`[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3807-3829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1274]



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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Chapter I

[MD Docket No. 95-3; FCC 95-14]


Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees For Fiscal Year 1995

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rule making.

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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 1995. Section 9 of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, provides for the annual 
assessment and collection of regulatory fees. For fiscal year 1995 
sections 9(b) (2) and (3) provide for annual ``Mandatory Adjustments'' 
and ``Permitted Amendments'' to the Schedule of Regulatory Fees. The 
proposed revisions will further the National Performance Review goals 
of reinventing Government by requiring beneficiaries of Commission 
services to pay for such services.

DATES: Comments must be filed on or before February 13, 1995 and reply 
comments must be filed on or before February 28, 1995.

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: 

In the Matter of Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for 
Fiscal Year 1995; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

[MD Docket No. 95-3]

Adopted: January 10, 1995; Released: January 12, 1995
Comment Date: February 13, 1995
Reply Date: February 28, 1995

    By the Commission:

                                                Table of Contents                                               
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                                                                                                      Paragraph 
                                               Topic                                                   numbers  
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I. Introduction...................................................................................        1-3   
II. Background....................................................................................        4-7   
III. Discussion...................................................................................       8-54   
    A. Proposed FY 1995 Regulatory Fees...........................................................       8-62   
        1. Private Radio Services.................................................................      15-26   
            a. Exclusive Use Services.............................................................      17-19   
            b. Shared Use Services................................................................      20-26   
            c. Amateur Radio Vanity Call-Signs....................................................         27   
        2. Mass Media Services....................................................................      28-40   
            a. Commercial AM and FM Radio Stations................................................         29   
            b. Construction Permits--Commercial AM Radio..........................................         30   
            c. Construction Permits--Commercial FM Radio..........................................         31   
            d. Commercial Television Stations.....................................................         32   
            e. Commercial Television Satellite Stations...........................................         33   
            f. Construction Permits--Commercial VHF Television Stations...........................         34   
            g. Construction Permits--Commercial UHF Television Stations...........................         35   
            h. Construction Permits--Commercial Television Satellite Stations.....................         36   
            i. Low Power Television, Translator and Booster Stations..............................         37   
            j. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations.......................................................         38   
            k. International HF Broadcast (Short Wave)............................................         39   
        3. Cable Services.........................................................................      40-43   
            a. Cable Television Systems...........................................................      40-41   
            b. Cable Antenna Relay Service........................................................         42   
        4. Common Carrier Services................................................................      43-61   
            a. Mobile Services....................................................................      43-44   
            b. Fixed Radio Stations...............................................................      45-46   
            c. VSATs and Equivalent C-Band Antennas/Mobile Satellite Earth Stations...............      47-48   
            d. Fixed Satellite Earth Station Antennas.............................................      49-52   
            e. Space Stations (Geosynchronous)....................................................         53   
            f. International Bearer Circuits......................................................         54   
            g. Inter-exchange and Local Exchange, Competitive Access Providers and Resellers......      55-61   
     B. Procedures for Payment of Regulatory Fees.................................................      62-68   
        1. Annual Payments of Standard Fees.......................................................         63   
        2. Installment Payments for Large Fees....................................................      64-65   
        3. Advance Payments of Small Fees.........................................................         66   
        4. Timing of Standard Fee Calculations and Payments.......................................      67-68   
IV. Procedural Matters............................................................................      69-73   
    A. Comment Period.............................................................................         69   
    B. Ex Parte Rules.............................................................................         70   
    C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis....................................................         71   
    D. Authority and Further Information..........................................................      71-72   
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[[Page 3808]]


Appendix A--Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Appendix B--Schedule of Regulatory Fees
Appendix C--Allocation of FTEs to the Bureaus
Appendix D--Development of Private Radio Services Regulatory Fees
Appendix E--Development of Mass Media Services Regulatory Fees
Appendix F--Development of Cable Services Regulatory Fees
Appendix G--Development of Common Carrier Services Regulatory Fees

I. Introduction

    1. By this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission begins a 
proceeding to revise its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order to 
recover the amount of regulatory fees that Congress, pursuant to 
section 9 of the Communications Act, has required it to collect for 
Fiscal Year 1995 (FY 1995). See 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(2). The current 
Schedule is set forth in Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1155 of the 
Commission's rules. 47 CFR Secs. 1.1152-1.1155.
    2. We are proposing adjustments to the Schedule in order to recover 
$116,400,000 in costs, consistent with the amount that Congress has 
appropriated for our enforcement, policy and rulemaking and 
international activities and user information services for FY 1995.\1\ 
47 U.S.C. 159(a). In addition, we propose to amend the Schedule to 
assess regulatory fees from licensees of services not now included in 
the Schedule and to revise our method of assessing fees for certain 
services currently in the Schedule. 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A), (b)(3). 
Further, we propose to amend the format of the Schedule so that its fee 
categories reflect changes in the Commission's new organizational 
structure.\2\ 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(3). Finally, we propose to adjust the 
threshold amounts for eligibility for installment payments and to amend 
our procedures governing installment payments. 47 U.S.C. 159(f)(1).

    \1\See Public Law 103-317, 108 Stat. 1724 at 1737-38 (Approved 
August 26, 1994).
    \2\Specifically, we propose to add to the Schedule a Wireless 
Radio Services fee category and an International Services fee 
category. Concurrently, we propose to delete the Private Radio 
Service fee category since we have abolished the Private Radio 
Bureau. Also, we proposed to amend the Common Carrier Service fee 
category and the Mass Media Service fee category because certain 
services formerly subject to regulation by the Common Carrier Bureau 
and the Mass Media Bureau are now regulated by the Wireless Radio 
Bureau and the International Bureau and are, thus, properly within 
the scope of the Wireless Radio and International Service fee 
categories. Finally, we propose to add the Multipoint Distribution 
Service (MDS) and Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service 
(MMDS) to the Mass Media Service fee category, and delete them from 
the Common Carrier Service fee category, since these services are 
now regulated by the Mass Media Bureau.
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    3. In many instances, the regulatory fees that we are proposing for 
FY 1995 are significantly higher than the fees that we assessed under 
the statutory fee schedule to recover our regulatory costs for FY 1994. 
See 47 U.S.C. 159(g); see also Implementation of Section 9 of the 
Communications Act (FY 1994 Order), 9 FCC Rcd 5333 (1994). These 
revisions result, in large part, from increases in the amounts that 
Congress has appropriated for Commission activities whose costs must be 
recovered through regulatory fees. As noted, the amount appropriated 
and to be recovered through regulatory fees is $116,400,000, which is 
93 percent more than the $60,400,000 that the Commission was required 
to recover through regulatory fees in FY 1994. The impact of this 
increase is, however, offset to some extent by revenues from services 
that we propose to add to the Schedule and by increases in the number 
of payment units, e.g., subscribers, in certain other services.\3\ 
Appendix B sets forth our proposed Schedule of Regulatory Fees for FY 
1995.

    \3\Payment units represent the number by which a payor must 
multiply the fee amount for a particular service in order to 
calculate its total fee due for the service. For example, 
``subscribers'' is the payment unit applicable to cable television 
fees. The number of subscribers is multiplied by the cable system 
fee amount to determine the system's total fee liability.
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II. Background

    4. Section 9(a) of the Act 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 activities, and user information 
services. 47 U.S.C. 159(a). In our FY 1994 Order, we set forth the 
regulatory fee schedule for FY 1994 and prescribed rules to govern 
payment of the fees, as required by Congress.\4\ 47 U.S.C. 159(f)(1).

    \4\See 47 CFR Secs. 1.1151 through 1.1166.
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    5. For FY 1994, we adopted the Schedule of Regulatory Fees that 
Congress enacted in section 9(g) of the Act, and required regulatory 
fee payments from licensees and other regulatees operating in the 
Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier and Cable Television 
services. We concluded that Congress did not intend for us to modify 
section 9(g)'s Schedule of Regulatory Fees for FY 1994, and, thus, 
declined to amend the statutory fee schedule in any way.\5\ See FY 1994 
Order at para. 12.

