id.

74The Census Bureau counts radio stations

located at the same facility as one establishment.

Therefore, each co-located AM/FM combination

counts as one establishment.

75FCC News Release No. 31327, January 13, 1993.

76FCC News Release No. 64958, September 6,

1996.

77We use the 77 percent figure of TV stations

operating at less than $10 million for 1992 and

apply it to the 1996 total of 1550 TV stations to

arrive at 1,194 stations categorized as small

businesses.

78We use the 96% figure of radio station

establishments with less than $5 million revenue

from the Census data and apply it to the 12,088

individual station count to arrive at 11,605

individual stations as small businesses.

79FCC News Release, Broadcast Station Totals as

of December 31, 1996, No. 71831, January 21, 1997.

80The Commission’s definition of a small

broadcast station for purposes of applying its EEO

rules was adopted prior to the requirement of

approval by the SBA pursuant to Section 3(a) of the

Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. § 632 (a), as amended

by Section 222 of the Small Business Credit and

Business Opportunity Enhancement Act of 1992,

Public Law 102–366, § 222(b)(1), 106 Stat. 999

(1992), as further amended by the Small Business

Administration Reauthorization and Amendments

Act of 1994, Public Law 103–403, § 301, 108 Stat.

4187 (1994). However, this definition was adopted

after the public notice and the opportunity for

comment. See Report and Order in Docket No.

18244, 23 FCC 2d 430 (1970), 35 FR 8925 (June 6,

1970).

81See, e.g., 47 CFR § 73.3612 (Requirement to file

annual employment reports on Form 395 applies to

licensees with five or more full-time employees);

First Report and Order in Docket No. 21474

(Amendment of Broadcast Equal Employment

Opportunity Rules and FCC Form 395), 70 FCC 2d

1466 (1979), 50 FR 50329 (December 10, 1985). The

Commission is currently considering how to

decrease the administrative burdens imposed by the

EEO rule on small stations while maintaining the

effectiveness of our broadcast EEO enforcement.

Order and Notice of Proposed Rule Making in MM

Docket No. 96–16 (Streamlining Broadcast EEO

Rule and Policies, Vacating the EEO Forfeiture

Policy Statement and Amending Section 1.80 of the

Commission’s Rules to Include EEO Forfeiture

Guidelines), 11 FCC Rcd 5154 (1996), 61 FR 9964

(March 12, 1996). One option under consideration

is whether to define a small station for purposes of

affording such relief as one with ten or fewer fulltime employees.

82Compilation of 1994 Broadcast Station Annual

Employment Reports (FCC Form 395B), Equal

Opportunity Employment Branch, Mass Media

Bureau, FCC.

83FCC News Release, Broadcast Station Totals as

of December 31, 1996, No. 71831, January 21, 1997.

commercial, religious, educational, and

other television stations. 62 Also

included are establishments primarily

engaged in television broadcasting and

which produce taped television program

materials. 63 Separate establishments

primarily engaged in producing taped

television program materials are

classified under another SIC number. 64

There were 1,509 television stations

operating in the nation in 1992. 65 That

number has remained fairly constant as

indicated by the approximately 1,550

operating television broadcasting

stations in the nation as of August,

1996. 66 For 1992, 67 the number of

television stations that produced less

than $10.0 million in revenue was 1,155

establishments. 68 Only commercial

stations are subject to regulatory fees.

33. Additionally, the Small Business

Administration defines a radio

broadcasting station that has $5 million

or less in annual receipts as a small

business. 69 A radio broadcasting station

is an establishment primarily engaged in

broadcasting aural programs by radio to

the public. 70 Included in this industry

are commercial, religious, educational,

and other radio stations. 71 Radio

broadcasting stations which primarily

are engaged in radio broadcasting and

which produce radio program materials

are similarly included. 72 However,

radio stations which are separate

establishments and are primarily

engaged in producing radio program

material are classified under another

SIC number. 73 The 1992 Census

indicates that 96 percent (5,861 of

6,127) radio station establishments

produced less than $5 million in

revenue in 1992. 74 Official Commission

records indicate that 11,334 individual

radio stations were operating in 1992. 75

As of August 1996, official Commission

records indicate that 12,088 radio

stations were operating. 76 Only

commercial stations are subject to

regulatory fees.

34. Thus, the NPRM adopted today

will affect approximately 1,550 full

power television stations;

approximately 1,194 of those stations

are considered small businesses, 77 and

12,088 full power radio stations,

approximately 11,605 of which are

small businesses. 78 These estimates may

overstate the number of small entities

since the revenue figures on which they

are based do not include or aggregate

revenues from non-television or nonradio affiliated companies. There are

also 1,954 low power television stations

(LPTV). 79 Given the nature of this

service, we will presume that all LPTV

licensees qualify as small entities under

the SBA definition.

Alternative Classification of Small

Stations

35. An alternative way to classify

small radio and television stations is the

number of employees. The Commission

currently applies a standard based on

the number of employees in

administering its Equal Employment

Opportunity Rule (EEO) for

broadcasting.80 Thus, radio or television

stations with fewer than five full-time

employees are exempted from certain

EEO reporting and record keeping

requirements.81 We estimate that the

total number of broadcast stations with

4 or fewer employees is approximately

4,239.82

Auxiliary, Special Broadcast and Other

Program Distribution Services

36. This service involves a variety of

transmitters, generally used to relay

broadcast programming to the public

(through translator and booster stations)

or within the program distribution chain

(from a remote news gathering unit back

to the station). The Commission has not

developed a definition of small entities

applicable to broadcast auxiliary

licensees. Therefore, the applicable

definition of small entity is the

definition under the Small Business

Administration (SBA) rules applicable

to radio broadcasting stations (SIC 4832)

and television broadcasting stations (SIC

4833).

37. There are currently 2,720 FM

translators and boosters, 4,952 TV

translators.83 The FCC does not collect

financial information on any broadcast

facility and the Department of

Commerce does not collect financial

information on these auxiliary broadcast

facilities. We believe, however, that

most, if not all, of these auxiliary

facilities could be classified as small
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10807

84 15 U.S.C. § 632.

85For purposes of this item, MDS also includes

single channel Multipoint Distribution Service

(MDS) and Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS)

application and authorizations collectively.

86See 47 CFR § 1.2110 (a)(1).

87Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 of the

Commission’s Rules with Regard to Filing

Procedures in the Multipoint Distribution Service

and in the Instructional Television Fixed Service

and Implementation of Section 309(j) of the

Communications Act—Competitive Bidding, 10

FCC Rcd 9589 (1995), 60 FR 36524 (July 17, 1995).

88 Id. A Basic Trading Area (BTA) is the

geographic area by which the Multipoint

Distribution Service is licensed. See Rand McNally

1992 Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide, 123rd

Edition, pp. 36–39.

89Federal Communications Commission. CCB

industry Analysis Division, Telecommunication

Industry Revenue: TRS Worksheet Data, Tbl. 1

(Average Total Telecommunication Revenue

Reported by Class of Carrier) (December 1996) (TRS

Worksheet).

90 Id.

91 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4812.

92Economic Area (EA) licenses refer to the 60

channels in the 172 geographic areas as defined by

the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of

Commerce. See Amendment of Part 90 of the

Commission’s Rules to Provide for the Use of the

220–222 MHz Band by the Private Land Mobile

Radio Service, Second Memorandum Opinion and

Order and Third Notice of Proposed Rule Making,

GN Docket 93–252, 10 FCC Rcd 6880 (1995), 60 FR

26861 (May 19, 1995).

93 Id.

94See U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department

of Commerce, 1992 Census of Transportation,

Communications, and Utilities, UC92–S–1, Subject

Series, Establishment and Firm Size, Tbl. 5,

Employment Size of Firms; 1992, SIC 4812 (issued

May 1995).

95 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4812.

96 Id.

businesses by themselves. We also

recognize that most translators and

boosters are owned by a parent station

which, in some cases, would be covered

by the revenue definition of small

business entity discussed above. These

stations would likely have annual

revenues that exceed the SBA maximum

to be designated as a small business

(either $5 million for a radio station or

$10.5 million for a TV station).

Furthermore, they do not meet the

Small Business Act’s definition of a

‘‘small business concern’’ because they

are not independently owned and

operated.84

38. Multipoint Distribution Service

(MDS). This service involves a variety of

transmitters, which are used to relay

programming to the home or office,

similar to that provided by cable

television systems.85 In connection with

the 1996 MDS auction the Commission

defined small businesses as entities who

had annual average gross revenues for

the three preceding years not in excess

of $40 million.86 This definition of a

small entity in the context of MDS

auctions has been approved by the

SBA.87 These stations were licensed

prior to implementation of Section

309(j) of the Act. Licenses for new MDS

facilities are now awarded to auction

winners in Basic Trading Areas (BTAs)

and BTA-like areas.88 The MDS auctions

resulted in 67 successful bidders

obtaining licensing opportunities for

493 BTAs. Of the 67 auction winners, 61

meet the definition of a small business.

There are 1,573 previously authorized

and proposed MDS stations currently

licensed. Thus, we conclude that there

are 1,634 MDS providers that are small

businesses as deemed by the SBA and

the Commission’s auction rules. It is

estimated, however, that only 1,145

MDS licensees are subject to regulatory

fees and the number which are small

businesses is unknown.

