[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65014-65017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25570]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 61
[WC Docket Nos. 18-276, 17-308; FCC No. 19-107; FR ID 16252]
Reform of Certain Tariff Rules
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Commission amends its tariff publication rules to allow
carriers to cross-reference their own tariffs and the tariffs of their
affiliates, and to eliminate the short form tariff review plan filed by
price cap incumbent local exchange carriers 90 days before the
effective date of their annual access tariff filings. These changes
will bring the Commission's tariff publication rules in line with the
reality of the increased ease of access to tariff filings, and will
reduce the regulatory burdens on filers and the Commission's own tariff
review staff.
DATES: The amendments set forth in this Report and Order will become
effective December 26, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW,
Washington, DC 20554.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Cohn, Wireline Competition
Bureau, Pricing Policy Division at 202-418-1540 or via email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report
and Order released October 30, 2019. A full-text copy can be obtained
at the following internet Address: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-19-107A1.pdf.
Background
1. Many of the Commission's rules governing tariff filings were
adopted when paper tariffs were filed at the Commission and interested
parties had to visit the Commission to review physical copies of those
filings. Not surprisingly, technological advances that allow carriers
and interested parties to submit and view information electronically
have obviated the need for certain longstanding tariff rules that were
predicated on the need for paper filings and protracted review periods.
Last year, the Commission proposed to amend two such sets of rules--
those that prohibit a carrier from cross-referencing its tariffs and
those of its affiliates, and the rule that requires price cap local
exchange carriers (LECs) to file short form tariff review plans well in
advance of their annual tariff filings.
2. Cross-referencing. When the Commission's cross-referencing rules
were adopted more than 75 years ago, tariffs were often quite
voluminous and were filed in hard copy, making it cumbersome to obtain
and follow a cross-reference from one tariff to another tariff. To
ensure that someone reviewing a paper copy of a tariff would have ready
access to all of the terms of the tariff, the Commission adopted Sec.
61.74, which, with certain exceptions, prohibits one tariff from cross-
referencing another tariff, and Sec. 61.54, which also has been
interpreted as prohibiting cross-referencing between tariffs.
3. Today, by contrast, carriers are required to file tariffs
electronically using the Electronic Tariff Filing System (ETFS), and it
only takes ``a few seconds and a few clicks'' to find a cross-
referenced tariff. As a result, interested parties can now access
tariffs through the ETFS via an internet connection anywhere and
electronically review and search the tariffs they are looking for.
4. The Commission's current rules allow carriers to seek special
permission to cross-reference their own tariffs and those of their
affiliates, and carriers do so when, for example, they offer discount
plans that cross different operating territories. The Wireline
Competition Bureau (Bureau) has routinely granted requests for special
permission to allow a carrier to cross-reference its own tariffs and
those of its affiliates. In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)
(83 FR 58510, Nov. 20, 2018), the Commission proposed to amend the
rules to allow a carrier's tariffs to refer to its own tariffs and
those of its affiliates, and provided an interim waiver of Sec.
61.74(a) to all carriers to allow carriers' tariffs to reference their
other tariffs, and those of their affiliates, pending resolution of the
issues addressed in the NPRM.
5. Short form tariff review plans. Prior to 1997, annual interstate
access tariffs were filed 90 days before the effective date of such
tariffs, thereby allowing a significant amount of time for the
Commission and interested parties to review the filings and associated
cost support. In 1997, when the Commission modified its rules to permit
price cap carriers to file tariffs on either 7 days' notice (for rate
reductions) or 15 days' notice (for rate increases), it also adopted a
requirement that price cap carriers submit supporting information,
without rate data, 90 days prior to the annual access tariff filing
effective date. This filing, known as the ``short form tariff review
plan,'' consists of a standardized spreadsheet showing data regarding
exogenous cost adjustments that price cap carriers seek to make to
their price cap indices. Exogenous cost adjustments are made, for
example, to the following cost input categories: (1) Regulatory fees;
(2) Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) expenses; (3) excess
deferred taxes; and (4) North American Numbering Plan Administration
(NANPA) expenses.
