FCC employees returning to work today will be faced with a backlog of issues. Which items will be prioritized and which ones can wait?
The federal government shutdown spanned 43 days and drastically limited activity at the FCC. It suspended normal operations with some public facing filing systems and databases remaining available while others were not.
REC Networks reports that as of 2:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, the Emergency Alert System Test Reporting System is now available. The deadline set for the filing of ETRS Form One for the 2025 test cycle is Thu., Nov. 20 at 11:59 PM ET.
The commissions’ other filing systems, which include LMS, ULS and OPIF, remain unavailable. The FCC has since announced that OPIF will be available for use beginning on Tuesday.
Approximately 80% of the FCC’s staff has been furloughed and not working during the shutdown, which means a large portion of the commission’s day-to-day work is severely backlogged, experts say.
In a public notice released Thursday morning, the FCC established a new deadline for completing most filings. FCC filings due between Oct. 1 and Nov. 17 (Monday) are now due Tuesday, Nov. 18, with the possibility of further extensions for specific systems that require it, according to the commission.
“FCC staff will work in good faith with parties to resolve and address issues that arise with an influx of new filings and requests,” the FCC said in the notice. “We anticipate that complications may arise in some cases. FCC staff will bring a flexible, commonsense approach to resolving the range of issues that may arise upon re-opening in these circumstances.”
The revised timeline for filings doesn’t surprise experts who follow the FCC. David Oxenford, who practices in legal and regulatory affairs at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, expected a multi-tiered approach once the FCC returned to work “given that, whenever there is a heavy volume of documents that are due to be uploaded to FCC document processing systems, the FCC’s systems tend to run slow or crash.”
Even now, the FCC is asking “parties to limit filings and submissions except where immediate authority is needed and to refrain from submitting filings seeking additional relief from filing deadlines for the time being.”
On Thursday, the FCC said the extension of filing deadlines does not apply to filings in the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), or to filings related to spectrum auction activities.
In addition, any Special Temporary Authorities (STAs) that would have expired from Oct. 1, through Nov. 17, are extended at least until Nov. 18, except to the extent that such STAs relate to activities authorized under the FCC’s rules.
Even with the FCC’s extension of filing deadlines, Frank Montero, co-managing partner at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, says broadcasters should expect processing delays once filing systems are reactivated.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr took to X on Wednesday to assure broadcasters that FCC staff will work closely with stakeholders to address the range of questions that will arise and the potential high volume of filings that folks will be seeking to make.
“For instance, we won’t be requiring that both comment and reply comments be filed on the same day. There are going to be additional extensions and tranchings,” Carr posted on social media.
Comment filing deadlines for several rulemakings were also delayed pending publication in the Federal Register. The FCC’s Public Notice released Thursday does not address comment filing deadlines.
The FCC’s next open monthly meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20, and is expected to take place.
Check back here for potentially fast-moving developments as the FCC resumes operations.
