PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION [ 52 PA. CODE CH. 63 ] [38 Pa.B. 6924]
[Saturday, December 20, 2008][ L-2008-2020165/57-261 ]
Telecommunications Relay Service System and Relay Service Fund The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) on August 21, 2008, adopted a final-form regulation order which ensures adequate Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund balances, timely remittance of TRS Fund revenues and cooperation with TRS Fund audits.
Executive Summary
On January 25, 2008, at Docket No. L-2008-2020165, the Commission entered a proposed rulemaking order soliciting comments on changing, clarifying and codifying provisions of the existing policy statements in 52 Pa. Code §§ 69.511--69.513 relating to the operation of the TRSSystem and the Relay Service Fund. Interested persons were provided with 30 days from the date the order was published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin to submit comments regarding the proposed regulation.
The Commission is codifying existing reporting and remitting obligations of the wireline carriers, which have been the operative norm for a number of years, under both the Commission's 1990 orders at M-00900239 and the existing policy statements. Voluntary compliance with the policy statements have been spotty, leading to extended collection efforts, estimated surcharges and inequitable allocations of the costs of the funded programs. The regulation will not create any significant new burdens on affected wireline carriers. The reporting and remitting forms will stay the same, but the filing dates and filing destinations will change. The Annual Access Line Summary Report (number of lines in service as of a particular day) will be due 2 months earlier than under the existing policy statements. The Annual Tracking Report (list of monthly remittances for a prior 12-month period) will be due 1 month earlier than under the existing policy statements. Both forms would be filed with the Commission's Secretary's Bureau.
The Commission views the regulation as a tool to ensure timely, accurate and equitable funding of the programs mandated by the Universal Telecommunications and Print Media Access Act (35 P. S. §§ 6701.1--6701.4).
Public Meeting held
August 21, 2008Commissioners Present: James H. Cawley, Chairperson; Robert F. Powelson; Tyrone J. Christy; Kim Pizzingrilli; Wayne E. Gardner
Rulemaking to Amend 52 Pa. Code Chapter 63 (relating to Telephone Service) regarding Operation of Telecommunications Relay Service System and Relay Service Fund; Doc. No. L-2008-2020165 Final Rulemaking Order By the Commission:
On January 25, 2008, the Commission entered a Proposed Rulemaking Order to codify provisions of existing policy statements1 so as to ensure adequate Telephone Relay Service (TRS) fund balances, timely remittance of TRS fund revenues, and cooperation with TRS fund audits. The January 25, 2008, Order was served on all local exchange carriers (LECs) in this Commonwealth and the Pennsylvania Telephone Association, was published at 38 Pa.B. 2056 (May 3, 2008), and provided for a 30-day comment period. No comments from parties affected by the regulation were received. On July 2, 2008, the Commission received written confirmation from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) that IRRC had no objections, comments or recommendation to offer and that if the IRRC were to deliver the final-form regulation without revision and the committees take no action, the regulation will be deemed approved. This final-form regulation order delivers the final-form regulation without revision as set forth in Annex A.
Background
On May 24, 1990, at Docket No. M-00900239, the Commission approved the implementation of the Pennsylvania TRS2 and established a funding mechanism. The TRS assists people with hearing and/or speech disabilities to use the telephone and seeks to ensure equivalent access to telecommunications services. In 1996, the Telecommunications Device Distribution Program (TDDP) was implemented to provide assistive customer premises equipment based upon income-level criteria. In 2005, the Print Media Access System Program (PMASP) was added to provide newspaper reading services for persons who are blind. These three programs are now collectively codified in the Universal Telecommunications and Print Media Access Act.
Costs associated with the intrastate operations of the three programs are recovered from residential and business wireline access line end-users by a monthly surcharge (TRS Surcharge) on local service telephone bills. The TRS Surcharge is recalculated annually and adjusted as necessary, effective July 1, based upon projected costs of the various programs and the number of wireline access lines in service as of December 31 of the preceding year. LECs remit the TRS Surcharge collection revenues monthly to the TRS Fund Administrator. See annual orders at TRS, Docket No. M-00900239.
In 1999, to ensure the successful operation of the TRS fund, the Commission, at Docket No. M-00900239, adopted the existing policy statements. The intent of the policy statement was to address the difficulties that the Commission was experiencing in collecting the surcharge revenues and to foster cooperation from the LECs in submitting the documentation required to conduct annual audits of the TRS fund.
