54.507—Cap.
(a) Amount of the annual cap.
The annual funding cap on federal universal service support for schools and libraries shall be $2.25 billion per funding year. All funding authority for a given funding year that is unused in that funding year shall be carried forward into subsequent funding years for use in accordance with demand. All funds collected that are unused shall be applied to stabilize universal service contributions in accordance with the public interest and consistent with § 54.709(b) for no more than three quarters, beginning with third quarter 2002. Beginning no later than second quarter 2003, all funds collected that are unused shall be carried forward into subsequent funding years for use in the schools and libraries support mechanism in accordance with the public interest and notwithstanding the annual cap.
(1) Amount of unused funds.
The Administrator shall report to the Commission, on a quarterly basis, funding that is unused from prior years of the schools and libraries support mechanism.
(2) Application of unused funds.
On an annual basis, in the second quarter of each calendar year, all funds that are collected and that are unused from prior years shall be available for use in the next full funding year of the schools and libraries mechanism in accordance with the public interest and notwithstanding the annual cap, as described in paragraph (a) of this section.
(b)
A funding year for purposes of the schools and libraries cap shall be the period July 1 through June 30.
(c) Requests.
Funds shall be available to fund discounts for eligible schools and libraries and consortia of such eligible entities on a first-come-first-served basis, with requests accepted beginning on the first of July prior to each funding year. The Administrator shall maintain on the Administrator's website a running tally of the funds already committed for the existing funding year. The Administrator shall implement an initial filing period that treats all schools and libraries filing within that period as if their applications were simultaneously received. The initial filing period shall begin on the date that the Administrator begins to receive applications for support, and shall conclude on a date to be determined by the Administrator. The Administrator may implement such additional filing periods as it deems necessary.
(d) Annual filing requirement.
Schools and libraries, and consortia of such eligible entities shall file new funding requests for each funding year no sooner than the July 1 prior to the start of that funding year. Schools, libraries, and eligible consortia must use recurring services for which discounts have been committed by the Administrator within the funding year for which the discounts were sought. The deadline for implementation of non-recurring services will be September 30 following the close of the funding year. An applicant may request and receive from the Administrator an extension of the implementation deadline for non-recurring services if it satisfies one of the following criteria:
(1)
The applicant's funding commitment decision letter is issued by the Administrator on or after March 1 of the funding year for which discounts are authorized;
(2)
The applicant receives a service provider change authorization or service substitution authorization from the Administrator on or after March 1 of the funding year for which discounts are authorized;
(3)
The applicant's service provider is unable to complete implementation for reasons beyond the service provider's control; or
(4)
The applicant's service provider is unwilling to complete installation because funding disbursements are delayed while the Administrator investigates their application for program compliance.
(e) Long term contracts.
If schools and libraries enter into long term contracts for eligible services, the Administrator shall only commit funds to cover the pro rata portion of such a long term contract scheduled to be delivered during the funding year for which universal service support is sought.
(f) Date services must be supplied.
The Administrator shall not approve funding for services received by a school or library before January 1, 1998.
(g) Rules of priority.
The Administrator shall act in accordance with paragraph (g)(1) of this section with respect to applicants that file an FCC Form 471, as described in § 54.504(c) of this part, when a filing period described in paragraph (c) of this section is in effect. The Administrator shall act in accordance with paragraph (g)(2) of this section with respect to applicants that file an FCC Form 471, as described in § 54.504(c) of this part, at all times other than within a filing period described in paragraph (c) of this section.
(1)
When the filing period described in paragraph (c) of this section closes, the Administrator shall calculate the total demand for support submitted by applicants during the filing period. If total demand exceeds the total support available for that funding year, the Administrator shall take the following steps:
(i)
The Administrator shall first calculate the demand for services listed under the telecommunications and Internet access categories on the eligible services list for all discount levels, as determined by the schools and libraries discount matrix in § 54.505(c). These services shall receive first priority for the available funding.
(ii)
The Administrator shall then calculate the amount of available funding remaining after providing support for the telecommunications and Internet access categories for all discount levels. The Administrator shall allocate the remaining funds to the requests for support for internal connections, beginning with the most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries, as determined by the schools and libraries discount matrix in § 54.505(c) of this part. Schools and libraries eligible for a 90 percent discount shall receive first priority for the remaining funds, and those funds will be applied to their requests for internal connections.
(iii)
To the extent that funds remain after the allocation described in §§ 54.507(g)(1)(i) and (ii), the Administrator shall next allocate funds toward the requests for internal connections submitted by schools and libraries eligible for an 80 percent discount, then for a 70 percent discount, and shall continue committing funds for internal connections in the same manner to the applicants at each descending discount level until there are no funds remaining.
Code of Federal Regulations
(iv)
If the remaining funds are not sufficient to support all of the funding requests within a particular discount level, Schools and Libraries Corporation shall divide the total amount of remaining support available by the amount of support requested within the particular discount level to produce a pro-rata factor. Schools and Libraries Corporation shall reduce the support level for each applicant within the particular discount level, by multiplying each applicant's requested amount of support by the pro-rata factor.
(v)
Schools and Libraries Corporation shall commit funds to all applicants consistent with the calculations described herein.
(2) Rules of priority.
When expenditures in any funding year reach the level where only $250 million remains before the cap will be reached, funds shall be distributed in accordance to the following rules of priority:
(i)
The Administrator or the Administrator's subcontractor shall post a message on the Administrator's website, notify the Commission, and take reasonable steps to notify the educational and library communities that commitments for the remaining $250 million of support will only be made to the most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries (those in the two most disadvantaged categories) for the next 30 days or the remainder of the funding year, whichever is shorter.
(ii)
The most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries (those in the two most disadvantaged categories) that have not received discounts from the universal service support mechanism in the previous or current funding years shall have exclusive rights to secure commitments for universal service support under this subpart for a 30-day period or the remainder of the funding year, whichever is shorter. If such schools and libraries have received universal service support only for basic telephone service in the previous or current funding years, they shall remain eligible for the highest priority once spending commitments leave only $250 million remaining before the funding cap is reached.
(iii)
Other economically disadvantaged schools and libraries (those in the two most disadvantaged categories) that have received discounts from the universal service support mechanism in the previous or current funding years shall have the next highest priority, if additional funds are available at the end of the 30-day period or the funding year, whichever is shorter.
(iv)
After all requests submitted by schools and libraries described in paragraphs (g)(2) and (g)(3) of this section during the 30-day period have been met, the Administrator shall allocate the remaining available funds to all other eligible schools and libraries in the order in which their requests have been received by the Administrator, until the $250 million is exhausted or the funding year ends.
[62 FR 32948, June 17, 1997]