    \5\In the FY 1994 Order, we adopted rules to implement the 
collection of regulatory fees, including payment procedures, 
specific exemptions from the payment of regulatory fees, procedures 
for requesting waivers, reductions and deferments of fee payments, 
and penalties for late payment or non-payment of the fees. We shall 
in the near future address petitions for reconsideration of the FY 
1994 Order and consider whether to make amendments to our 
implementing rules.
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    6. For fiscal years after FY 1994, however, sections 9(b) (2) and 
(3) provide for annual ``Mandatory Adjustments'' and ``Permitted 
Amendments'' to the Schedule of Regulatory Fees. In making section 
9(b)(2)'s mandatory adjustments, we are first to consider the amount we 
are to collect as set forth in our Appropriations Act. 47 U.S.C. 
Secs. 159(b)(2), (b)(1)(B). Second, we are to identify the number of 
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees allocated to our enforcement, 
policy and rulemaking, user information and international 
activities.\6\ 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(1)(A). 159(b)(1)(A). Third, we are 
to determine the amount to be recovered from each fee category, e.g., 
Common Carrier, by proportionately increasing or decreasing the revenue 
requirement of each fee category relative to the ratio of FTEs in each 
category to the total number of FTEs allocated to our regulatory 
activities. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(2) The resulting fee category share 
of the total amount to be recovered is then prorated among each service 
within the fee category to determine the cost allocation applicable to 
each service. Finally, the prorated cost allocation is divided by the 
number of estimated payment units, e.g., subscribers, for each service 
within the category in order to determine service fees. 47 U.S.C. 
Sec. (b)(2)(A).

    \6\Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employment is the total number of 
regular straight-time hours (i.e., not including overtime or holiday 
hours) worked by employees divided by the number of compensable 
hours applicable to each fiscal year. See Office of Management and 
Budget Circular A-11, section 13.1, Definitions relating to 
employment.
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    7. In addition, section 9(b)(3), relating to ``Permitted 
Amendments'' to the Schedule, provides that, if we find it necessary, 
we shall amend the Schedule of Regulatory Fees, as provided in section 
9(b)(1)(A) to, inter alia, reflect the benefits of our regulation to 
the payors of the fees by considering their service areas, the nature 
of their service, and other factors that we determine are necessary in 
the public interest. 47 U.S.C. Secs. 159(b)(3), (b)(1)(A). In making 
these amendments, we ``shall add, delete, or reclassify services in the 
Schedule to reflect additions, deletions or changes in the nature of 
its services.'' 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(B)(3). Finally, we are required to 
notify Congress of any permitted amendments 90 days before 

[[Page 3809]]
those amendments go into effect. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(4)(B).

III. Discussion

A. Proposed FY 1995 Regulatory Fees

    8. As noted above, Congress has required the recovery of 
$116,400,000 for FY 1995 through the collection of regulatory fees 
representing the costs applicable to our enforcement, policy and 
rulemaking, international activities, and our user information 
services. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(a).
    9. In adjusting our regulatory fees pursuant to section 9(b)(2)'s 
provisions for ``Mandatory Adjustments'', we first distributed our 
directly assigned FY 1995 FTE's among our various regulatory 
activities. We then allocated additional FTEs supporting the regulatory 
fee activities to the Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier, and 
Cable Services Bureaus.\7\ Appendix C contains a more detailed 
description of our allocation of FTEs by activity. The resulting 
allocation of FTEs is as follows:

    \7\The FTEs attributed to Private Radio, Mass Media, Common 
Carrier, and Cable services activities are primarily performed 
within those Bureaus. In addition, the Compliance and Information 
Bureau (CIB), formerly the Field Operations Bureau, the Office of 
Engineering and Technology (OET) and the Office of Managing Director 
(OMD) perform activities supporting the Bureaus. FTEs assigned to 
CIB, OET and some sections of OMD supporting the regulatory 
activities of the Bureaus were attributed to the Bureaus' activities 
in developing the total FTEs allocated to the activities whose costs 
are to be recovered through regulatory fees.

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                                                              Percentage
                                                       FTEs      ratio  
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Private Radio......................................      103        7.3 
Mass Media.........................................      253       18.0 
Common Carrier.....................................      689       49.0 
Cable Services.....................................      361       25.7 
                                                    --------------------
      Total........................................    1,406     100.00 
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    10. Next, we allocated our $116,400,000 revenue requirement to the 
Private Radio, Mass Media, Common Carrier, and Cable Services 
activities, based on the FTE percentage ratios shown above. For 
example, to derive the amounts to be recovered from cable services, we 
calculated that the 25.7 percent of total FTEs representing the 361 
FTEs assigned to the cable services activity resulted in $29,824,911 to 
be recovered through the collection of cable services fees.\8\ The 
resulting allocation of costs by regulatory fee category was as 
follows:

    \8\We have rounded all percentages to the nearest one-tenth of a 
percent.

Private Radio.....................................  $8.5 million.       
Mass Media........................................  20.9 million.       
Common Carrier....................................  57.0 million.       
Cable Services....................................  29.9 million.       
                                                                        

    11. After determining the cost allocation, we estimated FY 1995 
payee units for the individual services within each fee category. For 
example, we estimated that there are approximately 57,000,000 payment 
units for cable systems, i.e., cable subscribers. These estimates are 
based upon information provided by Commission program managers and 
supplemented by information contained in actual licensee data bases 
maintained by the Commission, information provided by industry groups 
or contained in trade publications, and actual data from FY 1994 
regulatory fee collections. See Appendices D through G.
    12. Next, in order to make the proportionate changes in the 
statutory schedule of fees required by section 9(b)(2), we compared our 
FY 1995 revenue requirement in each fee category, e.g., Cable Services, 
with the total amount that would be collected from all of the services 
within each category under the FY 1994 fee schedule. For example, we 
estimated that approximately $21.5 million or $8.4 million less than 
its FY 1995 revenue requirement, would be collected from cable system 
payors based upon our FY 1994 fees. We pro-rated the difference in 
these amounts to the individual services, e.g., cable systems were 
allocated $29.9 million to be recovered, and then divided the revenue 
requirement for each individual service by its estimated number of 
payee units to derive our ``Mandatory Adjustments'' to the fee 
schedule.
    13. Following our calculation of the ``Mandatory Adjustments'' to 
the fee schedule, we reviewed each service and its associated fee 
payment to determine if the nature of a service or the public interest 
warranted a fee adjustment pursuant to section 9(b)(3)'s requirements 
for ``Permitted Amendments.'' Pursuant to our authority to make 
permitted amendments to the fees, we are proposing to revise our method 
for calculating fees for AM and FM radio stations, public mobile 
service, including cellular service providers, competitive access 
providers (CAPs), and small earth station antennas. Additionally, we 
are proposing a separate fee for satellite television stations to 
distinguish those stations from full service television stations and we 
are proposing to add a fee requirement for licensees of FM translator 
and booster stations. After making these proposed permitted amendments, 
we propose to revise the remaining fees within the affected service's 
category in order to take into account the impact of the fee 
modification upon other services within the category. Finally, we 
propose to combine certain services within a fee category having 
analogous fee amounts, such as public mobile and cellular licenses, in 
order to reduce the number of separate service categories and to 
simplify the overall schedule of fees.\9\

    \9\We have not proposed regulatory fees for the Personal 
Communications Service (PCS), Commercial Mobile Radio Service 
(CMRS), Low Earth Orbital (LEO) Satellite Service and the Direct 
Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) Service because no facilities were 
authorized on our proposed date for calculating fees, October 1, 
1994, to operate in these services or such authorizations are so 
recent that negligible portion of FTEs are assigned to these 
services other than for application processing.
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    14. In the following paragraphs, we describe our mandatory 
adjustments and proposed permitted amendments to the Schedule of 
Regulatory Fees on a service-by-service basis. The Commission proposes 
to retain, for fee determination purposes, the fee classifications 
(i.e., Private Radio, Common Carrier, Cable Services and Mass Media) 
contained in 47 U.S.C. Section 159. Although we believe that we have 
authority to change the classifications to align them more closely with 
our current organizational structure, we want to minimize any adverse 
impacts to the schedule brought about solely by such a classification 
change. Although we have developed the fee amounts for FY 1995 based 
upon the service categories in the statutory fee schedule, in order to 
assist interested parties in locating particular fees, we have 
formatted the FY 1995 Schedule of Fees to reflect our new 
organizational structure. See Appendix B. With the exception of annual 
fees in the amount of $5.00 or less, individual fee amounts have been 
rounded to the nearest $5 in the case of fees under $1,000 or to the 
nearest $25 in the case of fees of $1,000 or more in accordance with 
section 9(b)(2). Appendices C through G describe the method in which 
FTEs were assigned to the major service categories and the development 
of the fees within each major service category.
1. Private Radio Services
    15. Regulatory fees for services in the Private Radio category are 
located in the Wireless Radio category of the proposed fee schedule. We 
have developed our FY 1995 regulatory fees for Private Radio services 
by making mandatory adjustments to their statutory fees that take into 
account the quality of frequency allocated to those services. 