6. In the years following adoption of the short form tariff review
plan filing requirement, the Bureau often granted waivers of the filing
deadline and of the requirement to provide certain data in advance of
the annual access tariff filing. In 2014, at USTelecom's request, the
Bureau granted a waiver that reduced the 90-day filing deadline for the
short form tariff review plan to approximately 45 days before the
annual access tariff effective date.
7. In 2017, the Bureau waived the short form tariff review plan
filing requirement in its entirety, finding that
[[Page 65015]]
the ``factors needed to calculate three of the most common exogenous
cost adjustments--regulatory fees, TRS fees, and NANPA expenses--will
not be available prior to the short form filing deadline,'' so the
short form tariff review plan would be of little value to the
Commission. The Bureau found multiple reasons to waive the short form
tariff review plan requirement again in 2018 and 2019, including that:
(1) It was unlikely that the necessary information would be available
by the required filing date; and (2) exogenous cost data contained in
the short form tariff review plan would be included with the
information filed directly prior to the annual filing effective date
(assuming the availability of such data), at which time the information
could be reviewed by the Commission and interested parties.
8. In the NPRM, the Commission recognized that the value of the
short form tariff review plan has declined because the complexity and
number of interstate access tariff filings has decreased over the last
decade as the scope of services subject to price cap regulation has
narrowed. In light of the Commission's experience that waiving the
short form tariff review plan requirement had not negatively affected
the ability of interested parties and staff to review tariffs in a
timely fashion, the Commission proposed to eliminate it as unnecessary
and unduly burdensome.
I. Discussion
9. The Commission received no opposition to the proposals set forth
in the NPRM. Instead, commenters all agree that, in their experience,
the ease of making and reviewing electronic tariff filings obviates the
need for the prohibition on carriers' cross-referencing their own or
their affiliates' tariffs and the need for the short form tariff review
plan. The Commission therefore amends its rules to reduce unnecessary
filing burdens and to allow stakeholders to benefit from current
technology. (AT&T filed a Motion for Acceptance of Late-Filed Comments.
The Commission treats AT&T's filing as Ex Parte Comments, and dismisses
AT&T's Motion as moot.)
A. Updating and Amending Tariff Cross-Referencing Rules
10. First, the Commission amends its tariffing rules to allow
carriers to cross-reference their own and their affiliates' tariffs.
Comments in the record unanimously support amending Sec. 61.74 of the
Commission's rules to permit carriers to cross-reference their own and
their affiliates' tariff filings. The Commission agrees with the
commenters that this modification is justified because the prohibition
on a carrier's tariff cross-referencing that carrier's tariffs and
those of its affiliates no longer serves a functional purpose, in light
of the ease with which the public can now access and search tariffs.
11. Moreover, as commenters explain, the current obligation to seek
and receive special permission to cross-reference a carrier's own
tariffs imposes unnecessary costs on the carriers that file those
requests and on the Commission staff that consider and act on those
requests. The need to request special permission also harms competition
by ``impinging the carriers' ability to quickly respond to customers'
demands,'' and by forcing carriers to ``telegraph a planned tariff
filing.'' Furthermore, there is no record of any negative consequences
arising from previous grants of special permission.
12. The Commission therefore amends Sec. 61.74 as proposed in the
NPRM to expressly allow a carrier to reference other tariffs issued by
the carrier or any of its affiliates. The new Sec. 61.74(b) states:
``Tariff publications filed by a carrier may reference other tariff
publications filed by that carrier or its affiliates.'' To further
effectuate the Commission's decision to allow carriers to cross-
reference their own and their affiliates' tariffs, the Commission also
amends Sec. 61.54 of its rules, which applies to the composition of
tariffs, and has been interpreted as prohibiting a carrier's tariff
from referring to rates in other tariffs. To effectuate this decision
to allow carriers to cross-reference their own and their affiliates'
tariffs, the Commission also amends Sec. 61.54, which applies to the
composition of tariffs and has been interpreted as prohibiting a
carrier's tariff from referring to rates in other tariffs. Paragraph
(k) is added, which specifies that ``[n]otwithstanding any other
provisions in [that] section, tariff publications filed by a carrier
may reference other tariff publications filed by that carrier or its
affiliates.''
