The fees established by sections 1.1152 through 1.1156 may be waived, reduced or deferred in specific instances, on a case-by-case basis, where good cause is shown and where waiver, reduction or deferral of the fee would promote the public interest. Requests for waivers, reductions or deferrals of regulatory fees for entire categories of payors will not be considered.
(a) Requests for waivers, reductions or deferrals will be acted upon by the Managing Director with the concurrence of the General Counsel. All such filings within the scope of the fee rules shall be filed as a separate pleading and clearly marked to the attention of the Managing Director. Any such request that is not filed as a separate pleading will not be considered by the Commission.
(1) If the request for waiver, reduction or deferral is accompanied by a fee payment, the request must be submitted to the Commission's lockbox bank at the address for the appropriate service set forth in Secs. 1.1152 through 1.1156 of this subpart.
(2) If no fee payment is submitted, the request should be filed with the Commission's Secretary.
(b) Deferrals of fees, if granted, will be for a designated period of time not to exceed six months.
(c) Petitions for waiver of a regulatory fee must be accompanied by the required fee and FCC Form 159. Submitted fees will be returned if a waiver is granted. Waiver requests that do not include the required fees or forms will be dismissed unless accompanied by a petition to defer payment due to financial hardship, supported by documentation of the financial hardship.
(d) Petitions for reduction of a fee must be accompanied by the full fee payment and Form 159. Petitions for reduction accompanied by a fee payment must be addressed to the Federal Communications Commission, Attention: Petitions, Post Office Box 979084, St. Louis, Missouri, 63197-9000. Petitions for reduction that do not include the required fees or forms will be dismissed unless accompanied by a petition to defer payment due to financial hardship, supported by documentation of the financial hardship.
(e) Petitions for waiver of a fee based on financial hardship, including bankruptcy, will not be granted, even if otherwise consistent with Commission policy, to the extent that the total regulatory and application fees for which waiver is sought exceeds $500,000 in any fiscal year, including regulatory fees due in any fiscal year, but paid prior to the due date. In computing this amount, the amounts owed by an entity and its subsidiaries and other affiliated entities will be aggregated. In cases where the claim of financial hardship is not based on bankruptcy, waiver, partial waiver, or deferral of fees above the $500,000 cap may be considered on a case-by-case basis. [60 FR 34034, June 29, 1995, as amended at 65 FR 78989, Dec. 18, 2000; 66 FR 36206, July 11, 2001; 68 FR 48469, Aug. 13, 2003; 73 FR 9029, Feb. 19, 2008; 76 FR 49364, Aug. 10, 2011]