Federal Communications Commission	DA 24-294

Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of

July 1, 2024
Annual Access Charge Tariff Filings
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WC Docket No. 24-41

ORDER

Adopted:  March 27, 2024	Released:  March 27, 2024

By the Chief, Pricing Policy Division:

15-DAY TARIFF FILINGS:		June 17, 2024 
EFFECTIVE:		July 2, 2024
PETITIONS:		June 24, 2024 
REPLIES:		June 28, 2024 (due no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time)

7-DAY TARIFF FILINGS:		June 25, 2024
EFFECTIVE:		July 2, 2024
PETITIONS:		June 28, 2024 (due no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time)
REPLIES:		July 1, 2024 (due no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time) 

I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Order, we establish procedures for the 2024 filing of annual access charge tariffs and tariff review plans (TRPs) for price cap incumbent local exchange carriers  and rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers subject to sections 61.38, 61.39, and 61.50 of the Commission’s rules (collectively incumbent LECs or carriers). 47 CFR §§ 61.38 (rate-of-return carriers that file tariffs based on projected costs and demand), 61.39 (rate-of-return carriers that file tariffs based on historical costs and demand), 61.43 (tariff filings for price cap carriers), and  61.50 (regulation of business data services offered by rate-of-return carriers electing incentive regulation).
  
