Administrative Procedure:
De Minimis Standard
Further Detail:
USAC does not seek recovery of funds when the cost of seeking repayment is greater than the aggregated repayment amount.
Rules that this furthers:
1. In the Schools and Libraries Fifth Order, the Commission directed USAC not to seek recovery of funds when the administrative costs of seeking recovery exceed the amount of funds to be recovered. Schools and Libraries Fifth Order, 19 FCC Rcd at 15819, FCC 04-190, ¶ 35. The Commission also directed USAC to submit information regarding the administrative costs of seeking recovery so that a de minimis amount could be established. Id. USAC submitted this information to the Commission in January 2005.
2. USAC’s authority to adjust funding commitments and recovery funds is established by the following orders: Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 97-21, Order, FCC 99-291 (1999); Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 97-21, Order, 15 FCC Rcd 22975, FCC 00-350 (2000); Schools and Libraries Fourth Order, CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 97-21, 02-6, 19 FCC Rcd 15252, FCC 04-181 (2004); Schools and Libraries Fifth Order, CC Docket No. 02-6, 19 FCC Rcd 15808, FCC 04-190.
3. 47 C.F.R § 54.701(a) requires USAC to “administer[ ] the universal service support mechanisms in an efficient, effective, and competitively neutral manner.”
4. 47 C.F.R. § 54.702(g) requires USAC to take “administrative action intended to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.”
5. 47 C.F.R. § 54.708 establishes a de minimis exemption for carrier contributions to the Universal Service Fund.
How this furthers program integrity:
USAC administers the program in an efficient and effective manner to reduce operating costs by conserving administrative resources and protecting against waste by not seeking recovery when the administrative cost of recovering the funds is greater than the amount for which recovery is sought.