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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 145 / Monday, August 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 54
WC Docket No. 2193; DA 21881; FR ID
40821

Wireline Competition Bureau Sets Service Delivery Date for Emergency Connectivity Fund Program Initial Application Filing Window and Modifies Funding Application Certification Language Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau Bureau establishes a June 30, 2022, service delivery date for equipment and other non-recurring services funding requests filed during the initial application filing window of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, if the equipment or services have not been received at the time the funding request is made. The Bureau also modifies the certification language of the Commissions rules to clarify that applicants may request funding for eligible equipment and services that have not yet been ordered for the upcoming school year i.e., July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
DATES: Effective August 2, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Johnnay Schrieber, Wireline Competition Bureau, 202 4187400 or by email at Johnnay.Schrieber@fcc.gov.
The Commission asks that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible in order to allow the agency to satisfy such requests whenever possible.
Send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202 4180530.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commissions Public Notice in WC Docket No. 2193; DA 21
881, released July 22,2021. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, the Commissions headquarters will be closed to the general public until further notice. The full text of this document is available at the following internet address: https
www.fcc.gov/edocs/searchresults?t=quick&fccdaNo=21-881.
SUMMARY:

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SYNOPSIS
1. By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau Bureau establishes a June 30, 2022 service delivery date for equipment and other non-recurring services funding requests filed during the initial application filing window of the Emergency Connectivity
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Fund Program, if the equipment or services have not been received at the time the funding request is made. The Bureau also modifies the certification language for 54.1710a1x of the Commissions rules to clarify that applicants may request funding for eligible equipment and services that have not yet been ordered for the upcoming school year i.e., July 1, 2021
through June 30, 2022.
2. As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Congress appropriated $7.171 billion to the Federal Communications Commission Commission to promulgate rules providing for the distribution of funding from the Emergency Connectivity Fund to eligible schools and libraries for the purchase of eligible equipment and/or advanced telecommunications and information services for use by students, school staff, and library patrons at locations that include locations other than a school or library. On May 10, 2021, the Commission issued a Report and Order, 86 FR 29136, May 28, 2021, establishing the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program to administer the $7.171 billion in congressionally appropriated funding.
The Commission and the Universal Service Administrative Company USAC opened a 45-day Emergency Connectivity Fund application filing window on June 29, 2021, which will close on August 13, 2021. During this initial filing window, applicants may request funding for eligible equipment and services that will be received or delivered between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
3. Service Delivery Date. The Commission established an invoice filing deadline rule for the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program in the Report and Order. Section 54.1711d provides that invoices must be submitted to the Administrator within 60 days from the date of the funding commitment decision letter; a revised funding commitment decision letter approving a post-commitment change or a successful appeal of previously denied or reduced funding; or service delivery date, whichever is later. However, for non-recurring services or equipment to be funded through the initial window of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, the service delivery date may not be known at the time the applicant submits the funding request. In order to streamline and simplify the application and invoicing processes, and pursuant to the Bureaus authority to provide additional detail and specificity to the requirements of the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program in
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consultation with the Office of the Managing Director, and for purposes of establishing the deadline for the submission of invoices, the Bureau establishes June 30, 2022, as the service delivery date for equipment and other non-recurring services funding requests if the equipment or services have not been ordered or received when the applicant submits the funding request.
As such, applicants may use June 30, 2022, as the service end date in the funding request where indicated in the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program application portal, and the invoicing deadline for these non-recurring services and equipment will be 60 days from the date of the funding commitment decision letter; a revised funding commitment decision letter approving a post-commitment change or a successful appeal of previously denied or reduced funding; or August 29, 2022
i.e., 60 days after June 30, 2022, whichever is later. Adopting a uniform service delivery date for equipment and other non-recurring services will provide certainty for these applicants and allow USAC to provide an invoice filing deadline to applicants at the time it provides the funding commitment letter.
4. Clarification to Section 54.1710a1x. In the Report and Order, the Commission adopted, and codified at 54.1710a1, the certifications that applicants must include on their funding applications.
Section 54.1710a1x requires applicants to certify that the applicant or the relevant student, school staff member, or library patron has received, or the applicant has ordered the equipment and services for which funding is sought. As explained above, the current Emergency Connectivity Fund Program application filing window is for prospective purchases of eligible equipment and services made between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
Therefore, it is possible that applicants may not have ordered the requested equipment and services at the time they are submitting their applications for funding through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. To address this circumstance, the Bureau modifies 54.1710a1x to require applicants to certify that: the applicant or the relevant student, school staff member, or library patron has received, or the applicant has ordered or will order, the equipment and services for which funding is sought. This clarification conforms the certification to the
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