IB 
Union Calendar No. 286 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3309 
[Report No. 112–414] 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for greater trans-
parency and efficiency in the procedures followed by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 2, 2011 
Mr. WALDEN (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
MARCH 19, 2012 
Additional sponsors: Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. TERRY, Mr. BASS of New 
Hampshire, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. LATTA, Mr. KLINE, 
and Mr. STEARNS 
MARCH 19, 2012 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 2, 2011] 
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A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 
greater transparency and efficiency in the procedures 
followed by the Federal Communications Commission. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Communica-
tions Commission Process Reform Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FCC PROCESS REFORM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 12 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 13. TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY. 
‘‘(a) RULEMAKING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR NOTICES OF PROPOSED 
RULEMAKING.—The Commission may not issue a no-
tice of proposed rulemaking unless the Commission 
provides for a period of not less than 30 days for the 
submission of comments and an additional period of 
not less than 30 days for the submission of reply com-
ments on such notice and the Commission includes in 
such notice the following: 
‘‘(A) Either— 
‘‘(i) an identification of— 
‘‘(I) a notice of inquiry, a prior 
notice of proposed rulemaking, or a no-
tice on a petition for rulemaking 
issued by the Commission during the 
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3-year period preceding the issuance of 
the notice of proposed rulemaking con-
cerned and of which such notice is a 
logical outgrowth; or 
‘‘(II) an order of a court review-
ing action by the Commission or other-
wise directing the Commission to act 
that was issued by the court during the 
3-year period preceding the issuance of 
the notice of proposed rulemaking con-
cerned and in response to which such 
notice is being issued; or 
‘‘(ii) a finding (together with a brief 
statement of reasons therefor)— 
‘‘(I) that the proposed rule or the 
proposed amendment of an existing 
rule will not impose additional bur-
dens on industry or consumers; or 
‘‘(II) for good cause, that a notice 
of inquiry is impracticable, unneces-
sary, or contrary to the public interest. 
‘‘(B) The specific language of the proposed 
rule or the proposed amendment of an existing 
rule. 
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‘‘(C) In the case of a proposal to create a 
program activity, proposed performance meas-
ures for evaluating the effectiveness of the pro-
gram activity. 
‘‘(D) In the case of a proposal to substan-
tially change a program activity— 
‘‘(i) proposed performance measures for 
evaluating the effectiveness of the program 
activity as proposed to be changed; or 
‘‘(ii) a proposed finding that existing 
performance measures will effectively evalu-
ate the program activity as proposed to be 
changed. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
RULES.—Except as 
provided in the 3rd sentence of section 553(b) of title 
5, United States Code, the Commission may not 
adopt or amend a rule unless— 
‘‘(A) the specific language of the adopted 
rule or the amendment of an existing rule is a 
logical outgrowth of the specific language of a 
proposed rule or a proposed amendment of an 
existing rule included in a notice of proposed 
rulemaking, as described in subparagraph (B) of 
paragraph (1); 
‘‘(B) such notice of proposed rulemaking— 
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‘‘(i) was issued in compliance with 
such paragraph and during the 3-year pe-
riod preceding the adoption of the rule or 
the amendment of an existing rule; and 
‘‘(ii) is identified in the order making 
the adoption or amendment; 
‘‘(C) in the case of the adoption of a rule 
or the amendment of an existing rule that may 
have an economically significant impact, the 
order contains— 
‘‘(i) an identification and analysis of 
the specific market failure, actual consumer 
harm, burden of existing regulation, or fail-
ure of public institutions that warrants the 
adoption or amendment; and 
‘‘(ii) a reasoned determination that the 
benefits of the adopted rule or the amend-
ment of an existing rule justify its costs 
(recognizing that some benefits and costs are 
difficult to quantify), taking into account 
alternative forms of regulation and the need 
to tailor regulation to impose the least bur-
den on society, consistent with obtaining 
regulatory objectives; 
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‘‘(D) in the case of the adoption of a rule 
or the amendment of an existing rule that creates 
a program activity, the order contains perform-
ance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of 
the program activity; and 
‘‘(E) in the case of the adoption of a rule 
or the amendment of an existing rule that sub-
stantially changes a program activity, the order 
contains— 
‘‘(i) performance measures for evalu-
ating the effectiveness of the program activ-
ity as changed; or 
‘‘(ii) a finding that existing perform-
ance measures will effectively evaluate the 
program activity as changed. 
‘‘(3) DATA FOR PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The 
Commission shall develop a performance measure or 
proposed performance measure required by this sub-
section to rely, where possible, on data already col-
lected by the Commission. 
