22166 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 12, 2009 / Notices 

comments to the EPA Administrator and 

testimony to the U.S. Congress on the 

adequacy of the EPA’s research budget. 

The purpose of this teleconference will 

be to allow the SAB to discuss with 

Agency representatives the research 

priorities that are covered by the Fiscal 

Year 2010 research budget. Previous 

SAB budget advisories are on the SAB 

Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. 

Availability of Meeting Materials: The 

agenda and other materials in support of 

this teleconference will be placed on the 

SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab 

in advance of this teleconference. 

Procedures for Providing Public Input: 

Interested members of the public may 

submit relevant written or oral 

information for the SAB to consider on 

the topics included in this advisory 

activity. Oral Statements: In general, 

individuals or groups requesting an oral 

presentation at a public teleconference 

will be limited to three minutes per 

speaker, with no more than a total of 

one-half hour for all speakers. Interested 

parties should contact Mr. Miller, DFO, 

in writing (preferably via e-mail) at the 

contact information noted above, by 

May 21, 2009 to be placed on a list of 

public speakers for the teleconference. 

Written Statements: Written statements 

should be received in the SAB Staff 

Office by May 21, 2009 so that the 

information may be made available to 

the SAB Panel members for their 

consideration and placed on the SAB 

Web site for public information. Written 

statements should be supplied to the 

DFO in the following formats: one hard 

copy with original signature, and one 

electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable 

file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, 

WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, 

or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 

98/2000/XP format). Submitters are 

asked to provide versions of each 

document submitted with and without 

signatures, because the SAB Staff Office 

does not publish documents with 

signatures on its Web sites. 

Accessibility: For information on 

access or services for individuals with 

disabilities, please contact Mr. Thomas 

Miller at (202) 343–9982, or 

miller.tom@epa.gov. To request 

accommodation of a disability, please 

contact Mr. Miller, preferably at least 10 

days prior to the meeting, to give EPA 

as much time as possible to process 

your request. 

Dated: May 7, 2009. 

Vanessa T. Vu, 

Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 

Office. 

[FR Doc. E9–11106 Filed 5–11–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[AU Docket No. 09–56; DA 09–843] 

Auction of FM Broadband Radio 

Service (BRS) Licenses Scheduled for 

October 27, 2009; Comment Sought on 

Competitive Bidding Procedures for 

Auction 86 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This document announces the 

auction of unassigned Broadband Radio 

Service (BRS) licenses scheduled to 

commence on October 27, 2009 

(Auction 86). This document also seeks 

comments on competitive bidding 

procedures for Auction 86. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

May 15, 2009, and reply comments are 

due on or before May 29, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments and reply 

comments must be identified by AU 

Docket No. 09–56. Comments may be 

filed electronically using the Internet by 

accessing the Federal Communications 

Commission’s Electronic Comment 

Filing System (ECFS) at http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs. Filers should 

follow the instructions provided on the 

Web site for submitting comments. The 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 

requests that a copy of all comments 

and reply comments be submitted 

electronically to the following address: 

auction86@fcc.gov. In addition, 

comments and reply comments may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• Paper Filers: Parties who choose to 

file by paper must file an original and 

four copies of each filing. Filings can be 

sent by hand or messenger delivery, by 

commercial overnight courier, or by 

first-class or overnight U.S. Postal 

Service mail (although the Bureaus 

continue to experience delays in 

receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All 

filings must be addressed to the 

Commission’s Secretary, Attn: WTB/ 

ASAD, Office of the Secretary, Federal 

Communications Commission. 

• The Commission’s contractor will 

receive hand-delivered or messengerdelivered paper filings for the 

Commission’s Secretary at 236 

Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, 

Washington, DC 20002. The filing hours 

at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Eastern Time (ET). All hand deliveries 

must be held together with rubber bands 

or fasteners. Commercial overnight mail 

(other than U.S. Postal Service Express 

Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 

9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol 

Heights, MD 20743. 