Wireless and Commercial Mobile

Services

39. Cellular Licensees. Neither the

Commission nor the SBA has developed

a definition of small entities applicable

to cellular licensees. The closest

applicable definition of small entity is

the definition under the SBA rules

applicable to radiotelephone (wireless)

companies (SIC 4812). The most reliable

source of information regarding the

number of cellular services carriers

nationwide of which we are aware

appears to be the data that the

Commission collects annually in

connection with the TRS Worksheet.89

According to the most recent data, 792

companies reported that they were

engaged in the provision of cellular

services.90 Although it seems certain

that some of these carriers are not

independently owned and operated, or

have more than 1,500 employees, we are

unable at this time to estimate with

greater precision the number of cellular

services carriers that would qualify as

small business concerns under the

SBA’s definition. Consequently, we

estimate that there are fewer than 792

small cellular service carriers.

40. 220 MHz Radio Services. Since

the Commission has not yet defined a

small business with respect to 220 MHz

radio services, we will utilize the SBA’s

definition applicable to radiotelephone

companies—i.e., an entity employing

less than 1,500 persons.91 With respect

to the 220 MHz services, the

Commission has proposed a two-tiered

definition of small business for

purposes of auctions: (1) For Economic

Area (EA) licensees,92 a firm with

average annual gross revenues of not

more than $6 million for the preceding

three years; and (2) for regional and

nationwide licensees, a firm with

average annual gross revenues of not

more than $15 million for the preceding

three years.93 Since this definition has

not yet been approved by the SBA, we

will utilize the SBA’s definition

applicable to radiotelephone companies.

Given the fact that nearly all

radiotelephone companies employ

fewer than 1,500 employees,94 with

respect to the approximately 3,800

incumbent licensees in this service, we

will consider them as small businesses

under the SBA definition.

41. Private and Common Carrier

Paging. The Commission has proposed a

two-tier definition of small businesses

in the context of auctioning licenses in

the Common Carrier Paging and

exclusive Private Carrier Paging

services. Under the proposal, a small

business will be defined as either (1) an

entity that, together with its affiliates

and controlling principals, has average

gross revenues for the three preceding

years of not more than $3 million, or (2)

an entity that, together with affiliates

and controlling principals, has average

gross revenues for the three preceding

calendar years of not more than $15

million. Since the SBA has not yet

approved this definition for paging

services, we will utilize the SBA’s

definition applicable to radiotelephone

companies, i.e., an entity employing

fewer than 1,500 persons.95 At present,

there are approximately 24,000 Private

Paging licensees and 74,000 Common

Carrier Paging licensees. We estimate

that the majority of private and common

carrier paging providers would qualify

as small businesses under the SBA

definition.

42. Mobile Service Carriers. Neither

the Commission nor the SBA has

developed a definition of small entities

specifically applicable to mobile service

carriers, such as paging companies. The

closest applicable definition under the

SBA rules is for radiotelephone

(wireless) companies. The most reliable

source of information regarding the

number of mobile service carriers

nationwide of which we are aware

appears to be the data that the

Commission collects annually in

connection with the TRS Worksheet.

According to the most recent data, 117

companies reported that they were

engaged in the provision of mobile

services.96 Although it seems certain

that some of these carriers are not

independently owned and operated, or

have more than 1,500 employees, we are

unable at this time to estimate with

greater precision the number of mobile

service carriers that would qualify

under the SBA’s definition.
10808 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

97See Amendment of Parts 20 and 24 of the

Commission’s Rules—Broadband PCS Competitive

Bidding and the Commercial Mobile Radio Service

Spectrum Cap, Report and Order, FCC 96–278, WT

Docket No. 96–59, paras. 57–60 (released June 24,

1996), 61 FR 33859 (July 1, 1996); see also 47 CFR

§ 24.720(b).

98See Amendment of Parts 20 and 24 of the

Commission’s Rules—Broadband PCS Competitive

Bidding and the Commerical Mobile Radio Service

Spectrum Cap, Report and Order, FCC 96–278, WT

Docket No. 96–59, para. 60 (1996), 61 FR 33859

(July 1, 1996).

99FCC News, Broadband PCS, D, E and F Block

Auction Closes, No. 71744 (released January 14,

1997).

100 47 CFR § 22.9.

101 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4812.

102 Id.

103 Id.

104See Amendment of Parts 2 and 90 of the

Commission’s Rules to Provide for the Use of 200

Channels Outside the Designated Filing Areas in

the 896–901 MHz and the 935–940 MHz Bands

Allotted to the Specialized Mobile Radio Pool, PR

Docket No. 89–583, Second Order on

Reconsideration and Seventh Report and Order, 11

FCC Rcd 2639, 2693–702 (1995), 60 FR 48913

(September 21, 1995); Amendment of Part 90 of the

Commission’s Rules to Facilitate Future

Development of SMR Systems in the 800 MHz

Frequency Band, PR Docket No. 93–144, First

Report and Order, Eighth Report and Order, and

Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 11

FCC Rcd 1463 (1995), 61 FR 6212 (February 16,

1996).

105Federal Communications Commission, 60th

Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1994 at 116.

Consequently, we estimate that there are

fewer than 117 small entity mobile

service carriers.

43. Broadband Personal

Communications Service (PCS). The

broadband PCS spectrum is divided into

six frequency blocks designated A

through F and the Commission has held

auctions for each block. The

Commission defined ‘‘small entity’’ for

Blocks C and F as an entity that has

average gross revenues of less than $40

million in the three previous calendar

years.97 For Block F, an additional

classification for ‘‘very small business’’

was added and is defined as an entity

that, together with their affiliates, has

average gross revenues of not more than

$15 million for the preceding three

calendar years.98 These regulations

defining ‘‘small entity’’ in the context of

broadband PCS auctions have been

approved by the SBA. No small

businesses within the SBA-approved

definition bid successfully for licenses

in Blocks A and B. There were 90

winning bidders that qualified as small

entities in the Block C auctions. A total

of 93 small and very small business

bidders won approximately 40% of the

1,479 licenses for Blocks D, E, and F.99

However, licenses for blocks C through

F have not been awarded fully, therefore

there are few, if any, small businesses

currently providing PCS services. Based

on this information, we conclude that

the number of small broadband PCS

licensees will include the 90 winning C

Block bidders and the 93 qualifying

bidders in the D, E, and F blocks, for a

total of 183 small PCS providers as

defined by the SBA and the

Commission’s auction rules.

44. Narrowband PCS. The

Commission has auctioned nationwide

and regional licenses for narrowband

PCS. There are 11 nationwide and 30

regional licensees for narrowband PCS.

The Commission does not have

sufficient information to determine

whether any of these licensees are small

businesses within the SBA-approved

definition. At present, there have been

no auctions held for the major trading

area (MTA) and basic trading area (BTA)

narrowband PCS licenses. The

Commission anticipates a total of 561

MTA licenses and 2,958 BTA licenses

will be awarded in the auctions. Those

auctions, however, have not yet been

scheduled. Given the facts that nearly

all radiotelephone companies have

fewer than 1,500 employees and that no

reliable estimate of the number of

prospective MTA and BTA narrowband

licensees can be made, we assume, that

all of the licenses will be awarded to

small entities, as that term is defined by

the SBA.

45. Rural Radiotelephone Service. The

Commission has not adopted a

definition of small business specific to

the Rural Radiotelephone Service,

which is defined in Section 22.99 of the

Commission’s Rules.100 A significant

subset of the Rural Radiotelephone

Service is BETRS, or Basic Exchange

Telephone Radio Systems (the

parameters of which are defined in

Sections 22.757 and 22.759 of the

Commission’s Rules). Accordingly, we

will use the SBA’s definition applicable

to radiotelephone companies, i.e., an

entity employing fewer than 1,500

persons. There are approximately 1,000

licensees in the Rural Radiotelephone

Service, and we estimate that almost all

of them qualify as small under the

SBA’s definition of a small business.101

46. Air-Ground Radiotelephone

Service. The Commission has not

adopted a definition of small business

specific to the Air-Ground

Radiotelephone Service, which is

defined in Section 22.99 of the

Commission’s Rules.102 Accordingly, we

will use the SBA’s definition applicable

to radiotelephone companies, i.e., an

entity employing fewer than 1,500

persons.103 There are approximately 100

licensees in the Air-Ground

Radiotelephone Service, and we

estimate that almost all of them qualify

as small under the SBA definition.

47. Specialized Mobile Radio

Licensees (SMR). Pursuant to 47 CFR

§ 90.814(b)(1), the Commission awards

bidding credits in auctions for

geographic area 800 MHz and 900 MHz

Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR)

licenses to firms that had revenues of

less than $15 million in each of the

three previous calendar years. This

regulation defining ‘‘small entity’’ in the

context of 800 MHz and 900 MHz SMR

has been approved by the SBA.104

48. The proposed fees in the NPRM

applies to SMR providers in the 800

MHz and 900 MHz bands that either

hold geographic area licenses or have

obtained extended implementation

authorizations. We do not know how

many firms provide 800 MHz or 900

MHz geographic area SMR service

pursuant to extended implementation

authorizations, nor how many of these

providers have annual revenues of less

than $15 million. We do know that one

of these firms has over $15 million in

revenues. We assume that all of the

remaining existing extended

implementation authorizations are held

by small entities, as that term is defined

by the SBA.

49. The Commission recently held

auctions for geographic area licenses in

the 900 MHz SMR band. There were 60

winning bidders who qualified as small

entities in the 900 MHz auction. Based

on this information, we conclude that

the number of geographic area SMR

licensees affected includes these 60

small entities.

