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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 31, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 42. The Bureau adopts the approach for processing Reimbursement Claim Requests proposed in the Reimbursement Process PN.
Accordingly, using the features available in the online filing portal, recipients will be required to link actual costs incurred and the supporting invoice documentation to their itemized cost estimates previously filed with the Bureau to complete the claim.
Recipients must submit invoices through the online portal as attachments to their Reimbursement Claim Requests.
With each invoice submitted, recipients must provide specific details related to the invoice vendor name, date issued, description of contents, etc. to assist reviewers in linking invoices to specific itemized cost estimates. Further, recipients seeking disbursements must have previously provided a vendor and supplier quote associated with the invoice included with the Application Request for Funding Allocation before submitting the Reimbursement Claim Request. Recipients who have not yet provided a vendor and supplier quote associated with the invoice because they relied on the Catalog cost estimates when completing their Application Request for Funding Allocation will need to file a modification before submitting the Reimbursement Claim Request. The Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator will not review Reimbursement Claim Requests that rely on invoices not substantiated by a corresponding quote previously filed.
43. Pursuant to the Commissions rules and the 2020 Supply Chain Order, recipients may seek reimbursement only for actual expenses incurred during the period beginning on April 17, 2018, and ending at the expiration of the one-year removal, replacement, and disposal term. Consistent with the 2020 Supply Chain Order, the Bureau will allow providers to obtain reimbursement for costs reasonably incurred prior to the creation and funding of the Reimbursement Program, but on or after April 17, 2018, for the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered equipment and services. The Bureau must authorize the payments from the Reimbursement Program fund in the United States Treasury to providers that have submitted valid claims for reimbursement.
44. RWA requests the Bureau allow the filing of requests beyond the allocated funds so that the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator can approve costs even though there may not yet be funding to pay such invoices. The Bureau agrees, and the filing portal system will allow recipients to file Reimbursement Claim
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Requests, even when the amount requested exceeds the amount allocated to the recipient, up until the deadline for filing Reimbursement Claim Requests has expired. These requests will, however, remain in pending status if there is insufficient funding to grant the requests in full.
45. Nokia requests that the Commission expedite disbursements to contractors involved in creating cost estimates for Application Requests for Funding Allocation that are initially accepted for filing prior to allocating the funds to all applicants. Specifically, it argues that expedited disbursements for costs associated with application preparation will relieve financial stresses on the industry and encourage more complete and accurate applications. The Commissions rules, however, do not allow for disbursements prior to a funding allocation. Further, the Commission did not establish a separate disbursement process to reimburse for expenses incurred for applications initially found acceptable for filing. Providing a disbursement at this early stage would also trigger the recipients obligation to complete the removal, replacement, and disposal process within one year and many applicants would be unable to meet that deadline. That said, costs associated with preparing applications are potentially eligible for reimbursement and applicants may file reimbursement claims for such costs once an allocation is issued.
46. Reimbursement Claim Request Deadline. All Reimbursement Claim Requests must be filed no later than 120
days following the expiration of the removal, replacement, and disposal term. Prior to the expiration of the claim request deadline, recipients under the Commissions rules are permitted to request and, if timely requested, will automatically receive a 120-day extension. RWA notes that the one-year removal, replacement, and disposal term can be extended and argues that the corresponding 120-day reimbursement claim deadline should also be extended if the underlying oneyear term is extended. The Bureau agrees and confirms that if the Commission or the Bureau extends the one-year removal, replacement, and disposal term, the corresponding 120day reimbursement claim deadline will also be extended and start from the new extended term date expiration.
47. Finally, as required by the Commissions rules, after the Reimbursement Claim Request filing deadline, the remaining unclaimed amounts in the allocation will expire.
The remaining funds in the expired
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allocation will be available for Commission reallocation in a future filing window. However, as proposed in the Reimbursement Process PN, a timely submitted extension request, while pending, will toll the expiration of the funding allocation.
48. Amendments, Modifications, and Administrative Updates. In the Reimbursement Process PN, the Bureau sought comment on proposals to allow program participants to update information on file with the Commission through the filing of amendments, modifications, and/or administrative updates. The Bureau did not receive comments regarding modifications or administrative updates.
The Bureau did, however, receive comments objecting to the general denial of amendments to the Application Request for Funding Allocation that would increase cost estimate submissions, as discussed elsewhere herein. Accordingly, the Bureau will allow participants to amend, modify, and file administrative updates using the online filing portal.
49. To file an amendment the participant must notify the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator of its intent to amend its application through the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator Help Desk.
Notification of an intent to amend through the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator Help Desk is necessary to unlock the underlying application in the online filing portal to allow for the filing of an amendment.
This notice of intent to amend alerts the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator to pause application processing pending the filing of additional changes that may impact the review process. Amendment filings are only permitted for underlying filings that are in a pending status.
50. The Bureau also will allow modification filings after an application is granted. For a granted Application Request for Funding Allocation, the Bureau will allow recipients to submit modification filings to change itemized expenses and locations identified on their filings and to provide vendor and supplier quotes for review by the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator. The Bureau reiterates that if the modification filing would change the cost of the project, it will not alter the funding allocation issued.
Additionally, participants are allowed to file administrative updates for routine, non-material changes to filings such as changes to the applicants contact information e.g., address, phone number, and contact name. The online filing portal will accept and
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