Avoiding Form 486 Certification Errors:
It is always a good idea to read E-rate certifications before blindly checking all the boxes and certifying a form. On many E-rate forms, all or most of the certifications apply and must be checked prior to filing.* For a Form 486, on the other hand, the majority of the certifications do not apply to a given applicant. To the contrary, the certifications are tailored to applicant-specific situations — unfortunately not well defined in the online EPC system.**
From a processing standpoint, USAC apparently recognizes that the certifications may be confusing and it does not automatically reject or deny Form 486s with wrong or inconsistent checkmarks. However, USAC does flag these Form 486s for review. Currently, there is a significant backlog of Form 486s under review, and neither applicants nor service providers can submit FY 2017 invoices until the associated Form 486s are approved by USAC. Therefore, it pays — quite literally — to get Form 486 certifications right from the beginning.
A list of possible Form 486 certifications (with our numbering in red) is provided below, followed by explanations of each.
Certifications #1 and #2 — the first to appear during EPC’s Form 486 certification stage — generally do not apply. In particular:
- Based on its wording, certification #1 is particularly tempting to check, but its applicability is limited. Normally, a Form 486 cannot be filed until the services covered by the FRN(s) have already started, i.e., no earlier than July 1st. Certification #1 is to be used only by applicants who have been funded before the funding year begins, who want to file their Form 486s early, and who can assure USAC that the services will start sometime during the first month. Anyone filing a Form 486 on or after July 1st should not check this certification.
- Certification #2 should be used only in very special circumstances — ones we have never experienced — in which state or local procurement rules conflict with CIPA regulations.
Certifications #3, #4, and #5 are most commonly the only certifications used by CIPA-compliant applicants receiving Internet and/or any Category 2 services. Most importantly, they attest to the facts that:
- The certifier is authorized to file the Form 486.
- Related documentation, including all procurement material will be retained for at least 10 years after the service is delivered.
- The applicant is CIPA compliant.
Applicants applying for E-rate for the first time may be granted a one-year waiver of CIPA requirements as long as they are “undertaking” actions to become compliant. Three certifications address such a waiver, namely:
- Certification #6 is used by individual applicants to indicate they are currently undertaking actions to become CIPA compliant and will be in compliance next year.
- Certification #10 is used by consortium applicants to indicate that one or more of their members are not yet CIPA compliant.
- Alternatively, certification #11 indicates that no consortium members are seeking CIPA waivers.
CIPA compliance is not required if an applicant is applying for discounts on telecommunications services only. This exception applies even if the telecommunications services are used to provide Internet access services if, and only if, the applicant does not apply for E-rate discounts on the Internet service itself. Two certifications deal with the telecommunications-only situation, namely:
- Certification #7 is used by individual applicants applying only for telecommunications discounts.
- Certification #8 is used by consortium applicants applying only for telecommunications discounts.
Before a consortium applicant can certify a Form 486, it must first collect Form 479s from each of its members. Essentially, a Form 479 requires each member to certify CIPA compliance to its consortium leader so that, in turn, the leader can certify compliance in a Form 486 on behalf of all its members. A Form 479 is an unusual E-rate form in that it is filed — on paper, not online — with the consortium leader, not with USAC. As a result:
- Certification #9 is used by consortium applicants to confirm that they have collected completed Form 479s from all their members. It is obviously important for consortia to retain copies of all Form 479s received in the event of future audits.
Important note: Applicants whose EPC accounts are accessed for forms preparation and submission by different users must recognize that anyone preparing a form can check the proper certifications. But, once that form is sent to another person for certification, those checkmarks are deleted. The final form certifier must complete the certifications anew.