• U.S. Postal Service first-class, 

Express, and Priority mail should be 

addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

• People With Disabilities: Contact 

the FCC to request reasonable 

accommodations (accessible format 

documents, sign language interpreters, 

CART, etc.) by e-mail: FCC504@fcc.gov 

or telephone: 202–418–0530 or TTY: 

202–418–0432. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 

Auctions and Spectrum Access Division: 

For auction legal questions: Sayuri 

Rajapakse at (202) 418–0660. For 

general auction questions: Jeff Crooks at 

(202) 418–0660 or Lisa Stover at (717) 

338–2868; Broadband Division: For BRS 

service rule questions: Nancy Zaczek 

(legal) or Stephen Zak (technical) at 

(202) 418–2487. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Auction 86 Comment 

Public Notice released on April 24, 

2009. The complete text of the Auction 

86 Comment Public Notice, including 

Attachments A and B, and related 

Commission documents, are available 

for public inspection and copying from 

8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through 

Thursday or from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

ET on Fridays in the FCC Reference 

Information Center, 445 12th Street, 

SW., Room CY–A257, Washington, DC 

20554. The Auction 86 Comment Public 

Notice and related Commission 

documents also may be purchased from 

the Commission’s duplicating 

contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. 

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

B402, Washington, DC 20554, telephone 

202–488–5300, facsimile 202–488–5563, 

or you may contact BCPI at its Web site: 

http://www.BCPIWEB.com. When 

ordering documents from BCPI, please 

provide the appropriate FCC document 

number, for example, DA 09–843. The 

Auction 86 Comment Public Notice and 

related documents also are available on 

the Internet at the Commission’s 

website: http://wireless.fcc.gov/ 

auctions/86/, or by using the search 

function for AU Docket No. 09–56 on 

the ECFS Web page at http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. 

I. Licenses To Be Offered in Auction 86 

1. The licenses to be offered in 

Auction 86 consist of the available 

spectrum in 78 BRS service areas. BRS 

service areas are BTAs or additional 

service areas similar to BTAs adopted 

by the Commission. Overlay licenses for 

75 of the BTAs originally offered in 

Auction 6 are available now as a result 

of default, cancellation, or termination. 

This auction will also include three 


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additional licenses for BRS service areas 

in the Gulf of Mexico. A complete list 

of licenses available for Auction 86 is 

included as Attachment A of the 

Auction 86 Comment Public Notice. 

2. Where unencumbered, the licenses 

to be auctioned consist of 76.5 

megahertz of spectrum at 2496–2502, 

2602–2614, 2614–2615, 2616–2618, and 

2618–2673.5 MHz. The Bureau notes 

that the licenses issued pursuant to this 

auction will be issued pursuant to the 

post-transition band plan contained in 

47 CFR 27.5(i)(2). A table showing the 

channelization of this spectrum is 

included as Attachment B of the 

Auction 86 Comment Public Notice. 

3. Incumbency Issues. There are preexisting BRS incumbent licenses. The 

service area for each of those site-based 

licenses is a 35-mile circle centered at 

the station’s reference coordinates, and 

is bounded by the chord(s) drawn 

between the intersection points of the 

licensee’s previous protected service 

area and those of respective adjacent 

market, co-channel licensees. Any 

licenses granted pursuant to this auction 

will not include the geographic service 

areas of any overlapping, co-channel 

incumbent licenses. If an incumbent 

license cancels or is forfeited, however, 

the right to operate within that area 

shall revert to the overlay licensee that 

holds the license for the BRS service 

area that encompasses that BTA. BRS 

incumbent licenses are entitled to 

interference protection in accordance 

with the applicable technical rules. 

4. In addition, on the E and F channel 

groups, grandfathered Educational 

Broadband Service licenses originally 

issued on those channels prior to 1983 

may continue to operate indefinitely. 

Such grandfathered EBS licenses must 

be protected in accordance with the 

applicable technical rules. 

5. Operations within the 2614–2618 

MHz band are secondary to adjacent 

channel operations. 

