Search Tips:
About NPRMs & NOIs
The NPRMs and NOIs database contains the full text of Notices of Proposed Rulemaking, Notices of Inquiry, and Requests for Comment released by the FCC dating back to 1964. This material is updated as frequently as it is released by the FCC.

Word or phrase in document title
Use this field to narrow your search to documents with particular words or party names in the title. You do not need to use any special punctuation or commands to search for a phrase. Simply enter the phrase the way it ordinarily appears. If a phrase contains a noise word, your search will skip over that word when searching for it. Use connector, wildcard and stemming tools to fine-tune your results.

Examples: auction
  satellite or radio
  regulatory fees
  equipment and approval




Word or Phrase
Use this field to narrow your search to cases including a word or phrase within any part of the document, including case title, text, footnotes or appendices. You do not need to use any special punctuation or commands to search for a phrase. Simply enter the phrase the way it ordinarily appears. If a phrase contains a noise word, your search will skip over that word when searching for it. Use connector, wildcard and stemming tools to fine-tune your results.

Examples: directional antenna
  internet
  radiofrequency or RF
  interference w/3 coordination




Docket Number
Use this field to restrict your search to documents with a certain FCC docket number assigned to them, e.g., CC Docket No. 96-98, WT Docket No. 03-264. The two-letter prefix in the docket number indicates the FCC Bureau in charge of the proceeding. It is not necessary to include the prefix in your search.

Examples: 96-98
  03-264


back to top  

Document Number
Use this field when you know the official FCC document number of the notice of proposed rulemaking or notice of inquiry, e.g., FCC 99-28, DA 03-3868. The document number is a unique identifier assigned to each notice that is issued by the FCC. It is located at the top of the notice itself.

Document numbers with the prefix FCC indicate that the order was issued by the full Commission. Document numbers with the prefix DA (Delegated Authority) indicate that the order was issued by one of the agency's Bureaus or Offices. The two numbers before the hyphen indicate the year the order was adopted.

It is suggested that you include the FCC or DA prefix in your search. Otherwise, your search results might include two orders: one with the FCC prefix and one with the DA prefix.

Examples: FCC 99-28
  DA 03-3868



Citation
Use this field if you know the FCC, West or Pike & Fischer citation for the case you are looking for.

Examples of FCC citations: 18 FCC Rcd 16978
  88 FCC 2d 934
Examples of West citations: 290 F3d 415
  106 S Ct 1890
  476 US 355
Examples of P&F citations: 26 CR 1417
  77 RR2d 32



Date
This field allows you to search for an NPRM or NOI by its date or restrict your search results to a certain date range. NOTE: Most FCC documents have both an "Adopted" date and a "Released" date listed under their caption. This field searches the "Released" date.

Using Connectors
Your search may consist of a group of words or phrases linked by connectors such as and and or  that indicate the relationship between them.

Examples: apple and pear « Both words must be present
  apple or pear « Either word can be present
  apple w/5 pear « Apple must occur within 5 words of pear
  apple not w/5 pear « Apple must not occur within 5 words of pear
  apple and not pear « Only apple must be present


If you use more than one connector, you should use parentheses to indicate precisely what you want to search for. For example, apple and pear or orange could mean (apple and pear) or orange, or it could mean apple and (pear or orange).

Noise words, such as if and the, are ignored in searches. » More about connectors   

Using Wildcards ( * and ?)
A search word can contain the wildcard characters * and ?. A ? in a word matches any single character, and a * matches any number of characters. The wildcard characters can be in any position in a word.

Examples: appl* « would match apple, application, etc.
  *cipl* « would match principle, participle, etc.
  appl? « would match apply and apple but not apples
  apple not w/5 pear « Apple must not occur within 5 words of pear
  ap*ed « would match applied, approved, etc


Note that use of the * wildcard character near the beginning of a word may slow search performance.


Using Stemming
You may use the ~ character to extend or stem your search to cover grammatical variations on a word.

Examples: test~ « would also find testing
  apply~ « would also find applying, applies, and apply


» More search tips  

back to top