[[Page 3810]]
See Appendix D. As a result, we are proposing to continue to assess two 
levels of regulatory fees for these services, exclusive use services 
and shared use services, on the basis of the quality of the 
communications channel provided to the licensee. Our action here is 
consistent with section 9's directive that fees take into account the 
benefits provided to the payee of the fees and with the policy 
reflected in the statutory schedule, which provides for higher fee 
payments for exclusive use services within the Private Radio category 
of services. See 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A), (g). Further, it is consistent 
with the statutory fee schedule's formulation of fees for exclusive and 
shared services.
    16. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating fee 
payments and submitting regulatory fee payments for private radio 
services. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at paras. 2-12. Rather, due to 
the relatively small regulatory fees generally assessed for these 
services, we propose to continue to require applicants for new, 
reinstatement and renewal licenses in these services to submit the 
entire regulatory fee for the full term of their requested license at 
the time they file their license applications.\10\ See 47 U.S.C. 
159(f)(1). Applicants for modification or assignment of an existing 
authorization will not be required to submit a regulatory fee. However, 
the expiration date of these authorizations will reflect only the 
unexpired term of the underlying license rather than a new license 
term.

    \10\In the event that the subject application is not granted, 
the entire regulatory fee submitted will be returned upon request of 
the payor of the fee. See 47 C.F.R. Sec. 1.1159(a)(2)(iii).
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a. Exclusive Use
    17. Land Mobile Services, set forth in the FY 1995 regulatory fee 
schedule within the wireless radio service 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). 
Our FY 1995 cost allocation to the Land Mobile Services fee category is 
$462,455, resulting from the mandatory adjustment of its FY 1994 
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units for 
Land Mobile Services are estimated to be 13,213 licenses. Dividing the 
cost allocation to the Land Mobile Service fee category by its payment 
units and its license term of five years results in an annual fee of $7 
per license.\11\ See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that Land 
Mobile licensees be subject to a $7 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. The total 
regulatory fee due would be either $35 for a license with a five year 
term or $70 for a license with a 10 year term. We are proposing no 
change to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fees by 
Land Mobile licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 4.

    \11\Although this fee category includes licenses with ten year 
terms, the estimated volume of ten year license applications in FY 
1995 is less than one tenth of one percent and, therefore, is 
statistically insignificant.
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    18. Microwave Services, set forth in the FY 1995 fee schedule 
within the wireless radio service category, include private microwave 
systems and private carrier systems authorized under Part 94 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. Our FY 1995 cost allocation to Microwave Services is 
$225,400, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units for 
Microwave Services are estimated to be 6,440 licenses. Dividing the 
revenue requirement of Microwave Services by its payment units and 
license term of five years results in an annual fee of $7 per license. 
See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that microwave licensees be 
subject to a $7 annual regulatory fee per license, payable for an 
entire five year license term at the time of application for a new, 
reinstatement or renewal license. The total regulatory fee due would be 
$35 for the five year license term. We are proposing no change to the 
rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by 
Microwave Services. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 5.
    19. Interactive Video Data Service (IVDS), set forth in the FY 1995 
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, is a two-way 
point-to-multi-point radio service allocated high quality channels of 
communications and authorized under Part 95 of the Commission's Rules. 
IVDS provides information, products and services, and also the 
capability to obtain responses from subscribers in a specific service 
area. IVDS is offered on a private carrier basis. Our FY 1995 revenue 
requirement attributable to IVDS is $50,750, resulting from the 
mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the 
statutory fee schedule. Payment units for IVDS are estimated at 1,450 
licenses. Dividing the revenue requirement of IVDS by its payment units 
and license term of five years results in an annual fee of $7 per 
license. See Appendix D. We are proposing that IVDS licensees be 
subject to a $7 annual regulatory fee per license, payable for an 
entire five year license term at the time of application for a new, 
reinstatement or renewal license. The total regulatory fee due would be 
$35 for the five year term of the license. We are proposing no change 
to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments for 
IVDS. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 6.
b. Shared Use Services
    20. Licensees in the following services, set forth in the FY 1995 
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, generally 
operate on shared frequencies.
    21. Marine (Ship) Service is a shipboard radio service authorized 
under Part 80 of the Commission's Rules to provide telecommunications 
between watercraft or between watercraft and short-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. Our FY 1995 
cost allocation to the Marine (Ship) Service fee category is 
$5,070,420, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units for 
Marine (Ship) Service are estimated to be 169,014 stations. Dividing 
the revenue requirement of the Marine (Ship) Service by its payment 
units and license term of ten years results in an annual fee of $3 per 
station. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that marine (ship) 
station licensees be subject to a $3 annual regulatory fee per station, 
payable for an entire ten year license term at the time of application 
for a new, reinstatement or renewal license. The total regulatory fee 
due would be $30 for the ten year license term. We are proposing no 
change to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fee 
payments by the Marine (Ship) Service licensees. See FY 1994 Order, 
Appendix B at para. 9. 

[[Page 3811]]

    22. Marine (Coast) Service, set forth in the FY 1995 fee schedule 
within the wireless radio service category, includes land-based 
stations in the maritime services, authorized under Part 80 of our 
rules, to provide communications services to ships and other watercraft 
in coastal and inland waterways. Our FY 1995 cost allocation to the 
Marine (Coast) Services is $41,955, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment of its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee 
schedule. Payment units for the Marine (Coast) Service are estimated to 
be 2,797 licenses. Dividing the revenue requirement of the marine 
(Coast) Service by its payment units and license term of five years 
results in an annual fee of $3 per license. See Appendix D. Thus, we 
are proposing that these licensees by subject to a $3 annual regulatory 
fee per call sign, payable for the entire five year license term at the 
time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal license. The 
total regulatory fee done would be $15 per call sign for the five year 
license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating 
and submitting regulatory fee payments by the Marine (Coast) Service 
See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 9.
    23. Private Land Mobile (Other) Services, set forth in the FY 1995 
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes 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 to fixed stations on a 
shared basis and include radio location services, private carrier 
paging services, industrial radio services and land transportation 
radio services. Our FY 1995 cost allocation for Private Land Mobile 
(Other) Services is $1,396,275, resulting from the mandatory adjustment 
to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. 
Payment units for Private Land Mobile (Other) Services are estimated to 
be 93,085 licenses. Dividing the revenue requirement of the Services by 
their payment units and license term of five years results in an annual 
fee of $3 per license. See Appendix D. Therefore, we are proposing that 
licensees of services in this category be subject to a $3 annual 
regulatory fee per call sign, payable for an entire five year license 
term at the time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal 
license. The total regulatory fee due would be $15 for the five year 
license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating 
and submitting regulatory fee payments by Private Land Mobile Service 
licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 11.
    24. Aviation (Aircraft) Service, set forth in the FY 1995 fee 
schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes stations 
authorized to provide communications between aircraft and from aircraft 
to ground stations and includes frequencies used to communicate with 
air traffic control facilities pursuant to part 87 of our rules. Our FY 
1995 revenue requirement attributable to the Aviation (Aircraft) 
Service is $1,130,430, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its 
FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment 
units for the Aviation (Aircraft) Service are estimated to be 37,681 
stations. During the revenue requirement of the Aviation (Aircraft) 
Service by its payment units and license term of ten years results in 
an annual fee of $3 per station. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing 
that licensees of aircraft stations be subject to a $3 annual 
regulatory fee per station, payable for the entire ten year license 
term at the time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal 
license. The total regulatory fee due would be $30 per station for the 
ten year license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for 
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by Aviation 
(Aircraft) Service licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 8.
    25. Aviation (Ground) Service, set forth in the FY 1995 fee 
schedule within the wireless radio service category, 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 rules. Our FY 1995 revenue requirement attributable to 
the Aviation (Ground) Service is $39,900, resulting from the mandatory 
fee adjustment to its revenue requirement under the statutory fee 
schedule. Payment units for the Aviation (Ground) Service are estimated 
to be 2,660 licenses. Dividing the Service's revenue requirement by its 
payment units and licenses term five years results in an annual fee of 
$3 per license. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing that these 
licensees of aviation ground stations be subject to a $3 annual 
regulatory fee per license, payable for the entire five year license 
term at the time of application for a new, reinstatement or renewal 
license. The total regulatory fee would be $15 per call sign for the 
five year license term. We are proposing no change to the rules for 
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by Aviation (Ground) 
Service licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 8.
    26. General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), set forth in the FY 1995 
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, includes 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 our rules. Our FY 1995 
cost allocation for GMRS is $41,775, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement. Payment units for GMRS 
are estimated to be 2,785 licenses. Dividing GMRS' revenue requirement 
by its payment units and license term of five years results in an 
annual fee of $3 per license. See Appendix D. Thus, we are proposing 
that (GMRS) licensees be subject to a $3 annual regulatory fee per 
license, payable for an entire five year license term at the time of 
application for a new, reinstatement or renewal license. The total 
regulatory fee due would be $15 per license for the five year license 
term. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculation and 
submission of regulatory fee by GMRS licensees. See FY 1994 Order, 
Appendix B at para. 10.
c. Amateur Radio Vanity Call-Signs
    27. Amateur Vanity Call-Signs, set forth in the FY 1995 fee 
schedule within the wireless radio service category, covers voluntary 
requests for specific call-signs in the Amateur Radio Service. We have 
not yet concluded our rulemaking proceeding concerning authorizing 
vanity call-signs. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 9 FCC Rcd 105 
(1993), 59 FR 558 (January 5, 1994). Nevertheless, we are including a 
fee for vanity call signs since we expect to conclude this proceeding 
during FY 1995. Our FY 1995 cost allocation to Amateur Vanity Call-
Signs is $60,000, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 
1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. See Appendix 
D. Payment units for Amateur Vanity Call-Signs are estimated to be 
2,000 licenses. Dividing this service category's cost allocation by its 
estimated payment units and license term of ten years results in a fee 
of $3 per year per license. Thus, we are proposing that applicants for 
amateur vanity call-signs be subject to a $3 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 $30 per license for the ten 

