162 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 2 / Monday, January 5, 1998 / Rules and Regulations

designating the text following the table

as paragraph (a)(2), and by adding

paragraph (b), and by adding and

reserving paragraphs (c) and (d) with

headings to read as follows:

§ 180.200 Dicloran; tolerances for

residues.

(a) General. (1) * * *

(2) * * *

(b) Section 18 emergency exemptions.

Time-limited tolerances are established

for combined residues of the fungicide,

dicloran, 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline in

connection with use of the pesticide

under section 18 emergency exemptions

granted by EPA. The tolerances will

expire and are revoked on the dates

specified in the following table.

CommodityParts per

million

Expiration/Revocation Date

Peanut, oil 6.0 10/31/99

Peanuts ... 3.0 10/31/99

(c) Tolerances with regional

registrations. Reserved]

(d) Indirect or inadvertent residues.

[Reserved]

[FR Doc. 98–73 Filed 1–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–F

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[FCC 97–419]

Procedure for Designation of Eligible

Telecommunications Carriers Pursuant

to Section 214(e)(6) of the

Communications Act

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Rules of agency procedure and

practice.

SUMMARY: This action establishes the

procedures the Commission will use in

implementing Public Law 105–125

(enacted December 1, 1997), which

added subsection (e)(6) to section 214(e)

of the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended (the Act). New section

214(e)(6) provides for the designation of

eligible telecommunications carriers by

the Federal Communications

Commission (Commission) in certain

limited circumstances for common

carriers that are not subject to the

jurisdiction of a state commission.

DATES: Effective January 5, 1998.

ADDRESSES: One original and five copies

of all petitions and comments must be

sent to Magalie Roman Salas, Secretary,

Federal Communications Commission,

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

20554. Three copies also should be sent

to Sheryl Todd, Universal Service

Branch, Accounting and Audits

Division, Common Carrier Bureau, 2100

M Street, N.W., 8th Floor, Washington,

D.C. 20554. One copy must be sent to

the Commission’s contractor,

International Transcription Service,

1231 20th Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20037, (202) 857–3800. In addition

to filing comments with the Secretary, a

copy of any comments on the

information collections contained

herein should be submitted to Judy

Boley, Federal Communications

Commission, Room 234, 1919 M Street,

N.W., Washington, DC 20554. See the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for

electronic filing addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Valerie Yates, Legal Counsel, Common

Carrier Bureau, (202) 418–1500, or

Cheryl Leanza, Common Carrier Bureau,

(202) 418–7400. For additional

information concerning the information

collections contained in this Public

Notice contact Judy Boley at 202–418–

0214, or via the Internet at

jboley@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

information collection has been

approved by OMB 3060–0810,

expiration date of May 31, 1998. This

Public Notice establishes the procedures

the Commission will use in

implementing Public Law 105–125

(enacted December 1, 1997), which

added subsection (e)(6) to section 214(e)

of the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended (the Act). Public Law 105–125,

111 Stat. 2540 (1997). Section 214(e)(1)

of the Act provides that common

carriers designated as ‘‘eligible

telecommunications carriers’’ are

eligible to receive universal service

support in accordance with section 254

of the Act. 47 U.S.C. secs. 214(e)(1) and

254; see Federal-State Joint Board on

Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96–45,

Report and Order, 62 FR 32862, June 17,

1997 (Universal Service Order). Section

214(e)(2) of the Act provides that state

commissions shall designate eligible

telecommunications carriers. See 47

U.S.C. sec. 214(e)(2). For purposes of the

designation requirement, ‘‘state

commission’’ is defined in section 3(47)

of the Act as a ‘‘commission, board, or

official (by whatever name designated)

which under the laws of any State has

regulatory jurisdiction with respect to

intrastate operations of carriers.’’ 47

U.S.C. sec. 3(47). Until its recent

amendment, section 214(e) did not

address how common carriers not

subject to the jurisdiction of a state

commission would be designated. New

section 214(e)(6) provides for the

designation of eligible

telecommunications carriers by the

Federal Communications Commission

(Commission) in certain limited

circumstances for common carriers that

are not subject to the jurisdiction of a

state commission. See 143 Cong. Rec.

S12,568 (daily ed. Nov. 13, 1997)

(stating that the amendment was

intended to correct an ‘‘oversight’’ in the

statute regarding certain carriers, such

as tribally owned common carriers, that

may fall outside the jurisdiction of a

state commission and that the

amendment ‘‘does nothing to alter the

existing jurisdiction that state

commissions have over local exchange

carriers or providers of commercial

mobile radio services.’’). We set forth

herein the procedures that carriers must

use in requesting such designation from

the Commission. Any carrier that is able

to be or has already been designated as

an eligible telecommunications carrier

by a state commission is not required to

receive such designation from the

Commission. We delegate to the Chief,

Common Carrier Bureau, the authority

to designate carriers as eligible

telecommunications carriers, pursuant

to section 214(e)(6).

