• Wave 3 Scheduled for Release
• Clarification on New Form 486 Usage

The following is a summary of the E-rate News for the Week of August 13, 2001, prepared by E-Rate Central. Official SLD news appears in the “What’s New!” section of the SLD’s Web site . Additional and archived information appears elsewhere on this Web site.

Wave 3 Scheduled for Release

Wave 3 of the Funding Commitment Decision Letters (“FCDLs”) for program year four (PY4: 2001-2002) is scheduled to be mailed on Monday, August 20. Total funding in this wave is $103 million for roughly 500 applications. Through three waves, total PY4 funding is now $705 million that, allowing for an appeal reserve, is about 35% of the final figure.

The status of internal connection funding remains the same. There will be no funding for applicants with discount rates below 85%, and no final determination can yet be made for applicants at or above 85%.

Clarification on New Form 486 Usage

• Applicants needing to file a Form 486 for PY3 funding should use the NEW version (dated July 2001), not last year’s old version (dated April 2000). Blocks 2a and 2b (Page 2 of 5) of the new Form 486 clearly apply only to PY4 or later and can be disregarded for PY3. The page should be included in the filing, but none of the Item 6 boxes should be checked. Similarly, the Item 11 certification required for the Children’s Internet Protection Act (“CIPA”) does not apply to PY3. As indicated in the last bullet point in the “Notes” box on page 4, PY3 filers should skip to Item 12.
  
  
• Applicants filing a Form 486 for PY4 for services that have already begun (e.g., as of July 1, 2001) should NOT check box 6A in Block 2a. This is not immediately obvious from the Form itself. The language in the box refers to the confirmation of services starting on or before October 28, which would seem to include services starting as early as July 1. This “Early Filing” check box is there to allow applicants to meet the October 28^th CIPA certification deadline if services have not yet started, but will start before October 28^th. This distinction becomes clear only if you read the Form 486 instructions for Block 2a (on page 16) that states: “If you are submitting Form 486 after services have started, do not check this box.” Anyone who has already submitted a Form 486 for PY4, and who checked box 6A by mistake, should not be concerned. The SLD has recognized the confusion and should catch any error when the Form is data entered.