13. The rationale for amending Sec. 61.54 is identical to the
rationale for amending Sec. 61.74: There are clear benefits, and no
drawbacks, to allowing a carrier's tariff to refer to other tariffs
filed by that carrier and its affiliates. The Commission's amendment to
Sec. 61.54 is necessary to ensure consistency between the rules that
govern tariff filings. Given that all parties to this proceeding that
commented on the cross-referencing issue support the Commission's
decision to allow carriers to cross-reference their own and their
affiliates' tariffs, it follows that the record supports the
Commission's decision to amend Sec. 61.54 to achieve the desired
result.
B. Eliminating Advanced Filing of Materials That Support Interstate
Access Tariffs for Price Cap LECs
14. As proposed in the NPRM, and supported by the record, the
Commission also eliminates the requirement that price cap LECs file
short form tariff review plans 90 days before their annual interstate
access tariff filings are effective. Consistent with the view of all
parties that commented on this issue, the Commission finds that the
filing of short form tariff review plans is no longer necessary and is
unduly burdensome.
15. As Verizon explains, the decreased complexity of the annual
filings obviates the need for early notice of the information contained
in the short form tariff review plan. AT&T also points out that, even
when the required data are available by the filing deadline, some of
the information may later change, forcing carriers to redo their
calculations before they submit their annual access tariff filings.
Both AT&T and Frontier argue that the lack of data and/or use of
temporary or preliminary factors render the short form tariff review
plan of little practical value.
16. Notably, commenters agree that there have been no adverse
consequences from the suspension of the requirement in recent years to
prepare and file a short form tariff review plan. As Verizon, for
example, explains, the waivers of the entire filing requirement ``did
not impede parties' ability to review the annual filings.'' Frontier
agrees that there is no evidence that the Bureau's previous waivers of
the filing requirement caused any harm.
17. Although the short form tariff review plan filing serves
little, if any, useful purpose, it requires effort from the filing
carriers. Parties estimate that the time required to prepare and file
the short form tariff review plan can range from 40 to 160 hours. Also,
as CenturyLink explains, the timing of the short form tariff review
plan is inconvenient, requiring that carriers and the Commission expend
resources completing and reviewing the short form tariff review plan at
a time ``when the larger [a]nnual [f]iling needs the greater
attention.'' Thus, the current rule requiring price cap carriers to
file short form tariff review plans is burdensome and provides little
benefit, if any, especially given that the remaining annual filing
notice requirements ``will provide adequate time for the Commission and
the industry to review carrier tariff filings.'' As Frontier aptly
[[Page 65016]]
explains, eliminating the short form tariff review plan ``will free up
valuable carrier resources with no discernable downside for Commission
staff.''
C. Effective Date and Sunsetting of Interim Waiver of the Prohibition
on Referencing Other Tariffs
18. Because both the prohibition on a carrier cross-referencing its
own tariffs and those of its affiliates and the short form tariff
review plan requirement no longer serve any useful purpose, the
Commission sees no reason to delay the effective date of the rule
changes. In the NPRM, the Commission proposed that the rule changes
would take effect 30 days after Federal Register publication of a
summary of this Report and Order. No commenters opposed this proposal,
which the Commission now adopts.
19. Finally, the interim waiver the Commission granted to all
carriers of the prohibition on cross-referencing their own tariffs and
those of their affiliates will end 30 days after Federal Register
publication of a summary of this Report and Order, when the revised
rules become effective.
