Form 486 and Appeal Capability Available for FY 2017:
Form 486s and appeals for FY 2017 can now be filed in EPC. To begin filing, select the form from the list of options in the top right-hand corner of the Landing Page.
Then select the 2017 Funding Year (unavailable until last week).
Or
Form 486 Notes:
- As indicated in our E-Rate Updates and Reminders section below, the earliest Form 486 deadline for FY 2017 will be Monday, October 30th. Applicants seeking discounted billing, however, will need to file their Form 486s earlier to enable their vendors to file Service Provider Invoices (“SPIs”).
- USAC’s News Brief for July 7th, referenced below, notes that USAC is still reviewing certain Form 486s for FY 2016. Not surprisingly, the EPC status of these forms is shown as “In Review.” What is surprising is that some applicants have reported receiving Form 486 Notification Letters approving their forms, but with the associated EPC status indicators remaining “In Review.” In such cases, the applicants have reported success in filing BEAR invoices for the associated FRNs.
RFCDL/CAL/RIDF Notifications:
EPC now lists and permits the generation of the following types of decision letters for FY 2016 and FY 2017, and prospectively for FY 2018:
- RFCDL Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letter
- CAL Commitment Adjustment Letter
- RIDF Recovery of Improperly Disbursed Funds letter
If and when available, the letters may be accessed from the Landing Page by selecting the appropriate Notification Type and Funding Year.
As a general rule, applicants should be glad to receive RFCDLs which can show approvals of appeals, service substitution requests, SPIN changes, or other changes requested via a Form 500. CALs and RIDFs, on the other hand, usually indicate that previously approved funding is to be reduced or canceled, or that previously disbursed funding is to be recovered.