112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3309 

AN ACT 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

greater transparency and efficiency in the procedures 

followed by the Federal Communications Commission. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Communica3 tions Commission Process Reform Act of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FCC PROCESS REFORM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Communications Act 

6 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

7 after section 12 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 13. TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY. 

9 ‘‘(a) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR NOTICES OF PRO11 POSED RULEMAKING.—The Commission may not 

12 issue a notice of proposed rulemaking unless the 

13 Commission provides for a period of not less than 30 

14 days for the submission of comments and an addi15 tional period of not less than 30 days for the sub16 mission of reply comments on such notice and the 

17 Commission includes in such notice the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Either— 

19 ‘‘(i) an identification of— 

20 ‘‘(I) a notice of inquiry, a prior 

21 notice of proposed rulemaking, or a 

22 notice on a petition for rulemaking 

23 issued by the Commission during the 

24 3-year period preceding the issuance 

25 of the notice of proposed rulemaking 
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1 concerned and of which such notice is 

2 a logical outgrowth; or 

3 ‘‘(II) an order of a court review4 ing action by the Commission or oth5 erwise directing the Commission to 

6 act that was issued by the court dur7 ing the 3-year period preceding the 

8 issuance of the notice of proposed 

9 rulemaking concerned and in response 

10 to which such notice is being issued; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a finding (together with a brief 

13 statement of reasons therefor)— 

14 ‘‘(I) that the proposed rule or the 

15 proposed amendment of an existing 

16 rule will not impose additional bur17 dens on industry or consumers; or 

18 ‘‘(II) for good cause, that a no19 tice of inquiry is impracticable, unnec20 essary, or contrary to the public inter21 est. 

22 ‘‘(B) The specific language of the proposed 

23 rule or the proposed amendment of an existing 

24 rule. 
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1 ‘‘(C) In the case of a proposal to create a 

2 program activity, proposed performance meas3 ures for evaluating the effectiveness of the pro4 gram activity. 

5 ‘‘(D) In the case of a proposal to substan6 tially change a program activity— 

7 ‘‘(i) proposed performance measures 

8 for evaluating the effectiveness of the pro9 gram activity as proposed to be changed; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(ii) a proposed finding that existing 

12 performance measures will effectively 

13 evaluate the program activity as proposed 

14 to be changed. 

15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR RULES.—Except as 

16 provided in the 3rd sentence of section 553(b) of 

17 title 5, United States Code, the Commission may not 

18 adopt or amend a rule unless— 

19 ‘‘(A) the specific language of the adopted 

20 rule or the amendment of an existing rule is a 

21 logical outgrowth of the specific language of a 

22 proposed rule or a proposed amendment of an 

23 existing rule included in a notice of proposed 

24 rulemaking, as described in subparagraph (B) 

25 of paragraph (1); 
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1 ‘‘(B) such notice of proposed rulemaking— 

2 ‘‘(i) was issued in compliance with 

3 such paragraph and during the 3-year pe4 riod preceding the adoption of the rule or 

5 the amendment of an existing rule; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) is identified in the order making 

7 the adoption or amendment; 

8 ‘‘(C) in the case of the adoption of a rule 

9 or the amendment of an existing rule that may 

10 have an economically significant impact, the 

11 order contains— 

12 ‘‘(i) an identification and analysis of 

13 the specific market failure, actual con14 sumer harm, burden of existing regulation, 

15 or failure of public institutions that war16 rants the adoption or amendment; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) a reasoned determination that 

18 the benefits of the adopted rule or the 

19 amendment of an existing rule justify its 

20 costs (recognizing that some benefits and 

21 costs are difficult to quantify), taking into 

22 account alternative forms of regulation and 

23 the need to tailor regulation to impose the 

24 least burden on society, consistent with ob25 taining regulatory objectives; 
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1 ‘‘(D) in the case of the adoption of a rule 

2 or the amendment of an existing rule that cre3 ates a program activity, the order contains per4 formance measures for evaluating the effective5 ness of the program activity; and 

6 ‘‘(E) in the case of the adoption of a rule 

7 or the amendment of an existing rule that sub8 stantially changes a program activity, the order 

9 contains— 

10 ‘‘(i) performance measures for evalu11 ating the effectiveness of the program ac12 tivity as changed; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) a finding that existing perform14 ance measures will effectively evaluate the 

15 program activity as changed. 

16 ‘‘(3) DATA FOR PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

17 The Commission shall develop a performance meas18 ure or proposed performance measure required by 

19 this subsection to rely, where possible, on data al20 ready collected by the Commission. 