‘‘(b) 
ADEQUATE
DELIBERATION
BY
COMMIS-
SIONERS.—The Commission shall by rule establish proce-
dures for— 
‘‘(1) informing all Commissioners of a reason-
able number of options available to the Commission 
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for resolving a petition, complaint, application, rule-
making, or other proceeding; 
‘‘(2) ensuring that all Commissioners have ade-
quate time, prior to being required to decide a peti-
tion, complaint, application, rulemaking, or other 
proceeding (including at a meeting held pursuant to 
section 5(d)), to review the proposed Commission de-
cision document, including the specific language of 
any proposed rule or any proposed amendment of an 
existing rule; and 
‘‘(3) publishing the text of agenda items to be 
voted on at an open meeting in advance of such meet-
ing so that the public has the opportunity to read the 
text before a vote is taken. 
‘‘(c) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 
552b of title 5, United States Code, a bipartisan ma-
jority of Commissioners may hold a meeting that is 
closed to the public to discuss official business if— 
‘‘(A) a vote or any other agency action is 
not taken at such meeting; 
‘‘(B) each person present at such meeting is 
a Commissioner, an employee of the Commission, 
a member of a joint board established under sec-
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tion 410, or a person on the staff of such a joint 
board; and 
‘‘(C) an attorney from the Office of General 
Counsel of the Commission is present at such 
meeting. 
‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE
OF
NONPUBLIC
COLLABO-
RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Not later than 2 business days 
after the conclusion of a meeting held under para-
graph (1), the Commission shall publish a disclosure 
of such meeting, including— 
‘‘(A) a list of the persons who attended such 
meeting; and 
‘‘(B) a summary of the matters discussed at 
such meeting, except for such matters as the 
Commission determines may be withheld under 
section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(3) PRESERVATION
OF
OPEN
MEETINGS
RE-
QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall limit the applicability of section 552b 
of title 5, United States Code, with respect to a meet-
ing of Commissioners other than that described in 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(d) INITIATION OF ITEMS BY BIPARTISAN MAJOR-
ITY.—The Commission shall by rule establish procedures for 
allowing a bipartisan majority of Commissioners to— 
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‘‘(1) direct Commission staff to draft an order, 
decision, report, or action for review by the Commis-
sion; 
‘‘(2) require Commission approval of an order, 
decision, report, or action with respect to a function 
of the Commission delegated under section 5(c)(1); 
and 
‘‘(3) place an order, decision, report, or action 
on the agenda of an open meeting. 
‘‘(e) PUBLIC REVIEW OF CERTAIN REPORTS AND EX 
PARTE COMMUNICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Commission may not rely, in any 
order, decision, report, or action, on— 
‘‘(A) a statistical report or report to Con-
gress, unless the Commission has published and 
made such report available for comment for not 
less than a 30-day period prior to the adoption 
of such order, decision, report, or action; or 
‘‘(B) an ex parte communication or any fil-
ing with the Commission, unless the public has 
been afforded adequate notice of and opportunity 
to respond to such communication or filing, in 
accordance with procedures to be established by 
the Commission by rule. 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply 
when the Commission for good cause finds (and incor-
porates the finding and a brief statement of reasons 
therefor in the order, decision, report, or action) that 
publication or availability of a report under subpara-
graph (A) of such paragraph or notice of and oppor-
tunity to respond to an ex parte communication 
under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph are im-
practicable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public in-
terest. 
‘‘(f) PUBLICATION
OF STATUS
OF CERTAIN PRO-
CEEDINGS AND ITEMS.—The Commission shall by rule es-
tablish procedures for publishing the status of all open rule-
making proceedings and all proposed orders, decisions, re-
ports, or actions on circulation for review by the Commis-
sioners, including which Commissioners have not cast a 
vote on an order, decision, report, or action that has been 
on circulation for more than 60 days. 
‘‘(g) DEADLINES FOR ACTION.—The Commission shall 
by rule establish deadlines for any Commission order, deci-
sion, report, or action for each of the various categories of 
petitions, applications, complaints, and other filings seek-
ing Commission action, including filings seeking action 
through authority delegated under section 5(c)(1). 
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‘‘(h) PROMPT RELEASE OF CERTAIN REPORTS AND 
DECISION DOCUMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) STATISTICAL
REPORTS
AND
REPORTS
TO 
CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(A) RELEASE SCHEDULE.—Not later than 
January 15th of each year, the Commission shall 
identify, catalog, and publish an anticipated re-
lease schedule for all statistical reports and re-
ports to Congress that are regularly or intermit-
tently released by the Commission and will be re-
leased during such year. 
‘‘(B) PUBLICATION DEADLINES.—The Com-
mission shall publish each report identified in a 
schedule published under subparagraph (A) not 
later than the date indicated in such schedule for 
the anticipated release of such report. 
‘‘(2) DECISION
DOCUMENTS.—The Commission 
shall publish each order, decision, report, or action 
not later than 7 days after the date of the adoption 
of such order, decision, report, or action. 
