2019 FCC Regulatory Fee Order Expected Soon, With FNPRM
An order on 2019 regulatory fees is expected to be issued soon and will include a Further NPRM on the way the FCC calculates regulatory fees, agency and industry officials told us. Since the fees must be collected before the fiscal year end Sept. 30, the FNPRM is expected to gather a record that could be applied to future regulatory fees, rather than the 2019 fee collection. Though the draft order makes some concessions to broadcaster requests, it's expected to closely resemble the previously released NPRM, FCC officials said. The fee order isn’t expected to be controversial among commissioners.
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The FNPRM is expected to focus on how full-time equivalents are used to calculate regulatory fees. FTEs are part of the way the FCC calculates how much resources the agency uses on a given industry. In ex parte filings, some industries criticized the agency's failure to explain increases in the proposed 2019 fees (see 1907300064). The NPRM “did not explain these changes and no amount of forensic science to re-engineer how this dramatic raise was justified could be done,” said NAB in docket 19-105. A proposed rule change that would increase fees for VHF broadcast stations is also being bumped to the further notice for comment, said FCC and industry officials.
The draft fee order would address issues NAB raised. The group argued in multiple filings that the NPRM based its calculations of radio regulatory fees on flawed data. The NPRM calculation would have meant a 20 percent fee increase, NAB said. That calculation was changed in the draft order, reducing those fees, an FCC official said. A shift in regulatory fees can range from a minor problem to a much larger one for broadcasters, depending on their situation, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Dan Kirkpatrick. The draft order is also expected to make concessions on proposed rate increases for broadcast satellite stations, a broadcast industry official said.
Carriers and direct broadcast satellite companies also criticized the draft order. Satellite groups sought a freeze on geostationary orbit regulatory fees last week (see 1908090057). They also want the FCC to “comprehensively reevaluate” fee allocation,” they said. The North American Submarine Cable Association and CenturyLink sparred over how fees for the International Bureau are calculated. Both companies said the total amount of fees assigned to the former international bearer circuit category is too high. Increases for satellite companies "certainly weren't anticipated by the industry" before the NPRM, said Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup in an interview. Provide plenty of warning to licensees when a fee hike is being contemplated, he recommended.
Since companies will need time to pay the fees, the order is expected soon. Lawyers expect it later this month or in early September.