Process Reform Initiative and Public Comment Notice
On February 14, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice (DA 14-199) formally inviting public comment on its newly issued Report on FCC Process Reform in GN Docket No. 14-25. Prepared by an agency-wide staff working group led by Diane Cornell, Special Counsel to Chairman Tom Wheeler, the report contains more than 150 recommendations intended to make the agency operate more efficiently, transparently, and effectively.
Chairman Wheeler tasked the working group with assessing internal operations during his first week at the Commission, incorporating suggestions gathered from FCC staff, focus groups, crowdsourcing, interagency consultations, and public submissions sent to innovation@fcc.gov. Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the proposed reform measures on or before March 31, 2014.
- Docket: GN Docket No. 14-25
- Public Notice Document Number: DA 14-199
- Release Date: February 14, 2014
- Comment Deadline: March 31, 2014
- Staff Working Group Lead: Diane Cornell, Special Counsel to the Chairman
Accelerating Decision-Making and Backlog Reduction
Chapter 1 of the report focuses on increasing the speed and transparency of Commission decisions. The report identifies tracking deficits across legacy bureau databases and proposes uniform electronic intake analyses, timeline benchmarks, and quarterly management compliance reporting to the Office of the Managing Director (OMD) and the Office of the Chairman (OCH).
To prevent and clear item backlogs, the working group proposes expanding summary disposition authority for routine matters, establishing sub-delegation plans within bureaus, setting strict timelines for transaction shot-clocks, and evaluating a 'consent agenda' mechanism for non-controversial items during Open Meetings. It also suggests establishing public tracking mechanisms and logs for pending dockets, petitions, and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
- Implementing electronic intake analyses to establish realistic drafting and review timelines.
- Authorizing summary dismissals strictly on procedural grounds where legally sustainable without reaching substantive merits.
- Considering deemed-denied or deemed-granted procedures for stale petitions or applications for review.
- Publishing centralized status lists of open and dormant dockets, circulation items, and FOIA logs.
- Working with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Executive Branch agencies to streamline spectrum coordination and foreign ownership reviews.
Re-Engineering Essential Operational Processes
Chapter 2 addresses core administrative workflows across licensing, informal consumer complaints, Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) compliance, and Federal Register publishing. The report recommends phasing out remaining paper circulations and paper releases across the Commission in favor of electronic workflows.
For consumer protection, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) is advised to overhaul its informal complaint system by replacing 16 distinct forms with a single web intake portal, automating complaint routing and carrier service, and shifting focus from manual one-by-one complaint resolution to analyzing aggregate trends for policymaking and Enforcement Bureau (EB) actions.
The report also recommends modernizing licensing and regulatory fee structures across bureaus, centralizing PRA compliance specialists to relieve substantive drafting attorneys, and adopting shorter summary formats and digital signatures for Federal Register submissions.
- Transitioning all licensing correspondence, public notices, and filing workflows to paperless systems.
- Automating password resets for the Commission Registration System (CORES) to reduce staff burdens.
- Exploring standard licensing formats, expanded auto-processing of applications, and third-party processing mechanisms.
- Centralizing PRA compliance specialists and requesting broader delegated approval authority from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
- Standardizing internal drafting templates, style guides, and Federal Register summary structures.
Policy Development, Rulemaking, and Strategic Management
Chapters 3 and 4 propose reforming the FCC's policy drafting and internal management structures. For rulemaking, the report recommends including specific proposed rule text in Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs) whenever feasible, drafting shorter and more focused decisional documents, involving economists and technical engineers early in the outline phase, and adopting minimum comment periods for major actions.
To modernize internal management, the report proposes shifting from broadcast email alerts to intranet resources like an expanded FCC Wiki, expanding targeted staff training through FCC University, and revamping management development. On the technical infrastructure side, the report outlines an agency-wide IT roadmap to migrate legacy systems to cloud-based modular platforms and construct an enterprise 'FCC Data Mart' with role-based private, enterprise, and public access.
- Exploring multi-stakeholder processes and negotiated rulemakings to narrow technical controversies.
- Committing to periodic retrospective reviews of non-statutory regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations.
- Re-baselining the FCC IT budget to retire aging legacy applications and migrate to cloud platforms.
- Developing an enterprise-wide Data Mart to unify data collection, analysis, and API-based external access.
- Redesigning FCC.gov navigation, search engine functionality, and metadata indexing.
Bureau-Specific Recommendations and Filing Details
Chapter 5 outlines targeted functional reforms across individual bureaus. Key items include electronic filing for closed captioning exemptions, satellite regulatory updates (such as revisiting the two-degree orbital spacing policy and eliminating prior approval for pro forma ownership changes), modernizing equipment authorization systems in the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), updating Part 17 tower lighting rules, and deleting obsolete telegraph references from wireline regulations. It also highlights potential statutory recommendations to Congress, such as extending the Communications Act forfeiture statute of limitations under Section 503(b)(6) from one year to two years.
The proceeding is designated as 'permit-but-disclose' under the FCC ex parte rules (47 C.F.R. §§ 1.1200, 1.1206). Written comments must reference GN Docket No. 14-25 and may be submitted electronically via the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or by paper delivery addressed to FCC Secretary Marlene H. Dortch. Inquiries may be directed to David Strickland at (202) 418-0977 or David.Strickland@fcc.gov.
- OET/WTB: Exploring electronic labeling (eLabel), relaxing equipment certification self-approvals, and modernizing Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) compliance.
- IB: Streamlining Part 25 Schedule S filing requirements and modernizing the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS).
- WCB: Deleting obsolete telegraph regulations and removing rules subject to forbearance under 47 C.F.R. § 64.804.
- MB: Modernizing the Consolidated Database System (CDBS), CARS, and COALS, and updating Cable Rate Regulation rules.
- EB: Re-evaluating forfeiture base amounts and streamlining routine non-hearing subpoena approvals.