Protecting Against National Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through the Equipment Authorization Program

What it does

The Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) issues a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on a broad set of additional measures to strengthen the security and integrity of its equipment authorization program. The measures include bifurcating the Covered List into producer/provider-based and production location-based categories; addressing "white labeling" of covered equipment; hardware and software bill of materials (HBOM/SBOM) disclosure requirements; further prohibitions or presumptions against authorizing equipment containing Covered List components or software; certification requirements for devices in Covered List sectors; reforms to equipment importation, marketing, and pre-authorization operation rules; restrictions on use of the FCC logo; streamlined revocation procedures; codification of permissive-change waivers for software, firmware, and hardware updates to covered equipment; codified definitions for UAS, UAS critical components, and routers; term limits on equipment authorizations; registration of Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) devices; modernization of the Commission's equipment authorization database; updates to submarine cable Covered List rules; and a proposal to require a U.S.-based liable party for FCC-certified equipment.

The Federal Communications Commission's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What it would change

3 parts of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

47 CFR 1, 47 CFR 2, 47 CFR 15

What happens next and when

Comments are due on or before September 8, 2026 and reply comments are due on or before September 21, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Title 47 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register