II. Procedural Issues
20. Paperwork Reduction Act. This document eliminates certain
information collection requirements but does not contain any new or
modified information collection requirements within the meaning of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition,
therefore, it does not contain any new or modified information
collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25
employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002,
Public Law 107-198.
21. Final Regulatory Flexibility Certification. The Regulatory
Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), requires that a regulatory
flexibility analysis be prepared for notice-and-comment rulemaking
proceedings, unless the agency certifies that ``the rule will not, if
promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities.'' The RFA generally defines the term ``small
entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms ``small business,''
``small organization,'' and ``small governmental jurisdiction.'' In
addition, the term ``small business'' has the same meaning as the term
``small business concern'' under the Small Business Act. A ``small
business concern'' is one which: (1) Is independently owned and
operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3)
satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business
Administration (SBA).
22. The Commission included an Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Certification in the NPRM, and received no comments addressing this
issue.
23. In this Report and Order, the Commission amends two of the its
tariff rules by adding Sec. Sec. 61.54(k) and 61.74(b), and eliminates
one tariff rule, Sec. 61.49(k), to minimize burdens associated with
filing tariffs, as part of the Commission's efforts to reduce
unnecessary regulations that no longer serve the public interest. The
addition of Sec. Sec. 61.54(k) and 61.74(b) is procedural in nature,
and the impact is minor. These revisions impact large and small
telephone companies. The elimination of Sec. 61.49(k) impacts only
price cap LECs for services that continue to be subject to price cap
regulation, and any impact of this rule change is minor. Price cap LECs
are some of the largest telephone companies. Therefore, the Commission
certifies that the rule amendments will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
24. The Commission will send a copy of the Report and Order,
including a copy of this Final Regulatory Flexibility Certification, in
a report to Congress pursuant to the Congressional Review Act. In
addition, the Report and Order and this final certification will be
sent to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA, and will be
published in the Federal Register.
25. Congressional Review Act. The Commission has determined, and
the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, concurs that these rules are ``non-
major'' under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The
Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order to Congress and
the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
III. Ordering Clauses
26. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority
contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i)-(j), and 201-203 of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i)-(j), 201-203, this
Report and Order is adopted.
27. It is further ordered that this Report and Order shall be
effective thirty (30) days after publication of a summary in the
Federal Register.
28. It is further ordered that part 61 of the Commission's rules,
47 CFR part 61, is amended as set forth in the Final Rules, and such
rule amendments shall be effective thirty (30) days after publication
of a summary of the Report and Order in the Federal Register.
29. It is further ordered that the interim waiver of the
prohibition on a carrier's tariff referencing the carrier's other
tariff publications and tariffs of its affiliates, as adopted in the
NPRM, will end thirty (30) days after a summary of this Report and
Order is published in the Federal Register.
30. It is further ordered that the Motion for Acceptance of Late-
Filed Comments filed by AT&T is dismissed as moot.
31. It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a
copy of this Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory
Flexibility Certification, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 61
Communications common carriers, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Telephones.
Final Rules
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 61 as follows:
PART 61--TARIFFS
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1. The authority citation for part 61 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 201-205, 403, unless
otherwise noted.
Sec. 61.49 [Amended]
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2. Amend Sec. 61.49 by removing and reserving paragraph (k).
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3. Amend Sec. 61.54 by adding paragraph (k) to read as follows:
Sec. 61.54 Composition of tariffs.
* * * * *
(k) References to other tariffs. Notwithstanding any other
provisions in this section, tariff publications filed by a carrier may
reference other tariff publications filed by that carrier or its
affiliates.
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4. Amend Sec. 61.74 by redesignating paragraphs (b) through (e) as
paragraphs (c) through (f) and adding new paragraph (b) to read as
follows:
Sec. 61.74 References to other instruments.
* * * * *
(b) Tariff publications filed by a carrier may reference other
tariff
[[Page 65017]]
publications filed by that carrier or its affiliates.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2019-25570 Filed 11-25-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P