US Government Agency Wide Shutdown DOC# 323568 Procedures for FCC Filings

Released: October 1, 2013

PUBLIC NOTICE

Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322

Procedures for Filings in the Event of a Lapse in Funding

In the event of a Government-wide lapse in funding, the Commission’s filing window, mail room, and all electronic filing systems, with the exception of the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS), will be unavailable 1 until normal government operations resume. In addition, we expect that in the event of a suspension of regular Commission operations, materials sent to the Commission by private delivery services may be returned to the sender. 

1 This unavailability of systems will impact the work of any entities requiring access to such systems/information. For example, Telecommunications Certification Bodies will not be able to upload applications for equipment authorization nor issue grants of certification without such access. 

In this event, any materials, with the exception of NORS filings, that otherwise would be required to be filed with the Commission (at its headquarters, Gettysburg, PA or U.S. Bank) during the suspension of operations or on the day of return to normal operations, will be due on the business day following the day of return to normal operations. Thus, for example, if a lapse in funding ended on a Monday, the Commission would return to normal operations on Tuesday morning, and, to accommodate the orderly resumption of business, filings would be due on Wednesday. For these purposes, Section 1.4(j) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4(j), which would otherwise require such filings to be made on the first business day after a shutdown, is hereby waived. During the period that Commission’s electronic filing systems are unavailable, electronic filing requirements cannot be satisfied by attempting manual filing, with or without a request for waiver of filing requirements. If the Commission is unable to restore electronic filing systems on the day the government reopens, the Commission may issue another Public Notice further extending filing deadlines. 
This Public Notice affects only the due dates for filings with the Commission due during any government-wide shutdown or on the day the government reopens. It does not affect the effective dates of Commission actions or other events, or dates for filings with entities other than the Commission,
 
2 During the period that the E106 system is not in operation, FCC Forms 620 and 621 may be submitted directly to the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) as provided in the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (NPA), 47 C.F.R. Part 1, App. B, to the extent the SHPO will accept such filings. The deadlines set forth in the NPA for responses to the applicant or the SHPO shall be measured from the date of filing with the SHPO. 

3 Any filings with fund administrators (Universal Service, Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS), North American Numbering Plan) or entities other than the Commission (such as state commissions, U.S. Territorial or Tribal Governments) still must be filed timely with such entity, even if the Commission has suspended operations. These programs will continue to operate, and services such as TRS provided, during a shut-down. If such filings are also required to be filed with the Commission, they should be filed with the Commission pursuant to the deadlines established in this Public Notice.  

In an effort to preserve the rights employees and other aggrieved individuals may have under federal employment discrimination statues, the agency will receive and record receipt of discrimination complaints. Any such complaint must be submitted within forty-five (45) days of the alleged discriminatory action; anyone needing to file during the shutdown to meet this deadline should call the number below for further filing instructions. Please note that, while the agency will accept discrimination complaints that must be filed in order to preserve the rights of the aggrieved during a shutdown, discrimination complaints will not be investigated during the shutdown. 
Finally, although the Commission will not be open for normal operations during any government-wide shutdown, the FCC Operations Center may be contacted in the case of an emergency affecting the safety of life or the protection of property at 202-418-1122.
-FCC-