‘‘(3) EFFECT IF DEADLINES NOT MET.— 
‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—If the 
Commission fails to publish an order, decision, 
report, or action by a deadline described in 
paragraph (1)(B) or (2), the Commission shall, 
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not later than 7 days after such deadline and 
every 14 days thereafter until the publication of 
the order, decision, report, or action, notify by 
letter the chairpersons and ranking members of 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate. Such letter shall identify such order, de-
cision, report, or action, specify the deadline, 
and describe the reason for the delay. The Com-
mission shall publish such letter. 
‘‘(B) NO IMPACT ON EFFECTIVENESS.—The 
failure of the Commission to publish an order, 
decision, report, or action by a deadline de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(B) or (2) shall not 
render such order, decision, report, or action in-
effective when published. 
‘‘(i) BIANNUAL SCORECARD REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the 6-month period be-
ginning on January 1st of each year and the 6-month 
period beginning on July 1st of each year, the Com-
mission shall prepare a report on the performance of 
the Commission in conducting its proceedings and 
meeting the deadlines established under subsections 
(g), (h)(1)(B), and (h)(2). 
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‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required by para-
graph (1) shall contain detailed statistics on such 
performance, including, with respect to each Bureau 
of the Commission— 
‘‘(A) in the case of performance in meeting 
the deadlines established under subsection (g), 
with respect to each category established under 
such subsection— 
‘‘(i) the number of petitions, applica-
tions, complaints, and other filings seeking 
Commission action that were pending on 
the last day of the period covered by such 
report; 
‘‘(ii) the number of filings described in 
clause (i) that were not resolved by the 
deadlines established under such subsection 
and the average length of time such filings 
have been pending; and 
‘‘(iii) for petitions, applications, com-
plaints, and other filings seeking Commis-
sion action that were resolved during such 
period, the average time between initiation 
and resolution and the percentage resolved 
by the deadlines established under such sub-
section; 
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‘‘(B) in the case of proceedings before an 
administrative law judge— 
‘‘(i) the number of such proceedings 
completed during such period; and 
‘‘(ii) the number of such proceedings 
pending on the last day of such period; and 
‘‘(C) the number of independent studies or 
analyses published by the Commission during 
such period. 
‘‘(3) PUBLICATION AND SUBMISSION.—The Com-
mission shall publish and submit to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate each report required by 
paragraph (1) not later than the date that is 30 days 
after the last day of the period covered by such report. 
‘‘(j) TRANSACTION REVIEW STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall condi-
tion its approval of a transfer of lines, a transfer of 
licenses, or any other transaction under section 214, 
309, or 310 or any other provision of this Act only 
if— 
‘‘(A) the imposed condition is narrowly tai-
lored to remedy a harm that arises as a direct 
result of the specific transfer or specific trans-
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action that this Act empowers the Commission to 
review; and 
‘‘(B) the Commission could impose a simi-
lar requirement under the authority of a specific 
provision of law other than a provision empow-
ering the Commission to review a transfer of 
lines, a transfer of licenses, or other transaction. 
‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—In reviewing a transfer of 
lines, a transfer of licenses, or any other transaction 
under section 214, 309, or 310 or any other provision 
of this Act, the Commission may not consider a vol-
untary commitment of a party to such transfer or 
transaction unless the Commission could adopt that 
voluntary commitment as a condition under para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(k) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION ON COMMIS-
SION’S WEBSITE.—The Commission shall provide direct ac-
cess from the homepage of its website to— 
‘‘(1) detailed information regarding— 
‘‘(A) the budget of the Commission for the 
current fiscal year; 
‘‘(B) the appropriations for the Commission 
for such fiscal year; and 
‘‘(C) the total number of full-time equiva-
lent employees of the Commission; and 
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‘‘(2) the performance plan most recently made 
available by the Commission under section 1115(b) of 
title 31, United States Code. 
‘‘(l) FEDERAL REGISTER PUBLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any document 
adopted by the Commission that the Commission is 
required, under any provision of law, to publish in 
the Federal Register, the Commission shall, not later 
than the date described in paragraph (2), complete all 
Commission actions necessary for such document to be 
so published. 
‘‘(2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 
this paragraph is the earlier of— 
‘‘(A) the day that is 45 days after the date 
of the release of the document; or 
‘‘(B) the day by which such actions must be 
completed to comply with any deadline under 
any other provision of law. 
‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON DEADLINES FOR PUBLICA-
TION IN OTHER FORM.—In the case of a deadline that 
does not specify that the form of publication is publi-
cation in the Federal Register, the Commission may 
comply with such deadline by publishing the docu-
ment in another form. Such other form of publication 
does not relieve the Commission of any Federal Reg-
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ister publication requirement applicable to such docu-
ment, including the requirement of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(m) CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATABASE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating and processing 
consumer complaints, the Commission shall present 
information about such complaints in a publicly 
available, searchable database on its website that— 
‘‘(A) facilitates easy use by consumers; and 
‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, is sortable 
and accessible by— 
‘‘(i) the date of the filing of the com-
plaint; 
‘‘(ii) the topic of the complaint; 
‘‘(iii) the party complained of; and 
‘‘(iv) other elements that the Commis-
sion considers in the public interest. 