6. Finally, in the 2496–2500 MHz 

band, BRS licensees must share the 

band on a co-primary basis with the 

Code Division Multiple Access Mobile 

Satellite Service, grandfathered 

Broadcast Auxiliary Service stations, 

and grandfathered land mobile and 

microwave licenses licensed under Parts 

90 and 101 of the Commission’s rules, 

respectively. In addition, the 2400–2500 

MHz band is allocated for use by 

Industrial, Scientific, and Medical 

equipment under Part 18 of the 

Commission’s rules. 

II. Bureau Seeks Comment on Auction 

Procedures 

A. Auction Structure 

i. Simultaneous Multiple-Round 

Auction Design 

7. The Bureau proposed to auction all 

licenses included in Auction 86 using 

the Commission’s standard 

simultaneous multiple-round auction 

format. This type of auction offers every 

license for bid at the same time and 

consists of successive bidding rounds in 

which eligible bidders may place bids 

on individual licenses. Typically, 

bidding remains open on all licenses 

until bidding stops on every license. 

The Bureau seeks comment on this 

proposal. 

ii. Anonymous Bidding 

8. The Bureau proposes to conduct 

Auction 86 using certain procedures for 

limited information disclosure or 

anonymous bidding. Specifically, the 

Bureau proposes to withhold, until after 

the close of bidding, public release of (1) 

Bidders’ license selections on their 

short-form applications (FCC Form 175), 

(2) the amounts of bidders’ upfront 

payments and bidding eligibility, and 

(3) information that may reveal the 

identities of bidders placing bids and 

taking other bidding-related actions. 

9. The Bureau seeks comment on the 

details regarding our proposal for 

implementation of anonymous bidding 

in Auction 86, and on alternative 

proposals for anonymous bidding or 

other information disclosure 

procedures. 

iii. Bidding Rounds 

10. Auction 86 will consist of 

sequential bidding rounds. The initial 

bidding schedule will be announced in 

a public notice to be released at least 

one week before the start of the auction. 

11. The Commission will conduct 

Auction 86 over the Internet, and 

telephonic bidding will be available as 

well. The toll-free telephone number for 

the Auction Bidder Line will be 

provided to qualified bidders. 

12. The Bureau proposes to retain the 

discretion to change the bidding 

schedule in order to foster an auction 

pace that reasonably balances speed 

with the bidders’ need to study round 

results and adjust their bidding 

strategies. Under this proposal, the 

Bureau may change the amount of time 

for bidding rounds, the amount of time 

between rounds, or the number of 

rounds per day, depending upon 

bidding activity and other factors. The 

Bureau seeks comment on this proposal. 

Commenters may wish to address the 

role of the bidding schedule in 

managing the pace of the auction and 

the tradeoffs in managing auction pace 

by bidding schedule changes, by 

changing the activity requirements or 

bid amount parameters, or by using 

other means. 

iv. Stopping Rule 

13. For Auction 86, the Bureau 

proposes to employ a simultaneous 

stopping rule approach. A simultaneous 

stopping rule means that all licenses 

remain available for bidding until 

bidding closes simultaneously on all 

licenses. More specifically, bidding will 

close simultaneously on all licenses 

after the first round in which no bidder 

submits any new bids, applies a 

proactive waiver, or withdraws any 

provisionally winning bids. Thus, 

unless the Bureau announces alternative 

stopping procedures, bidding will 

remain open on all licenses until 

bidding stops on every license. 

Consequently, it is not possible to 

determine in advance how long the 

auction will last. 