[[Page 3812]]
year license term.\12\ We are proposing no change to the rules for 
calculating and submitting regulatory fees for amateur vanity call-sign 
licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para 12.

    \12\Section 9(h) exempts ``amateur radio operator licenses under 
part 97 of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R. 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.
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2. Mass Media
    28. The regulatory fees for the Mass Media fee category apply to 
broadcast licensees and permittees.
a. Commercial AM and FM Radio
    29. 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. In developing our FY 
1995 individual fee amounts for AM and FM stations, we determined that 
the public interest required that we retain the operational class 
distinctions among AM and FM stations that Congress established in its 
statutory fee schedule. Also, as a permissive amendment and consistent 
with petitions for rulemaking filed by Teddy Bear Communications, Inc. 
and La Paz Broadcasting, Inc., we included a further distinction in 
order to recognize that the population density of a station's 
geographic location was also a public interest factor warranting 
recognition in the fee schedule. After due consideration, we decided 
that stations located in Arbitron radio markets vis-a-vis those not 
located in these markets provided a logical distinction for allocating 
a fee ratio burden.\13\ We quantified this distinction by adopting a 
fee ratio between the Arbitron and non-Arbitron markets similar to the 
ratio of the fee requirement the statutory fee scheduled established 
for the larger television station markets and the schedule's 
``remaining markets.''\14\ Thus, for AM and FM stations we exercised 
our authority to make permitted amendments to the fee schedule in order 
to lower the fees for stations with relatively small coverage areas and 
daytime only operations and for stations operating in rural areas. The 
following are our proposed regulatory fees for AM and FM stations.

    \13\Arbitron has identified 261 Metro Survey Areas (MSAs) that 
range in population from 14,033,500 (Market 1) to 47,100 persons 
(Market 261). Stations operating outside Arbitron's MSAs are 
considered to be located in ``non-arbitron markets'' serving more 
rural geographic areas. See Arbitron rankings, Broadcasting & Cable 
Yearbook, compiled annually by R. R. Bowker, a Reed Reference 
Publishing Company. For the formulation of FY 1995 AM and FM fees, 
we have used the 1994 edition of the Yearbook since it provides the 
most recently published market data.
    \14\See Appendix for a more detailed explanation of the 
development of our fees for AM and FM radio stations.

AM Radio:                                                               
  Class A (Arbitron Market)..................................     $1,525
  Class A (Non-Arbitron Market)..............................        565
  Class B (Arbitron Market)..................................        850
  Class B (Non-Arbitron Market)..............................        315
  Class C (Arbitron Market)..................................        340
  Class C (Non-Arbitron Market)..............................        125
  Class D (Arbitron Market)..................................        425
  Class D (Non-Arbitron Market)..............................        155
FM Radio:                                                               
  Classes C, C1, C2, B (Arbitron Market).....................     $1,525
  Classes C, C1, C2, B (Non-Arbitron Market).................        565
  Classes A, B1, C3 (Arbitron Market)........................      1,025
  Classes A, B1, C3 (Non-Arbitron Market)....................        375
                                                                        

    We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating and 
submitting regulatory fees by AM and FM radio station licensees. See FY 
1994 Report, Appendix B at paras. 14-17 and 19.
b. Construction Permits--Commercial AM Radio
    30. This category includes holders of permits to construct new AM 
stations. The FY 1995 cost allocation for commercial AM construction 
permit fee category is $9,480, resulting from the mandatory adjustment 
to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. 
Payment units for the category are estimated to be 79 AM construction 
permits. Dividing the revenue requirement for AM construction permits 
by estimated payment units results in a regulatory fee of $120 per 
construction permit. See Appendix E. Thus, for FY 1995, we are 
proposing to assess permittees $120 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/market of the station. We are proposing no change in 
the rules for calculating and submitting the regulatory fee by AM 
construction permittees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 18.
c. Construction Permits--Commercial FM Radio
    31. This category includes holders of permits to construct new 
commercial FM stations. The FY 1995 cost allocation for commerical FM 
radio construction permits is $418,285, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment to the category's FY 1994 revenue requirement under the 
statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 703 FM 
construction permits. Dividing the revenue requirements for FM 
construction permits by estimated payments units results in a 
regulatory fee $595 per permit. See Appendix E. Thus, for FY 1995, we 
are proposing to assess permittees $595 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/market of the station. We are proposing no change 
in the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fees by FM 
construction permittees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 20.
d. Commercial Television Stations
    32. This category includes licensed commercial VHF and UHF 
television stations covered under Part 73 of the Commissions rules, 
except commonly owned television satellite stations, addressed 
separately below. We are proposing to assess commercial television 
stations annual fees based on the station's market rankings as 
published by Warren Publishing in the 1994 Edition of the Television 
and Cable Factbook (No. 62). The FY 1995 revenue requirements for the 
different categories of VHF and UHF commercial television stations are 
shown in Appendix E, including both an amount resulting from the 
services mandatory adjustment and an additional amount required to 
offset the reduced fee for satellite television stations, described 
below, pursuant to our authority to make permitted amendments to the 
fees. Payment units for each service category with the commercial 
television fee category are shown in Appendix E. Dividing the revenue 
requirements for each commercial television station category by the 
corresponding estimate of payment units results in the following 
proposed fees to be assessed on stations in each ADI market grouping:

VHF Markets 1-10.............................................    $21,450
VHF Markets 11-25............................................     19,075
VHF Markets 26-50............................................     14,300
VHF Markets 51-100...........................................      9,525
VHF Remaining Markets........................................      5,950
                                                                        
UHF Markets 1-10.............................................     17,150
UHF Markets 11-25............................................     15,250
UHF Markets 26-50............................................     11,450
UHF Markets 51-100...........................................      7,625
UHF Remaining Markets........................................      4,775
                                                                        

    See Appendix E. We are proposing no change to the rules for 
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by television 
stations licensees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 21-24.

