Last August we reported that most, but not all, of the H Block service rules adopted by the Commission in June were scheduled to take effect in September. The three exceptions: Sections 1.2105(a)(2)(xii), 27.12, and 27.17, all of which involve new “information collections” requiring Paperwork Reduction Act review by the Office of Management and Budget. Now we’re one step closer to getting all the new rules in place. By a public notice in the Federal Register, the Commission has announced that OMB has signed off on the revised 1.2105(a)(2)(xii), so that section (as revised) is now effective. (Turns out the OMB’s sign-off happened on September 17. We don’t know why the FCC held off a month and a half to spread the word.)

The new version of Section 1.2105(a)(2)(xii) requires

a party seeking to participate in any auction conducted pursuant to the 2012 Spectrum Act to certify in its application, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant and all of the related individuals and entities required to be disclosed on its application are not person(s) who have been, for reasons of national security, barred by any agency of the Federal Government from bidding on a contract, participating in an auction, or receiving a grant and thus statutorily prohibited from participating in such a Commission auction.

No word on the other two not-yet-effective rules. Check back here for updates on that front.