On February 8, 2012, the FCC denied 23 appeals due to late filing. When funds are denied or reduced, applicants and service providers have a right to appeal the decision with USAC. Appeals must be submitted within 60 days of the decision being appealed. If the 60-day appeal deadline is missed, an applicant can submit a waiver to the FCC. If “special circumstances” exist, the FCC may waive the appeal deadline.
In their last quarterly board meeting, USAC reported that they have released 449 appeal decisions since October 2011, and most of the decisions were released within 90 days of receipt of the appeal. Based on the last USAC Annual Report, the SLD received 1,959 appeals in 2010, and appeals are processed in an average of 76 days.