[[Page 3813]]

e. Commercial Television Satellite Stations
    33. Pursuant to our authority to make permissive amendments to our 
regulatory fees, we are also 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 $595 annually, based upon 
the $500 fee for FY 1994 passed by the House of Representatives for 
satellite stations. While not legally binding, the $500 base fee was 
determined to be appropriate for licensees of television satellite 
stations in our FY 1994 authorization bill passed in the House of 
Representatives. See H.R. 4522. In addition, we believe that this fee 
amount takes into account the public interest factors reflected in 
comments filed in the proceeding to adopt the FY 1994 Schedule of 
Regulatory Fees. See 447 U.S.C. Sec. 159(b)(3). In developing the FY 
1995 fee for television satellite stations, we used the $500 fee that 
the House enacted for FY 1994 for television satellite stations to 
derive a FY 1995 fee requirement of $595 per television satellite 
station resulting from a ``simulated'' FY 1994 revenue requirement 
divided by the estimated payments units of 101 satellite television 
station licenses. Therefore, we propose to exercise our authority to 
make permitted amendments to the fees to establish the satellite 
television fee at $595 per license. We expect that this fee will result 
in approximately $60,095 of revenues. See Appendix E. We caution that 
only those stations designated as satellite television stations in the 
1994 edition of the Television and Cable Factbook (No. 62) are eligible 
to submit the fee applicable to satellite television stations. All 
other television licensees are subject to the regulatory fee payment 
required for their class of station and market.\15\

    \15\We acknowledge that the Commission has initiated an NPRM 
seeking comment on whether satellite stations should continue to be 
exempt from the Commission's national television ownership 
restrictions. Be advised that the Commission's decision to assess a 
regulatory fee for satellite stations that is less than the amount 
for commercial television stations should not be taken as a signal 
that any determination has been made with regard to this outstanding 
proceeding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

f. Construction Permits--Commercial VHF Television Stations
    34. This category includes holders of permits to construct new 
commercial VHF television stations. For FY 1995, the cost allocation 
for this service category is $52,525, resulting from the fee category's 
FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment 
units for VHF construction permits are estimated to be 11 permits. 
Dividing the revenue requirement for VHF construction permits by its 
estimated payment units results in a fee of $4,775. See Appendix E. 
Therefore, for FY 1995, we are proposing to assess permittees $4,775 
for each VHF construction permit held. 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. We are 
proposing no change to the rules for calculating and submitting 
regulatory fees by VHF television station construction permittees. See 
FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 24.
g. Construction Permits--Commercial UHF Television Stations
    35. This category includes holders of permits to construct new UHF 
television stations. For FY 1995, the cost allocation for this service 
category is $554,625, resulting from the mandatory increase to its 
statutory fee schedule. Payment units for UHF construction permits are 
estimated to be 145 permits. Dividing the revenue requirement for this 
service category by its estimated payment units results in a fee of 
$3,825 for each UHF construction permit held. Therefore, we are 
proposing a fee of $3,825 per UHF television station construction 
permit. See Appendix E. 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. We are proposing no change 
to the rules for calculating and submitting regulatory fees by UHF 
television station permittees. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 
25.
h. Construction Permits--Satellite Television Stations
    36. We are proposing to add a new service category to the fee 
schedule in recognition that the holders of construction permits for 
UHF and VHF television satellite stations should be charged a separate, 
lower fee than the fee for holders of construction permits for fully 
operational television stations. See above, where we propose to 
exercise our authority to make permitted amendments to the fee schedule 
relating to the fee for television satellite stations. We developed the 
fee for television satellite construction permits by taking the average 
fees for VHF and UHF television stations ($12,655) and relating it to 
the average fee for construction permits for VHF and UHF television 
stations ($4,300). Using this relationship, (.339:1) for satellite 
stations results in a computed fee of $200 for construction permits for 
television satellite stations ($595 times .339). See Appendix E. An 
individual regulatory fee payment is to be made for each television 
satellite station construction permit held.
i. Low Power Television, Translator and Booster Stations
    37. This category includes Low Power UHF/VHF Television stations 
operating under Part 74 of the Commissions rules with a transmitter 
power output limited to 0.01kw for a UHF facility and, generally, 1kw 
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). We propose to exercise our authority to make 
permitted amendments to the fee schedule to include FM translator and 
booster stations in this fee service because we believe these 
facilities were inadvertently omitted from the statutory fee schedule 
and we are unaware of any reason not to establish a fee for these 
services. The stations in this category are secondary to full service 
stations in terms of frequency priority. The FY 1995 cost allocation 
for this service category is $1,368,640, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee 
schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 8,554 licenses, including 
licenses covering FM translators. Dividing the revenue requirement for 
this category by its estimated payment units results in a fee of $160 
per license. See Appendix E. Thus, for FY 1995, we are proposing to 
assess licensees of low power television stations and licensees of both 
FM and TV translators and boosters an annual regulatory fee of $160 for 
each license held. We are proposing no change to the rules for 
calculating and submitting regulatory fee payments by licensees in this 
service category. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at paras. 26-27.
j. Broadcast Auxiliary Stations
    38. This category includes licensees of remote pickup stations, 
aural broadcast auxiliary stations, television broadcast auxiliary 
stations, and low power auxiliary stations, authorized under Part 74 of 
the Commission's Rules. Auxiliary stations are generally associated 
with a 

[[Page 3814]]
particular television or radio broadcast station or cable television 
system. The FY 1995 cost allocation for this category is $1,500,000, 
resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue 
requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units are 
estimated to be 50,000 licenses. Dividing the category's revenue 
requirement by its estimated payment units results in a fee of $30 per 
license. See Appendix E. Thus, we are proposing that licensees of 
commercial auxiliary stations be assessed a $30 annual regulatory fee 
for FY 1995 on a per call sign basis. We are proposing no change to the 
rules for calculating or submitting regulatory fee payments by 
licensees of facilities in this service category. See FY 1994 Report, 
Appendix B at para. 28.
k. International HF Broadcast (Short Wave)
    39. This category covers international broadcast stations licensed 
under Part 73 to operate on a frequency in the 5,950 Khz to 26,100 Khz 
range to provide service to the general public in foreign countries. 
The proposed fees for International HF Broadcast are set forth in the 
International Service category in the FY 1995 fee schedule. For FY 
1995, the cost allocation for the category is $4,560, resulting from 
the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under the 
statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 19 licenses. 
Dividing the category's revenue requirements by its estimated payment 
units results in a fee of $240 per license. See Appendix E. Thus, for 
FY 1995, we are proposing to assess an annual regulatory fee of $240 
per station license. We are proposing no change to the rules for 
calculating and submitting fees by licensees of facilities in this 
service category. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 29.
3. Cable Services
a. Cable Television Systems
    40. This category includes operators of cable television systems, 
as the term is defined in Section 76.5 of our rules, providing or 
distributing programming or other services to subscribers under Part 76 
of our Rules. For FY 1995, the cost allocation for cable television 
systems is $29,070,000, resulting from the mandatory adjustment to the 
category's FY 1994 revenue requirement under the statutory fee 
schedule. Estimated payment units are 57,000,000 subscribers. Dividing 
the categories cost allocation by its estimated payment units results 
in a fee of $.51 per subscriber. See Appendix F. Therefore, we are 
proposing a fee of $.51 per cable television subscriber.\16\

    \16\Consistent with our earlier interpretation of Congressional 
intent, we propose to require payment of the cable system regulatory 
fees on a per subscriber basis rather than per 1,000 subscribers as 
set forth in the statutory fee schedule. See FY 1994 Order at para. 
100.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    41. Payments for cable systems are to be made on a per subscriber 
by community unit basis as of December 31, 1994 as reported on each 
cable system's 1994 Annual report of Cable Systems (FCC Form 325). As 
in FY 1994, 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 subscirber 
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 individuals households. We are proposing no 
change in the rules for calculating or submitting regulatory fees by 
cable system operators. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 31.
b. Cable Antenna Relay Service
    42. This category includes cable television 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 1995, the cost 
allocation for CARS is $635,010, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement based upon the statutory 
fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 2,082 licenses. 
Dividing the revenue requirement for CARS by its estimated payment 
units results in a fee of $305 per license. See Appendix F. Thus, for 
FY 1995, we are proposing to assess a $305 regulatory fee per CARS 
license. We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating and 
submitting regulatory fees by CARS licensees.
4. Common Carrier Services
a. Mobile Services
    43. Public Mobile/Cellular Radio Services, set forth in the FY 1995 
fee schedule within the wireless radio service category, include common 
carriers and others (e.g., cellular radio licensees) offering, under 
Parts 22 and 24, a wide variety of land-based or air-to-ground mobile 
telephone, paging or data transmission services to the public. 
Licensees include those using radio to provide telephone services at 
fixed locations, such as Basic Exchange Telecommunications Radio 
Services, Rural Radio and Offshore Radio. For FY 1994, we required a 
fee payment on a subscriber basis pursuant to the statutory requirement 
to charge a per subscriber fee. See 47 U.S.C. Sec. 159(g).
    44. We recognize that the statutory language permitted a licensee 
to submit a single per subscriber fee for an entity subscribing to its 
service no matter how many actual units of communication services that 
subscriber obtained from the licensee. Nevertheless, we believe that a 
more equitable payment formulation would require each licensee to 
submit a fee based upon the total number of telephone numbers or call 
signs that it provides to customers so that its fee payment would 
better reflect the benefit that the licensee receives from its use of 
frequencies of communications. Therefore, for FY 1995, we propose to 
exercise our authority to make permitted amendments to the fee schedule 
to propose that each licensee in the Public Mobile/Cellular Radio 
Services pay an annual regulatory fee for each mobile or cellular unit 
(mobile or cellular call sign or telephone number), including paging 
units, assigned to its customers, including resellers of its services. 
For FY 1995, the service category's cost allocation is $4,420,000, 
resulting from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue 
requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units under our 
proposed formulation are estimated to be 34,000,000 subscribers. 
Dividing the category's cost allocation by its estimated subscribers 
results in a regulatory fee of $.13 per payment unit. See Appendix G. 
Thus, we are proposing a fee of $.13 per subscriber. With the exception 
of extending the regulatory fee to all units provided by licensees in 
this service category, we are proposing no change to the rules for 
payment of fees by licensees in the Public Mobile/Cellular Radio 
Services. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 31.17