21 ‘‘(b) ADEQUATE DELIBERATION BY COMMIS22 SIONERS.—The Commission shall by rule establish proce23 dures for— 

24 ‘‘(1) informing all Commissioners of a reason25 able number of options available to the Commission 
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1 for resolving a petition, complaint, application, rule2 making, or other proceeding; 

3 ‘‘(2) ensuring that all Commissioners have ade4 quate time, prior to being required to decide a peti5 tion, complaint, application, rulemaking, or other 

6 proceeding (including at a meeting held pursuant to 

7 section 5(d)), to review the proposed Commission de8 cision document, including the specific language of 

9 any proposed rule or any proposed amendment of an 

10 existing rule; and 

11 ‘‘(3) publishing the text of agenda items to be 

12 voted on at an open meeting in advance of such 

13 meeting so that the public has the opportunity to 

14 read the text before a vote is taken. 

15 ‘‘(c) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

17 552b of title 5, United States Code, a bipartisan 

18 majority of Commissioners may hold a meeting that 

19 is closed to the public to discuss official business 

20 if— 

21 ‘‘(A) a vote or any other agency action is 

22 not taken at such meeting; 

23 ‘‘(B) each person present at such meeting 

24 is a Commissioner, an employee of the Commis25 sion, a member of a joint board established 
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1 under section 410, or a person on the staff of 

2 such a joint board; and 

3 ‘‘(C) an attorney from the Office of Gen4 eral Counsel of the Commission is present at 

5 such meeting. 

6 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO7 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 2 business 

8 days after the conclusion of a meeting held under 

9 paragraph (1), the Commission shall publish a dis10 closure of such meeting, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) a list of the persons who attended 

12 such meeting; and 

13 ‘‘(B) a summary of the matters discussed 

14 at such meeting, except for such matters as the 

15 Commission determines may be withheld under 

16 section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. 

17 ‘‘(3) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE18 QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection shall limit the applicability of section 

20 552b of title 5, United States Code, with respect to 

21 a meeting of Commissioners other than that de22 scribed in paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(d) INITIATION OF ITEMS BY BIPARTISAN MAJOR24 ITY.—The Commission shall by rule establish procedures 

25 for allowing a bipartisan majority of Commissioners to— 
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1 ‘‘(1) direct Commission staff to draft an order, 

2 decision, report, or action for review by the Commis3 sion; 

4 ‘‘(2) require Commission approval of an order, 

5 decision, report, or action with respect to a function 

6 of the Commission delegated under section 5(c)(1); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(3) place an order, decision, report, or action 

9 on the agenda of an open meeting. 

10 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC REVIEW OF CERTAIN REPORTS AND EX

11 PARTE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), the Commission may not rely, in any 

14 order, decision, report, or action, on— 

15 ‘‘(A) a statistical report or report to Con16 gress, unless the Commission has published and 

17 made such report available for comment for not 

18 less than a 30-day period prior to the adoption 

19 of such order, decision, report, or action; or 

20 ‘‘(B) an ex parte communication or any fil21 ing with the Commission, unless the public has 

22 been afforded adequate notice of and oppor23 tunity to respond to such communication or fil24 ing, in accordance with procedures to be estab25 lished by the Commission by rule. 
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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 

2 apply when the Commission for good cause finds 

3 (and incorporates the finding and a brief statement 

4 of reasons therefor in the order, decision, report, or 

5 action) that publication or availability of a report 

6 under subparagraph (A) of such paragraph or notice 

7 of and opportunity to respond to an ex parte com8 munication under subparagraph (B) of such para9 graph are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 

10 the public interest. 

11 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION OF STATUS OF CERTAIN PRO12 CEEDINGS AND ITEMS.—The Commission shall by rule es13 tablish procedures for publishing the status of all open 

14 rulemaking proceedings and all proposed orders, decisions, 

15 reports, or actions on circulation for review by the Com16 missioners, including which Commissioners have not cast 

17 a vote on an order, decision, report, or action that has 

18 been on circulation for more than 60 days. 