The existing policy statements provide that LECs submit their annual access line summary reports3 to the Bureau of Fixed Utility Services (FUS) by April 30. The Commission uses the annual summary line count information to establish adjustments to the TRS Surcharge by June 1, and the LECs implement any required TRS Surcharge changes by July 1. The existing policy statements also provide that the LECs submit their annual tracking reports to FUS by April 30, tallying the monthly collected TRS surcharge revenues. The tracking reports cover a 12-month period from April though March. The tracking information is used by the Commission to reconcile the TRS Fund. 52 Pa. Code §§ 69.511--69.513.4
Under 66 Pa.C.S. § 3015(e)(3) and (6), the Commission is expressly authorized to require the submission of annual access line summary reports and annual tracking reports.
Discussion
Our policy statements addressing filing dates, payment obligations and enforcement procedures have been in effect since 1999. This final-form regulation order will codify portions of the policy statements as a regulation in § 63.37 (relating to operation of the Telecommunications Relay Service System and Relay Service Fund). Specifically, the new regulations: (1) establish the due date for filing annual access line summary reports as March 1; (2) establish the due date for filing annual tracking reports as March 31;5 (3) direct that both reports be filed with the Commission's Secretary's Bureau; and (4) establish enforcement procedures for inaccurate, late, or missing TRS reports and for inaccurate, late, or missing TRS fund payments.
Promulgating parameters for the annual reporting and monthly payments in our regulations ensures that all LECs are held to the same standards for compliance and ensure that the binding norms are properly imposed in compliance with the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. §§ 745.1--745.14).
The purpose for the policy statements was to ensure accurate TRS Surcharge calculations, accurate and timely remittance of TRS Surcharge revenues, and cooperation with audit procedures. These goals remain equally valid today and will be adequately served by the new regulation. The Bureau of Audits (Audits) uses the tracking report data to conduct periodic audits of the TRS fund. A LEC's failure to submit its annual tracking report on a timely and accurate basis impairs Audits' ability to complete the required audits of the Fund. Timely and accurate remittance of the TRS revenues and timely and accurate filing of the tracking reports are essential to properly capitalize the Fund by the surcharge revenue and the related investment income that the revenues would have earned.
Similarly, FUS uses the access line counts to calculate the next years' TRS surcharge. A LEC's failure to timely submit its annual access line summary report or to accurately report its access line information impairs FUS' ability to calculate the proper TRS surcharge rates. Receipt of timely and accurate annual access line summary reports is essential to avoid underfunding (or overfunding) the TRS Fund.
The new regulation addresses LEC failures to submit accurate and timely access line count reports, annual tracking reports, and payments. Under the new regulation, LECs that fail to comply with the payment obligations will be subject to reimbursement obligations.6 Under 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 3301 and 3302 (relating to civil penalties for violations; and criminal penalties for violations), the Commission will utilize all available remedies to ensure compliance with the payment and reporting requirements, including interest on late payments, fines, and/or the revocation of certificates of public.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5.1(j.2) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.1(j.2)), the Commission submitted a copy of the final-form regulation, which was published as proposed at 38 Pa.B. 2056 (May 3, 2008), and served on April 17, 2008, to IRRC and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Consumer Affairs and Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure (Committees) for review and comment. In compliance with section 5(c) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(c)), the Commonwealth also provided the Committees with copies of all comments received, as well as other documentation.
This final-form regulation was deemed approved by the Committees on November 5, 2008, and was deemed approved by IRRC on November 6, 2008, in accordance with section 5(g) Regulatory Review Act.
Conclusion
Accordingly, under sections 501, 1501, 3015 and 3019 of the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 501, 1501, 3015 and 3019; sections 201 and 202 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) (45 P. S. §§ 1201 and 1202), and the associated regulations in 1 Pa. Code §§ 7.1, 7.1 and 7.5; section 204(b) of the Commonwealth Attorneys Act (71 P. S. § 732.204(b)); section 5 of the Regulatory Review Act; and section 612 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 232) and the associated regulations in 4 Pa. Code §§ 7.231--7.234, the Commission finds that the regulation to be codified in 52 Pa. Code § 63.37 should be approved as set forth in Annex A,7 as follows. The Commission further find that the policy statements in §§ 69.511--69-513 should be withdrawn as of the date the regulation in § 63.37 becomes effective, which will be accomplished by a separate order entered at Doc. No. M-00900249; Therefore,
It is ordered that:
1. The regulations of the Commission, 52 Pa. Code Chapter 63, are amended by adding § 63.37 regarding the operation of the Telecommunications Relay Service System and Relay Service Fund, to read as set forth in Annex A.