2. This Order: (1) sets an effective date of July 2, 2024 for 2024 annual access charge tariff filings pursuant to a limited waiver; (2) establishes the dates for filing petitions to suspend or reject carrier’s tariff filing and replies to such petitions; See 47 CFR § 1.773.
 and (3) addresses service of the petitions and replies.  
3. In the USF/ICC Transformation Order, the Commission adopted rules requiring incumbent LECs to reduce, over a period of years, many of their switched access rates. Connect America Fund et al., Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 26 FCC Rcd 17663, 17677, 17934-35, 18149, paras. 36, 801 & fig. 9, 1404 (2011) (USF/ICC Transformation Order), pets. for review denied sub nom.  In re: FCC 11-161, 753 F.3d 1015 (10th Cir. 2014); 47 CFR §§ 51.915, 51.917.  
  That rate transition ended in 2020. Price cap carriers were required to transition certain tariffed switched access rates effective July 1 on each of those years to bill-and-keep ($0) over a six-year period that ended in 2018.  Rate-of-return carriers were required to transition certain tariffed switched access rates effective July 1 on each of those years to bill-and-keep ($0) over a nine-year period that ended in 2020.  See USF/ICC Transformation Order, 26 FCC Rcd at 17934-96, para. 801, fig. 9; 47 CFR §§ 51.907(h), 51.909(j).
  The Commission also established Eligible Recovery which enables incumbent LECs to recover a decreasing portion of their lost revenue attributable to the required switched access rate reductions. USF/ICC Transformation Order, 26 FCC Rcd at 17677, 17956-96, paras. 36, 847-923; 47 CFR §§ 51.915, 51.917. 
   We rely on TRP worksheets Commission staff works with industry to prepare updated TRP worksheets every year.  TRP worksheets collect and display the information necessary to calculate Eligible Recovery in a consistent manner, facilitating review by Commission staff and interested parties.  Carriers are free, however, to create and use their own TRPs, as long as those TRPs comply with the Commission’s rules.  See July 1, 2022 Annual Access Charge Tariff Filings, WC Docket No. 22-108, Order, 37 FCC Rcd 5972, 5972, para. 2 (PPD 2022).
 submitted by filing carriers to confirm that the annual adjustments to Eligible Recovery have been implemented in accordance with the Commission’s rules. See USF/ICC Transformation Order, 26 FCC Rcd at 18149, para. 1404 (delegating authority to the Wireline Competition Bureau, as appropriate, to implement the rules adopted in the USF/ICC Transformation Order).  
  All correspondence and comments in connection with these filings should refer to the caption of this proceeding, July 1, 2024 Annual Access Charge Tariff Filings, WC Docket No. 24-41.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Tariff Effective Dates and Tariff Filing Dates
4. The Commission’s rules generally require carriers to file annual access charge tariffs with a scheduled effective date of July 1. See 47 CFR §§ 69.3(a).
  The Commission’s rules, however, do not preclude the filing of revisions to annual tariffs effective on dates other than July 1. 47 CFR § 69.3(b).
  Carriers may submit their annual tariff filings on a streamlined basis pursuant to section 204(a)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, either 15 or 7 days prior to the scheduled effective date of their tariff revisions, depending on the type of changes they propose to make. 47 U.S.C. § 204(a)(3) (“A local exchange carrier may file with the Commission a new or revised charge, classification, regulation, or practice on a streamlined basis…[which]…shall be deemed lawful and shall be effective 7 days (in the case of a reduction in rates) or 15 days (in the case of an increase in rates) after the date on which it is filed with the Commission unless the Commission takes action…before the end of that 7-day or 15-day period, as is appropriate.”); 47 CFR § 61.58(a)(2)(i) (pursuant to section 204(a)(3) of the Act, local exchange carriers may file streamlined tariffs on 7-days’ notice if it proposes only rate decreases, and on 15-days’ notice for any other streamlined tariff including those that propose rate increases).
  Unless the Commission takes action during the relevant statutory notice periods, rates contained in annual tariff filings filed 15 days (for rate increases) or 7 days (for rate reductions) prior to the effective date are “deemed lawful.” 47 U.S.C. § 204(a)(3).
  For the 2024 tariff filings, carriers filing tariffs on 15-days’ notice must submit their annual tariff filings on June 17, 2024 to be effective July 2, 2024.  Carriers filing tariffs on 7-days’ notice must submit their annual tariff filings on June 25, 2024 to be effective July 2, 2024.
5. To establish an effective date of July 2, 2024 for 15-days’ and 7-days’ notice tariff filings, we grant a limited waiver of sections 69.3, 51.907, 51.909, 51.915, and 51.917 of the Commission’s rules to the extent that those rules would otherwise require rates to be effective July 1, 2024. 47 CFR §§ 69.3, 51.907, 51.909, 51.915, 51.917.  Generally, the Commission’s rules may be waived for “good cause shown.” 47 CFR § 1.3.  The Commission may exercise its discretion to waive a rule where the particular facts make strict compliance inconsistent with the public interest. Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990). Waiver of the Commission’s rules is therefore appropriate only if special circumstances warrant a deviation from the general rule and such deviation will serve the public interest. Id. The Commission may, on an individual basis, consider evidence of hardship, equity, and more effective implementation of overall policy. WAIT Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153, 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1969); Northeast Cellular, 897 F.2d at 1166.
  Absent a waiver, carriers filing on 15-days’ notice would need to submit their annual tariff filings on June 16, 2024, a Sunday, to be effective July 1, 2024.  However, a filing received by the Commission on a Sunday, a holiday on which the Commission is closed, would be counted as filed on the next business day, June 17, 2024, See 47 CFR § 1.4(e)(1), (j), (k)(1).  
 which is less than 15 days prior to the July 1, 2024 effective date.  A limited waiver is necessary to allow carriers to avail themselves of the 15-days’ notice streamlined tariff filing procedures established by section 204(a)(3) of the Act.  Under this limited waiver, carriers submitting annual tariff filings on 15-days’ notice must do so on June 17, 2024 to be effective date July 2, 2024. See July 1, 2017 Annual Access Charge Tariff Filings, WC Docket No. 17-65, Order, 32 FCC Rcd 1918, 1918, 1923, paras. 2 n.2, 15 (PPD 2017) (waiving Commission rules that otherwise would require rates filed on 7-days’ notice to be effective on July 1 because the 7-days’ notice filing deadline fell on a Saturday).
  For administrative consistency, we likewise establish an effective date of July 2, 2024 for 7-days’ notice tariff filings.  Accordingly, carriers submitting annual filings on 7-days’ notice must do so on June 25, 2024 to be effective July 2, 2024.
6. Carriers that file tariffs under the price cap ratemaking methodology are required to file revised annual access charge tariffs every year. 47 CFR § 61.43.
  Carriers that file tariffs under a rate-of-return ratemaking methodology are required to file every other year.  Carriers filing pursuant to the requirements of section 61.38 of the Commission’s rules are required to file annual access charge tariffs this year, an even-numbered year. 47 CFR §§ 61.38, 69.3(f)(1).
  Ordinarily, rate-of-return carriers subject to section 61.39 of the Commission’s rules 47 CFR § 61.39. 
 would not be required to file annual access charge tariffs this year, because they file revisions in odd-numbered years. 47 CFR § 69.3(f)(2).
  Pursuant to the USF/ICC Transformation Order, however, rate-of-return carriers subject to section 61.39 of the Commission’s rules must submit tariff filings each year including this year to comply with the requirements of section 51.917(d)(1)(iv), (e), and (f) of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR § 51.917(d)(1)(iv), (e), (f).
  