    \17\As noted above, we are proposing no regulatory fee for 
Personal Communications Services (PCS) and Commercial Mobile Radio 
Services (CMRS) for FY 1995 because no facilities were authorized 
for PCS and CMRS by our proposed date for calculating fees, October 
1, 1994.
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b. Fixed Radio Services
    45. Domestic Public Fixed Radio Service includes stations 
authorized under Part 21 of the Commission's Rules to use microwave 
frequencies for video and data distribution within the United States. 
This category includes licensees 

[[Page 3815]]
in the Point-to-Point Microwave Radio Service, Local Television 
Transmission Radio Service, Digital Electronic Message Service, 
Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS), and Multichannel Multipoint 
Distribution Service (MMDS).18 For FY 1995, the cost allocation 
for the Domestic Public Fixed Radio Services is $158,000, resulting 
from the mandatory adjustment to its FY 1994 revenue requirement under 
the statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 1,320 
licenses. Dividing the Service's cost allocation by its estimated 
payment units results in a fee of $120 per call sign. See Appendix G. 
Therefore, we are proposing that Domestic Public Fixed Radio Service 
licensees be subject to a $120 annual regulatory fee per call sign, 
payable on a specified date to be announced by the Commission. We are 
proposing no change to the rules for calculation and submission of the 
fee payment by licensees in the Domestic Public Fixed Radio Services. 
See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 37.

    \18\MDS and MMDS are now regulated by the Mass Media Bureau and, 
therefore, the regulatory fees for these services are shown within 
the Mass Media category in the FY 1995 fee schedule. See Appendix B.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    46. International Public Fixed Radio Service, set forth in the FY 
1995 fee schedule within the International 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. The cost allocation for the International 
Public Fixed Radio Service is $4,800, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment to its revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. 
Payment units for the Service are estimated to be 20 call signs. 
Dividing the Service's revenue requirement by its estimated payment 
units results in a fee of $240 per call sign. See Appendix F. thus, we 
are proposing that international public fixed radio service licensees 
be subject to a $240 annual regulatory fee per call sign, payable on a 
specified date to be announced by the Commission. We are proposing no 
change to the rules for calculating and submitting fees by licensees in 
the International Public Fixed Radio Services. See FY 1994 Order, 
Appendix B at para. 38.
c. VSATs and Equivalent C-Band Antennas/Mobile Satellite Earth Stations
    47. VSATs and Equivalent C-Band Antennas includes VSAT earth 
stations and equivalent C-Band earth stations and antennas and earth 
station systems comprised of very small aperture terminals operating in 
the 12 and 14 GHz bands and providing a variety of communications 
services to other stations in the network. VSAT systems consist of a 
network of technically-identical small fixed-satellite 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 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. The 1995 cost 
allocation for this category is $56,810, resulting from the category's 
mandatory adjustment under the FY 1994 statutory fee schedule. Payment 
units are estimated to be 437,000 antennas. See Appendix G. Dividing 
the revenue requirement by estimated payments units results in a 
regulatory fee for FY 1995 of $.13 per authorized antenna. Therefore, 
we propose to assess licensees of VSATs an annual regulatory fee of 
$.13 per authorized antenna for FY 1995. The proposed fee for this 
service is set forth in the International category in the FY 1995 fee 
schedule. See Appendix B. We are not proposing to change the rules for 
calculation and payment of the fee for VSATs, VSAT equivalents and 
mobile earth station antennas.
d. Fixed Satellite Earth Station Antennas
    48. Transmit/Receive and Transmit Only Earth Stations. This 
category includes fixed-satellite transmit/receive and transmit only 
earth sation antennas, authorized or registered under Part 25 of the 
Commission's rules, operated by private and public carriers to provide 
telephone, television, data, and other forms of communications. The 
proposed fees for this fee category are set forth in the FY 1995 fee 
schedule in the International Service category. Included in this 
category are telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) earth stations and 
earth station uplinks.
    49. In our FY 1994 Order, we adopted this statutory fee schedule's 
requirement that assessed a higher fee for fixed satellite earth 
stations antennas of 9 meters or more than for those less than 9 
meters. This distinction resulted in the anomaly that antennas 
performing the same function were subjected to different fees, one 
several thousand percent higher than the other. To rectify this 
disparity, we propose to exercise our permitted authority to eliminate 
the differing fee levels for these earth stations. We are proposing 
that any earth station in this service category be charged a fee based 
upon size as measured in meters. This modification will eliminate the 
disparity in fees under the former schedule, but assure that smaller 
antennas will continue to be subject to a smaller fee requirement than 
larger antennas.
    50. The FY 1995 cost allocation for transmit and transmit/receive 
earth stations is $3,533,500, resulting from the mandatory adjustment 
under the FY 1994 revenue requirement for this fee category. Payment 
units are estimated to be 19,100 antenna meters. Dividing the cost 
allocation for this category by its estimate payment units results in a 
fee of $185 per meter. See Appendix G. Therefore, we are proposing a 
regulatory fee of $185 per meter for transmit/receive and transmit only 
earth stations. In determining the number of meters of an earth 
station, all measurements should be made to the tenth of a meter.
    51. Receive Only Earth Stations. For the reasons discussed above, 
we propose to eliminate the disparity in the fee requirement for 
receive only antennas above and below 9 meters. Thus receive only earth 
stations will be assessed a per meter fee, regardless of whether they 
are above or below 9 meters in size. The FY 1995 cost allocation for 
receive only earth stations is $4,116,000, resulting from the mandatory 
adjustment to the fee category's revenue requirement under the 
statutory fee schedule. Payment units are estimated to be 34,300 
antenna meters. Dividing the cost allocation for the category by its 
estimated payment units results in a fee of $120 per meter. See 
Appendix G. Thus, we are proposing a regulatory fee of $120 per meter 
for receive only earth stations. All measurements will be to the tenth 
of a meter.
e. Space Stations (Geosynchronous)
    52. Geosynchronous space stations, set forth in the FY 1995 fee 
schedule within the International Service category, are domestic and 
international satellites positioned in orbit to remain approximately 
fixed relative to the earth. They are authorized under Part 25 of the 
Commission's rules to provide communications between satellites and 