Carriers seeking designation from the

Commission pursuant to section

214(e)(6) must demonstrate that they

fulfill the requirements of section

214(e)(1). Accordingly, carriers seeking

designation from the Commission are

instructed to file a petition that sets

forth the following information:

1. A certification and brief statement of

supporting facts demonstrating that the

petitioner is ‘‘not subject to the jurisdiction

of a state commission’’.

2. A certification that the petitioner

provides all services designated for support

by the Commission pursuant to section

254(c). To meet the requirements of section

214(e)(1) of the Act, a carrier must offer all

of the services designated for support by the

Commission pursuant to section 254(c). 47

U.S.C. sec. 214(e)(1)(A). The Commission has

designated the following services for support:

single-party service; voice grade access to the

public switched network; Dual Tone

Multifrequency (DTMF) signalling or its

functional equivalent; access to emergency

services including, in some circumstances,

access to 911 and Enhanced 911 (E911);

access to operator services; access to

interexchange service; access to directory

assistance; and toll limitation services for

qualifying low-income consumers. See

Universal Service Order, 62 FR 32862, June

17, 1997.

a. If the petitioner seeks an extension of

time in order to implement the Commission’s

requirements to offer single-party service,

access to E911, or toll-limitation services for
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 2 / Monday, January 5, 1998 / Rules and Regulations 163

Lifeline consumers, the petitioner must

demonstrate that it has met the criteria set

forth by the Commission to receive such an

extension of time. See Universal Service

Order, 62 FR 32862, June 17, 1997.

b. If the petitioner seeks a waiver of the

prohibition against disconnecting Lifeline

service for non-payment of toll charges, the

petitioner must demonstrate that it meets the

requirements of § 54.401(b)(1) of the

Commission’s rules; Section 54.401(b)(1) of

the Commission’s rules provides that a

carrier may receive a waiver of the nodisconnect rule if it demonstrates that: (1) it

would incur substantial costs in complying

with this requirement; (2) it offers toll

limitation to its qualifying low-income

consumers without charge; and (3) telephone

subscribership among low-income consumers

in the carrier’s service area is greater than or

equal to the national subscribership rate for

low-income consumers. 47 CFR 54.401(b)(i)–

(iii).

3. A certification that the petitioner offers

the supported services ‘‘either using its own

facilities or a combination of its own

facilities and resale of another carrier’s

services’’. 47 U.S.C. sec. 214(e)(1)(A).

4. A description of how the petitioner

‘‘advertise[s] the availability of the

[supported] services and the charges therefor

using media of general distribution’’; 47

U.S.C. sec. 214(e)(1)(B).

5. If the petitioner meets the definition of

a ‘‘rural telephone company’’ pursuant to

section 3(37) of the Act, the petitioner must

identify its study area. See 47 U.S.C. sec.

214(e)(5) (defining the service area of rural

telephone companies as ‘‘such company’s

‘study area’ . . . ’’); 47 U.S.C. sec. 153(37). If

the petitioner is not a rural telephone

company, the petitioner must include a

detailed description of the geographic service

area that it requests the Commission

designate.

In addition, in order to be eligible for

any new, modified or renewed

instrument of authorization from the

Commission, including authorizations

issued pursuant to section 214 of the

Act, all petitioners must certify that

neither the petitioner nor any party to

the application is subject to a denial of

federal benefits, including Commission

benefits, pursuant to section 5301 of the

Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. 47 CFR

1.2002(a); 21 U.S.C. sec. 862. We note

that this provision does not apply to,

inter alia, ‘‘Federal, State, or local

governmental entities or subdivisions

thereof.’’ 47 CFR 1.2002(c). This

certification must also include the

names of individuals specified by

section 1.2002(b) of the Commission’s

rules. Section 1.2002(b) provides that a

certification pursuant to that section

shall include: ‘‘(1) If the applicant is an

individual, that individual; (2) If the

applicant is a corporation or

unincorporated association, all officers,

directors, or persons holding 5 percent

or more of the outstanding stock or

shares (voting and/or non-voting) of the

petitioner; and (3) If the applicant is a

partnership, all non-limited partners

and any limited partners holding a 5

percent or more interest in the

partnership.’’ 47 CFR 1.2002(b).

