I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 290 
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, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2017 
Mr. WALDEN (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
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, 
and for other purposes. 
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 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION PROC-
ESS 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 this section, the 
Commission shall complete a rulemaking proceeding 
and adopt procedural changes to its rules to maxi-
mize opportunities for public participation and effi-
cient 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; 
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a petition, complaint, application, rulemaking, 
or other proceeding; 
‘‘(C) establish procedures for ensuring that 
all Commissioners have adequate time, prior to 
being required to decide a petition, complaint, 
application, rulemaking, or other proceeding 
(including at a meeting held pursuant to section 
5(d)), to review the proposed Commission deci-
sion document, including the specific language 
of any proposed rule or any proposed amend-
ment of an existing rule; 
‘‘(D) establish procedures for 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; 
‘‘(E) establish deadlines (relative to the 
date of filing) for disposition of applications for 
a license under section 1.913 of title 47, Code 
of Federal Regulations; 
‘‘(F) assign resources needed in order to 
meet the deadlines described in subparagraph 
(E), including whether the Commission’s ability 
to meet such deadlines would be enhanced by 
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assessing a fee from applicants for such a li-
cense; and 
‘‘(G) except as otherwise provided in sec-
tion 4(p), 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.— 
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‘‘(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 
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‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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 
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‘‘(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; 
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‘‘(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 
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‘‘(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 
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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 
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(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— 
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‘‘(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 
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‘‘(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.— 
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(A) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUS-
SIONS.—Subsection (c) of section 13 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as added by sub-
section (a), shall apply beginning on the first 
date on which all of the procedural changes to 
the rules of the Federal Communications Com-
mission required by subsection (a)(1) of such 
section have taken effect. 
(B) REPORT RELEASE SCHEDULES.—Sub-
section (j) of such section 13 shall apply with 
respect to 2018 and any year thereafter. 
(C) ANNUAL SCORECARD REPORTS.—Sub-
section (k) of such section 13 shall apply with 
respect to 2017 and any year thereafter. 
(D) INTERNET PUBLICATION OF CERTAIN 
FCC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—Subsection 
(e) of such section 13 shall apply beginning on 
the date that is 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(2) RULES.—Except as otherwise provided in 
such section 13, the Federal Communications Com-
mission shall promulgate any rules necessary to 
carry out such section not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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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. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall relieve the Federal Communications Commission 
from any obligations under title 5, United States Code, 
except where otherwise expressly provided. 
SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT TO UNI-
VERSAL SERVICE PROGRAM. 
Section 302 of Public Law 108–494 (118 Stat. 3998) 
is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2017’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2021’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORT ON IMPROVING SMALL BUSINESS PARTICI-
PATION IN FCC PROCEEDINGS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission, in 
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consultation with the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration, shall submit to Congress a report on— 
(1) actions that the Commission will take to im-
prove the participation of small businesses in the 
proceedings of the Commission; and 
(2) recommendations for any legislation that 
the Commission considers appropriate to improve 
such participation. 
SEC. 7. TIMELY AVAILABILITY OF ITEMS ADOPTED BY VOTE 
OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of the Communications 
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 154) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(p) In the case of any item that is adopted by vote 
of the Commission, the Commission shall publish on the 
Internet website of the Commission the text of such item 
not later than 24 hours after the Secretary of the Commis-
sion has received dissenting statements from all Commis-
sioners wishing to submit such a statement with respect 
to such item.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply with respect to an item that is 
adopted after the date that is 30 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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