2. The Secretary shall certify this order and Annex A and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
3. The Secretary shall submit this order and Annex A to the Office of Attorney General for approval as to legality.
4. The Secretary shall submit this order and Annex A to the Governor's Budget Office for review of fiscal impact.
5. The Secretary shall submit this order and Annex A for review by the designated standing committees of both houses of the General Assembly, and for review and approval by IRRC.
6. A copy of this order and Annex A shall be served upon the Pennsylvania Telephone Association and all local exchange carriers in this Commonwealth.
7. A copy of this order be filed at Docket No. M-00900239.
8. The contact persons for this rulemaking are Christopher Hepburn, Bureau of Fixed Utility Services, (717) 214-9115 (technical) and Louise Fink Smith, Assistant Counsel, Law Bureau, (717) 787-8866 (legal). Alternate formats of this document are available to persons with disabilities and may be obtained by contacting Sherri DelBiondo, Regulatory Coordinator, Law Bureau, (717) 772-4597.
9. The final-form regulation embodied in Annex A shall become effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
By the Commission
JAMES J. MCNULTY,
Secretary(Editor's Note: For a document rescinding statements of policy which relates to this final rulemaking, see 38 Pa.B. 6961 (December 20, 2008).)
(Editor's Note: For the text of the order of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission relating to this document, see 38 Pa.B. 6429 (November 22, 2008).)
Fiscal Note: Fiscal Note 57-261 remains valid for the final adoption of the subject regulation.
Annex A TITLE 52. PUBLIC UTILITIES PART I. PUBLIC UTILTIY COMMISSION Subpart C. FIXED SERVICE UTILITIES CHAPTER 63. TELEPHONE SERVICE Subchapter C. ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS § 63.37. Operation of the Telecommunications Relay Service System and Relay Service Fund.
(a) General.
(1) The Pennsylvania Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), the Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf Program and the Print Media Access System Program are codified in the Universal Telecommunications and Print Media Access Act (35 P. S. §§ 6701.1--6701.4). The Relay Service Fund (Fund) covers eligible intrastate costs associated with the operation of the three programs. The costs are recovered from residential and business wireline access line end-users by a monthly surcharge on local service telephone bills.
(2) To permit the Commission to effectively monitor and evaluate the revenue and cost data associated with the Fund, each local exchange carrier (LEC) shall file an annual tracking report delineating monthly revenues collected and remittances for late payments for the preceding 12-month year and an annual access line summary report detailing its access line count as of December 31 of the preceding year. The tracking data are used for periodic audits of the Fund. The access line counts are used to calculate the next year's TRS surcharge.
(b) Timely remittance of revenues.
(1) LECs shall remit the TRS surcharge revenues to the Fund administrator by the 20th of each month for revenues collected during the prior month.
(2) Delays or inaccuracies in remitting revenues to the Fund result in lost earnings by the Fund. An LEC that is late in remitting surcharge revenues shall remit an additional contribution to the Fund to make up for lost Fund earnings. The additional contribution shall be based upon the published prime rate in effect at the time of the missed due date and shall cover the period beginning at the date of the occurrence of the failure to remit and continue until the surcharge revenues are properly remitted to the Fund.
(c) Filing of TRS reports.
(1) Annual tracking report. An LEC shall submit its annual tracking report to the Secretary's Bureau by March 31 of each year, in the format and detail specified on the Commission's web site (www.puc.state.pa.us).
(2) Annual access line summary report. An LEC shall submit its annual access line summary report to the Secretary's Bureau by March 1 of each year, in the format and detail specified on the Commission's web site.
(d) Failure to remit TRS revenues or to file TRS reports. An LEC that fails to timely and accurately submit a tracking report or an access line summary report or that fails to timely and accurately submit TRS surcharge revenues may need to reimburse the Fund under subsection (b). The Commission will utilize all available remedies to ensure reporting and remittance compliance including fines and the revocation of Certificates of Public Convenience.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 08-2287. Filed for public inspection December 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 The Commission's Policy Statement at 52 Pa. Code §§ 69.511--69.513 became effective on April 17, 1999, upon publication at 29 Pa.B. 2034. The Policy Statement establishes parameters for collecting information necessary to manage the TRS fund.
2 See http://www.puc.state.pa.us/telecom/telecom_relay_service.aspx for complete information on TRS. The traditional TRS program is also known as PA Relay.
