The Schools and Libraries Division has established a more formal procedure for reporting that equipment supported with E-rate discounts has been transferred to another site.
In December 2003, the Federal Communications Commission announced a rule that specified that equipment purchased with E-rate discounts could not be moved or transferred for a period of three years, unless a facility closed, either permanently or temporarily. The SLD said that when equipment is transferred within the three-year period, applicants must notify the SLD by mail, fax or e-mail. No advance notification is necessary when it occurs after the three-year period, but applicants should retain their own records on where the equipment is located.
Details of what information must be provided in the transfer notification is available at https://www.usac.org/e-rate/applicant-process/before-youre-done/transfer-of-equipment/. This process also covers instances in which it is anticipated that the transferred equipment will be returned to the original site at some date in the future.
The SLD announcement also specified that “both the transferring and receiving entities” must maintain detailed records for a period of five years after the date of the transfer. Previous document retention rules specified that documents had to be retained for a period of five years after the installation date or the last date of service delivery, so the new requirement could further extend the length of time that documents would need to be retained.
