SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Communica-
tions Commission Process Reform Act of 2015’’. 
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 adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 13. TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY. 
‘‘(a) INITIAL RULEMAKING AND INQUIRY.— 
‘‘(1) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of the Federal Com-
munications Commission Process Reform Act of 
2015, the Commission shall complete a rulemaking 
proceeding and adopt procedural changes to its rules 
to maximize opportunities for public participation 
and efficient decisionmaking. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR RULEMAKING.—The 
rules adopted under paragraph (1) shall— 
‘‘(A) set minimum comment periods for 
comment and reply comment, subject to a de-
termination by the Commission that good cause 
exists for departing from such minimum com-
ment periods, for— 
‘‘(i) significant regulatory actions, as 
defined in Executive Order No. 12866; and 
‘‘(ii) all other rulemaking proceedings;
‘‘(B) establish policies concerning the sub-
mission of extensive new comments, data, or re-
ports towards the end of the comment period; 
‘‘(C) establish policies regarding treatment 
of comments, ex parte communications, and 
data or reports (including statistical reports 
and reports to Congress) submitted after the 
comment period to ensure that the public has 
adequate notice of and opportunity to respond 
to such submissions before the Commission re-
lies on such submissions in any order, decision, 
report, or action; 
‘‘(D) establish procedures for, not later 
than 14 days after the end of each quarter of 
a calendar year (or more frequently, as the 
Commission considers appropriate), publishing 
on the Internet website of the Commission and 
submitting to Congress a report that contains— 
‘‘(i) the status of open rulemaking 
proceedings and proposed orders, decisions, 
reports, or actions on circulation for review 
by the Commissioners, 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;
‘‘(ii) for the petitions, applications, 
complaints, and other requests for action 
by the Commission that were pending at 
the Commission on the last day of such 
quarter (or more frequent period, as the 
case may be)— 
‘‘(I) the number of such requests, 
broken down by the bureau primarily 
responsible for action and, for each 
bureau, the type of request (such as a 
petition, application, or complaint); 
and 
‘‘(II) information regarding the 
amount of time for which such re-
quests have been pending, broken 
down as described in subclause (I); 
and 
‘‘(iii) a list of the congressional inves-
tigations of the Commission that were 
pending on the last day of such quarter (or 
more frequent period, as the case may be) 
and the cost of such investigations, individ-
ually and in the aggregate; 
‘‘(E) establish deadlines (relative to the 
date of filing) for—
‘‘(i) in the case of a petition for a de-
claratory ruling under section 1.2 of title 
47, Code of Federal Regulations, issuing a 
public notice of such petition; 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a petition for rule-
making under section 1.401 of such title, 
issuing a public notice of such petition; 
and 
‘‘(iii) in the case of a petition for re-
consideration under section 1.106 or 1.429 
of such title or an application for review 
under section 1.115 of such title, issuing a 
public notice of a decision on the petition 
or application by the Commission or under 
delegated authority (as the case may be); 
‘‘(F) establish guidelines (relative to the 
date of filing) for the disposition of petitions 
filed under section 1.2 of such title; 
‘‘(G) establish procedures for the inclusion 
of the specific language of the proposed rule or 
the proposed amendment of an existing rule in 
a notice of proposed rulemaking; and 
‘‘(H) require notices of proposed rule-
making and orders adopting a rule or amending 
an existing rule that—
‘‘(i) create (or propose to create) a 
program activity to contain performance 
measures for evaluating the effectiveness of 
the program activity; and 
‘‘(ii) substantially change (or propose 
to substantially change) a program activity 
to contain— 
‘‘(I) performance measures for 
evaluating the effectiveness of the pro-
gram activity as changed (or proposed 
to be changed); or 
‘‘(II) a finding that existing per-
formance measures will effectively 
evaluate the program activity as 
changed (or proposed to be changed). 
