Ex Parte Rules Reform: Making the Process "Transparently" Translucent?
Recently (July 15th), Communications Daily ("Comm Daily") reported that on June 12th, Commissioner Copps, as Acting Chairman, had circulated to the other Commissioners a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") that would propose new rules for reporting "ex partes". The existing ex parte rules require parties who have private, "one-on-one" meetings with Commissioners, or Commission staff, to file a notice by the end of the next business day explaining who from the FCC and who from the interested party attended the meeting, as well as a short summary of what was discussed. Moreover, if a written presentation was used, the filing party must include a copy of the materials used in the meeting.
The proposed new rules would require parties that have one-on-one meetings with Commissioners, and Commission staff, to provide more detailed information about the meetings in the subsequent notice filing. The theory behind the proposed rules is that they will help to "fix" the FCC by imposing more "transparency" and "openness" on the Commission's process.
I wish the FCC the best of luck, should it decide to "reform" the ex parte reporting process, but I have to concede that I am a little skeptical as to whether these proposed changes will have the desired effect. Why? Well, it's like that old expression that you can't be just "a little" pregnant.
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