[[Page 3816]]
earth stations on a common carrier and/or private carrier basis. The FY 
1995 cost allocation for geosynchronous space stations is $4,978,750, 
resulting from the mandatory increase in the category's FY 1994 revenue 
requirement under the statutory fee schedule. Payment units estimated 
to be 35 operational space stations in orbit. Dividing the revenue 
requirement for this category by its estimated payment units results in 
a fee of $142,250 per operational space station in orbit. See Appendix 
G. Thus, we are proposing that entities authorized to operate 
geosynchronous space stations in accordance with section 25.120(d) will 
be assessed an annual regulatory fee of $142,250 per operational 
station in orbit. Payment is required for any geosynchronous satellite 
that has been launched and tested and is authorized to provide service. 
We are proposing no change to the rules for calculating and submitting 
regulatory fee payments by licensees of geosynchronous space stations. 
See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at para. 35.
f. International Bearer Circuits
    53. Regulatory fees for international bearer circuits are computed 
``per 100 active 64 Kbps circuits or equivalent.'' International bearer 
circuits are set forth in the International Service category in the FY 
1995 fee schedule. The proposed fee is to be paid by the facilities-
based common carrier activating the circuit in any transmission 
facility for the provision of service to an end user or resale carrier. 
However, we propose to modify our requirements for payment of the fee 
for bearer circuits by private submarine cable operators to require 
that they pay fees 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 Order at 5367. 
The fee is based upon active 64 Kbps circuits, or 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. The FY 1995 
cost allocation is $310,000 based on an estimated volume of 62,000 
active 64 Kbps circuits or equivalent. For FY 1995, we are proposing an 
annual regulatory fee of $5.00 for each active 64 Kbps circuit or 
equivalent. For analog television channels we will assess fees as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                No. of  
                                                              equivalent
            Analog television channel size in MHz               64 Kbps 
                                                               circuits 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
36..........................................................        630 
24..........................................................        288 
18..........................................................        240 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    See Appendix G. for a description of the development of the fees 
for international bearer circuits. See FY 1994 Order, Appendix B at 
para. 45.
g. Inter-exchange and Local Exchange Carriers, Competitive Access 
Providers, Pay Telephone Providers, and Other Non-mobile Providers of 
Interstate Service
    54. In the FY 1994 Order, we adopted the fees and calculation 
methodology for Inter-Exchange Carriers (IXC's), Local Exchange 
Carriers (LECs) and Competitive Providers (CAPs) contained in the 
section 9(g)'s fees schedule. We rejected proposals to modify the fees 
schedule because Congress intended us to adopt that schedule in its 
entirety for FY 1994. Under the statutory schedule, CAPs are assessed 
fees based upon their number of subscribers. As a consequence, some 
CAPs filed very small fee payments because they serve only a few 
subscribers even though these subscribers are large entities with heavy 
communications requirements.
    55. Several of the commenters in the FY 1994 proceeding urged that 
we extend the fee requirement to other providers of interstate 
communications services, including resellers, in addition to those 
subject to a fee requirement under the statutory fee schedule. We 
declined to do so. However, we stated that we would review the fee 
schedule to determine if other carriers should be subject to the 
regulatory fee requirement for FY 1995.
    56. We now believe that resellers and other carriers providing 
interstate services subject to our jurisdiction and directly benefiting 
from our regulation of the interstate network should be subject to a 
regulatory fee payment. In particular, we are cognizant that our 
decisions requiring facilities based carriers to eliminate any 
restrictions on the resale and sharing of their interstate private line 
communications services and facilities and our continuing market 
surveillance has fostered the growth of a strong communications resale 
industry. In opening up the interstate network to resellers, we 
asserted our jurisdiction over their activities pursuant to Title II of 
the Communications Act.\19\ We believe that carriers subject to our 
regulation should bear the costs of that regulation. For these reasons, 
we are proposing, as described below, to subject any carrier, whether 
facilities based or reseller, using the interstate network to a 
regulatory fee payment.

    \19\See Resale and Shared Use of Common Carrier Services, 60 FCC 
2d 588, 600 (1977) (In addition to allowing resellers to obtain 
lines from facilities based carriers, we declared that ``' [resale 
carriers],' whether they be brokers or value added carriers * * * , 
are equally subject to the requirements of Title II of the 
Communications Act.''); see also American Tel & Tel. Co. v. F.C.C., 
978 F.2d 727, 735 (D.C. 1992) (finding that resellers and other 
nondominant carriers must file tariffs and offer their services 
pursuant to just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rates and 
practices pursuant to sections 201 and 202 of the Act.) Resellers 
currently are subject to filing fees pursuant to section 8 of the 
Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    57. We propose to expand the schedule of fees for carriers to 
include not only IXCs, LECs and CAPs, but also domestic and 
international carriers that provide operator services, 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.\20\

    \20\A holding company may combine fee payments of its operating 
companies and pay their combined fees for a particular service in a 
single combined payment or by installments, if the aggregate of 
their fees in a single service qualifies the holding company to make 
installment payments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    58. The FY 1995 cost allocation for this category is $39,000,000, 
resulting from the mandatory adjustment of the Commission's FY 1994 
revenue requirement under the statutory fee schedule. See Appendix G. 
Because our proposal and a proposed alternative method of calculating 
fees for the carrier category, represent a significant modification of 
the method in which regulatory fees are calculated, interested parties 
are requested to file comments concerning the most efficient and 
equitable method for assessment of regulatory fees.
    59. We propose to calculate carrier fees based on the number of 
customer units, i.e., the number of users of a service, provided by a 
carrier as of December 31, 1994. For access service 

[[Page 3817]]
provided by local exchange carriers, the number of customer units would 
equal the number of presubscribed lines as described in Section 69.116 
of the Commission's Rules. For pay telephone service, the number of 
customer units would equal the number of pay telephones used as the 
basis for pay telephone compensation. For MTS provided by pre-selected 
interexchange carriers, the number of customer units would equal the 
number of presubscribed lines as described in Section 69.116 of the 
Commission's Rules. For pay telephone service, the number of customer 
units would equal the number of pay telephones used as the basis for 
pay telephone compensation. For MTS provided by pre-selected 
interexchange carriers, the number of customer units would equal the 
number of presubscribed lines as described in Section 69.116 of the 
Commissions Rules. For other switched services, such as MTS, WATS, 800, 
900 and operator service not billed to the number from which the call 
is placed, the number of customer units would equal the number of 
billing accounts less those accounts already associated with 
presubscribed lines reported by the carrier. For non-switched services, 
including service provided by CAPs, special access, and private 
(alternative access) line providers, the number of customer units would 
be based on the total capacity provided to customers measured as voice 
equivalent lines. For this purpose, 4 Khz or 64 Kbps equivalents would 
equate to one voice equivalent line. Dividing the $39,000,000 cost 
allocation by an estimated 300,000,000 customer units\21\ results in a 
fee of $.13 per customer unit.

    \21\Local exchange carriers and toll carriers will each report a 
total of 142 million presubscribed lines. Allowing for \1/2\ million 
privately owned pay telephone lines, 4 million special access lines, 
and approximately 5% resale and competitive access provision, it 
appears that carriers would report approximately 300 million 
customer units.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    60. In addition, as an alternative to the fee structure described 
above, we are proposing to base our carrier fees on the number of 
minutes of interstate service in calendar year 1994. For access service 
provided by local exchange carriers, the number of interstate minutes 
would equal the number of originating and terminating access minutes. 
For interstate service upon which access charges are paid, the number 
of minutes would equal the number of originating and terminating access 
minutes. For other interstate services billed based on timed usage, the 
number of minutes would equal the number of billed minutes. For 
interstate services not billed on the basis of timed usage, minutes 
would be estimated as the billed revenue in dollars times 10. This 
represents a cross-over assumption that customers would substitute 
ordinary MTS for any service which cost more than ten cents per minute. 
Hence, revenue in dollars time 10 represents a lower bound number of 
minutes. Dividing the $39,000,000 cost allocation by 508 billion 
minutes\22\ results in a fee of $.08 per 1000 minutes.

    \22\There will be approximately 393 billion common carrier line 
access minutes in 1994 based on minutes reported for the first half 
of the year times 2. Adding 5% for resale results in 413 billion 
minutes. Based on 1992 published TRS Fund data, carriers provided 
nine and one half billion dollars of nonswitched interstate service, 
which adds 95 million minutes to the total.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Procedures for Payment of Regulatory Fees

    61. Generally, we propose to retain the procedures that we 
established in our FY 94 Report and Order 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 payor.'' See 47 
U.S.C. Sec. 1559(f). Consistent with the section, we are again 
proposing 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'
    62. 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 the proceeding.
2. Installment Payments for Large Fees
    63. In our FY 1994 Order, we classified fees for several services 
at certain payment amounts and above as ``large'' fees, eligible to be 
paid by installment payments, and afforded eligible payers the 
opportunity to submit fees for these services in two equally divided 
payments.\23\ We indicated, however, that based on our experience with 
the fee program, we would consider increasing eligibility to make 
installments payments. After gaining some experience, we are proposing 
to now lower eligibility or installment payments. Our decision to lower 
the eligibility threshold results from a determination that our payment 
processing system feasibly can handle a reasonable increase in the 
number of regulatees who pay in installments. Therefore, we propose to 
set the eligibility requirement at the lowest installment payment level 
permitted in FY 1994, $12,000, and propose that regulatees in any 
category of service with a payment liability of $12,000 or more be 
eligible to make installment payments. Eligibility for payment by 
installment will be based upon the amount of either a single regulatory 
fee payment or a combination of fee payments by the same licensee or 
regulatee.