50. Private Land Mobile Radio

Licensees (PLMR). These radios are

used by companies of all sizes operating

in all U.S. business categories. Because

of the vast array of PLMR users, the

Commission has not developed nor

would it be possible to develop a

definition of small entities specifically

applicable to PLMR users. For the

purpose of determining whether a

licensee is a small business as defined

by the SBA, each licensee would need

to be evaluated within its own business

area.

51. The Commission is unable at this

time to estimate the number of small

businesses which could be impacted by

the rules. However, the Commission’s

1994 Annual Report on PLMRs 105

indicates that at the end of fiscal year

1994 there were 1,087,267 licensees

operating 12,481,989 transmitters in the

PLMR bands below 512 MHz. Further,

because any entity engaged in a

commercial activity is eligible to hold a

PLMR license, these rules could

potentially impact every small business

in the U.S.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10809

106See 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC Major Group Code

44—Water Transportation (4491, 4492, 4493, 4499)

and 45—Transportation by Air (4522, 4581).

107 47 CFR § 101 et seq (formerly part 21 of the

Commission’s rules).

108Persons eligible under Parts 80 and 90 of the

Commission’s rules can use private Operational

Fixed Microwave services. See 47 CFR §§ 80 et seq,

90 et seq. Stations in this service are called

operational-fixed to distinguish them from common

carrier and public fixed stations. Only the licensee

may use an operational-fixed station, and only for

communications related to the licensee’s

commercial, industrial, or safety operations.

109Broadcast Auxiliary Microwave Service is

governed by Part 74 of Title 47 of the Commission’s

rules. See 47 CFR § 74 et seq. Available to licensees

of broadcast stations and to broadcast and cable

network entities, broadcast auxiliary microwave

stations are used for relaying broadcast television

signals from the studio to the transmitter, or

between two points, such as a main studio and an

auxiliary studio. The broadcast auxiliary microwave

services also include mobile TV pickups which

relay signals from a remote location back to the

studio.

110 13 CFR § 121.201, SIC 4812.

111With the exception of the special emergency

service, these services are governed by subpart B of

Part 90 of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR §§ 90.15

through 90.27. The police service includes 26,608

licensees that serve state, county, and municipal

enforcement through telephony (voice), telegraphy

(code) and teletype and facsimile (printed material).

The fire radio service includes 22,677 licensees

comprised of private volunteer or professional fire

companies as well as units under governmental

control. The local government service that is

presently comprised of 40,512 licensees that are

state, county, or municipal entities that use the

radio for official purposes not covered by other

public safety services. There are 7,325 licensees

within the forestry service which is comprised of

licensees from state departments of conservation

and private forest organizations who set up

communications networks among fire lookout

towers and ground crews. The 9,480 state and local

governments are licensed to highway maintenance

service provide emergency and routine

communications to aid other public safety services

to keep main roads safe for vehicular traffic. The

1,460 licensees in the Emergency Medical Radio

Service (EMRS) use the 39 channels allocated to

this service for emergency medical service

communication related to the actual delivery of

emergency medical treatment. 47 CFR § § 90.15

through 90.27. The 19,478 licensees in the special

emergency service include medical services, rescue

organizations, veterinarians, handicapped persons,

disaster relief organizations, school buses, beach

patrols, establishments in isolated areas,

communications standby facilities, and emergency

repair of public communications facilities. 47 CFR

§§ 90.33 through 90.55.

112 5 U.S.C. § 601(5).

113United States Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of

the Census, 1992 Census of Governments (1992

Census).

114Licensees in the Citizens Band (CB) Radio

Service, General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS),

Radio Control (R/C) Radio Service and Family

Radio Service (FRS) are governed by subpart D,

subpart A, subpart C, and subpart B, respectively,

of Part 95 of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR

§§ 95.401 through 95.428; §§ 95.1 through 95.181;

§§ 95.201 through 95.225; 47 CFR §§ 95.191 through

95.194.

115These licensees are governed by subpart I of

part 22 of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR § 22.1001

through 22.1037.

116The following categories are exempt from the

Commission’s Schedule of Regulatory Fees:

Amateur radio licensees (except applicants for

vanity call signs) and operators in other nonlicensed services (e.g., Personal Radio, part 15, ship

and aircraft). Governments and non-profit (exempt

under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code)

Continued

52. Amateur Radio Service. We

estimate that 10,000 applicants will

apply for vanity call signs in FY 1997.

All are presumed to be individuals. All

other amateur licensees are exempt from

payment of regulatory fees.

53. Aviation and Marine Radio

Service. Small businesses in the

aviation and marine radio services use

a marine very high frequency (VHF)

radio, any type of emergency position

indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), and/or

radar, a VHF aircraft radio, and/or any

type of emergency locator transmitter

(ELT). The Commission has not

developed a definition of small entities

specifically applicable to these small

businesses. Therefore, the applicable

definition of small entity is the

definition under the Small Business

Administration rules applicable to water

transportation and transportation by air.

This definition provides that a small

entity is any entity employing less than

500 persons for water transportation,

and 1,500 for transportation by air.106

The Commission is unable at this time

to make a meaningful estimate of the

number of potential small businesses.

54. Most applicants for individual

recreational licenses are individuals.

Approximately 581,000 ship station

licensees and 131,000 aircraft station

licensees operate domestically and are

not subject to the radio carriage

requirements of any statute or treaty.

Therefore, for purposes of our

evaluations and conclusions in this

FRFA, we estimate that there may be at

least 712,000 potential licensees which

are small businesses, as that term is

defined by the SBA. We estimate,

however, that only 22,250 will be

subject to FY 1997 regulatory fees.

55. Microwave Video Services.

Microwave services includes common

carrier,107 private operational fixed,108

and broadcast auxiliary radio

services.109 At present, there are 22,015

common carrier licensees,

approximately 61,670 private

operational fixed licensees and

broadcast auxiliary radio licensees in

the microwave services. Inasmuch as

the Commission has not yet defined a

small business with respect to

microwave services, we will utilize the

SBA’s definition applicable to

radiotelephone companies—i.e., an

entity with less than 1,500 persons.110

As for estimates regarding small

businesses within the broadcast service,

we rely on our estimates as discussed

under mass media services. Although

some of these companies may have

more than 1,500 employees, we are

unable at this time to estimate with

greater precision the number of

microwave service providers other than

broadcast licensees that would qualify

under the SBA’s definition.

56. Public Safety Radio Services.

Public Safety radio services include

police, fire, local government, forestry

conservation, highway maintenance,

and emergency medical services.111

There are a total of approximately

127,540 licensees within these services.

Governmental entities as well as private

businesses comprise the licensees for

these services. As we indicated in the

introductory paragraph, all

governmental entities with populations

of less than 50,000 fall within the

definition of a small business.112 There

are approximately 37,566 governmental

entities with populations of less than

50,000.113 All of these licensees are

exempt from payment of regulatory fees.

57. Personal Radio Services. Personal

radio services provide short-range, low

power radio for personal

communications, radio signalling and

business communications not provided

for in other services. These services

include citizen band (CB) radio service,

general mobile radio service (GMRS),

radio control radio service, and family

radio service (FRS).114 Inasmuch as the

CB, GMRS, and FRS licensees are

individuals, no small business

definition applies for these services. We

are unable at this time to estimate the

number of licensees that would qualify

as small under the SBA’s definition,

however, only GMRS licensees are

subject to regulatory fees.

58. Offshore Radiotelephone Service.

This service operates on several UHF

TV broadcast channels that are not used

for TV broadcasting in the coastal area

of the states bordering the Gulf of

Mexico.115 At present, there are

approximately 55 licensees in this

service. We are unable at this time to

estimate the number of licensees that

would qualify as small under the SBA’s

definition.

IV. Description of Projected Reporting,

Recordkeeping and Other Compliance

Requirements

59. With certain exceptions, the

Commission’s Schedule of Regulatory

Fees applies to all Commission

licensees and regulatees. Most licensees

will be required to count the number of

licenses or call signs authorized,

complete and submit an FCC Form 159,

‘‘FCC Remittance Advice,’’ and pay a

regulatory fee based on the number of

licenses or call signs.116 Interstate
10810 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

entities are exempt from payment of regulatory fees

and need not submit payment. Non-commercial

educational broadcast licensees are exempt from

regulatory fees as are licensees of auxiliary

broadcast services such as low power auxiliary

stations, television auxiliary service stations,

remote pickup stations and aural broadcast

auxiliary stations where such licenses are used in

conjunction with commonly owned noncommercial educational stations. Emergency Alert

System licenses for auxiliary service facilities are

also exempt as are instructional television fixed

service licensees. Regulatory fees are automatically

waived for the licensee of any translator station

that: (1) is not licensed to, in whole or in part, and

does not have common ownership with, the

licensee of a commercial broadcast station; (2) does

not derive income from advertising; and (3) is

dependent on subscriptions or contributions from

members of the community served for support.

Receive only earth station permittees are exempt

from payment of regulatory fees. A regulatee will

be relieved of its fee payment requirement if its

total fee due, including all categories of fees for

which payment is due by the entity, amounts to less

than $10.

117 47 U.S.C. § 1.1164(a).

118 47 U.S.C. § 1.1164(c).

119Public Law 104–134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996).

120 31 U.S.C. § 7701(c)(2)(B).

121 47 U.S.C. § 1.1166.

122See discussion of Montana Broadcasters

Association Comments at NPRM paragraphs 29–32

supra.