14. Further, the Bureau proposes to 

retain the discretion to exercise any of 

the following options during Auction 

86: (1) Use a modified version of the 

simultaneous stopping rule. The 

modified stopping rule would close the 

auction for all licenses after the first 

round in which no bidder applies a 

waiver, withdraws a provisionally 

winning bid, or places any new bids on 

any license for which it is not the 

provisionally winning bidder. Thus, 

absent any other bidding activity, a 

bidder placing a new bid on a license 

for which it is the provisionally winning 

bidder would not keep the auction open 

under this modified stopping rule; (2) 

declare that the auction will end after a 

specified number of additional rounds 

(special stopping rule). If the Bureau 

invokes this special stopping rule, it 

will accept bids in the specified final 

round(s) after which the auction will 

close; and (3) keep the auction open 

even if no bidder submits any new bids, 

applies a waiver, or withdraws any 

provisionally winning bids. In this 

event, the effect will be the same as if 

a bidder had applied a waiver. The 

activity rule, therefore, will apply as 

usual and a bidder with insufficient 

activity will either lose bidding 

eligibility or use a waiver. 

15. The Bureau proposed to exercise 

these options only in certain 

circumstances, for example, where the 

auction is proceeding unusually slowly 

or quickly, there is minimal overall 

bidding activity, or it appears likely that 

the auction will not close within a 

reasonable period of time or will close 


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prematurely. Before exercising certain of 

these options, the Bureau is likely to 

attempt to change the pace of the 

auction by, for example, changing the 

number of bidding rounds per day and/ 

or changing minimum acceptable bids. 

The Bureau proposes to retain the 

discretion to exercise any of these 

options with or without prior 

announcement during the auction. The 

Bureau seeks comment on these 

proposals. 

v. Information Relating to Auction 

Delay, Suspension, or Cancellation 

16. For Auction 86, the Bureau 

proposes that, by public notice or by 

announcement during the auction, the 

Bureau may delay, suspend, or cancel 

the auction in the event of natural 

disaster, technical obstacle, 

administrative or weather necessity, 

evidence of an auction security breach 

or unlawful bidding activity, or for any 

other reason that affects the fair and 

efficient conduct of competitive 

bidding. The Bureau seeks comment on 

this proposal. 

B. Auction Procedures 

i. Upfront Payments and Bidding 

Eligibility 

17. The Bureau proposes that the 

amount of the upfront payment 

submitted by a bidder will determine 

the bidder’s initial bidding eligibility in 

bidding units. The Bureau proposes that 

each license be assigned a specific 

number of bidding units equal to the 

upfront payment listed in Attachment A 

of the Auction 86 Comment Public 

Notice. 

18. The proposed number of bidding 

units for each license and associated 

upfront payment amounts are listed in 

Attachment A. The Bureau seeks 

comment on these proposals. 

ii. Activity Rule 

19. In order to ensure that the auction 

closes within a reasonable period of 

time, an activity rule requires bidders to 

bid actively throughout the auction, 

rather than wait until late in the auction 

before participating. A bidder’s activity 

in a round will be the sum of the 

bidding units associated with any 

licenses upon which it places bids 

during the current round and the 

bidding units associated with any 

licenses for which it holds provisionally 

winning bids. Bidders are required to be 

active on a specific percentage of their 

current bidding eligibility during each 

round of the auction. Failure to 

maintain the requisite activity level will 

result in the use of an activity rule 

waiver, if any remain, or a reduction in 

the bidder’s eligibility, possibly 

curtailing or eliminating the bidder’s 

ability to place additional bids in the 

auction. 

20. The Bureau proposes to divide the 

auction into at least two stages, each 

characterized by a different activity 

requirement. The auction will start in 

Stage One. The Bureau proposes to 

advance the auction to the next stage by 

announcement during the auction. In 

exercising this discretion, the Bureau 

will consider a variety of measures of 

auction activity, including but not 

limited to the percentage of licenses (as 

measured in bidding units) on which 

there are new bids, the number of new 

bids, and the increase in revenue. The 

Bureau seeks comment on these 

proposals. 

iii. Activity Rule Waivers and Reducing 

Eligibility 

21. Use of an activity rule waiver 

preserves the bidder’s eligibility despite 

the bidder’s activity in the current 

round being below the required 

minimum level. An activity rule waiver 

applies to an entire round of bidding, 

not to particular licenses. Activity rule 

waivers can be either proactive or 

automatic and are principally a 

mechanism for bidders to avoid the loss 

of bidding eligibility in the event that 

exigent circumstances prevent them 

from bidding in a particular round. 