B. Tariff and Tariff Review Plan Filing Instructions 
7. Carriers must file their tariff materials through the Commission’s Electronic Tariff Filing System (ETFS) See 47 CFR § 61.13(b).  Access to ETFS is available here: https://apps.fcc.gov/etfs/etfsHome.action. 
 and submit the associated complex tariff filing fee payment through the Commission’s Registration System (CORES). 47 CFR § 1.1105.   For more information about the CORES Payment System, please visit: https://www.fcc.gov/licensing-databases/fees/cores-payment-system.
  Carriers should make every effort to file as early in the day as possible to avoid any complications in meeting the applicable filing deadlines.  Carriers’ 15-days’ notice tariff filings must be received by ETFS after 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 14, 2024 and before 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 17, 2024 for the filing to be considered officially received on June 17, 2024.  Carriers’ 7-days’ notice tariff filings must be received after 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 24, 2024 and before 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 25, 2024 for the filing to be considered officially received on June 25, 2024.
8. The public and interested parties may obtain copies of tariffing materials through ETFS.  For more information, please contact either Christopher S. Koves, Pricing Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, Christopher.Koves@fcc.gov, or Richard Kwiatkowski, Economic Analysis Division, Office of Economics and Analytics, Richard.Kwiatkowski@fcc.gov.
C. Pleading Filing Dates and Procedures
9. Petitions to suspend or reject 15 days’ notice tariff filings will be due no later than 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 24, 2024, and replies will be due no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time on June 28, 2024.  Petitions to suspend or reject 7-days’ notice tariff filings will be due no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time on June 28, 2024, and replies will be due no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) Eastern Time on July 1, 2024.  We waive those portions of sections 1.4(f) and 1.773 of the Commission’s rules that are inconsistent with these deadlines. See 47 CFR §§ 1.3, 1.4(f), 1.773(a), (b).
 
10. Pursuant to sections 1.419 and 1.773 of the Commission’s rules, interested parties may file petitions to suspend or reject tariff filings, and replies thereto, on or before the dates indicated in this Order. Id. §§ 1.419, 1.773.
  Pleadings must reference WC Docket No. 24-41 and must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.  
· Electronic Filers:  Pleadings may be filed electronically using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS): www.fcc.gov/ecfs. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).
  
· Paper Filers:  Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing.  Filings can be sent by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
§ Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701.
§ U.S. Postal Service First-Class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554.
· Effective March 19, 2020, and until further notice, the Commission no longer accepts any hand or messenger delivered filings at its headquarters.  This is a temporary measure taken to help protect the health and safety of individuals, and to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. See FCC Announces Closure of FCC Headquarters Open Window and Change in Hand-Delivery Policy, Public Notice, 35 FCC Rcd 2788 (OMD 2020), https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-closes-headquarters-open-window-and-changes-hand-delivery-policy.
  
11. People with Disabilities. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov.
12. Courtesy Copies.  On the day an electronic filing is submitted, an electronic courtesy copy of any comments, reply comments, petitions, and replies, must also be emailed to Christopher Koves, Christopher.Koves@fcc.gov, and Richard Kwiatkowski, Richard.Kwiatkowski@fcc.gov.
13. Ex Parte Rules.  The proceeding this Order initiates shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission’s ex parte rules. 47 CFR § 1.1200 et seq.
  Persons making ex parte presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies).  Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex parte presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation.  If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter’s written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum.  Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must be filed consistent with rule 1.1206(b).  In proceedings governed by rule 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written ex parte presentations and memoranda summarizing oral ex parte presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed in their native format (e.g., .doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf).  Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission’s ex parte rules.
D. Service
14. Because there is limited time available for review of petitions to suspend or reject tariff filings made pursuant to this Order, we establish the following service requirements for such petitions and responses thereto.  Any party filing a petition to suspend or reject such a tariff filing must also serve that petition on the relevant tariff-filer, or the tariff-filer’s attorney or other duly-constituted agent, by personal delivery, facsimile transmission, or email. See id. §§ 1.773(a)(4), (b)(3).  
  Any party responding to a petition to suspend or reject must serve that response on the relevant petitioner, or the petitioner’s attorney or other duly-constituted agent, by personal delivery, facsimile transmission, or email.  To effectuate these service requirements, we waive those portions of sections 1.47(d), 1.773(a)(4) and 1.773(b)(3) of the Commission’s rules that are inconsistent with the requirements set forth above. Id. §§ 1.3, 1.47(d), 1.773(a)(4), (b)(3).  
  Parties are instructed to provide contact persons, email addresses, and facsimile numbers in their filings.  
III. ORDERING CLAUSES
15. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to sections 1, 4(i) and (j), 5, and 201-209 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 154(i)-(j), 155, 201-209, and sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 0.91, 0.291, this Order IS ADOPTED.
16. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to sections 0.91, 0.291, and 1.3 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3, sections 69.3, 51.907, 51.909, 51.915, and 51.917 ARE WAIVED to the extent specified herein in paragraph 5.
17. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to sections 0.91, 0.291, and 1.3 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3, that sections 1.4(f), 1.47(d), and 1.773 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 1.4(f), 1.47(d), 1.773, ARE WAIVED for the limited purposes specified herein in paragraphs 9 and 14.
18. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to section 1.102(b)(1) of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 1.102(b)(1), this Order SHALL BE EFFECTIVE upon release. 
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



Victoria S. Goldberg
Chief, Pricing Policy Division
Wireline Competition Bureau
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