123See discussion of NAB Comments at NPRM

paragraphs 33–36 supra.

telephone service providers must

compute their annual regulatory fee

based on their adjusted gross interstate

revenue using information they already

supply to the Commission in

compliance with the TRS Fund, and

they must complete and submit the FCC

Form 159. Compliance with the fee

schedule will require some licensees to

tabulate the number of units (e.g.,

cellular telephones, pagers, cable TV

subscribers) they have in service,

complete and submit an FCC Form 159.

Licensees ordinarily will keep a list of

the number of units they have in service

as part of their normal business

practices. No additional outside

professional skills are required to

complete the FCC Form 159, and it can

be completed by the employees

responsible for an entity’s business

records.

60. Each licensee must submit the

FCC Form 159 to the Commission’s

lockbox bank after computing the

number of units subject to the fee. As an

option, licensees are permitted to file

electronically or on computer diskette to

minimize the burden of submitting

multiple copies of the FCC Form 159.

Although not mandatory, the latter

procedure may require additional

technical skills. Licensees who pay

small fees in advance supply fee

information as part of their application

and do not need to use the FCC Form

159.

61. Licensees and regulatees are

advised that failure to submit the

required regulatory fee in a timely

manner will subject the licensee or

regulatee to a late payment fee of an

additional 25% in addition to the

required fee.117 Until payment is

received, no new or pending

applications will be processed, and

existing authorizations may be subject

to rescission.118 Further, in accordance

with the Debt Collection Improvement

Act of 1996, federal agencies may bar a

person or entity from obtaining a federal

loan or loan insurance guarantees if that

person or entity fails to pay a delinquent

debt owed to any federal agency.119

Thus, debts owed to the Commission

may result in a person or entity being

denied a federal loan or loan guarantee

pending before another federal agency

until such obligations are paid.120

62. The Commission’s rules currently

make provision for relief in exceptional

circumstances. Persons or entities that

believe they have been placed in the

wrong regulatory fee category or are

experiencing extraordinary and

compelling financial hardship, upon a

showing that such circumstances

override the public interest in

reimbursing the Commission for its

regulatory costs, may request a waiver,

reduction or deferment of payment of

the regulatory fee.121 However, timely

submission of the required regulatory

fee must accompany requests for

waivers or reductions. This will avoid

any late payment penalty if the request

is denied. The fee will be refunded if

the request is granted. In exceptional

and compelling instances (where

payment of the regulatory fee along with

the waiver or reduction request could

result in reduction of service to a

community or other financial hardship

to the licensee), the Commission will

accept a petition to defer payment along

with a waiver or reduction request.

V. Significant Alternatives To Proposed

Rule Which Minimize Significant

Economic Impact on Small Entities and

Accomplish Stated Objectives

63. The Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriation Act, Public Law 104–208,

requires the Commission to revise its

Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order to

recover the amount of regulatory fees

that Congress, pursuant to Section 9(a)

of the Communications Act, as

amended, has required it to collect for

Fiscal Year (FY) 1997. See! 47 U.S.C.

§ 159 (a). We seek comment on the

proposed methodology for

implementing these statutory

requirements and any other potential

impact of these proposals on small

business entities.

64. With the introduction of actual

cost accounting data for computation of

regulatory fees, we found that some fees

which were very small in previous years

would have increased dramatically. The

methodology proposed in this NPRM

minimizes this impact by limiting the

amount of increase and shifting costs to

other services which, for the most part,

are larger entities. We seek comment on

this proposal.

65. Conversely, we have found that

our costs for regulating commercial

microwave (domestic public fixed)

services are significantly lower than

previously thought. We are, therefore,

proposing to eliminate the annual

‘‘large’’ regulatory fee for domestic

public fixed services and combining this

fee category with the private microwave

service with a single ‘‘microwave’’

designation. The impact on domestic

public fixed licensees will be a

reduction of the fee to a ‘‘small’’ up

front payment for the entire license term

applied only to new, modification and

renewal applicants. Current domestic

public fixed licensees would be exempt

from payment of a regulatory fee until

such time as they apply for a

modification or renewal of their license.

66. This item also solicits alternative

methodologies for assessing fees to

recover the regulatory costs attributable

to AM and FM radio stations. The radio

industry has requested relief for small

stations, and we currently have received

two alternative proposals which are

being evaluated. One would segment

licensees by Arbitron radio markets in

addition to station class.122 The other

proposal would segment licensees by

service area population in addition to

station class.123 The impact of adoption

of either alternative proposal is

unknown at this time, although either

proposal could be expected to result in

lower fees for smaller, less powerful

stations relative to larger, more powerful

stations in the same radio market; or

stations potentially serving a larger

population. We seek comment on these

alternative proposals and the impact

they may have on small entities.

67. Several categories of licensees and

regulatees are exempt from payment of

regulatory fees. See Footnote 3 supra.

VI. Federal Rules That May Duplicate,

Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed

Rule

68. None.

Attachment B—Sources of Payment

Unit Estimates for FY 1997

In order to calculate individual

service fees for FY 1997, we adjusted FY

1996 payment units for each service to
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10811

more accurately reflect expected FY

1997 payment liabilities. We obtained

our updated estimates through a variety

of means. For example, we used

Commission licensee data bases, actual

prior year payment records and industry

and trade association projections when

available. We tried to obtain verification

for these estimates from multiple

sources and, in all cases, we compared

FY 1997 estimates with actual FY 1996

payment units to ensure that our revised

estimates were reasonable. Where it

made sense, we adjusted and/or

rounded our final estimates to take into

consideration the fact that certain

variables that impact on the number of

payment units cannot yet be estimated

exactly. These include an unknown

number of waivers and/or exemptions

that may occur in FY 1997 and the fact

that, in many services, the number of

actual licensees or station operators

fluctuates from time to time due to

economic, technical or other reasons.

Therefore, when we note, for example,

that our estimated FY 1997 payment

units are based on FY 1996 actual

payment units, it does not necessarily

mean that our FY 1997 projection is

exactly the same number as FY 1996. It

means that we have either rounded the

FY 1997 number or adjusted it slightly

to account for these variables.

Fee category Sources of payment unit estimates

Land Mobile (All), Microwave, IVDS124, Marine

(Ship & Coast), Aviation (Aircraft & Ground),

GMRS, Amateur Vanity Call Signs, Domestic

Public Fixed.

Based on Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) projections of new applications and

renewals taking into consideration existing Commission licensee data bases. Aviation

(Aircraft) and Marine (Ship) estimates have been adjusted to take into consideration proposals to license portions of these services on a voluntary basis.

CMRS Mobile Services (incl. Cellular/Public Mobile

Radio Services and Two Way Paging Services) 125.

Based on actual FY 1996 payment units adjusted to take into consideration industry estimates of growth between FY 1996 and FY 1997 and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau projections of new applications and average number of mobile units associated with

each application.

CMRS One Way Paging Services .......................... Based on industry estimates of the number of pager units in operation.

AM/FM Radio Stations ............................................ Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

UHF/VHF Television Stations .................................. Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

AM/FM/TV Construction Permits ............................. Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

LPTV, Translators and Boosters ............................. Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

Auxiliaries ................................................................ Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

MDS/MMDS ............................................................. Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

Cable Antenna Relay Service (CARS) .................... Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

Cable Television System Subscribers ..................... Based on Cable Services Bureau and industry estimates of subscribership.

IXCs/LECs,CAPs, Other Service Providers ............ Based on actual FY 1996 interstate revenues associated with contributions to the Telecommunications Relay System (TRS) Fund, adjusted to take into consideration FY 1997

revenue growth in this industry as estimated by the Common Carrier Bureau.

Earth Stations .......................................................... Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

Space Stations & LEOs ........................................... Based on International Bureau licensee data bases.

International Bearer Circuits .................................... Based on International Bureau estimate.

International HF Broadcast Stations, International

Public Fixed Radio Service.

Based on actual FY 1996 payment units.

124The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s staff advises that they do not anticipate receiving any applications for IVDS in FY 1997. Therefore, since there is no volume, there will be no regulatory fee in the IVDS category for FY 1997. 125 Licensees in the PMRS were given until August of 1996 to decide whether to convert to CMRS. For FY 1997, we anticipate a substantial

increase in the volume of licensees in the CMRS categories and a corresponding decrease in the number of licensees remaining in the PMRS

category.