22. The Bureau proposes that each 

bidder in Auction 86 be provided with 

three activity rule waivers that may be 

used as set forth above at the bidder’s 

discretion during the course of the 

auction. The Bureau seeks comment on 

this proposal. 

iv. Reserve Price or Minimum Opening 

Bids 

23. The Bureau proposes to establish 

minimum opening bid amounts for 

Auction 86. The Bureau believes a 

minimum opening bid amount, which 

has been used in other auctions, is an 

effective bidding tool for accelerating 

the competitive bidding process. The 

Bureau does not propose a separate 

reserve price for the licenses to be 

offered in Auction 86. Specifically, for 

Auction 86, the Bureau proposes to 

calculate minimum opening bid 

amounts on a license-by-license basis 

using a formula based on bandwidth 

and license area population. The Bureau 

seeks comment on this approach, and, 

whether, consistent with Section 309(j), 

the public interest would be served by 

having no minimum opening bid 

amount or reserve price. 

v. Bid Amounts 

24. The Bureau proposes that, in each 

round, eligible bidders be able to place 

a bid on a given license using one or 

more pre-defined bid amounts. Under 

this proposal, the FCC Auction System 

interface will list the acceptable bid 

amounts for each license. 

a. Minimum Acceptable Bids 

25. The first of the acceptable bid 

amounts is called the minimum 

acceptable bid amount. The minimum 

acceptable bid amount for a license will 

be equal to its minimum opening bid 

amount until there is a provisionally 

winning bid on the license. After there 

is a provisionally winning bid for a 

license, the minimum acceptable bid 

amount for that license will be equal to 

the amount of the provisionally winning 

bid plus a percentage of that bid 

amount. In general, the percentage will 

be higher for a license receiving many 

bids than for a license receiving few 

bids. In the case of a license for which 

the provisionally winning bid has been 

withdrawn, the minimum acceptable 

bid amount will equal the second 

highest bid received for the license. 

26. The percentage of the 

provisionally winning bid used to 

establish the minimum acceptable bid 

amount (the additional percentage) is 

calculated at the end of each round, 

based on an activity index. The activity 

index is a weighted average of (a) the 

number of distinct bidders placing a bid 

on the license, and (b) the activity index 

from the prior round. Specifically, the 

activity index is equal to a weighting 

factor times the number of bidders 

placing a bid covering the license in the 

most recent bidding round plus one 

minus the weighting factor times the 

activity index from the prior round. The 

additional percentage is determined as 

one plus the activity index times a 

minimum percentage amount, with the 

result not to exceed a given maximum. 

The additional percentage is then 

multiplied by the provisionally winning 

bid amount to obtain the minimum 

acceptable bid for the next round. The 

Bureau proposes initially to set the 

weighting factor at 0.5, the minimum 

percentage at 0.1 (10%), and the 

maximum percentage at 0.3 (30%). 

Hence, at these initial settings, the 

minimum acceptable bid for a license 

will be between ten percent and thirty 

percent higher than the provisionally 

winning bid, depending upon the 

bidding activity for the license. 

b. Additional Bid Amounts 

27. Any additional bid amounts are 

calculated using the minimum 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 90 / Tuesday, May 12, 2009 / Notices 22169 

acceptable bid amount and a bid 

increment percentage—more 

specifically, by multiplying the 

minimum acceptable bid by one plus 

successively higher multiples of the bid 

increment percentage. If, for example, 

the bid increment percentage is ten 

percent, the calculation of the first 

additional acceptable bid amount is 

(minimum acceptable bid amount) * (1 

+ 0.05), or (minimum acceptable bid 

amount) * 1.05; the second additional 

acceptable bid amount equals the 

minimum acceptable bid amount times 

one plus two times the bid increment 

percentage, or (minimum acceptable bid 

amount) * 1.1, etc. The Bureau will 

round the results of these calculations 

and the minimum acceptable bid 

calculations using the Bureau’s standard 

rounding procedures. The Bureau 

proposes to set the bid increment 

percentage at 0.05. 