Pursuant to section 254(e), after the

date on which the Commission’s

regulations implementing section 254

take effect, ‘‘only an eligible

telecommunications carrier designated

under section 214(e) shall be eligible to

receive specific Federal universal

service support.’’ The Commission’s

regulations implementing section 254

will take effect January 1, 1998.

Accordingly, starting January 1, 1998,

carriers must be designated as eligible

telecommunications carriers to receive

support under federal universal service

support mechanisms. Under certain

circumstances, a petitioner that is

designated as an eligible

telecommunications carrier by the

Commission after January 1, 1998, may

seek universal service support

retroactive to January 1, 1998. Such a

petitioner must: (1) Include a request for

retroactive support in its petition; (2)

demonstrate that, as of January 1, 1998,

it met the requirements set forth in

section 214(e)(1); and (3) set forth the

steps it has taken to receive designation

as an eligible telecommunications

carrier in a timely manner. Carriers that

do not seek retroactive support, or do

not qualify for retroactive support under

the criteria set forth in this paragraph,

shall be eligible to receive compensation

after the date of designation by the

Commission.

These procedures will be effective

upon publication in the Federal

Register. We conclude that compliance

with the notice and public comment

provisions of the Administrative

Procedure Act (APA) is not required

with respect to the procedures adopted

in this Public Notice because this Public

Notice establishes rules of agency

procedure and practice. 5 U.S.C. sec.

553(b)(3)(A) (stating that notice and

comment requirements are inapplicable

to rules for ‘‘agency organization,

procedure, or practice’’). To the extent

that these rules may be deemed to be

substantive rather than procedural, we

find that good cause exists to adopt

these requirements without notice and

comment because compliance with the

notice and public comment would be

impracticable and contrary to the public

interest. 5 U.S.C. sec. 553(b)(3)(B)

(stating that notice and comment

requirements are inapplicable ‘‘when

the agency for good cause

finds * * * that notice and public

procedure thereon are impracticable,

unnecessary, or contrary to the public

interest’’). As noted above, section

214(e)(6) became law on December 1,

1997, only one month before our rules

implementing section 254 take effect.

Our prompt action establishing these

procedures is designed to ensure that

eligible telecommunications carriers

receive universal service support

without interruption (or with minimal

interruption). See 47 U.S.C. sec. 254(e).

This is consistent with Congress’ desire

to correct the ‘‘oversight’’ in section

214(e) and to provide universal service

support for those carriers not subject to

the jurisdiction of a state commission.

This good cause finding also supports

making these rules effective upon

publication in the Federal Register. 5

U.S.C. sec. 553(d).

Pleading Cycle. Upon receipt of a

petition filed pursuant to section

214(e)(6), the Commission will issue a

public notice establishing a pleading

cycle and assigning a Bureau file

number to the petition. Oppositions or

comments regarding the petition will be

due approximately 10 days after the

Commission releases the public notice.

Reply comments will be due

approximately 7 days after comments

are due.

Filing Requirements. All filings

should reference: Petition for

Designation as an Eligible

Telecommunications Carrier Pursuant to

Section 214(e)(6) of the

Communications Act, FCC 97–419.

Comments and reply comments should

reference the name of the petitioner

filing a petition for designation and the

Bureau file number of the petition. All

interested parties should include the

name of the filing party and the date of

the filing on each page of their petitions

and comments. Parties should include a

table of contents in all documents

regardless of length and should indicate

whether they are filing an electronic

copy of a submission via the Internet or

via diskette. Pleadings must comply

with Commission rules. See, e.g., 47

CFR 1.49, 1.415, 1.419.

Parties may also file informal

comments or an exact copy of a petition

or formal comments electronically via

the Internet at: <http://gullfoss.fcc.gov/

cgi-bin/websql/cgi-bin/comment/

comment.hts>. Only one copy of an

electronic submission must be

submitted. A party must note whether

an electronic submission is an exact

copy of a petition or formal comments

on the subject line and should note in

its paper submission that an electronic

copy of its comments is being submitted

via the Internet. A commenter also must

include its full name and Postal Service

mailing address in its submission.

Parties not submitting an exact copy of

their formal comments via the Internet
164 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 2 / Monday, January 5, 1998 / Rules and Regulations

are also asked to submit their petitions

and comments on diskette. Parties

submitting diskettes should submit

them to Sheryl Todd of the Universal

Service Branch, 2100 M Street, N.W.,

Room 8606, Washington, D.C. 20554.

Such a submission should be on a 3.5

inch diskette formatted in an IBM

compatible format using WordPerfect

5.1 for Windows or compatible software.