19 ‘‘(g) DEADLINES FOR ACTION.—The Commission 

20 shall by rule establish deadlines for any Commission order, 

21 decision, report, or action for each of the various cat22 egories of petitions, applications, complaints, and other fil23 ings seeking Commission action, including filings seeking 

24 action through authority delegated under section 5(c)(1). 
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1 ‘‘(h) PROMPT RELEASE OF CERTAIN REPORTS AND

2 DECISION DOCUMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) STATISTICAL REPORTS AND REPORTS TO

4 CONGRESS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) RELEASE SCHEDULE.—Not later 

6 than January 15th of each year, the Commis7 sion shall identify, catalog, and publish an an8 ticipated release schedule for all statistical re9 ports and reports to Congress that are regularly 

10 or intermittently released by the Commission 

11 and will be released during such year. 

12 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION DEADLINES.—The 

13 Commission shall publish each report identified 

14 in a schedule published under subparagraph (A) 

15 not later than the date indicated in such sched16 ule for the anticipated release of such report. 

17 ‘‘(2) DECISION DOCUMENTS.—The Commission 

18 shall publish each order, decision, report, or action 

19 not later than 7 days after the date of the adoption 

20 of such order, decision, report, or action. 

21 ‘‘(3) EFFECT IF DEADLINES NOT MET.— 

22 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—If the 

23 Commission fails to publish an order, decision, 

24 report, or action by a deadline described in 

25 paragraph (1)(B) or (2), the Commission shall, 
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1 not later than 7 days after such deadline and 

2 every 14 days thereafter until the publication of 

3 the order, decision, report, or action, notify by 

4 letter the chairpersons and ranking members of 

5 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

6 House of Representatives and the Committee 

7 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

8 the Senate. Such letter shall identify such 

9 order, decision, report, or action, specify the 

10 deadline, and describe the reason for the delay. 

11 The Commission shall publish such letter. 

12 ‘‘(B) NO IMPACT ON EFFECTIVENESS.— 

13 The failure of the Commission to publish an 

14 order, decision, report, or action by a deadline 

15 described in paragraph (1)(B) or (2) shall not 

16 render such order, decision, report, or action in17 effective when published. 

18 ‘‘(i) BIANNUAL SCORECARD REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the 6-month period be20 ginning on January 1st of each year and the 6- 

21 month period beginning on July 1st of each year, 

22 the Commission shall prepare a report on the per23 formance of the Commission in conducting its pro24 ceedings and meeting the deadlines established 

25 under subsections (g), (h)(1)(B), and (h)(2). 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall contain detailed statistics on 

3 such performance, including, with respect to each 

4 Bureau of the Commission— 

5 ‘‘(A) in the case of performance in meeting 

6 the deadlines established under subsection (g), 

7 with respect to each category established under 

8 such subsection— 

9 ‘‘(i) the number of petitions, applica10 tions, complaints, and other filings seeking 

11 Commission action that were pending on 

12 the last day of the period covered by such 

13 report; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the number of filings described 

15 in clause (i) that were not resolved by the 

16 deadlines established under such sub17 section and the average length of time 

18 such filings have been pending; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) for petitions, applications, com20 plaints, and other filings seeking Commis21 sion action that were resolved during such 

22 period, the average time between initiation 

23 and resolution and the percentage resolved 

24 by the deadlines established under such 

25 subsection; 
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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of proceedings before an 

2 administrative law judge— 

3 ‘‘(i) the number of such proceedings 

4 completed during such period; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the number of such proceedings 

6 pending on the last day of such period; and 

7 ‘‘(C) the number of independent studies or 

8 analyses published by the Commission during 

9 such period. 

10 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION AND SUBMISSION.—The 

11 Commission shall publish and submit to the Com12 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

13 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

14 Science, and Transportation of the Senate each re15 port required by paragraph (1) not later than the 

16 date that is 30 days after the last day of the period 

17 covered by such report. 

18 ‘‘(j) TRANSACTION REVIEW STANDARDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con20 dition its approval of a transfer of lines, a transfer 

21 of licenses, or any other transaction under section 

22 214, 309, or 310 or any other provision of this Act 

23 only if— 

24 ‘‘(A) the imposed condition is narrowly tai25 lored to remedy a harm that arises as a direct 
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1 result of the specific transfer or specific trans2 action that this Act empowers the Commission 

3 to review; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the Commission could impose a simi5 lar requirement under the authority of a spe6 cific provision of law other than a provision em7 powering the Commission to review a transfer 

8 of lines, a transfer of licenses, or other trans9 action. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—In reviewing a transfer of 

11 lines, a transfer of licenses, or any other transaction 

12 under section 214, 309, or 310 or any other provi13 sion of this Act, the Commission may not consider 