28. The Bureau seeks comment on 

whether to start with eight additional 

bid amounts (for a total of nine bid 

amounts) or with fewer or no additional 

bid amounts for Auction 86. In 

particular, commenters should address 

the issue of additional bid amounts in 

light of particular circumstances of 

Auction 86, including the nature of the 

license inventory. The Bureau retains 

the discretion to change the minimum 

acceptable bid amounts, the additional 

bid amounts, the number of acceptable 

bid amounts, and the parameters of the 

formulas used to calculate minimum 

acceptable bid amounts and additional 

bid amounts if it determines that 

circumstances so dictate. Further, the 

Bureau retains the discretion to do so on 

a license-by-license basis. 

29. The Bureau also retains the 

discretion to limit (a) the amount by 

which a minimum acceptable bid for a 

license may increase compared with the 

corresponding provisionally winning 

bid, and (b) the amount by which an 

additional bid amount may increase 

compared with the immediately 

preceding acceptable bid amount. The 

Bureau seeks comment on the 

circumstances under which it should 

employ such a limit, factors it should 

consider when determining the dollar 

amount of the limit, and the tradeoffs in 

setting such a limit or changing 

parameters of the activity-based 

formula, such as changing the minimum 

percentage. If the Bureau exercises this 

discretion, it will alert bidders by 

announcement in the FCC Auction 

System. The Bureau seeks comment on 

the above proposals. 

vi. Provisionally Winning Bids 

30. Provisionally winning bids are 

bids that would become final winning 

bids if the auction were to close in that 

given round. At the end of a bidding 

round, a provisionally winning bid for 

each license will be determined based 

on the highest bid amount received for 

the license. In the event of identical 

high bid amounts being submitted on a 

license in a given round (i.e., tied bids), 

we will use a random number generator 

to select a single provisionally winning 

bid from among the tied bids. (Each bid 

is assigned a random number, and the 

tied bid with the highest random 

number wins the tiebreaker.) The 

remaining bidders, as well as the 

provisionally winning bidder, can 

submit higher bids in subsequent 

rounds. However, if the auction were to 

end with no other bids being placed, the 

winning bidder would be the one that 

placed the provisionally winning bid. If 

any bids are received on the license in 

a subsequent round, the provisionally 

winning bid again will be determined 

by the highest bid amount received for 

the license. 

31. A provisionally winning bid will 

remain the provisionally winning bid 

until there is a higher bid on the license 

at the close of a subsequent round, 

unless the provisionally winning bid is 

withdrawn. Bidders are reminded that 

provisionally winning bids count 

toward activity for purposes of the 

activity rule. 

vii. Bid Removal 

32. For Auction 86, the Bureau 

proposes and seeks comment on the 

following bid removal procedures. 

Before the close of a bidding round, a 

bidder has the option of removing any 

bid placed in that round. By removing 

selected bids in the FCC Auction 

System, a bidder may effectively undo 

any of its bids placed within that round. 

viii. Bid Withdrawal 

33. A bidder may withdraw its 

provisionally winning bids using the 

withdraw bids function in the FCC 

Auction System. A bidder that 

withdraws its provisionally winning 

bid(s) is subject to the bid withdrawal 

payment provisions of the Commission 

rules. 

34. For Auction 86, the Bureau 

proposes to limit each bidder to 

withdrawing provisionally winning bids 

in only one round during the course of 

the auction. To permit a bidder to 

withdraw bids in more than one round 

may encourage insincere bidding or the 

use of withdrawals for anti-competitive 

purposes. The round in which 

withdrawals may be used will be at the 

bidder’s discretion, and there is no limit 

on the number of provisionally winning 

bids that may be withdrawn during that 

round. Withdrawals must be in 

accordance with the Commission’s 

rules, including the bid withdrawal 

payment provisions specified in 47 CFR 

1.2104(g). The Bureau seeks comment 

on these bid withdrawal procedures. 