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
10812 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules
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10814 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

BILLING CODE 6712–01–C
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10815

Attachment F—FY 1997 Schedule of

Regulatory Fees

Fee category Annual regulatory fee

PMRS (per license) (Formerly Land Mobile—Exclusive Use at 220–222 MHz, above 470 MHz, Base Station and SMRS) (47

CFR Part 90) .................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Microwave (per license) (47 CFR Part 101) ........................................................................................................................................ 10

Interactive Video Data Service (per license) (47 CFR Part 95) .......................................................................................................... (1)

Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR Part 80) ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR Part 80) ................................................................................................................................... 5

General Mobile Radio Service (per license) (47 CFR Part 95) .......................................................................................................... 5

Land Mobile (per license) (all stations not covered by PMRS and CMRS) ........................................................................................ 5

Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47 CFR Part 87) ................................................................................................................................ 5

Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47 CFR Part 87) .............................................................................................................................. 5

Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 97) .............................................................................................................. 5

CMRS Mobile Services (per unit) (47 CFR Parts 20, 22, 24, 80 and 90) .......................................................................................... .24

CMRS One-Way Paging (per unit) (47 CFR Parts 20, 22 and 90) .................................................................................................... .03

Multipoint Distribution Services (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 21) ....................................................................................................... 215

AM Radio (47 CFR Part 73):

Class A ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1,750

Class B ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 965

Class C ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 390

Class D ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 480

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 195

FM Radio (47 CFR Part 73):

Classes C, C1, C2, B ................................................................................................................................................................... 1,750

Classes A, B1, C3 ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1,050

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 965

TV (47 CFR Part 73) VHF Commercial:

Markets 1–10 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 44,700

Markets 11–25 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 30,500

Markets 26–50 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 16,350

Markets 51–100 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4,925

Remaining Markets ....................................................................................................................................................................... 835

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 7,750

TV (47 CFR Part 73) UHF Commercial:

Markets 1–10 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 18,875

Markets 11–25 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 15,625

Markets 26–50 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 8,250

Markets 51–100 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 2,875

Remaining Markets ....................................................................................................................................................................... 815

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 5,950

Satellite Television Stations (All Markets) ........................................................................................................................................... 975

Construction Permits—Satellite Television Stations ............................................................................................................................ 350

Low Power TV, TV/FM Translators & Boosters (47 CFR Part 74) ..................................................................................................... 225

Broadcast Auxiliary (47 CFR Part 74) ................................................................................................................................................. 25

Cable Antenna Relay Service (47 CFR Part 78) ................................................................................................................................ 65

Cable Television Systems (per subscriber) (47 CFR Part 76) ............................................................................................................ .55

Interstate Telephone Service Providers (per revenue dollar) ............................................................................................................. .00119

Earth Stations (47 CFR Part 25) ......................................................................................................................................................... 515

Space Stations (per operational station in geosynchronous orbit) (47 CFR Part 25) also includes Direct Broadcast Satellite Service (per operational station) (47 CFR Part 100) .............................................................................................................................. 98,575

Low Earth Orbit Satellite (per operational system) (47 CFR Part 25) ................................................................................................ 136,500

INMARSAT/INTELSAT Signatory (per signatory) ............................................................................................................................... 326,025

International Circuits (per active 64KB circuit) .................................................................................................................................... 5

International Public Fixed (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 23) ................................................................................................................ 315

International (HF) Broadcast (47 CFR Part 73) .................................................................................................................................. 390

1 No fee.

Attachment G—Comparison Between

FY 1996 and FY 1997 Proposed

Regulatory Fees

Fee category

Annual regulatory fee FY

1996

NPRM proposed fee FY

1997

PMRS (per license) (Formerly Land Mobile-Exclusive Use at 220–222 Mhz, above 470 Mhz, Base Station and

SMRS) (47 CFR Part 90) ..................................................................................................................................... 7 10

Microwave (per license) (47 CFR Part 101) ............................................................................................................ 7 10

Interactive Video Data Service (per license) (47 CFR Part 95) .............................................................................. 7 (1)
10816 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

Fee category

Annual regulatory fee FY

1996

NPRM proposed fee FY

1997

Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR Part 80) .......................................................................................................... 3 5

Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR Part 80) ....................................................................................................... 3 5

General Mobile Radio Service (per license) (47 CFR Part 95) ............................................................................... 3 5

Land Mobile (per license) (all stations not covered by PMRS and CMRS) ............................................................ 3 5

Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47 CFR Part 87) .................................................................................................... 3 5

Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47 CFR Part 87) ................................................................................................... 3 5

Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 97) ................................................................................... 3 5

CMRS Mobile Services (per unit) (47 CFR Parts 20, 22, 24, 80 and 90) .............................................................. .17 .24

CMRS One-Way Paging (per unit) (47 CFR Parts 20, 22, and 90) ........................................................................ .02 .03

Domestic Public Fixed Radio ................................................................................................................................... 155 (2)

Multipoint Distribution Services (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 21) ........................................................................... 155 215

AM Radio (47 CFR Part 73):

Class A .............................................................................................................................................................. 1,250 1,750

Class B .............................................................................................................................................................. 690 965

Class C ............................................................................................................................................................. 280 390

Class D ............................................................................................................................................................. 345 480

Construction Permits ......................................................................................................................................... 140 195

FM Radio (47 CFR Part 73):

Classes C, C1, C2, B ....................................................................................................................................... 1,250 1,750

Classes A, B1, C3 ............................................................................................................................................ 830 1,050

Construction Permits ......................................................................................................................................... 690 965

TV (47 CFR Part 73) VHF Commercial:

Markets 1–10 .................................................................................................................................................... 32,000 44,700

Markets 11–25 .................................................................................................................................................. 26,000 30,500

Markets 26–50 .................................................................................................................................................. 17,000 16,350

Markets 51–100 ................................................................................................................................................ 9,000 4,925

Remaining Markets ........................................................................................................................................... 2,500 835

Construction Permits ......................................................................................................................................... 5,550 7,750

TV (47 CFR Part 73) UHF Commercial:

Markets 1–10 .................................................................................................................................................... 25,000 18,875

Markets 11–25 .................................................................................................................................................. 20,000 15,625

Markets 26–50 .................................................................................................................................................. 13,000 8,250

Markets 51–100 ................................................................................................................................................ 7,000 2,875

Remaining Markets ........................................................................................................................................... 2,000 815

Construction Permits ......................................................................................................................................... 4,425 5,950

Satellite Television Stations (All Markets) ............................................................................................................... 690 975

Construction Permits—Satellite Television Stations ................................................................................................ 250 350

Low Power TV, TV/FM Translators & Boosters (47 CFR Part 74) ......................................................................... 190 225

Broadcast Auxiliary (47 CFR Part 74) ..................................................................................................................... 35 25

Cable Antenna Relay Service (47 CFR Part 78) ..................................................................................................... 35 65

Earth Stations (47 CFR Part 25) ............................................................................................................................. 370 515

Cable Television Systems (per subscriber) (47 CFR Part 76) ................................................................................ .55 .55

Interstate Telephone Service Providers (per revenue dollar) .................................................................................. .00098 .00119

Space Stations (per operational station in geosynchronous orbit) (47 CFR Part 25) also includes Direct Broadcast Satellite Service (per operational station) (47 CFR Part 100) ..................................................................... 70,575 98,575

Low Earth Orbit Satellite (per operational system) (47 CFR Part 25) .................................................................... 97,725 136,500

INMARSAT/INTELSAT Signatory (per signatory) .................................................................................................... 233,425 326,025

International Circuits (per active 64KB circuit) ........................................................................................................ 4 5

International Public Fixed (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 23) .................................................................................... 225 315

International (HF) Broadcast (47 CFR Part 73) ....................................................................................................... 280 390

1 No fee.

2See microwave.

Attachment H—Detailed Guidance on

Who Must Pay Regulatory Fees

1. The guidelines below provide an

explanation of regulatory fee categories

established by the Schedule of

Regulatory Fees in section 9 (g) of the

Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 159(g)

as modified in the instant Report and

Order. Where regulatory fee categories

need interpretation or clarification, we

have relied on the legislative history of

section 9, our own experience in

establishing and regulating the Schedule

of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Years (FY)

1994 and 1995 and the services subject

to the fee schedule, and the comments

of the parties in our proceeding to adopt

fees for FY 1995. The categories and

amounts set out in the schedule have

been modified to reflect changes in the

number of payment units, additions and

changes in the services subject to the fee

requirement and the benefits derived

from the Commission’s regulatory

activities, and to simplify the structure

of the schedule. The schedule may be

similarly modified or adjusted in future

years to reflect changes in the

Commission’s budget and in the

services regulated by the Commission.

See 47 U.S.C. § 159(b)(2), (3).

2. Exemptions. Governments and

nonprofit entities are exempt from

paying regulatory fees and should not

submit payment. A nonprofit entity may

be asked to submit a current IRS

Determination Letter documenting that

it is exempt from taxes under Section

501 of the Internal Revenue Code or the

certification of a governmental authority

attesting to its nonprofit status. The

governmental exemption applies even

where the government-owned or

community-owned facility is in
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10817

126This category only applies to licensees of

shared-use private 220–222 MHz and 470 MHz and

above in the Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR)

service who have elected not to change to the

Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS). Those

who have elected to change to the CMRS are

referred to paragraph 14 of this Attachment.

127Although this fee category includes licenses

with ten-year terms, the estimated volume of tenyear license applications in FY 1997 is less than

one-tenth of one percent and, therefore, is

statistically insignificant.

competition with a commercial

operation. Other specific exemptions are

discussed below in the descriptions of

other particular service categories.

1. Private Wireless Radio Services

3. Two levels of statutory fees were

established for the Private Wireless

Radio Services—exclusive use services

and shared use services. Thus, licensees

who generally receive a higher quality

communication channel due to

exclusive or lightly shared frequency

assignments will pay a higher fee than

those who share marginal quality

assignments. This dichotomy is

consistent with the directive of Section

9, that the regulatory fees reflect the

benefits provided to the licensees. See

47 U.S.C. § 159(b)(1)(A). In addition,

because of the generally small amount

of the fees assessed against Private

Wireless Radio Service licensees,

applicants for new licenses and

reinstatements and for renewal of

existing licenses are required to pay a

regulatory fee covering the entire license

term, with only a percentage of all

licensees paying a regulatory fee in any

one year. Applications for modification

or assignment of existing authorizations

do not require the payment of regulatory

fees. The expiration date of those

authorizations will reflect only the

unexpired term of the underlying

license rather than a new license term.

a. Exclusive Use Services

4. Private Mobile Radio Services

(PMRS) (Formerly Land Mobile

Services): Regulatees in this category

include those authorized under Part 90

of the Commission’s Rules to provide

limited access Wireless Radio service

that allows high quality voice or digital

communications between vehicles or to

fixed stations to further the business

activities of the licensee. These services,

using the 220–222 MHz band and

frequencies at 470 MHz and above, may

be offered on a private carrier basis in

the Specialized Mobile Radio Services

(SMRS).126 For FY 1997, we are

proposing that PMRS licensees will pay

a $10 annual regulatory fee per license,

payable for an entire five or ten year

license term at the time of application

for a new, renewal, or reinstatement

license.127 The total regulatory fee due

is either $50 for a license with a five

year term or $100 for a license with a

10 year term.