14 a voluntary commitment of a party to such transfer 

15 or transaction unless the Commission could adopt 

16 that voluntary commitment as a condition under 

17 paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(k) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION ON COMMIS19 SION’S WEBSITE.—The Commission shall provide direct 

20 access from the homepage of its website to— 

21 ‘‘(1) detailed information regarding— 

22 ‘‘(A) the budget of the Commission for the 

23 current fiscal year; 

24 ‘‘(B) the appropriations for the Commis25 sion for such fiscal year; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) the total number of full-time equiva2 lent employees of the Commission; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the performance plan most recently made 

4 available by the Commission under section 1115(b) 

5 of title 31, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(l) FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any docu8 ment adopted by the Commission that the Commis9 sion is required, under any provision of law, to pub10 lish in the Federal Register, the Commission shall, 

11 not later than the date described in paragraph (2), 

12 complete all Commission actions necessary for such 

13 document to be so published. 

14 ‘‘(2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 

15 this paragraph is the earlier of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the day that is 45 days after the date 

17 of the release of the document; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the day by which such actions must 

19 be completed to comply with any deadline under 

20 any other provision of law. 

21 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON DEADLINES FOR PUBLICA22 TION IN OTHER FORM.—In the case of a deadline 

23 that does not specify that the form of publication is 

24 publication in the Federal Register, the Commission 

25 may comply with such deadline by publishing the 
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1 document in another form. Such other form of publi2 cation does not relieve the Commission of any Fed3 eral Register publication requirement applicable to 

4 such document, including the requirement of para5 graph (1). 

6 ‘‘(m) CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATABASE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating and proc8 essing consumer complaints, the Commission shall 

9 present information about such complaints in a pub10 licly available, searchable database on its website 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(A) facilitates easy use by consumers; and 

13 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, is sortable 

14 and accessible by— 

15 ‘‘(i) the date of the filing of the com16 plaint; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the topic of the complaint; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the party complained of; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) other elements that the Commis20 sion considers in the public interest. 

21 ‘‘(2) DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS.—In the case 

22 of multiple complaints arising from the same alleged 

23 misconduct, the Commission shall be required to in24 clude only information concerning one such com25 plaint in the database described in paragraph (1). 
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1 ‘‘(n) FORM OF PUBLICATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In complying with a re3 quirement of this section to publish a document, the 

4 Commission shall publish such document on its 

5 website, in addition to publishing such document in 

6 any other form that the Commission is required to 

7 use or is permitted to and chooses to use. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall by 

9 rule establish procedures for redacting documents 

10 required to be published by this section so that the 

11 published versions of such documents do not con12 tain— 

13 ‘‘(A) information the publication of which 

14 would be detrimental to national security, 

15 homeland security, law enforcement, or public 

16 safety; or 

17 ‘‘(B) information that is proprietary or 

18 confidential. 

19 ‘‘(o) TRANSPARENCY RELATING TO PERFORMANCE

20 IN MEETING FOIA REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 

21 shall take additional steps to inform the public about its 

22 performance and efficiency in meeting the disclosure and 

23 other requirements of section 552 of title 5, United States 

24 Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Informa25 tion Act), including by doing the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) Publishing on the Commission’s website 

2 the Commission’s logs for tracking, responding to, 

3 and managing requests submitted under such sec4 tion, including the Commission’s fee estimates, fee 

5 categories, and fee request determinations. 

6 ‘‘(2) Releasing to the public all decisions made 

7 by the Commission (including decisions made by the 

8 Commission’s Bureaus and Offices) granting or de9 nying requests filed under such section, including 

10 any such decisions pertaining to the estimate and 

11 application of fees assessed under such section. 

12 ‘‘(3) Publishing on the Commission’s website 

13 electronic copies of documents released under such 

14 section. 

15 ‘‘(4) Presenting information about the Commis16 sion’s handling of requests under such section in the 

17 Commission’s annual budget estimates submitted to 

18 Congress and the Commission’s annual performance 

19 and financial reports. Such information shall include 

20 the number of requests under such section the Com21 mission received in the most recent fiscal year, the 

22 number of such requests granted and denied, a com23 parison of the Commission’s processing of such re24 quests over at least the previous 3 fiscal years, and 

25 a comparison of the Commission’s results with the 
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1 most recent average for the United States Govern2 ment as published on www.foia.gov. 

3 ‘‘(p) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) AMENDMENT.—The term ‘amendment’ in5 cludes, when used with respect to an existing rule, 

6 the deletion of such rule. 