C. Post-Auction Procedures 

i. Establishing the Interim Withdrawal 

Payment Percentage 

35. The Bureau seeks comment on the 

appropriate percentage of a withdrawn 

bid that should be assessed as an 

interim withdrawal payment in the 

event that a final withdrawal payment 

cannot be determined at the close of the 

auction. Balancing the potential need 

for bidders to use withdrawals to avoid 

winning incomplete combinations of 

licenses with our interest in deterring 

abuses of our bidding procedures, the 

Bureau proposes an interim bid 

withdrawal payment level of fifteen 

percent for Auction 86. 

36. In general, the Commission’s rules 

provide that a bidder that withdraws a 

bid during an auction is subject to a 

withdrawal payment equal to the 

difference between the amount of the 

withdrawn bid and the amount of the 

winning bid in the same or subsequent 

auction(s). If a bid is withdrawn and no 

subsequent higher bid is placed and/or 

the license is not won in the same 

auction, the final withdrawal payment 

cannot be calculated until after the close 

of a subsequent auction in which a 

higher bid for the license (or the 

equivalent to the license) is placed or 

the license is won. When that final 

payment cannot yet be calculated, the 

bidder responsible for the withdrawn 

bid is assessed an interim bid 

withdrawal payment, which will be 

applied toward any final bid withdrawal 

payment that is ultimately assessed. 47 

CFR 1.2104(g)(1) of the Commission 

rules requires that the percentage of the 

withdrawn bid to be assessed as an 

interim bid withdrawal payment be 

between three percent and twenty 

percent and that it be set in advance of 

the auction. 

37. The Commission has determined 

that the level of the interim withdrawal 

payment in a particular auction will be 

based on the nature of the service and 

the inventory of the licenses being 

offered. The Commission has noted that 

it may impose a higher interim 

withdrawal payment percentage to deter 

the anti-competitive use of withdrawals 

when, for example, bidders likely will 

not need to aggregate the licenses being 

offered in the auction, such as when few 

licenses are offered that are on adjacent 

frequencies or in adjacent areas, or 


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when there are few synergies to be 

captured by combining licenses. 

38. For Auction 86, it is not possible 

to combine licenses across multiple 

frequency blocks in a given geographic 

area, and opportunities for combining 

licenses in adjacent areas are somewhat 

limited, so there is likely to be little 

need to use withdrawals to protect 

against incomplete aggregations. 

Therefore, the Bureau proposes to 

establish the percentage of the 

withdrawn bid to be assessed as an 

interim bid withdrawal payment at 

fifteen percent for this auction. The 

Bureau seeks comment on this proposal. 

ii. Establishing the Additional Default 

Payment Percentage 

39. Any winning bidder that, after the 

close of an auction, defaults—by, for 

example, failing to remit the required 

down payment within the prescribed 

period of time, to submit a timely longform application, or to make full 

payment—or is otherwise disqualified is 

liable for a default payment under 47 

CFR 1.2104(g)(2). This payment consists 

of a deficiency payment, equal to the 

difference between the amount of the 

bidder’s bid and the amount of the 

winning bid the next time a license 

covering the same spectrum is won in 

an auction, plus an additional payment 

equal to a percentage of the defaulter’s 

bid or of the subsequent winning bid, 

whichever is less. 

40. As previously noted by the 

Commission, defaults weaken the 

integrity of the auctions process and 

impede the deployment of service to the 

public. Given the nature of the service 

and the inventory of the licenses being 

offered in Auction 86, the Bureau 

believes that an additional default 

payment percentage of fifteen percent 

will provide a sufficient deterrent to 

defaults. Accordingly, the Bureau 

proposes an additional default payment 

of fifteen percent of the relevant bid for 

Auction 86 and seeks comment on this 

proposal. 