3 The Annual Access Line Summary Report and the Annual Tracking Report forms may be downloaded from the Commission's web site at: http://www.puc.state.pa.us/general/onlineforms.aspx#TelecommunicationsForms.
4 The Policy Statement may be found online at
http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/052/chapter69/s69.511.html;
http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/052/chapter69/s69.512.html, and
http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/052/chapter69/s69.513.html. It provides as follows:
§ 69.511. General.
(a) On May 24, 1990, at Docket M-900239, entitled ''Pennsylvania Telecommunications Relay Services,'' the Commission granted approval of the implementation of the Pennsylvania Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) for people with hearing or speech, or both, disabilities. A Relay Service Fund (Fund) was established to recover charges associated with the operation of the TRS. The Commission established a mechanism to adequately compensate the Fund through a monthly end-user billing surcharge, based on access lines, collected by Pennsylvania's Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs). These revenues are to be remitted on a monthly basis.
(b) To effectively monitor and evaluate the revenue data, the Commission established a tracking schedule for the filing of tracking reports. All ILECs and CLECs are required to file an Annual Tracking Report and an Annual Access Line Summary Report by April 30th. These reports require that the ILECs and CLECs break out the requisite data consistent with the current report forms. Further, the Annual Tracking Report requires that the data be broken out on a monthly basis beginning with April of the previous year and ending with March of the current year. The surcharge revenue collections data for each month includes the actual surcharge revenues collected from a company's end-users that month and remitted to the Fund by the 20th of the following month. The Commission directed the Bureau of Audits to conduct an annual audit of the TRS in its order dated September 3, 1992.
§ 69.512. Timely remittance of revenues.
(a) Under existing Commission Orders, Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) which collect revenues owed to the Relay Service Fund (Fund) are to remit these revenues to the Fund by the 20th of each month for revenues collected during the prior month. Delays in remitting revenues to the Fund result in lost earnings. The Commission intends to ensure that the Fund is properly funded through a reimbursement by the companies which fail to timely remit revenues.
(b) To properly reimburse the Fund, each company which is late in remitting surcharge revenues will be required to calculate for lost earnings based upon the base rate on corporate loans posted by at least 75436000f the Nation's 30 largest banks, also known as the ''prime rate,'' beginning at the date of the occurrence of the error and continue until the revenues are properly remitted to the Fund.
§ 69.513. Filing of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) reports.
(a) Annual tracking report. Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) are currently required to submit an Annual Tracking Report to the Bureau of Fixed Utility Services by April 30th which delineates the monthly revenues collected based upon the number of each company's access lines. A company's failure to submit its Annual Tracking Report by April 30th impairs the Bureau of Audits' ability to complete the required annual audit of the Fund. The Annual Tracking Reports effectively include revenues actually collected during the prior 12-month period. The timely filing of the tracking reports is essential to avoid underfunding the Relay Service Fund (Fund) by the surcharge revenue and related investment income which the revenues would have earned.
(b) Annual Access Line Summary Report. ILECs and CLECs are currently required to submit an Annual Access Line Summary Report to the Bureau of Fixed Utility Services by April 30th detailing each company's access line count. A company's failure to submit its Annual Access Line Summary Report or to correctly report its access line information, [sic] impairs the ability of the Bureau of Fixed Utility Services to establish the proper TRS surcharge rates. The receipt of a timely and correct Annual Access Line Summary Report is essential to avoid underfunding the TRS Fund.
(c) An ILEC or CLEC which fails to timely remit an Annual Tracking Report may need to reimburse the Fund under § 69.512 (relating to timely remittance of revenues). The Commission may also utilize all available remedies to ensure reporting and remittance compliance including fines and the revocation of Certificates of Public Convenience.5 Section 63.37(a)(2) provides that the annual tracking report ''delineat[es] monthly revenues collected and remittances for late payments for the preceding 12-month year.'' Absent further notice, the reporting year will be March through February.
6 Specifically, § 63.37(b)(2) provides that LECs who are late in remitting surcharge revenues to the Fund must remit additional contributions to make up for lost Fund earnings due to the late remittance. Section 63.37(d) provides that LECs who do not comply with the reporting and payment requirements will be required to reimburse the Fund if the Fund experiences a loss due to their failure to comply.
7 The Annex A attached hereto reflects the minor editorial changes made by the Pennsylvania Bulletin upon initial publication and no other changes from the originally published Annex A.
