§159a Provisions Applicable to Application and Regulatory Fees

Summary

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can set and change fees for applications and regulatory charges under sections 158 and 159, and those fee changes cannot be reviewed by a court. The FCC must tell Congress right away about any fee adjustment under 158(b) or 159(c), and must notify Congress at least 90 days before an amendment under 158(c) or 159(d) takes effect. If a fee is paid late, the FCC must add a 25 percent penalty and charge interest at the rate set in 31 U.S.C. 3717. The FCC may toss out an application for nonpayment and may cancel a license if a regulatory fee, interest, or penalty is not paid. Before revoking a license, the FCC must send a registered-mail notice and give the licensee at least 30 days to pay or explain why the charge is wrong or should be waived. A hearing is only required if the licensee raises a serious factual issue; if there is a hearing, it will use written evidence and the licensee must prove its case and may have to pay hearing costs unless it largely wins. Any revocation order must list the amount due and give 30 days to pay, and it cannot be final until the licensee finishes any court review allowed under section 402(b)(5). The FCC can waive, reduce, or delay fees or penalties for good cause in the public interest, allow large fees to be paid in installments, allow small fees to be paid in advance for up to the license term, and must set up accounting systems to handle the authorized fee changes.