III. Commission ex parte Rules 

41. This proceeding has been 

designated as a permit-but-disclose 

proceeding in accordance with the 

Commission’s ex parte rules. Persons 

making oral ex parte presentations are 

reminded that memoranda summarizing 

the presentations must contain 

summaries of the substance of the 

presentations and not merely a listing of 

the subjects discussed. More than a one 

or two sentence description of the views 

and arguments presented is generally 

required. Other rules pertaining to oral 

and written ex parte presentations in 

permit-but-disclose proceedings are set 

forth in 47 CFR 1.1206(b). 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Gary D. Michaels, 

Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access 

Division, WTB. 

[FR Doc. E9–11076 Filed 5–11–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System. 

TIME AND DATE: 11:30 a.m., Monday, May 

18, 2009. 

PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal 

Reserve Board Building, 20th and C 

Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551. 

STATUS: Closed. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

1. Personnel actions (appointments, 

promotions, assignments, 

reassignments, and salary actions) 

involving individual Federal Reserve 

System employees. 

2. Any items carried forward from a 

previously announced meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michelle Smith, Director, or Dave 

Skidmore, Assistant to the Board, Office 

of Board Members at 202–452–2955. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You may 

call 202–452–3206 beginning at 

approximately 5 p.m. two business days 

before the meeting for a recorded 

announcement of bank and bank 

holding company applications 

scheduled for the meeting; or you may 

contact the Board’s Web site at http:// 

www.federalreserve.gov for an electronic 

announcement that not only lists 

applications, but also indicates 

procedural and other information about 

the meeting. 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, May 8, 2009. 

Robert deV. Frierson, 

Deputy Secretary of the Board. 

[FR Doc. E9–11199 Filed 5–8–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6210–01–S 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Biodefense Science Board; 

Notification of a Public Teleconference 

AGENCY: Department of Health and 

Human Services, Office of the Secretary. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services is hereby giving notice that the 

National Biodefense Science Board 

(NBSB) will be holding a public 

teleconference. The meeting is open to 

the public. 

DATES: The NBSB will hold a public 

teleconference on May 22, 2009. The 

teleconference will be held from 2 p.m. 

to 4 p.m. EDT. 

ADDRESSES: The conference will be 

conducted by phone. Public Conference 

Call-in Number is available by e-mailing 

NBSB@hhs.gov and will be posted on 

the NBSB Web site at http:// 

www.hhs.gov/aspr/omsph/nbsb/ 

index.html prior to the meeting. 

Participants should call in 15 minutes 

prior to the call and will be asked to 

provide their name, title, and 

organization. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any 

member of the public wishing to obtain 

general information concerning this 

public teleconference should contact 

NBSB@hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to section 319M of the Public Health 

Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–7f) and 

section 222 of the Public Health Service 

Act (42 U.S.C. 217a), the Department of 

Health and Human Services established 

the National Biodefense Science Board. 

The Board shall provide expert advice 

and guidance to the Secretary on 

scientific, technical, and other matters 

of special interest to the Department of 

Health and Human Services regarding 

current and future chemical, biological, 

nuclear, and radiological agents, 

whether naturally occurring, accidental, 

or deliberate. The Board may also 

provide advice and guidance to the 

Secretary on other matters related to 

public health emergency preparedness 

and response. 

Background: The purpose of the May 

22, 2009 teleconference is to discuss 

issues regarding the 2009 H1N1 

influenza outbreak. A special meeting of 

the Board is being convened to assure 

that the public is given the opportunity 

to provide comments on the actions and 

deliberations of the Board regarding the 

ongoing response to the H1N1 

influenza. There will be time for 

members of the public to present their 

comments to the Board on this subject 

matter. 

Availability of Materials: The agenda 

and other materials will be posted on 

the NBSB Web site at http:// 

www.hhs.gov/aspr/omsph/nbsb/ 

index.html prior to the meeting. 

Procedures for Providing Public Input: 

Interested members of the public may 

submit relevant written or oral 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES