*Pages 1--3 from Microsoft Word - 13237.doc* Federal Communications Commission DA 01- 2796 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Request for Review of the ) Decision of the ) Universal Service Administrator by ) ) King and Queen County Public Schools ) NEC. 471.01- 19- 00.05000968 King and Queen Courthouse, Virginia ) ) Federal- State Joint Board on ) CC Docket No. 96- 45 Universal Service ) ) Changes to the Board of Directors of the ) CC Docket No. 97- 21 National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. ) ORDER Adopted: December 3, 2001 Released: December 4, 2001 By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau: 1. The Accounting Policy Division has before it a Request for Review filed by King and Queen County Public Schools (King and Queen), King and Queen Courthouse, Virginia, seeking review of a decision of the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company. 1 SLD returned without consideration King and Queen’s Funding Year 3 application for discounted services under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism because it omitted certain information required under SLD’s minimum processing standards. 2 Specifically, King and Queen omitted information in Item 1 of Block 1, the Billed Entity, and Item 22 of Block 5, the Entity or Entities Receiving Service. 3 For the reasons discussed below, we deny the Request for Review. 2. Under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism, eligible schools, libraries, and consortia that include eligible schools and libraries, may apply for 1 Letter from Lloyd A. Hamlin, King and Queen County Public Schools, to Federal Communications Commission, filed July 12, 2000 (Request for Review). Section 54. 719( c) of the Commission’s rules provides that any person aggrieved by an action taken by a division of the Administrator may seek review from the Commission. 47 C. F. R. § 54.719( c). 2 Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service Administrative Company, to Lloyd A. Hamlin, King and Queen County School Division, dated June 15, 2000, at 1. 3 Id.; FCC Form 471, King and Queen County School Division, filed January 19, 2000 (King and Queen Form 471). 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 01- 2796 2 discounts for eligible telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections. 4 The Commission’s rules require that the applicant make a bona fide request for services by filing with the Administrator an FCC Form 470, 5 which is posted to the Administrator’s website for all potential competing service providers to review. 6 After the FCC Form 470 is posted, the applicant must wait at least 28 days before entering an agreement for services and submitting an FCC Form 471, which requests support for eligible services. 7 SLD reviews the FCC Forms 471 that it receives and issues funding commitment decisions in accordance with the Commission’s rules. 3. Every funding year, SLD establishes and notifies applicants of a “minimum processing standard” to facilitate the efficient review of the thousands of applications requesting funding. 8 When an applicant submits an FCC Form 471 that omits an item subject to the minimum processing standards, SLD automatically returns the application to the applicant without considering the application for discounts under the program. 9 4. In Naperville, the Commission determined that SLD should not have returned an application without consideration for failure to meet SLD’s minimum processing standards where “( 1) the request for information was a first- time information requirement on a revised form, thereby possibly leading to confusion on the part of the applicants; (2) the omitted information could be easily discerned by SLD through examination of other information included in the application; and (3) the application is otherwise substantially complete.” 10 5. Upon review of the record in the Request for Review, we conclude that Crawford’s application does not meet the standards articulated in Naperville. Although Item 22, Block 5, was a new information request in Funding Year 3, Item 1 of Block 1, the Billed Entity, 4 47 C. F. R. §§ 54. 502, 54. 503. 5 Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Description of Services Requested and Certification Form, OMB 3060- 0806 (September 1999) (FCC Form 470). 6 47 C. F. R. § 54. 504( b); Federal- State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96- 45, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 8776, 9078, para. 575 (1997) (Universal Service Order), as corrected by Federal- State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket No. 96- 45, Errata, FCC 97- 157 (rel. June 4, 1997), affirmed in part, Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel v. FCC, 183 F. 3d 393 (5th Cir. 1999) (affirming Universal Service First Report and Order in part and reversing and remanding on unrelated grounds), cert. denied, Celpage, Inc. v. FCC, 120 S. Ct. 2212 (May 30, 2000), cert. denied, AT& T Corp. v. Cincinnati Bell Tel. Co., 120 S. Ct. 2237 (June 5, 2000), cert. dismissed, GTE Service Corp. v. FCC, 121 S. Ct. 423 (November 2, 2000). 7 47 C. F. R. § 54. 504( b), (c); Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB 3060- 0806 (September 1999) (Year 3 Form 471). 8 See, e. g., SLD web site, Form 471 Minimum Processing Standards and Filing Requirements for FY3, (Minimum Processing Standards). 9 Minimum Processing Standards. 10 Request for Review by Naperville Community Unit School District 203, Federal- State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc., File No. SLD-203343, CC Dockets No. 96- 45 and 97- 21, Order, 16 FCC Rcd 5032, para. 16 (2001) (Naperville). 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 01- 2796 3 was not new. 11 Thus, the first requirement of Naperville is not satisfied. Accordingly, we affirm SLD’s rejection of the application. 6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to authority delegated under sections 0.91, 0.291, and 54.722( a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C. F. R. §§ 0.91. 0. 291, and 54.722( a), that the Requests for Review filed by Crawford County Public Library, English, Indiana, on August 9, 2000 IS DENIED. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Mark G. Seifert Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division Common Carrier Bureau 11 Compare Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB 3060- 0806 (December 1998) (Year 2 Form 471) with Year 3 Form 471. 3