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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Amendment to Part 63 of the ) Commission's Rules to Revise the) Secondary Reporting Location for) Telephone Network Outages ) ORDER Adopted: July 3, 1997Released: July 11, 1997 By the Commission: 1.Section 63.100 of the Commission's rules requires carriers to notify the Commission's Monitoring Watch Officer at the Commission headquarters when certain telephone network service outages occur. Section 63.100 also permits notification of the "Officer on duty at the FCC's facility at Grand Island, Nebraska" on a "secondary basis." This order amends the rule by changing the secondary facility to the Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, Maryland, or such other facility which the Commission may designate by regulation or (in the case of emergency) by public announcement. The order also clarifies the conditions under which notification of the secondary facility is appropriate. 2.An outage is "a significant degradation in the ability of a customer to establish and maintain a channel of communications as a result of failure or degradation in the performance of a carrier's network." Section 63.100 defines the types of outages that carriers must report to the Commission, the deadlines for reporting, and the information required to be reported for each type of outage. The section requires that for each type of reportable outage: Notification must be served on the Commission's Monitoring Watch Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC headquarters building in Washington, D.C., or on a secondary basis it may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's facility at Grand Island, Nebraska. Reports must be made by "facsimile or other record means." 3.The Commission has closed the Grand Island facility, so we are now designating the Commission's Columbia Operations Center as the secondary facility. We are also clarifying that this facility is to be notified only when a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington prevents notification being made to the headquarters Duty Officer. This clarification merely states explicitly what has been Commission and carrier practice since the early 1990's. During that period, the headquarters' Monitoring Watch Office has never been closed or otherwise unable to receive outage reports, and carriers have reported outages by mistake to the Grand Island facility on only one or two occasions. 4.For the reasons set forth above, we are modifying the language in the relevant paragraphs of Section 63.100 to read as follows: Notification must be served on the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement, only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. 5.We find that the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act do not apply here because we are changing a "rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice." Moreover, even if the rules at issue were not matters of agency organization, these requirements would not apply because they are unnecessary. Clarification of the conditions that permit notification of a backup facility requires no notice and comment because, as indicated above, it merely codifies existing and well-understood practices. Notice and comment on the replacement of Grand Island as a secondary facility is unnecessary because the change, which, in essence, merely substitutes one telephone number for another (because reports may be made by facsimile), does not affect any rights or obligations of the public. 6.The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.  601, et seq., does not apply to this proceeding because we are adopting this rule without notice and comment. See 5 U.S.C.  603(a) and 604(a). 7.The congressional review procedures of the Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C.  801, et seq., do not apply here because this revision of Section 63.100(e) is not a rule within the meaning of 5 U.S.C.  804(3)(C) (excluding from congressional review rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-agency parties). 8.We find that good cause exists for requiring these rule changes to become effective upon publication in the Federal Register. Section 63.100, by referring to an agency facility that no longer exists, currently imposes a requirement that is impossible for carriers to meet. Elimination of such a regulation at the earliest possible time is clearly in the public interest. Moreover, the carriers should have no difficulty complying immediately with the rule changes because, as discussed above, the changes consist merely of a codification of existing practices and a change in the secondary location at which the Commission will receive reports by facsimile (or other record means). 9.Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Sections 1, 4(i), 201-205 and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  151, 154 (i), 201-205, and 303(r) and Section 553(b)(A) of the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C.  553(b)(A), that Part 63 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. 63.100 IS AMENDED as set forth in the Appendix below, effective on the date of publication in the Federal Register. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William F. Caton Acting Secretary APPENDIX Rule Changes Part 63 of Chapter I of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows: PART 63--EXTENSION OF LINES AND DISCONTINUANCE, REDUCTION, OUTAGE AND IMPAIRMENT OF SERVICE BY COMMON CARRIERS; AND GRANTS OF RECOGNIZED PRIVATE OPERATING AGENCY STATUS 1. The authority citation for part 63 continues to read as follows: Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 201-205, 218, 403 and 533, unless otherwise noted. 2. Section 63.100 is amended as follows: a. in paragraph (b) remove the third sentence and add two sentences in its place; b. in paragraph (c) remove the third sentence and add two sentences in its place; c. in paragraph (d) remove the third sentence and add two sentences in its place; d. in paragraph (e) remove the third sentence of the introductory text and add two sentences in its place; e. in paragraph (e)(2) remove the first sentence and add two sentences in its place; and f. in paragraph (h)(2) remove the second sentence and add two sentences in its place.  63.100 Notification of service outage. * * * * * (b) * * * Notification must be served on the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. * * * (c) * * * Notification must be served on the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. * * * (d) * * * Notification must be served on the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. * * * (e) * * * Notification must be served on the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. * * * (1) * * * (2) If there is to be a report to the Commission, a written or oral report will be given by the NCS within 120 minutes of an outage to the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. * * * (3) * * * * * * * * (h) (1) * * * (2) * * * Notification must be served on the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, D.C. Notification may be served on the Commission's Watch Officer on duty at the FCC's Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, MD, or at such other facility designated by the Commission by regulation or (at the time of the emergency) by public announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency in Washington, D.C. * * * * * * * *