5. Microwave Services: These services

include private and commercial

microwave systems and private and

commercial carrier systems authorized

under Part 101 of the Commission’s

Rules to provide telecommunications

services between fixed points on a high

quality channel of communications.

Microwave systems are often used to

relay data and to control railroad,

pipeline, and utility equipment.

Commercial systems typically are used

for video or data transmission or

distribution. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that Microwave licensees will

pay a $10 annual regulatory fee per

license, payable for an entire ten year

license term at the time of application

for a new, renewal, or reinstatement

license. The total regulatory fee due is

$100 for the ten year license term.

6. Interactive Video Data Service

(IVDS): The IVDS is a two-way, pointto-multi-point radio service allocated

high quality channels of

communications and authorized under

Part 95 of the Commission’s Rules. The

IVDS provides information, products,

and services, and also the capability to

obtain responses from subscribers in a

specific service area. The IVDS is

offered on a private carrier basis. The

Commission does not anticipate

receiving any applications in the IVDS

during FY 1997. Therefore, for FY 1997,

we are proposing that there be no

regulatory fee established for IVDS

licensees.

b. Shared Use Services

7. Marine (Ship) Service: This service

is a shipboard radio service authorized

under Part 80 of the Commission’s Rules

to provide telecommunications between

watercraft or between watercraft and

shore-based stations. Radio installations

are required by domestic and

international law for large passenger or

cargo vessels. Radio equipment may be

voluntarily installed on smaller vessels,

such as recreational boats. The

Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave

the Commission the authority to license

certain ship stations by rule rather than

by individual license. Private boat

operators sailing entirely within

domestic U.S. waters and who are not

otherwise required by treaty or

agreement to carry a radio, are no longer

required to hold a marine license, and

they will not be required to pay a

regulatory fee. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that parties required to be

licensed and those choosing to be

licensed for Marine (Ship) Stations will

pay a $5 annual regulatory fee per

station, payable for an entire ten-year

license term at the time of application

for a new, renewal, or reinstatement

license. The total regulatory fee due is

$50 for the ten year license term.

8. Marine (Coast) Service: This service

includes land-based stations in the

maritime services, authorized under

Part 80 of the Commission’s Rules, to

provide communications services to

ships and other watercraft in coastal and

inland waterways. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that licensees of Marine

(Coast) Stations will pay a $5 annual

regulatory fee per call sign, payable for

the entire five-year license term at the

time of application for a new, renewal,

or reinstatement license. The total

regulatory fee due is $25 per call sign

for the five-year license term.

9. Private Land Mobile (Other)

Services: These services include Land

Mobile Radio Services operating under

Parts 90 and 95 of the Commission’s

Rules. Services in this category provide

one-or two-way communications

between vehicles, persons or fixed

stations on a shared basis and include

radiolocation services, industrial radio

services, and land transportation radio

services. For FY 1997, we are proposing

that licensees of services in this category

will pay a $5 annual regulatory fee per

call sign, payable for an entire five-year

license term at the time of application

for a new, renewal, or reinstatement

license. The total regulatory fee due is

$25 for the five-year license term.

10. Aviation (Aircraft) Service: These

services include stations authorized to

provide communications between

aircraft and between aircraft and ground

stations and include frequencies used to

communicate with air traffic control

facilities pursuant to Part 87 of the

Commission’s Rules. The

Telecommunications Act of 1996 gave

the Commission the authority to license

certain aircraft radio stations by rule

rather than by individual license.

Private aircraft operators flying entirely

within domestic U.S. airspace and who

are not otherwise required by treaty or

agreement to carry a radio are no longer

required to hold an aircraft license, and

they will not be required to pay a

regulatory fee. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that parties required to be

licensed and those choosing to be

licensed for Aviation (Aircraft) Stations

will pay a $5 annual regulatory fee per

station, payable for the entire ten-year

license term at the time of application

for a new, renewal, or reinstatement

license. The total regulatory fee due is
10818 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

128Section 9(h) exempts ‘‘amateur radio operator

licenses under Part 97 of the Commission’s rules

(47 CFR Part 97)’’ from the requirement. However,

Section 9(g)’s fee schedule explicitly includes

‘‘Amateur vanity call signs’’ as a category subject to

the payment of a regulatory fee.

129This category does not include licensees of

private shared-use 220 MHz and 470 MHz and

above in the Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR)

service who have elected to remain noncommercial. Those who have elected not to change

to the Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS)

are referred to paragraph 4 of this Attachment.

Further, Congress provided for a three year

transition period until August 10, 1996, for

conversion to CMRS. See Omnibus Budget

Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103–66,

Title VI § 6002(b), 107 Stat. 312,392. Therefore,

licensees who had not converted to CMRS prior to

December 31, 1995, are not subject to the CMRS

Mobile Services fee for FY 1996.

130The Commission acknowledges that certain

stations operating in Puerto Rico and Guam have

been assigned a higher level station class than

would be expected if the station were located on the

mainland. Although this results in a higher

regulatory fee, we believe that the increased

interference protection associated with the higher

station class is necessary and justifies the fee.

$50 per station for the ten-year license

term.

11. Aviation (Ground) Service: This

service includes stations authorized to

provide ground-based communications

to aircraft for weather or landing

information, or for logistical support

pursuant to Part 87 of the Commission’s

Rules. Certain ground-based stations

which only serve itinerant traffic, i.e.,

possess no actual units on which to

assess a fee, are exempt from payment

of regulatory fees. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that licensees of Aviation

(Ground) Stations will pay a $5 annual

regulatory fee per license, payable for

the entire five-year license term at the

time of application for a new, renewal,

or reinstatement license. The total

regulatory fee is $25 per call sign for the

five-year license term.

12. General Mobile Radio Service

(GMRS): These services include Land

Mobile Radio licensees providing

personal and limited business

communications between vehicles or to

fixed stations for short-range, two-way

communications pursuant to Part 95 of

the Commission’s Rules. For FY 1997,

we are proposing that GMRS licensees

will pay a $5 annual regulatory fee per

license, payable for an entire five-year

license term at the time of application

for a new, renewal or reinstatement

license. The total regulatory fee due is

$25 per license for the five-year license

term.

c. Amateur Radio Vanity Call Signs

13. Amateur Vanity Call Signs: This

fee covers voluntary requests for

specific call signs in the Amateur Radio

Service authorized under part 97 of the

Commission’s Rules. For FY 1997, we

are proposing that applicants for

Amateur Vanity Call-Signs will pay a $5

annual regulatory fee per call sign,

payable for an entire ten-year license

term at the time of application for a

vanity call sign. The total regulatory fee

due would be $50 per license for the

ten-year license term.128

d. Commercial Wireless Radio Services

14. Commercial Mobile Radio

Services (CMRS) Mobile Services: The

Commercial Mobile Radio Service

(CMRS) is an ‘‘umbrella’’ descriptive

term attributed to various existing

services authorized to provide

interconnected mobile radio services for

profit to the public, or to such classes

of eligible users as to be effectively

available to a substantial portion of the

public. CMRS Mobile Services include

certain licensees which formerly were

licensed as part of the Private Radio

Services (e.g., Specialized Mobile Radio

Services) and others formerly licensed

as part of the Common Carrier Radio

Services (e.g., Public Mobile Services

and Cellular Radio Service). While

specific rules pertaining to each covered

service remain in separate Parts 22, 24,

80 and 90, general rules for CMRS are

contained in Part 20. CMRS Mobile

Services will include: qualifying

Business Radio Services, 220–222 MHz

Land Mobile Systems, Specialized

Mobile Radio Services (Part 90); 129

Personal Communications Services (Part

24), Public Coast Stations (Part 80);

Public Mobile Radio (Cellular, 800 MHz

Air-Ground Radiotelephone, and

Offshore Radio Services) (Part 22). Each

licensee in this group will pay an

annual regulatory fee for each mobile or

cellular unit (mobile or cellular call sign

or telephone number), including twoway paging units, assigned to its

customers, including resellers of its

services. For FY 1997, we are proposing

that the regulatory fee be $.24 per unit.

15. Commercial Mobile Radio

Services (CMRS) One-Way Paging

Services: The Commercial Mobile Radio

Service (CMRS) is an ‘‘umbrella’’

descriptive term attributed to various

existing services authorized to provide

interconnected mobile radio services for

profit to the public, or to such classes

of eligible users as to be effectively

available to a substantial portion of the

public. CMRS One-Way Paging Services

include certain licensees which

formerly were licensed as part of the

Private Radio Services (e.g., Private

Paging), licensees formerly licensed as

part of the Common Carrier Radio

Services (e.g., Public Mobile One-Way

Paging), and licensees of Personal

Communications Service (PCS) one-way

paging. While specific rules pertaining

to each covered service remain in

separate Parts 22, 24 and 90, general

rules for CMRS are contained in Part 20.