‘‘(3) INQUIRY.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of the Federal Communica-
tions Commission Process Reform Act of 2015, the 
Commission shall complete an inquiry to seek public 
comment on whether and how the Commission 
should— 
‘‘(A) establish procedures for allowing a bi-
partisan majority of Commissioners to place an 
order, decision, report, or action on the agenda 
of an open meeting;
(E), including whether the Commission’s ability 
to meet such deadlines would be enhanced by 
assessing a fee from applicants for such a li-
cense; and 
‘‘(G) publish each order, decision, report, 
or action not later than 30 days after the date 
of the adoption of such order, decision, report, 
or action. 
‘‘(4) 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. 
‘‘(5) GAO AUDIT.—Not less frequently than 
every 6 months, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall audit the cost estimates provided 
by the Commission under paragraph (2)(D)(iii) dur-
ing the preceding 6-month period. 
‘‘(b) PERIODIC REVIEW.—On the date that is 5 years 
after the completion of the rulemaking proceeding under 
subsection (a)(1), and every 5 years thereafter, the Com-
mission shall initiate a new rulemaking proceeding to con-
tinue to consider such procedural changes to its rules as 
may be in the public interest to maximize opportunities 
for public participation and efficient decisionmaking.
‘‘(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 or conference 
established under section 410, or a person on 
the staff of such a joint board or conference or 
of a member of such a joint board or con-
ference; 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) 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 
‘‘(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.
‘‘(e) INTERNET PUBLICATION
OF CERTAIN FCC 
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The chairman of the Com-
mission shall— 
‘‘(1) publish on the Internet website of the 
Commission any policies or procedures of the Com-
mission that— 
‘‘(A) are established by the chairman; and 
‘‘(B) relate to the functioning of the Com-
mission or the handling of the agenda of the 
Commission; and 
‘‘(2) update such publication not later than 48 
hours after the chairman makes changes to any such 
policies or procedures. 
‘‘(f) 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 
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). 
‘‘(g) 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). 
‘‘(h) 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. 
‘‘(i) TRANSPARENCY RELATING TO PERFORMANCE IN 
MEETING FOIA REQUIREMENTS.—The Commission shall 
take additional steps to inform the public about its per-
formance 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: 
‘‘(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 
most recent average for the United States Govern-
ment as published on www.foia.gov. 
‘‘(j) PROMPT RELEASE OF STATISTICAL REPORTS 
AND REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than January 
15th of each year, the Commission shall identify, catalog, 
and publish an anticipated release schedule for all statis-
tical reports and reports to Congress that are regularly 
or intermittently released by the Commission and will be 
released during such year. 
‘‘(k) ANNUAL SCORECARD REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the 1-year period be-
ginning on January 1st of each year, the Commis-
sion shall prepare a report on the performance of 
the Commission in conducting its proceedings and 
meeting the deadlines established under subsection
(a)(2)(E) and the guidelines established under sub-
section (a)(2)(F). 
‘‘(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) with respect to each type of filing 
specified in subsection (a)(2)(E) or (a)(2)(F)— 
‘‘(i) the number of filings that were 
pending on the last day of the period cov-
ered by such report; 
‘‘(ii) the number of filings described 
in clause (i) for which each applicable 
deadline or guideline established under 
such subsection was not met and the aver-
age length of time such filings have been 
pending; and 
‘‘(iii) for filings that were resolved 
during such period, the average time be-
tween initiation and resolution and the 
percentage for which each applicable dead-
line or guideline established under such 
subsection was met; 
‘‘(B) with respect to 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. 
‘‘(l) 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 three or more Commis-
sioners; and
‘‘(B) includes, for each political party of 
which any Commissioner is a member, at least 
one Commissioner who is a member of such po-
litical party, and, if any Commissioner has no 
political party affiliation, at least one unaffili-
ated Commissioner. 
‘‘(3) 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). 
‘‘(4) 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. 
‘‘(5) 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
DATES
AND
IMPLEMENTING 
RULES.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATES.—