With the temporary budget deal reached on October 16th, the FCC again opened for business on October 17. However, the FCC published a notice this morning saying that all filing deadlines that occurred during the shutdown or on or before October 21 are suspended until further notice. Outage-related filings through the NORS system are not affected. Those deadlines remain in place.

We expect the FCC to issue a series of public notices setting filing deadlines in individual proceedings over the next two days. We will post filing updates in this thread.

UPDATE: The October 22 Open Meeting is postponed. The website states that because the Commission could not issue a Sunshine Notice on October 15, the meeting is postponed. It will issue a public notice when the meeting is rescheduled. (The next regularly scheduled open meeting is November 14).

UPDATE: The October Open Meeting will be held on Monday, October 28. Rural Call Completion, 700 MHz interoperability and FirstNet will be on the agenda. The Commission waived the Sunshine Period until noon on Thursday, Oct. 24.

UPDATE: The Bureaus issued a detailed public notice resetting filing deadlines for all filings that were due between October 1 and October 21. The public notice should be consulted carefully to determine the exact impact in individual cases. Among the highlights:

• Filings that would have been due Oct. 1 through Oct. 6 are instead due Oct. 22
• Filings that would have been due Oct. 7 through Oct. 16 are extended by 16 days (the length of the government shutdown). Normal rules for calculation of the due date if the date falls on a weekend or holiday apply. Reply comments in rulemaking proceedings affected by this extension are similarly extended by 16 days.
• Filings that would be due between Oct. 17 and November 4 are due on November 4.
• Comments in the Verizon Petition for Declaratory Ruling on foreign ownership are due Oct. 25 and November 1.
• Reply comments in the e-rate reform proceeding are due November 8.
• Any filing with a statutory deadline that the Commission cannot waive is due on October 22.

In late 2011, the FCC released a Report and Order implementing provisions of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (“CVAA”) to ensure that people with disabilities have access to advanced communications services (“ACS”). Generally, ACS is one-way VoIP, electronic messaging (email, text, IM) and interoperable video conferencing.

The FCC has been implementing these requirements in stages over the past several years. The CVAA and the Report and Order complement longstanding rules that require equipment manufacturers and providers of telecommunications services (and more recently interconnected VoIP service providers) to make their products and services accessible to people with disabilities. In January, we issued a Client Advisory describing the requirements in detail.

Covered entities were required to file an annual certification with the FCC no later than April 1, 2013 that also acted as a registration as an ACS equipment manufacturer or service provider. The certification was required to identify a contact that can address consumer complaints. Before filing an informal complaint, an individual with or without a disability or a consumer group must file a Request for Dispute Assistance with the FCC containing specified information. The FCC will forward the Request to the identified contact person at the applicable manufacturer or service provider and begin a 30 day settlement process with the consumer.

These rules became effective on October 8, 2013. Once the FCC re-opens after the government shutdown, these Requests can be filed with the Commission. Covered entities should be prepared to address any Requests that may be filed.

Notably, the FCC proposes to keep 38 employees at work, despite the shutdown. These employees either are paid through resourcesother than appropriations or are needed to protect life and property during the shutdown.

The FCC's plan also outlines plans to bring back limited personnel from furlough if individual circumstances warrant emergency action by the FCC. One interesting note for telecom carriers filing tariffs with the FCC: The plan states that up to 10 employees will be necessary for a day to suspend tariffs in order to prevent them from taking effect during the shutdown.

UPDATE 4/9/11: Congress reached a resolution of the FY 2011 budget battle late last night. The President's discussion is available here, and Speaker Boehner's release is available here. Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution to avert a shutdown, and are preparing a bill to fund the government through the remainder of FY 2011. It appears, therefore, that the FCC shutdown plan will not be needed.

As expected, virtually all of the FCC's 1788 employees will be furloughed in the event of a shutdown. However, the FCC Chairman and Commissioners will still be on the job because they are not paid through annual appropriations. 15 employees in the Inspector General's office that oversee the Universal Service Fund also are not paid through appropriations, but the FCC says it may need to furlough these employees due to a lack of expected supervisors. (USAC is a non-government entity. There has been no word yet, but I expect they will remain open).

A handful of employees will be retained under the "protection of life and property" standard. In addition, one senior manager in many offices and divisions will work "as needed" to protect life or property. The FCC plan identifies the offices/divisions but does not identify the individuals.

To see the plan, click here.