We have replaced the Public Mobile

One-Way Paging regulatory fee category

with a CMRS One-Way Paging Services

category for regulatory fee collection

purposes. Each licensee in the CMRS

One-Way Paging Services will pay an

annual regulatory fee for each paging

unit assigned to its customers, including

resellers of its services. For FY 1997, we

are proposing that the regulatory fee be

$.03 per unit.

2. Mass Media Services

16. The regulatory fees for the Mass

Media fee category apply to broadcast

licensees and permittees.

Noncommercial Educational

Broadcasters are exempt from regulatory

fees.

a. Commercial AM and FM Radio

17. These categories include licensed

Commercial AM (Classes A, B, C, and D)

and FM (Classes A, B, B1, C, C1, C2, and

C3) Radio Stations operating under Part

73 of the Commission’s Rules.130 We are

proposing that the regulatory fees for

AM and FM Stations for FY 1997 are as

follows:

AM Radio

Class A....................................................$1,750

Class B .........................................................965

Class C .........................................................390

Class D.........................................................480

FM Radio

Classes C, C1, C2, B................................$1,750

Classes A, B1, C3......................................1,050

b. Construction Permits—Commercial

AM Radio

18. This category includes holders of

permits to construct new Commercial

AM Stations. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that permittees will pay a fee

of $195 for each permit held. Upon

issuance of an operating license, this fee

would no longer be applicable and

licensees would be required to pay the

applicable fee for the designated class of

the station.

c. Construction Permits—Commercial

FM Radio

19. This category includes holders of

permits to construct new Commercial

FM Stations. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that permittees will pay a fee

of $965 for each permit held. Upon

issuance of an operating license, this fee

would no longer be applicable. Instead,

licensees would pay a regulatory fee

based upon the designated class of the

station.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10819

131Cable systems are to pay their regulatory fees

on a per subscriber basis rather than per 1,000

subscribers as set forth in the statutory fee schedule.

See FY 1994 Report and Order at Paragraph 100.

d. Commercial Television Stations

20. This category includes licensed

Commercial VHF and UHF Television

Stations covered under Part 73 of the

Commission’s Rules, except commonly

owned Television Satellite Stations,

addressed separately below. Markets are

Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMA)

as listed in the Television & Cable

Factbook, Stations Volume No. 64, 1996

Edition, Warren Publishing, Inc. We are

proposing that the fees for each category

of station are as follows:

VHF Markets 1–10 ...............................$44,700

VHF Markets 11–25 ...............................30,500

VHF Markets 26–50 ...............................16,350

VHF Markets 51–100 ...............................4,925

VHF Remaining Markets.............................835

UHF Markets 1–10 .................................18,875

UHF Markets 11–25 ...............................15,625

UHF Markets 26–50 .................................8,250

UHF Markets 51–100 ...............................2,875

UHF Remaining Markets ............................815

e. Commercial Television Satellite

Stations

21. We are proposing that commonly

owned Television Satellite Stations in

any market (authorized pursuant to Note

5 of Section 73.3555 of the

Commission’s Rules) that retransmit

programming of the primary station be

assessed a fee of $975 annually. Those

stations designated as Television

Satellite Stations in the 1996 Edition of

the Television and Cable Factbook are

subject to the fee applicable to

Television Satellite Stations. All other

television licensees are subject to the

regulatory fee payment required for

their class of station and market.

f. Construction Permits—Commercial

VHF Television Stations

22. This category includes holders of

permits to construct new Commercial

VHF Television Stations. For FY 1997,

we are proposing that VHF permittees

will pay an annual regulatory fee of

$7,750. Upon issuance of an operating

license, this fee would no longer be

applicable. Instead, licensees would pay

a fee based upon the designated market

of the station.

g. Construction Permits—Commercial

UHF Television Stations

23. This category includes holders of

permits to construct new UHF

Television Stations. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that UHF Television

permittees will pay an annual regulatory

fee of $5,950. Upon issuance of an

operating license, this fee would no

longer be applicable. Instead, licensees

would pay a fee based upon the

designated market of the station.

h. Construction Permits—Satellite

Television Stations

24. We are proposing that the fee for

UHF and VHF Television Satellite

Station construction permits for FY

1997 be $350. An individual regulatory

fee payment is to be made for each

Television Satellite Station construction

permit held.

i. Low Power Television, FM Translator

and Booster Stations, TV Translator and

Booster Stations

25. This category includes Low Power

UHF/VHF Television stations operating

under Part 74 of the Commission’s Rules

with a transmitter power output limited

to 1 kW for a UHF facility and,

generally, 0.01 kW for a VHF facility.

Low Power Television (LPTV) stations

may retransmit the programs and signals

of a TV Broadcast Station, originate

programming, and/or operate as a

subscription service. This category also

includes translators and boosters

operating under Part 74 which

rebroadcast the signals of full service

stations on a frequency different from

the parent station (translators) or on the

same frequency (boosters). The stations

in this category are secondary to full

service stations in terms of frequency

priority. We have also received requests

for waivers of the regulatory fees from

operators of community based

Translators. These Translators are

generally not affiliated with commercial

broadcasters, are nonprofit,

nonprofitable, or only marginally

profitable, serve small rural

communities, and are supported

financially by the residents of the

communities served. We are aware of

the difficulties these Translators have in

paying even minimal regulatory fees,

and we have addressed those concerns

in the ruling on reconsideration of the

FY 1994 Report and Order. Community

based Translators are exempt from

regulatory fees. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that licensees in low power

television, FM translator and booster,

and TV translator and booster category

will pay a regulatory fee of $225 for

each license held.

j. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations

26. This category includes licensees of

remote pickup stations (either base or

mobile) and associated accessory

equipment authorized pursuant to a

single license, Aural Broadcast

Auxiliary Stations (Studio Transmitter

Link and Inter-City Relay) and

Television Broadcast Auxiliary Stations

(TV Pickup, TV Studio Transmitter

Link, TV Relay) authorized under Part

74 of the Commission’s Rules. Auxiliary

Stations are generally associated with a

particular television or radio broadcast

station or cable television system. This

category does not include translators

and boosters (see paragraph 26). For FY

1997, we are proposing that licensees of

Commercial Auxiliary Stations will pay

a $25 annual regulatory fee on a per call

sign basis.

k. Multipoint Distribution Service

27. This category includes Multipoint

Distribution Service (MDS), and

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution

Service (MMDS), authorized under Part

21 of the Commission’s Rules to use

microwave frequencies for video and

data distribution within the United

States. For FY 1997, we are proposing

that MDS and MMDS stations will pay

an annual regulatory fee of $215 per call

sign.

3. Cable Services

a. Cable Television Systems

28. This category includes operators

of Cable Television Systems, providing

or distributing programming or other

services to subscribers under Part 76 of

the Commission’s Rules. For FY 1997,

we are proposing that Cable Systems

will pay a regulatory fee of $.55 per

subscriber.131 Payments for Cable

Systems are to be made on a per

subscriber basis as of December 31,

1995. Cable Systems should determine

their subscriber numbers by calculating

the number of single family dwellings,

the number of individual households in

multiple dwelling units, e.g.,

apartments, condominiums, mobile

home parks, etc., paying at the basic

subscriber rate, the number of bulk rate

customers and the number of courtesy

or fee customers. In order to determine

the number of bulk rate subscribers, a

system should divide its bulk rate

charge by the annual subscription rate

for individual households. See FY 1994

Report and Order, Appendix B at

Paragraph 31.

b. Cable Antenna Relay Service

29. This category includes Cable

Antenna Relay Service (CARS) stations

used to transmit television and related

audio signals, signals of AM and FM

Broadcast Stations, and cablecasting

from the point of reception to a terminal

point from where the signals are

distributed to the public by a Cable

Television System. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that licensees will pay an
10820 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules

132Mobile earth stations are hand-held or vehiclebased units capable of operation while the operator

or vehicle is in motion. In contrast, transportable

units are moved to a fixed location and operate in

a stationary (fixed) mode. Both are assessed the

same regulatory fee for FY 1997.

annual regulatory fee of $65 per CARS

license.

4. Common Carrier Services

a. Domestic Public Fixed Radio Service

30. This category includes licensees

in the Point-to-Point Microwave Radio

Service, Local Television Transmission

Radio Service, and Digital Electronic

Message Service, authorized under Part

101 of the Commission’s Rules to use

microwave frequencies for video and

data distribution within the United

States. These services are now included

in the Microwave category (see

paragraph 5 above).

b. Interstate Telephone Service

Providers

31. This category includes InterExchange Carriers (IXCs), Local

Exchange Carriers (LECs), Competitive

Access Providers (CAPs), domestic and

international carriers that provide

operator services, Wide Area Telephone

Service (WATS), 800, 900, telex,

telegraph, video, other switched,

interstate access, special access, and

alternative access services either by

using their own facilities or by reselling

facilities and services of other carriers or

telephone carrier holding companies,

and companies other than traditional

local telephone companies that provide

interstate access services to long

distance carriers and other customers.

