IIB 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3309 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MARCH 28, 2012 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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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
PRO-
POSED
RULEMAKING.—The Commission may not 
issue a notice of proposed rulemaking unless the 
Commission provides for a period of not less than 30 
days for the submission of comments and an addi-
tional period of not less than 30 days for the sub-
mission of reply comments 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 
notice on a petition for rulemaking 
issued by the Commission during the 
3-year period preceding the issuance 
of the notice of proposed rulemaking 
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concerned and of which such notice is 
a logical outgrowth; or 
‘‘(II) an order of a court review-
ing action by the Commission or oth-
erwise directing the Commission to 
act that was issued by the court dur-
ing the 3-year period preceding the 
issuance of the notice of proposed 
rulemaking concerned 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 no-
tice of inquiry is impracticable, unnec-
essary, or contrary to the public inter-
est. 
‘‘(B) The specific language of the proposed 
rule or the proposed amendment of an existing 
rule. 
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‘‘(B) such notice of proposed rulemaking— 
‘‘(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 con-
sumer harm, burden of existing regulation, 
or failure of public institutions that war-
rants the adoption or amendment; and 
‘‘(ii) a reasoned determination that 
the benefits of the adopted rule or the 
amendment 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 burden on society, consistent with ob-
taining regulatory objectives; 
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‘‘(D) in the case of the adoption of a rule 
or the amendment of an existing rule that cre-
ates a program activity, the order contains per-
formance measures for evaluating the effective-
ness 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 ac-
tivity 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 meas-
ure or proposed performance measure required by 
this subsection to rely, where possible, on data al-
ready collected 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 
meeting 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 
majority 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 Commis-
sion, a member of a joint board established 
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under section 410, or a person on the staff of 
such a joint board; and 
‘‘(C) an attorney from the Office of Gen-
eral 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 
paragraph (1), the Commission shall publish a dis-
closure 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 meeting of Commissioners other than that de-
scribed 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 oppor-
tunity to respond to such communication or fil-
ing, in accordance with procedures to be estab-
lished by the Commission by rule. 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 
apply when the Commission for good cause finds 
(and incorporates the finding and a brief statement 
of reasons therefor in the order, decision, report, or 
action) that publication or availability of a report 
under subparagraph (A) of such paragraph or notice 
of and opportunity to respond to an ex parte com-
munication under subparagraph (B) of such para-
graph are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 
the public interest. 
‘‘(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 
rulemaking proceedings and all proposed orders, decisions, 
reports, or actions on circulation for review by the Com-
missioners, 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, 
decision, report, or action for each of the various cat-
egories of petitions, applications, complaints, and other fil-
ings seeking 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 Commis-
sion shall identify, catalog, and publish an an-
ticipated release schedule for all statistical re-
ports and reports to Congress that are regularly 
or intermittently released by the Commission 
and will be released during such year. 
‘‘(B) 
PUBLICATION
DEADLINES.—The 
Commission shall publish each report identified 
in a schedule published under subparagraph (A) 
not later than the date indicated in such sched-
ule 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, decision, report, or action, specify the 
deadline, and describe the reason for the delay. 
The Commission 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 
described 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 Commission shall prepare a report on the per-
formance of the Commission in conducting its pro-
ceedings and meeting the deadlines established 
under subsections (g), (h)(1)(B), and (h)(2). 
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‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required by 
paragraph (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 sub-
section 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 
subsection; 
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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 
Commission shall publish and submit to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate each re-
port 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 con-
dition 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 
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result of the specific transfer or specific trans-
action that this Act empowers the Commission 
to review; and 
‘‘(B) the Commission could impose a simi-
lar requirement under the authority of a spe-
cific provision of law other than a provision em-
powering the Commission to review a transfer 
of lines, a transfer of licenses, or other trans-
action. 
