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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  2321 
 Before  the 
 Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of  ) 
 ) 
 National  Exchange  Carrier  ) 
 Association,  Inc.  )  CC  Docket  No.  99-  316 
 )  RM  9486 
 Petition  for  Interim  Waiver  of  ) 
 Section  69.  3  of  the  Commission's  Rules  ) 
 ) 


 ORDER 
 Adopted:  October  12,  2000  Released:  October  13,  2000 
 By  the  Deputy  Chief,  Common  Carrier  Bureau: 
 1.  This  Order  grants  a  Petition  for  Interim  Waiver  of  section  69.  3  of  the  Commission's  rules,  filed 
 on  September  15,  2000,  by  the  National  Exchange  Carrier  Association,  Inc.  (“  NECA”).  Specifically,  we 
 grant  NECA's  request  to  shorten  the  required  notice  period  for  exchange  carriers  changing  their 
 participation  in  NECA's  access  tariffs  for  the  July  1,  2001  annual  access  tariff  filing.  The  tariff  election 
 deadline  of  December  31,  2000  will  therefore  be  changed  to  March  1,  2001. 


 2.  Under  section  69.  3  of  the  Commission's  rules,  carriers  are  required  to  notify  NECA  of  any 
 change  in  their  participation  in  NECA's  access  tariff  by  December  31  of  the  year  preceding  the  filing  of  the 
 tariff.  1  NECA  filed  a  petition  for  rulemaking  proposing  to  amend  the  notification  requirement,  2  and  the 
 Commission  granted  NECA's  petition  and  is  conducting  a  rulemaking  proceeding  on  this  issue.  3  While  the 
 proceeding  is  ongoing,  NECA  has  requested  interim  waiver  of  the  notification  requirement  for  the  July  1, 
 2001  annual  access  tariff  filing. 


 3.  We  believe  that  good  cause  exists  for  waiving  the  notification  requirement  of  section  69.  3  for 
 the  July  1,  2001  annual  access  tariff  filing,  as  NECA  requests.  Extending  the  date  by  which  carriers  must 
 notify  NECA  of  a  change  in  their  participation  in  the  July  1,  2001  association  access  tariff  will  provide 
 carriers  additional  time  in  which  to  make  tariff  participation  decisions.  In  addition,  as  NECA  noted  in  its 
 petition  for  interim  waiver,  a  shorter  notice  period  will  not  disadvantage  NECA.  Therefore,  we  will  allow 
 carriers  until  March  1,  2001  to  notify  NECA  of  any  changes  in  their  July  1,  2001  tariff  participation. 


 4.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  pursuant  to  the  authority  contained  in  sections  1,  4(  i),  4(  j), 
 1  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  69.3(  e)(  6);  (e)(  9);  (i)(  1);  and  (j). 
 2  National  Exchange  Carrier  Association,  Inc.,  Petition  for  Rulemaking,  RM  9486  (filed  Feb.  8,  1999). 
 3  National  Exchange  Carrier  Association,  Inc.  Petition  to  Amend  Section  69.3  of  the  Commission's  Rules, 
 Order  and  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking,  14  FCC  Rcd  18252  (1999). 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  2321 
 2 
 and  201-  205  of  the  Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended,  47  U.  S.  C.  §§  151,  154(  i),  (j),  and  201-  205, 
 and  sections  0.91,  0.291,  and  1.3  of  the  Commission's  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  0.91,  0.291,  and  1.3,  that  the 
 petition  by  NECA  for  interim  waiver  of  section  69.  3  of  the  Commission's  rules  IS  GRANTED. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Mary  Beth  Richards 
 Deputy  Chief,  Common  Carrier  Bureau 
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