(0) For the purpose of obtaining maximum effectiveness from the use of radio and wire communications in connection with safety of life and property, the Commission shall investigate and study all phases of the problem and the best methods of obtaining the cooperation and coordination of these systems. SEC. 5. [47 U.S.C. 155] ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMISSION. (a) The member of the Commission designated by the President as chairman shall be the chief executive officer of the Commission. It shall be his duty to preside at all meetings and sessions of the Commission, to represent the Commission in all matters relating to legislation and legislative reports, except that any commissioner may present his own or minority views or supplemental reports, to represent the Commission in all matters requiring conferences or communications with other governmental officers, departments or agencies, and generally to coordinate and organize the work of the Commission in such manner as to promote prompt and efficient disposition of all matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission. In the case of a vacancy in the office of the chairman of the Commission, or the absence or inability of the chairman to serve, the Commission may temporarily designate one of its members to act as chairman until the cause or circumstance requiring such designation shall have been eliminated or corrected. (b) From time to time as the Commission may find necessary, the Commission shall organize its staff into (1) integrated bureaus, to function on the basis of the Commission's principal workload operations, and (2) such other divisional organizations as the Commission may deem necessary. Each such integrated bureau shall include such legal, engineering, accounting, administrative, clerical, and other personnel as the Commission may determine to be necessary to perform its functions. (c)(1) When necessary to the proper functioning of the Commission and the prompt and orderly conduct of its business, the Commission may, by published rule or by order, delegate any of its functions (except functions granted to the Commission by this paragraph and by paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) of this subsection and except any action referred to in sections 204(a)(2), 208(b), and 405(b)) to a panel of commissioners, an individual commissioner, an employee board, or an individual employee, including functions with respect to hearing, determining, ordering, certifying, reporting, or otherwise acting as to any work, business, or matter; except that in delegating review functions to employees in cases of adjudication (as defined in the Administrative Procedure Act), the delegation in any such case may be made only to an employee board consisting of two or more employees referred to in paragraph (8). Any such rule or order may be adopted, amended, or rescinded only by a vote of a majority of the members of the Commission then holding office. Except for cases involving the authorization of service in the instructional television fixed service, or as otherwise provided in this Act, nothing in this paragraph shall authorize the Commission to provide for the conduct, by any person or persons other than persons referred to in paragraph (2) or (3) of section 556(b) of title 5, United States Code, of any hearing to which such section applies. (2) As used in this subsection (d) the term "order, decision, report, or action" does not include an initial, tentative, or rec ommended decision to which exceptions may be filed as provided in section 409(b). (3) Any order, decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to any such delegation, unless reviewed as provided in paragraph (4), shall have the same force and effect, and shall be made, evidenced, and enforced in the same manner, as orders, decisions, reports, or other actions of the Commission. (4) Any person aggrieved by any such order, decision, report or action may file an application for review by the Commission within such time and in such manner as the Commission shall prescribe, and every such application shall be passed upon by the Commission. The Commission, on its own initiative, may review in whole or in part, at such time and in such manner as it shall determine, any order, decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to any delegation under paragraph (1). (5) In passing upon applications for review, the Commission may grant, in whole or in part, or deny such applications without specifying any reasons therefore. No such application for review shall rely on questions of fact or law upon which the panel of commissioners, individual commissioner, employee board, or individual employee has been afforded no opportunity to pass. (6) If the Commission grants the application for review, it may affirm, modify, or set aside the order, decision, report, or action, or it may order a rehearing upon such order, decision, report, or action in accordance with section 405. (7) The filing of an application for review under this subsection shall be a condition precedent to judicial review of any order, decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to a delegation under paragraph (1). The time within which a petition for review must be filed in a proceeding to which section 402(a) applies, or within which an appeal must be taken under section 402(b), shall be computed from the date upon which public notice is given of orders disposing of all applications for review filed in any case. (8) The employees to whom the Commission may delegate review functions in any case of adjudication (as defined in the Administrative Procedure Act) shall be qualified, by reason of their training, experience, and competence, to perform such review functions, and shall perform no duties inconsistent with such review functions. Such employees shall be in a grade classification or salary level commensurate with their important duties, and in no event less than the grade classification or salary level of the employee or employees whose actions are to be reviewed. In the performance of such review functions such employees shall be assigned to cases in rotation so far as practicable and shall not be responsible to or subject to the supervision or direction of any officer, employee, or agent engaged in the performance of investigative or prosecuting functions for any agency. (9) The secretary and seal of the Commission shall be the secretary and seal of each panel of the Commission, each individual commissioner, and each employee board or individual employee exercising functions delegated pursuant to paragraph (1) of this sub section. (d) Meetings of the Commission shall be held at regular intervals, not less frequently than once each calendar month, at which times the functioning of the Commission and the handling of its work load shall be reviewed and such orders shall be entered and other action taken as may be necessary or appropriate to expedite the prompt and orderly conduct of the business of the Commission with the objective of rendering a final decision (1) within three months from the date of filing in all original application, renewal, and transfer cases in which it will not be necessary to hold a hearing, and (2) within six months from the final date of the hearing in all hearing cases. (e) The Commission shall have a Managing Director who shall be appointed by the Chairman subject to the approval of the Commission. The Managing Director, under the supervision and direction of the Chairman, shall perform such administrative and executive functions as the Chairman shall delegate. The Managing Director shall be paid at a rate equal to the rate then payable for level V of the Executive Schedule. SEC. 6. [47 U.S.C. 156] AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. (a) There are authorized to be appropriated for the administration of this Act by the Commission $109,831,000 for fiscal year 1990 and $119,831,000 for fiscal year 1991, together with such sums as may be necessary for increases resulting from adjustments in salary, pay, retirement, other employee benefits required by law, and other nondiscretionary costs, for each of the fiscal years 1990 and 1991. 