*Pages 1--3 from Microsoft Word - 14298.doc* Federal Communications Commission DA 02- 145 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Request for Waiver by ) ) Hudson Falls Central School ) File No. SLD- 199253 Hudson Falls, New York ) ) 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: January 17, 2002 Released: January 18, 2002 By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau: 1. The Accounting Policy Division has before it a Request for Waiver filed by Hudson Falls Central School (Hudson), seeking a waiver of the Funding Year 3 application filing window. 1 Hudson seeks the waiver based on its assertion that the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company wrongly returned without consideration Hudson’s original 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, Hudson omitted information in Block 5, Item 22, where applicants indicate the entity or entities receiving service. 3 For the reasons discussed below, we grant the Waiver Request, and remand to SLD for further review of the application. 2. In Naperville, the Commission determined that, under the totality of the circumstances, SLD should not have returned an application without consideration because of 1 Letter from Harrison Winne, Hudson Falls Central School, to Federal Communications Commission, filed June 29, 2000 (Waiver Request). 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 Harrison Winne, Hudson Falls Central School, dated March 25, 2000 (Rejection Letter). 3 Id.; Letter from Harrison Winne, Hudson Falls Central School, to Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service Administrative Company, filed April 4, 2000 (SLD Appeal Letter); FCC Form 471, Hudson Falls Central School, filed January 14, 2000 (Hudson Form 471). 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 02- 145 2 the failure to enter information in Item 22. 4 The Commission specifically found that “( 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.” 5 Upon review of the record in the instant Waiver Request, we conclude that, under the totality of the circumstances, Hudson’s application did not merit return. Specifically, Hudson’s request presents circumstances that are factually almost identical to those in Naperville. 3. As in Naperville, the omitted information in this case was for Item 22, the entities receiving service, a first- time information requirement on an FCC Form 471 revised for Funding Year 3. 6 Furthermore, the entities receiving service could be easily discerned by SLD through examination of the funding requests. 7 These funding requests all asked for a 57% discount, a rate equal to the average discount rate for the entities listed in Block 4 and not equal to the discount rate of any of the individual schools. 8 Therefore, SLD could easily determine from the application that the services in each funding request were to be received by the group of schools listed in Block 4. Additionally, as was the case in Naperville, the record reflects that Hudson’s application, after corrections performed by SLD during its initial review, is otherwise substantially complete. Therefore, we grant a waiver of the filing window and remand the application to SLD for processing pursuant to the Commission’s rules. 9 4 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, 5039 para. 16 (Com. Car. Bur. 2001) (Naperville). 5 Id. 6 Id. 7 Naperville, 16 FCC Rcd at 5039 para. 16. 8 Hudson Form 471, Block 4, Block 5. 9 We note that our decision today does not guarantee that the applications will be granted upon processing by SLD. This order addresses only whether SLD should consider this application. 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 02- 145 3 4. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to authority delegated under sections 0.91, 0.291, 1. 3, and 54.722( a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C. F. R. §§ 0. 91. 0.291, 1. 3, and 54.722( a), that the Request for Review filed by Hudson Falls Central School, Hudson Falls, New York, on June 29, 2000 IS GRANTED and this application is REMANDED to the Schools and Libraries Division for further consideration as provided herein. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Mark G. Seifert Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division Common Carrier Bureau 3