MiCTATECH | E-Rate News Brief 5-29-09

Schools and Libraries News Brief

May 29, 2009

TIP OF THE WEEK: Before PIA review starts, review your Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL) carefully and submit any allowable corrections to USAC as soon as possible. Remember that the RAL correction deadline is 20 days after the date of the letter.

Commitments for Funding Years 2009 and 2008

Funding Year 2009. USAC will release FY2009 Wave 6 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) June 2. This wave will include commitments for approved Priority 1 requests (Telecommunications Services and Internet Access) for schools and libraries at all discount levels. As of May 29, FY2009 commitments total just over $316 million.

Funding Year 2008. USAC will release FY2008 Wave 54 FCDLs June 3. This wave will include commitments for approved Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance requests at 88% and above and denials at 86% and below. As of May 29, FY2008 commitments total over $2.27 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

Filing Form 486 Early

Now that USAC has started issuing funding commitments for FY2009, applicants can check to see if they are eligible to file FCC Form 486, Receipt of Service Confirmation Form, early. Form 486 notifies USAC that invoices can be paid, provides the name(s) of the USAC-certified Technology Plan Approver(s) that approved the appropriate technology plans, and certifies the status under the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

Form 486 can be filed early – that is, before the start of services – under the following conditions:

USAC has issued a positive commitment for a Funding Request Number (FRN) on an FCDL,
The applicant has confirmed with the service provider featured on the FRN that services will start in July (the first month of the funding year),
The applicant can accurately make all of the certifications on Block 4 of the form (see below), and
The Form 486 is filed online or postmarked on or before July 31.

Filing a Form 486 early allows the service provider to provide – and the applicant to receive – services promptly at the start of the funding year. For services that are continuing from the previous funding year, this early filing also helps prevent discounted services from being interrupted.

Remember that when you file Form 486, you are providing information about and certifying compliance with program rules relating to technology planning and CIPA. As a reminder, we are including summary information about those program requirements below.

Technology planning requirements

Here are the basic requirements of a technology plan:

It must be created (written) before the Form 470 is filed.
It must cover all 12 months of the funding year for which you are applying.
It must contain all five required elements (see below).
It must be approved by a USAC-certified Technology Plan Approver (TPA) before the Form 486 is filed or services start, whichever is earlier.
In general, it cannot cover more than three years.

Furthermore, it is helpful if you place the creation date month and year on your technology plan cover page. Remember that you are not required to have a technology plan if you are seeking discounts only for basic telephone service.

If you are filing Form 486 early, your technology plan must have been approved on or before the date your Form 486 is filed. You also must be prepared to provide the name of the organization that approved your technology plan. If you must list more than one organization – for example, if you are filing a consortium application and more than one organization approved the technology plans of your members – you must be prepared to provide the names of all the appropriate agencies.

CIPA requirements

In general, CIPA requires schools and libraries receiving discounts on Internet Access, Internal Connections, and/or Basic Maintenance services to certify that they are enforcing a policy of Internet safety that includes measures to block or filter Internet access for both minors and adults to certain visual depictions.

To receive discounted services, your school or library authority must certify that:

You are in compliance with CIPA, or
You are undertaking actions to comply with CIPA, or
CIPA does not apply because you are receiving discounts for Telecommunications Services only.

There are three basic requirements for CIPA: a technology protection measure, an Internet safety policy, and a reasonable public notice and public hearing on the policy.

In general, once you successfully file a Form 486 for a funding commitment for Internet Access, Internal Connections, and/or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections, you must be in compliance with CIPA at the beginning of the next funding year.

For detailed information on the requirements of CIPA compliance, you should refer to the CIPA guidance on the USAC website.

For more information on Form 486, refer to the Form 486 Instructions.

MiCTA: A non-profit association of educational, governmental and nonprofit entities

E-Rate News Brief 5-29-09