7 ‘‘(2) BIPARTISAN MAJORITY.—The term ‘bipar8 tisan majority’ means, when used with respect to a 

9 group of Commissioners, that such group— 

10 ‘‘(A) is a group of 3 or more Commis11 sioners; and 

12 ‘‘(B) includes, for each political party of 

13 which any Commissioner is a member, at least 

14 1 Commissioner who is a member of such polit15 ical party, and, if any Commissioner has no po16 litical party affiliation, at least 1 unaffiliated 

17 Commissioner. 

18 ‘‘(3) ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 

19 The term ‘economically significant impact’ means an 

20 effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more an21 nually or a material adverse effect on the economy, 

22 a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 

23 jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or 

24 State, local, or tribal governments or communities. 
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1 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE MEASURE.—The term ‘per2 formance measure’ means an objective and quantifi3 able outcome measure or output measure (as such 

4 terms are defined in section 1115 of title 31, United 

5 States Code). 

6 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM ACTIVITY.—The term ‘program 

7 activity’ has the meaning given such term in section 

8 1115 of title 31, United States Code, except that 

9 such term also includes any annual collection or dis10 tribution or related series of collections or distribu11 tions by the Commission of an amount that is great12 er than or equal to $100,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(6) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘agency 

14 action’, ‘ex parte communication’, and ‘rule’ have 

15 the meanings given such terms in section 551 of title 

16 5, United States Code.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND IMPLEMENTING RULES.— 

18 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of 

20 section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, 

21 as added by subsection (a), shall apply begin22 ning on the date that is 6 months after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act. 

24 (B) PRIOR NOTICES OF PROPOSED RULE25 MAKING.—If the Federal Communications Com-
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1 mission identifies under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) of 

2 subsection (a) of such section 13 a notice of 

3 proposed rulemaking issued prior to the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act— 

5 (i) such notice shall be deemed to 

6 have complied with paragraph (1) of such 

7 subsection; and 

8 (ii) if such notice did not contain the 

9 specific language of a proposed rule or a 

10 proposed amendment of an existing rule, 

11 paragraph (2)(A) of such subsection shall 

12 be satisfied if the adopted rule or the 

13 amendment of an existing rule is a logical 

14 outgrowth of such notice. 

15 (C) SCHEDULES AND REPORTS.—Notwith16 standing subparagraph (A), subsections (h)(1) 

17 and (i) of such section shall apply with respect 

18 to 2013 and any year thereafter. 

19 (2) RULES.—The Federal Communications 

20 Commission shall promulgate the rules necessary to 

21 carry out such section not later than 1 year after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (3) PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTING RULES.—Not24 withstanding paragraph (1)(A), in promulgating 

25 rules to carry out such section, the Federal Commu-
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1 nications Commission shall comply with the require2 ments of subsections (a) and (h)(2) of such section. 

3 SEC. 3. CATEGORIZATION OF TCPA INQUIRIES AND COM4 PLAINTS IN QUARTERLY REPORT. 

5 In compiling its quarterly report with respect to in6 formal consumer inquiries and complaints, the Federal 

7 Communications Commission may not categorize an in8 quiry or complaint with respect to section 227 of the Com9 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) as being a 

10 wireline inquiry or complaint or a wireless inquiry or com11 plaint unless the party whose conduct is the subject of 

12 the inquiry or complaint is a wireline carrier or a wireless 

13 carrier, respectively. 

14 SEC. 4. PROVISION OF EMERGENCY WEATHER INFORMA15 TION. 

16 Nothing in subsection (a) of section 13 of the Com17 munications Act of 1934, as added by section 2 of this 

18 Act, shall be construed to impede the Federal Communica19 tions Commission from acting in times of emergency to 

20 ensure the availability of efficient and effective commu21 nications systems to alert the public to imminent dan22 gerous weather conditions. 

23 SEC. 5. COMMUNICATIONS OF FIRST RESPONDERS. 

24 Nothing in subsection (a) of section 13 of the Com25 munications Act of 1934, as added by section 2 of this 
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1 Act, shall be construed to impede the Federal Communica2 tions Commission from acting in times of emergency to 

3 ensure the availability of efficient and effective commu4 nications systems for State and local first responders. 

5 SEC. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

6 Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by this 

7 Act shall relieve the Federal Communications Commission 

8 from any obligations under title 5, United States Code, 

9 except where otherwise expressly provided. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 27, 

2012. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3309 

AN ACT 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to pronications Commission. the procedures followed by the Federal Commu- vide for greater transparency and efficiency in