    \23\See FY 1994 Order at paragraphs 39 through 45.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    64. In our FY 1994 Order, we permitted payment of ``large'' fees in 
two installments and stated that for future years we would permit four 
installment payments by eligible regulatees. The limited time that will 
be available following completion of this proceeding and the required 
90 day notification period to Congress of our amendments to the 
Schedule of Regulatory Fees following completion of this proceeding 
makes the use of four installment payments impractical for installment 
payers and unduly burdens our fee collection process. Therefore, we 
propose that regulatees eligible to pay by installment payments may 
submit their required fee in two equal payments (on dates to be 
announced in the Report and Order terminating this proceeding or in the 
Federal Register following the proceeding's termination), or, in the 
alternative, may submit a single full payment on the date that their 
final installment payment is due.
3. Advance Payments of Small Fees
    65. We are proposing to treat regulatory fee payments by certain 
radio licensees as small fees subject to advance payments. Advance 
payments will be required from licensees of those services that we 
decided would be subject to advance payments in our FY 1994 Order.\24\ 
Payers of advance fees 

[[Page 3818]]
will submit the entire fee due for the full term of their licenses when 
filing their initial, reinstatement or renewal application. Those 
subject to the fee payment 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 payor 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. Refunds will not be made in cases where the fee for a service is 
lower for FY 1995 than the fee paid under the FY 1994 fee schedule. The 
Commission will announce by public notice in the Federal Register the 
effective date for the payment of small fees pursuant to the FY 1995 
fee schedule.

    \24\Applicants 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, Interactive 
Video Data Services (IVDS), 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Timing of Standard Fee Calculations and Payment Dates
    66. As noted, the date for payment of standard fees and installment 
payments will be published in the Federal Register. 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, line or circuit count, fees should be submitted for any 
authorization held as of October 1, 1994. As in our FY 1994 Order, we 
are proposing October 1 as the date to be used for calculating standard 
fees since it is the first day of the fiscal year and, therefore, 
current licensees subject to the fees would have benefited from our 
regulatory activities from the beginning of the period covered by the 
payment.
    67. In the case of regulatees whose fees are based upon a 
subscriber, line or circuit count, we propose that the number of a 
regulatees' subscribers, licenses or circuits on December 31, 1994, 
will be used to calculate the fee payment. 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.\25\

    \25\Cable systems should calculate their FY 1995 regulatory fees 
using the subscriber data to be submitted to the Commission in their 
1994 Annual Report of Cable Television Systems (FCC Form 325). 
Accordingly, their number of subscribers will not necessarily be 
based on December 31, 1994, but rather on ``a typical day in the 
last full week'' of December 1994. (See FCC Form 325 Instructions.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Procedural Matters

A. Comment Period and Procedures

    68. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in sections 1.415 and 
1.419 of the Commission's rules, interested parties may file comments 
on or before February 13, 1995 and reply comments on or before February 
28, 1995. 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 
to 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, NW., Washington, DC 20054.

B. Ex Parte Rules

    69. 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 C.F.R. Secs. 1.1202, 1.1203 and 1026(a).

C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    70. As required by section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(Pub. L. No. 96-354, 94 Stat. 1165, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 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 Appendix 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 Notice, 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 Notice, 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. Authority and Further Information

    71. 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. Secs. 154(1) and (j) and 159 and 303(r).
    72. Further information about this proceeding may be obtained by 
contacting Peter W. Herrick, Acting Associate Managing Director, 
Program Analysis at (202) 418-0443.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.

Appendix A--Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Reason for Action

    This rulemaking proceeding is initiated to obtain comment 
regarding the Commission's proposed amendment of its Schedule of 
Regulatory Fees in order to revise its regulatory fees to collect 
$116,400,000, the amount that Congress has required the Commission 
to recover through regulatory fees in Fiscal Year 1995.

Objectives

    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.

Legal Basis

    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. Secs. 154 (i) and (j), 159, and 303(r).

Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance Requirements

    The Commission has developed FCC Form 159 and FCC Form 159C for 
submission with regulatory fee payments. Also, the Commission has 
adopted implementation rules governing the payment of regulatory 
fees. See 47 C.R.R. 1.1151 et seq.

Federal Rules That Overlap, Duplicate or Conflict With Proposed Rule

    None.

Description, Potential Impact, and Number of Small Entities Involved

    The proposed amendment of the Schedule of Regulatory Fees will 
affect permittees, licensees and other regulatees in the cable, 
common carrier, mass media, private radio and international 
services. After evaluating the comments in this proceeding, the 
Commission will further examine the impact of any fee revisions or 
additions or rule 

[[Page 3819]]
changes on small entities and set forth our findings in the Final 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.

Any Significant Alternatives Minimizing the Impact on Small Entities 
Consistent With the Stated Objectives

    The Notice solicits comments on alternative methods of assessing 
the regulatory fees necessary to recover the $116,400,000 in costs 
that Congress has required us to recover through regulatory fees in 
FY 1995.
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Appendix C--How Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) Were Calculated

    (1) FTE allocations represent how the Commission anticipates 
FTEs will actually be spent during the course of the fiscal 
year.\26\ Many factors influence how FTEs are actually employed 
during the year, including varying rates of attrition, speed of 
hiring new and replacement staff, the use of part time or temporary 
employees in lieu of permanent staff, changing Commission 
priorities, and reorganizations and other activities requiring a 
reallocation or reassignment of staff. The FTE allocations used in 
the fee development process have been updated to reflect a number of 
personnel reassignments made incident to recent reorganizations 
within the Commission. The impact on the fee development process is 
negligible since the reorganizations, although resulting in a 
reassignment of staff and functions, have not significantly changed 
the type of work the reassigned staff is performing.\27\

    \26\It should be noted that FTE allocations are year-end 
estimates and thus represent projected work time of on-board staff 
as well as new and replacement staff yet to be hired.
    \27\The Commission has chosen to retain, for fee determination 
purposes, the fee classifications (i.e., Private Radio, Common 
Carrier, Cable Services and Mass Media) contained in 47 U.S.C. 
Section 159. Although we believe that we have authority to change 
the classifications to align them more closely with our current 
organizational structure, we wanted to minimize any adverse impacts 
to the schedule brought about solely by such a classification 
change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) Only the Commission's enforcement, policy and rulemaking, 
international, and user information activities are covered by the 
regulatory fee program.\28\ Of the Commission's total of 2,271 FTEs, 
846 FTEs are directly assigned to the agency's primary operating 
bureaus to perform enforcement, policy and rulemaking, 
international, and user information activities. An additional 560 
FTEs have been identified by the agency as supporting these feeable 
activities.\29\ The results of our FTE allocations are as follows:

    \28\The regulatory fee program encompasses a total of 1,406 
FTEs. The agency's Authorization of Service, Legal Services and 
Executive Direction Activities cover an additional 865 FTEs. 
Authorization of Service regulatory costs are recovered pursuant to 
Section 8 of the Communications Act.
    \29\These support activities include a proportionate share of 
field operations, engineering and technology and certain general 
program support staff FTEs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Fee category                             FTEs  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Media....................................................       253
Common Carrier................................................       689
Private Radio.................................................       103
Cable Services................................................       361
                                                               ---------
      Total...................................................      1406
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) The total of the costs to be offset by regulatory fees in FY 
1995 is $116,400,000. Each fee category was allocated its share of 
costs based upon the ratio of its FTEs to the total number of FTEs 
allocated to all regulatory fee categories. The results of this 
allocation of costs are shown below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Cost   
                                                              allocation
              Fee category                  FTEs     Percent      (in   
                                                               millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mass Media..............................       253      18.0      $20.9 
Common Carrier..........................       689      49.0       57.0 
Private Radio...........................       103       7.3        8.5 
Cable Services..........................       361      25.7       29.9 
                                         -------------------------------
      Total.............................      1406     100.0  \30\116.4 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\May not add due to rounding.                                        

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