The diskette should be accompanied by

a cover letter and should be submitted

in ‘‘read only’’ mode. The diskette

should be clearly labelled with the

party’s name, proceeding, type of

pleading (petition or comment), date of

submission, and the name of the

electronic file on the diskette. Each

diskette should contain only one party’s

pleadings, preferably in a single

electronic file. Electronic submissions

are in addition to and not a substitute

for the formal filing requirements

addressed above.

Ex parte contact. For the purposes of

ex parte contact, each petition

submitted pursuant to section 214(e)(6)

will be treated as initiating a permit-butdisclose proceeding under the

Commission’s rules. See 47 CFR 1.1206.

Paperwork Reduction Act

Requirement. In the Report and Order

on Universal Service (released May 8,

1997), the Commission adopted rules

that are designed to implement the

universal service provision of section

254 of the Act. In accord with the

Paperwork Reduction Act, we

previously received OMB approval for

the information collections that carriers

must comply with in order to apply to

their state commissions for designation

as carriers eligible to receive universal

support pursuant to section 254. Section

214(e) directs the Commission to

designate telecommunications carriers

that meet specified requirements as

eligible in situations where the

telecommunications carrier is not

subject to the jurisdiction of a state

commission. To implement this new

statute, we will require

telecommunications carriers that seek to

be classified as eligible by the

Commission and are not subject to the

jurisdiction of a state commission to

send to the Commission information

demonstrating that they meet the

eligibility criteria set forth in the

Telecommunications Act of 1996 and

described in the Commission’s rules.

This information must be submitted

according to the procedural

requirements described above. These

reporting requirements are necessary to

verify that particular carriers are eligible

to receive universal service support.

We have estimated that each response

to this collection of information will

take, on average, 58 hours for

respondants filing petitions and 20

hours for respondents filing written

comments. Our estimate includes the

time to comply with the statutory

requirements, read this Public Notice,

review existing records, gather and

maintain required data, and complete

and review the response. If you have

any comments on this estimate, or on

how we can improve the collection and

reduce the burden it causes you, please

write the Federal Communications

Commission, AMD–PERM, Washington,

D.C. 20554, Paperwork Reduction

Project (3060–0793). We will also accept

your comments on the burden estimate

via the Internet if you send them to

jboley@fcc.gov. Please Do Not Send

petitions requesting Commission

designation as an eligible

telecommunications carrier to this email address.

You are not required to respond to a

collection of information sponsored by

the Federal government, and the

government may not conduct or sponsor

this collection, unless it displays a

currently valid OMB control number or

if we fail to provide you with this

notice. This collection has been

assigned an OMB control number of

3060–0810, which expires on May 31,

1998.

This notice is required by the Privacy

Act of 1974, Public Law 93–579,

December 31, 1974, 5 U.S.C. section

552a(e)(3) and the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13,

October 1, 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–138 Filed 1–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 73

[MM Docket No. 97–197; RM–9154]

Radio Broadcasting Services;

Goldsmith, TX

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Commission, at the

request of Wild West Broadcasting

Company, Inc., allots Channel 234A to

Goldsmith, TX, as the community’s first

local aural transmission service. See 62

FR 47786, August 11, 1997. Channel

234A can be allotted to Goldsmith in

compliance with the Commission’s

minimum distance separation

requirements with a site restriction of

11.9 kilometers (7.4 miles) southwest.

The coordinates for Channel 234A at

Goldsmith are 31–54–26 NL and 102–

42–14 WL. With this action, this

proceeding is terminated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 2, 1998. A

filing window for Channel 234A at

Goldsmith, TX, will not be opened at

this time. Instead, the issue of opening

a filing window for this channel will be

addressed by the Commission in a

subsequent order.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam

Blumenthal, Mass Media Bureau, (202)

418–2180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

synopsis of the Commission’s Report

and Order, MM Docket No.97–197,

adopted December 10, 1997, and

released December 19, 1998. The full

text of this Commission decision is

available for inspection and copying

during normal business hours in the

FCC Reference Center (Room 239), 1919

M Street, NW, Washington, DC. The

complete text of this decision may also

be purchased from the Commission’s

copy contractor, ITS, Inc., (202) 857–

3800, 1231 20th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20036.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

Radio broadcasting.

Part 73 of title 47 of the Code of

Federal Regulations is amended as

follows:

PART 73—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for Part 73

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334, 336.

§ 73.202 [Amended]

2. Section 73.202(b), the Table of FM

Allotments under Texas, is amended by

adding Goldsmith, Channel 234A.

Federal Communications Commission.

John A. Karousos,

Chief, Allocations Branch, Policy and Rules

Division, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 98–37 Filed 1–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 73

[MM Docket No. 97–173; RM–9134]

Radio Broadcasting Services;

Lexington, TX

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.