‘‘(2) DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS.—In the case of 
multiple complaints arising from the same alleged 
misconduct, the Commission shall be required to in-
clude only information concerning one such com-
plaint in the database described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(n) FORM OF PUBLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In complying with a re-
quirement of this section to publish a document, the 
Commission shall publish such document on its 
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website, in addition to publishing such document in 
any other form that the Commission is required to use 
or is permitted to and chooses to use. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Commission shall by rule 
establish procedures for redacting documents required 
to be published by this section so that the published 
versions of such documents do not contain— 
‘‘(A) information the publication of which 
would be detrimental to national security, home-
land security, law enforcement, or public safety; 
or 
‘‘(B) information that is proprietary or 
confidential. 
‘‘(o) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AMENDMENT.—The term ‘amendment’ in-
cludes, when used with respect to an existing rule, the 
deletion of such rule. 
‘‘(2) BIPARTISAN MAJORITY.—The term ‘bipar-
tisan majority’ means, when used with respect to a 
group of Commissioners, that such group— 
‘‘(A) is a group of 3 or more Commis-
sioners; and 
‘‘(B) includes, for each political party of 
which any Commissioner is a member, at least 
1 Commissioner who is a member of such polit-
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ical party, and, if any Commissioner has no po-
litical party affiliation, at least 1 unaffiliated 
Commissioner. 
‘‘(3) ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.—The 
term ‘economically significant impact’ means an ef-
fect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more annually 
or a material adverse effect on the economy, a sector 
of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 
environment, public health or safety, or State, local, 
or tribal governments or communities. 
‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE MEASURE.—The term ‘per-
formance measure’ means an objective and quantifi-
able outcome measure or output measure (as such 
terms are defined in section 1115 of title 31, United 
States Code). 
‘‘(5) PROGRAM
ACTIVITY.—The term ‘program 
activity’ has the meaning given such term in section 
1115 of title 31, United States Code, except that such 
term also includes any annual collection or distribu-
tion or related series of collections or distributions by 
the Commission of an amount that is greater than or 
equal to $100,000,000. 
‘‘(6) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘agency 
action’, ‘ex parte communication’, and ‘rule’ have the 
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meanings given such terms in section 551 of title 5, 
United States Code.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND IMPLEMENTING RULES.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of sec-
tion 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
added by subsection (a), shall apply beginning 
on the date that is 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(B) PRIOR NOTICES OF PROPOSED RULE-
MAKING.—If the Federal Communications Com-
mission identifies under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) of 
subsection (a) of such section 13 a notice of pro-
posed rulemaking issued prior to the date of the 
enactment of this Act— 
(i) such notice shall be deemed to have 
complied with paragraph (1) of such sub-
section; and 
(ii) if such notice did not contain the 
specific language of a proposed rule or a 
proposed amendment of an existing rule, 
paragraph (2)(A) of such subsection shall be 
satisfied if the adopted rule or the amend-
ment of an existing rule is a logical out-
growth of such notice. 
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(C) SCHEDULES AND REPORTS.—Notwith-
standing subparagraph (A), subsections (h)(1) 
and (i) of such section shall apply with respect 
to 2013 and any year thereafter. 
(2) RULES.—The Federal Communications Com-
mission shall promulgate the rules necessary to carry 
out such section not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
(3) PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTING RULES.—Not-
withstanding paragraph (1)(A), in promulgating 
rules to carry out such section, the Federal Commu-
nications Commission shall comply with the require-
ments of subsections (a) and (h)(2) of such section. 
SEC. 3. CATEGORIZATION OF TCPA INQUIRIES AND COM-
PLAINTS IN QUARTERLY REPORT. 
In compiling its quarterly report with respect to infor-
mal consumer inquiries and complaints, the Federal Com-
munications Commission may not categorize an inquiry or 
complaint with respect to section 227 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) as being a wireline in-
quiry or complaint or a wireless inquiry or complaint un-
less the party whose conduct is the subject of the inquiry 
or complaint is a wireline carrier or a wireless carrier, re-
spectively. 
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srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendment made by this 
Act shall relieve the Federal Communications Commission 
from any obligations under title 5, United States Code, ex-
cept where otherwise expressly provided. 
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Union Calendar No. 286 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3309 
[Report No. 112–414] 
A BILL 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to pro-
vide for greater transparency and efficiency in 
the procedures followed by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission. 
MARCH 19, 2012 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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