This category also includes pre-paid

calling card providers. These common

carriers, including resellers, must

submit fee payments based upon their

proportionate share of gross interstate

revenues using the methodology that we

have adopted for calculating

contributions to the TRS fund. See

Telecommunications Relay Services, 8

FCC Rcd 5300 (1993), 58 FR 39671 (July

26, 1993). In order to avoid imposing

any double payment burden on

resellers, we will permit carriers to

subtract from their gross interstate

revenues, as reported to NECA in

connection with their TRS contribution,

any payments made to underlying

common carriers for

telecommunications facilities and

services, including payments for

interstate access service, that are sold in

the form of interstate service. For this

purpose, resold telecommunications

facilities and services are only intended

to include payments that correspond to

revenues that will be included by

another carrier reporting interstate

revenue. For FY 1997, we are proposing

that carriers multiply their adjusted

gross revenue figure (gross revenue

reduced by the total amount of their

payments to underlying common

carriers for telecommunications

facilities or services) by the factor

0.00119 to determine the appropriate fee

for this category of service. Regulatees

may want to use the following

worksheet to determine their fee

payment:

Total Interstate

(1) Revenue reported in TRS Fund worksheets .............................................................................................................. .................... ....................

(2) Less: Access charges paid ........................................................................................................................................ .................... ....................

(3) Less: Other telecommunications facilities and services taken for resale .................................................................. .................... ....................

(4) Adjusted revenues (1)minus(2)minus(3) .................................................................................................................... .................... ....................

(5) Fee factor ................................................................................................................................................................... .................... 0.00119

(6) Fee due (4)times(5) .................................................................................................................................................... .................... ....................

5. International Services

a. Earth Stations

32. Very Small Aperture Terminal

(VSAT) Earth Stations, equivalent CBand Earth Stations and antennas, and

earth station systems comprised of very

small aperture terminals operate in the

12 and 14 GHz bands and provide a

variety of communications services to

other stations in the network. VSAT

systems consist of a network of

technically-identical small FixedSatellite Earth Stations which often

include a larger hub station. VSAT Earth

Stations and C-Band Equivalent Earth

Stations are authorized pursuant to Part

25 of the Commission’s Rules. Mobile

Satellite Earth Stations, operating

pursuant to Part 25 of the Commission’s

Rules under blanket licenses for mobile

antennas (transceivers), are smaller than

one meter and provide voice or data

communications, including position

location information for mobile

platforms such as cars, buses, or

trucks.132 Fixed-Satellite Transmit/

Receive and Transmit-Only Earth

Station antennas, authorized or

registered under Part 25 of the

Commission’s Rules, are operated by

private and public carriers to provide

telephone, television, data, and other

forms of communications. Included in

this category are telemetry, tracking and

control (TT&C) earth stations, and earth

station uplinks. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that licensees of VSATs,

Mobile Satellite Earth Stations, and

Fixed-Satellite Transmit/Receive and

Transmit-Only Earth Stations will pay a

fee of $515 per authorization or

registration as well as a separate fee of

$515 for each associated Hub Station.

33. Receive-only earth stations. For

FY 1997, we are proposing that there be

no regulatory fee for receive-only earth

stations.

b. Space Stations (Geosynchronous)

34. Geosynchronous Space Stations

are domestic and international satellites

positioned in orbit to remain

approximately fixed relative to the

earth. Most are authorized under Part 25

of the Commission’s Rules to provide

communications between satellites and

earth stations on a common carrier and/

or private carrier basis. In addition, this

category includes Direct Broadcast

Satellite (DBS) Service which includes

space stations authorized under Part 100

of the Commission’s rules to transmit or

re-transmit signals for direct reception

by the general public encompassing

both individual and community

reception. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that entities authorized to

operate geosynchronous space stations

(including DBS satellites) will be

assessed an annual regulatory fee of

$98,575 per operational station in orbit.

Payment is required for any

geosynchronous satellite that has been

launched and tested and is authorized

to provide service.

c. Low Earth Orbit Satellites (LEOs)

35. Low Earth Orbit Satellite Systems

are space stations that orbit the earth in

non-geosynchronous orbit. They are

authorized under Part 25 of the

Commission’s rules to provide

communications between satellites and

earth stations on a common carrier and/

or private carrier basis. For FY 1997, we

are proposing that entities authorized to

operate Low Earth Orbit Satellite

Systems will be assessed an annual

regulatory fee of $136,500 per

operational system in orbit. Payment is

required for any LEO System that has

one or more operational satellites.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / Proposed Rules 10821

133Although Authorization of Service is described

in this exhibit, it is not one of the activities

included as a feeable activity for regulatory fee

purposes pursuant to Section 9(a)(1) of the Act. 47

U.S.C. § 159(a)(1).

d. Signatories

36. A Signatory to INMARSAT is an

Administration or government, or the

telecommunications entity designated

as sole operating entity by an

Administration or government, which

participates in the International Mobile

Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) in

order to develop and operate a global

maritime satellite telecommunication

system which serves maritime

commercial and safety needs of the

United States and foreign countries. A

Signatory to INTELSAT is an

Administration or government, or the

telecommunications entity designated

as sole operating entity by an

Administration or government, which

participates in the International

Telecommunications Satellite

Organization (INTELSAT) in order to

develop, construct, operate, and

maintain the space segment of the global

commercial telecommunications

satellite system established under the

Interim Agreement and Special

Agreement signed by Governments on

August 20, 1964. For FY 1997, we are

proposing that Signatories to

INMARSAT and INTELSAT will be

assessed an annual regulatory fee of

$326,025 in order to recover the cost of

the Commission’s regulatory activities

associated with such entities.

e. International Bearer Circuits

37. Regulatory fees for International

Bearer Circuits are to be paid by the

facilities-based common carriers (either

domestic or international) activating the

circuit in any transmission facility for

the provision of service to an end user

or resale carrier. Payment of the fee for

bearer circuits by private submarine

cable operators is required for circuits

sold on an indefeasible right of use

(IRU) basis or leased to any customer

other than an international common

carrier authorized by the Commission to

provide U.S. international common

carrier services. Compare FY 1994

Report and Order at 5367. The fee is

based upon active 64 Kbps circuits, or

their equivalent circuits. Under this

formulation, 64 Kbps circuits or their

equivalent will be assessed a fee.

Equivalent circuits include the 64 Kbps

circuit equivalent of larger bit stream

circuits. For example, the 64 Kbps

circuit equivalent of a 2.048 Mbps

circuit is 30 64 Kbps circuits. Analog

circuits such as 3 and 4 KHz circuits

used for international service are also

included as 64 Kbps circuits. However,

circuits derived from 64 Kbps circuits

by the use of digital circuit

multiplication systems are not

equivalent 64 Kbps circuits. Such

circuits are not subject to fees. Only the

64 Kbps circuit from which they have

been derived will be subject to payment

of a fee. For FY 1997, we are proposing

that the regulatory fee be $5.00 for each

active 64 Kbps circuit or equivalent. For

analog television channels we will

assess fees as follows:

Analog television channel size in

MHz

No. of

equivalent 64

Kbps circuits

36 .................................................. 630

24 .................................................. 288

18 .................................................. 240

f. International Public Fixed

38. This fee category includes

common carriers authorized under Part

23 of the Commission’s Rules to provide

radio communications between the

United States and a foreign point via

microwave or HF troposcatter systems,

other than satellites and satellite earth

stations, but not including service

between the United States and Mexico

and the United States and Canada using

frequencies above 72 MHz. For FY 1997,

we are proposing that International

Public Fixed Radio Service licensees

will pay a $315 annual regulatory fee

per call sign.

g. International (HF) Broadcast

39. This category covers International

Broadcast Stations licensed under Part

73 of the Commission’s Rules to operate

on frequencies in the 5,950 KHz to

26,100 KHz range to provide service to

the general public in foreign countries.

For FY 1997, we are proposing that

International HF Broadcast Stations will

pay an annual regulatory fee of $390 per

station license.

Attachment I—Description of FCC

Activities

Authorization of Service: The

authorization or licensing of radio

stations, telecommunications

equipment, and radio operators, as well

as the authorization of common carrier

and other services and facilities.

Includes policy direction, program

development, legal services, and

executive direction, as well as support

services associated with authorization

activities.133

Policy and Rulemaking: Formal

inquiries, rulemaking proceedings to

establish or amend the Commission’s

rules and regulations, action on

petitions for rulemaking, and requests

for rule interpretations or waivers;

economic studies and analyses;

spectrum planning, modeling,

propagation-interference analyses, and

allocation; and development of

equipment standards. Includes policy

direction, program development, legal

services, and executive direction, as

well as support services associated with

policy and rulemaking activities.

Enforcement: Enforcement of the

Commission’s rules, regulations and

authorizations, including investigations,

inspections, compliance monitoring,

and sanctions of all types. Also includes

the receipt and disposition of formal

and informal complaints regarding

common carrier rates and services, the

review and acceptance/rejection of

carrier tariffs, and the review,

prescription and audit of carrier

accounting practices. Includes policy

direction, program development, legal

services, and executive direction, as

well as support services associated with

enforcement activities.

Public Information Services: The

publication and dissemination of

Commission decisions and actions, and

related activities; public reference and

library services; the duplication and

dissemination of Commission records

and databases; the receipt and

disposition of public inquiries;

consumer, small business, and public

assistance; and public affairs and media

relations. Includes policy direction,

program development, legal services,

and executive direction, as well as

support services associated with public

information activities.

[FR Doc. 97–5744 Filed 3–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Parts 630 and 678

[I.D. 022897G]

Atlantic Swordfish Fishery; Atlantic

Shark Fishery; Public Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Public hearings; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Highly Migratory Species

Division (HMS Division) will convene

12 hearings to obtain comments from

the public on Draft Amendment 1 to the