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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
whether NGSO satellites operating as an integrated NGSO system, but authorized under multiple call signs, should be considered part of the same system and therefore be assessed a single regulatory fee. Specifically, commenters suggest that the Commission should consider NGSO satellites operating as part of the systembut authorized under multiple call signs even by different operatorsas one system for purposes of NGSO regulatory fees.
The Commision does not currently have any authorized NGSO systems that fit the description of a multi-regulatee/
multi-call sign NGSO system. The answer is likely to be fact-specific, and involve a determination of what exactly constitutes an NGSO system and where the space stations in the system are operated by different entities. In the case of GSO space stations, it is clear when there are multiple licensees associated with the same physical satellite. The situation is less clear for NGSO systems because the situation could quickly become factually complex where different space stations in the system are described as attributable to different entities for regulatory fee purposes. We will continue to apply the general presumption that NGSO systems operated by different licensees or market access grantees constitute different NGSO systems.
H. Flexibility for Regulatory Payors Due to COVID19 Pandemic 27. As proposed in the FY 2021
NPRM, we extend the temporary COVID19 regulatory fee relief measures that were implemented in our FY 2020
Report and Order. Last year, the Commission adopted certain relief measures to address concerns raised by commenters about financial hardship caused by the COVID19 pandemic.
Comments received in response to the FY 2021 NPRM indicate that the financial hardship caused by the pandemic have continued into the 2021
fiscal year. Accordingly, we find good reason to continue the same relief measures we adopted in FY 2020 for FY
2021.
28. Specifically, for FY 2021, we again waive section 1.1166 of our rules, to the extent necessary, to permit parties seeking regulatory fee waiver, deferral and/or installment payment relief for financial hardship reasons related to the pandemic. Those parties may make a single request for all forms of relief sought, whether in combination or in the alternative, and may submit all such requests for relief electronically to the Commission via a dedicated email address. For FY 2021, the email address
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is 2021regfeerelief@fcc.gov.
Additionally, we partially waive our red-light rule to allow debtors that are experiencing financial hardship to nonetheless request relief with respect to their regulatory fees. As we provided in FY 2020, however, such regulatees are required to resolve all delinquent debt by paying it in full, entering into an installment agreement to repay it, and/or if applicable, curing all payment and other defaults under existing installment agreements. We believe the existing waiver standard together with the measures described above will work as designed, to provide fee relief to those regulatees most in need.
29. Regulatees whose businesses have been hurt by the pandemic, but not to the extent required to receive a waiver, reduction, or deferral, may be eligible to pay their FY 2021 fees in installments under section 1.1914 of our rules. For those regulatees, we exercise our discretion under section 3717a of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, as amended, to reduce the interest rate the Commission charges on installments payments to a nominal rate and we suspend our down payment requirement. We also recognize that demonstrating financial hardship caused by the pandemic may require different financial documentation than the documentation the Commission has traditionally accepted. While the burden of proving financial hardship remains with the party requesting it, we again direct the Managing Director to work with individual regulatees that have filed requests if additional documents are needed to render a decision on the request. Finally, we direct the Managing Director to release one or more public notices describing in more detail the relief we have described herein.
We remind regulatees that we cannot relax the standard for granting a waiver or deferral of fees, penalties, or other charges for late payment of regulatory fees under section 9A of the Act. Under the statute, the Commission may only waive a regulatory fee, penalty or interest if it finds there is good cause for the waiver and that the waiver is in the public interest. The Commission has only granted financial hardship waivers when the requesting party has shown it lacks sufficient funds to pay the regulatory fees and to maintain its service to the public. Other statutory limitations include that the Commission must act on waiver requests individually, and cannot extend the deadline we set for payment of fees beyond September 30.

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III. Procedural Matters 30. Included below are procedural items as well as our current payment and collection methods.
31. Credit Card Transaction Levels. In accordance with Treasury Financial Manual, Volume I, Part 5, Chapter 7000, Section 7045Limitations on Card Collection Transactions, the highest amount that can be charged on a credit card for transactions with federal agencies is $24,999.99. Transactions greater than $24,999.99 will be rejected.
This limit applies to single payments or bundled payments of more than one bill. Multiple transactions to a single agency in one day may be aggregated and treated as a single transaction subject to the $24,999.99 limit.
Customers who wish to pay an amount greater than $24,999.99 should consider available electronic alternatives such as Visa or MasterCard debit cards, ACH
debits from a bank account, and wire transfers. Each of these payment options is available after filing regulatory fee information in Fee Filer. Further details will be provided regarding payment methods and procedures at the time of FY 2021 regulatory fee collection in Fact Sheets, https www.fcc.gov/regfees.
32. Payment Methods. Pursuant to an Office of Management and Budget OMB directive, the Commission is moving towards a paperless environment, extending to disbursement and collection of select federal government payments and receipts. In 2015, the Commission stopped accepting checks including cashiers checks and money orders and the accompanying hardcopy forms e.g., Forms 159, 159B, 159E, 159W for the payment of regulatory fees. During the fee season for collecting regulatory fees, regulatees can pay their fees by credit card through Pay.gov, ACH, debit card, or by wire transfer. Additional payment instructions are posted on the Commissions website at http
transition.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html. The receiving bank for all wire payments is the U.S. Treasury, New York, NY
TREAS NYC. Any other form of payment e.g., checks, cashiers checks, or money orders will be rejected. For payments by wire, a Form 159E should still be transmitted via fax so that the Commission can associate the wire payment with the correct regulatory fee information. The fax should be sent to the Federal Communications Commission at 202 4182843 at least one hour before initiating the wire transfer but on the same business day so as not to delay crediting their account. Regulatees should discuss arrangements including bank closing
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