Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service; Multi-Association Group Plan for Regulation of Interstate Services of Non-Price Cap Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers and Interexchange Carriers.

This document announces the effective date of the amendments to our rules for providing high-cost universal service support to rural telephone companies for the next five years based upon the proposals made by the Rural Task Force. We believe these modifications will strike a fair and reasonable balance among the universal service principles and goals enumerated in the Telecommunications Act. The Fourteenth Report and Order and Twenty-Second Order on Reconsideration in CC Docket No. 96-45, and the Report and Order in CC Docket No. 00- 256 was published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2001. Some of the rules contained information collection requirements.