1 (b) In addition to the amounts authorized to be appropriated under this section, not more than 4 percent of the amount of any fees or other charges payable to the United States which are collected by the Commission during fiscal year 1990 are authorized to be made available to the Commission until expended to defray the fully distributed costs of such fees collection. (c) of the amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) for fiscal year 1991, such sums as may be necessary not to exceed $2,000,000 shall be expended for upgrading and modernizing equipment at the Commission's electronic emissions test laboratory located in Laurel, Maryland. (d) of the sum appropriated in any fiscal year under this section, a portion, in an amount determined under section 9(b), shall be derived from fees authorized by section 9. 1 Public Law 108-7, the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003 (117 Stat. 95, February 20, 2003) contained the following appropriation provision with respect to fiscal year 2003: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SALARIES AND EXPENSES For necessary expenses of the Federal Communications Commission, as authorized by law, including uniforms and allowances therefor, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902; not to exceed $600,000 for land and structure; not to exceed $500,000 for improvement and care of grounds and repair to buildings; not to exceed $4,000 for official reception and representation expenses; purchase and hire of motor vehicles; special counsel fees; and services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, $271,000,000, of which not to exceed $300,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2004, for research and policy studies: Provided, That $269,000,000 of offsetting collections shall be assessed and collected pursuant to section 9 of title I of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and shall be retained and used for necessary expenses in this appropriation, and shall remain available until expended: Provided further, That the sum herein appropriated shall be reduced as such offsetting collections are received during fiscal year 2003 so as to result in a final fiscal year 2003 appropriation estimated at $2,000,000: Provided further, That any offsetting collections received in excess of $269,000,000 in fiscal year 2003 shall remain available until expended, but shall not be available for obligation until October 1, 2003. SEC. 7. [47 U.S.C. 157] NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES. (a) It shall be the policy of the United States to encourage the provision of new technologies and services to the public. Any person or party (other than the Commission) who opposes a new technology or service proposed to be permitted under this Act shall have the burden to demonstrate that such proposal is inconsistent with the public interest. (b) The Commission shall determine whether any new technology or service proposed in a petition or application is in the public interest within one year after such petition or application is filed. If the Commission initiates its own proceeding for a new technology or service, such proceeding shall be completed within 12 months after it is initiated. SEC. 8. [47 U.S.C. 158] APPLICATION FEES. (a) The Commission shall assess and collect application fees at such rates as the Commission shall establish or at such modified rates as it shall establish pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. (b)(1) The Schedule of Application Fees established under this section shall be reviewed by the Commission every two years after October 1, 1991, and adjusted by the Commission to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. Increases or decreases in application fees shall apply to all categories of application fees, except that individual fees shall not be adjusted until the increase or decrease, as determined by the net change in the Consumer Price Index since the date of enactment of this section, amounts to at least $5.00 in the case of fees under $100.00, or 5 percent in the case of fees of $100.00 or more. All fees which require adjustment will be rounded upward to the next $5.00 increment. The Commission shall transmit to the Congress notification of any such adjustment not later than 90 days before the effective date of such adjustment. (2) Increases or decreases in application fees made pursuant to this subsection shall not be subject to judicial review. (c)(1) The Commission shall prescribe by regulation an additional application fee which shall be assessed as a penalty for late payment of application fees required by subsection (a) of this section. Such penalty shall be 25 percent of the amount of the application fee which was not paid in a timely manner. (2) The Commission may dismiss any application or other filing for failure to pay in a timely manner any application fee or penalty under this section. (d)(1) The application fees established under this section shall not be applicable (A) to governmental entities and nonprofit entities licensed in the following radio services: Local Government, Police, Fire, Highway Maintenance, Forestry-Conservation, Public Safety, and Special Emergency Radio, or (B) to governmental entities licensed in other services. (2) The Commission may waive or defer payment of an charge 1 in any specific instance for good cause shown, where such action would promote the public interest. 1 So in law. Probably should read "payment of an application fee". See the amendments made by section 6003(a)(2) of Pub. L. 103-66 (107 Stat. 401) and section 303(a)(3) of Pub. L. 103414 (108 Stat. 4294). (e) Moneys received from application fees established under this section shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury to reimburse the United States for amounts appropriated for use by the Commission in carrying out its functions under this Act. (f) The Commission shall prescribe appropriate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. (g) Until modified pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the Schedule of Application Fees which the Federal Communications Commission shall prescribe pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be as follows: c. Renewal of License (per station) d. Special Temporary Authority (Initial, Modifications, Extensions) e. Assignments (per station) f. Transfers of Control (per station) g. Request for Waiver (i) Routine (per request) (ii) Non-Routine (per rule section/per station) 2. Ship Stations a. New License (per application) b. Modification of License (per application) c. Renewal of License (per application) d. Request for Waiver (i) Routine (per request) $70.00 70.00 70.00 100.00 70.00 35.00 105.00 105.00 35.00 35.00 35.00 105.00 (ii) Non-Routine (per rule section/per station) 105.00 3. Operational Fixed Microwave Stations a. New License (per station) 155.00 b. Modification of License (per station) 155.00 c. Renewal of License (per station) 155.00 d. Special Temporary Authority (Initial, Modifications, Extensions) d. Special Temporary Authority (Initial, Modifications, Extensions) 6. Land Mobile Radio Stations (including Special Emergency and Public Safety Stations) d. Special Temporary Authority (Initial, Modifications, Extensions) e. Assignments (per station) 35.00 35.00 |