‘‘(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 provi-
sion of this Act, the Commission may not consider 
a voluntary commitment of a party to such transfer 
or transaction unless the Commission could adopt 
that voluntary commitment as a condition under 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(k) ACCESS TO CERTAIN INFORMATION ON COMMIS-
SION’S WEBSITE.—The Commission shall provide direct 
access 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 Commis-
sion for such fiscal year; and 
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‘‘(C) the total number of full-time equiva-
lent employees of the Commission; and 
‘‘(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 docu-
ment adopted by the Commission that the Commis-
sion is required, under any provision of law, to pub-
lish 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 
publication in the Federal Register, the Commission 
may comply with such deadline by publishing the 
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document in another form. Such other form of publi-
cation does not relieve the Commission of any Fed-
eral Register publication requirement applicable to 
such document, including the requirement of para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(m) CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATABASE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In evaluating and proc-
essing consumer complaints, the Commission shall 
present information about such complaints in a pub-
licly 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). 
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‘‘(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 
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 con-
tain— 
‘‘(A) information the publication of which 
would be detrimental to national security, 
homeland security, law enforcement, or public 
safety; or 
‘‘(B) information that is proprietary or 
confidential. 
‘‘(o) TRANSPARENCY RELATING TO PERFORMANCE 
IN MEETING FOIA REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission 
shall take additional steps to inform the public about its 
performance and efficiency in meeting the disclosure and 
other requirements of section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Informa-
tion Act), including by doing the following: 
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‘‘(1) Publishing on the Commission’s website 
the Commission’s logs for tracking, responding to, 
and managing requests submitted under such sec-
tion, including the Commission’s fee estimates, fee 
categories, and fee request determinations. 
‘‘(2) Releasing to the public all decisions made 
by the Commission (including decisions made by the 
Commission’s Bureaus and Offices) granting or de-
nying requests filed under such section, including 
any such decisions pertaining to the estimate and 
application of fees assessed under such section. 
‘‘(3) Publishing on the Commission’s website 
electronic copies of documents released under such 
section. 
‘‘(4) Presenting information about the Commis-
sion’s handling of requests under such section in the 
Commission’s annual budget estimates submitted to 
Congress and the Commission’s annual performance 
and financial reports. Such information shall include 
the number of requests under such section the Com-
mission received in the most recent fiscal year, the 
number of such requests granted and denied, a com-
parison of the Commission’s processing of such re-
quests over at least the previous 3 fiscal years, and 
a comparison of the Commission’s results with the 
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most recent average for the United States Govern-
ment as published on www.foia.gov. 
‘‘(p) 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-
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 
effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more an-
nually 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. 
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‘‘(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 dis-
tribution or related series of collections or distribu-
tions by the Commission of an amount that is great-
er than or equal to $100,000,000. 
‘‘(6) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘agency 
action’, ‘ex parte communication’, and ‘rule’ have 
the 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 
section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, 
as added by subsection (a), shall apply begin-
ning 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-
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mission identifies under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) of 
subsection (a) of such section 13 a notice of 
proposed 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 
subsection; 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 
amendment of an existing rule is a logical 
outgrowth of such notice. 
(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 
Commission 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-
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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 in-
formal consumer inquiries and complaints, the Federal 
Communications Commission may not categorize an in-
quiry or complaint with respect to section 227 of the Com-
munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) as being a 
wireline inquiry or complaint or a wireless inquiry or com-
plaint unless the party whose conduct is the subject of 
the inquiry or complaint is a wireline carrier or a wireless 
carrier, respectively. 
SEC. 4. PROVISION OF EMERGENCY WEATHER INFORMA-
TION. 
Nothing in subsection (a) of section 13 of the Com-
munications Act of 1934, as added by section 2 of this 
Act, shall be construed to impede the Federal Communica-
tions Commission from acting in times of emergency to 
ensure the availability of efficient and effective commu-
nications systems to alert the public to imminent dan-
gerous weather conditions. 
SEC. 5. COMMUNICATIONS OF FIRST RESPONDERS. 
Nothing in subsection (a) of section 13 of the Com-
munications Act of 1934, as added by section 2 of this 
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Act, shall be construed to impede the Federal Communica-
tions Commission from acting in times of emergency to 
ensure the availability of efficient and effective commu-
nications systems for State and local first responders. 
SEC. 6. 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, 
except where otherwise expressly provided. 
Passed the House of Representatives March 27, 
2012. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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