Following FCC TCPA Proceedings

How FCC proceedings work

1. Petition or initiative. A company, trade association, consumer group or the FCC itself raises an issue. Petitions for declaratory ruling ask the FCC to clarify how rules apply.
2. Public notice or proposal. The FCC, or one of its bureaus, seeks comment. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) or Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) proposes rule text. A public notice sets comment and reply dates.
3. Comments and ex parte filings. Anyone may file. Meetings with FCC staff must be disclosed in ex parte filings.
4. Order. The FCC adopts a Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling or other order. Bureaus such as the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issue orders under delegated authority, numbered with a "DA" prefix. Orders adopted by the full Commission carry an "FCC" prefix.
5. Federal Register and effective date. New rules usually take effect a set time after publication in the Federal Register. Some provisions also require approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act before becoming effective.
6. Court review. Parties can petition a federal court of appeals to review a final order, as in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC.

Key dockets

Open items to watch (as of October 14, 2026)

• FCC 26-67 effective date. The order becomes effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The FCC said it will release a Public Notice announcing the specific effective date. The order also includes a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with its own comment dates.
• FCC 25-76 (adopted October 28, 2025). A combined set of proposals in CG Docket Nos. 17-59, 02-278 and 25-307 and WC Docket No. 17-97, including caller identification proposals. It was published as a proposed rule in the Federal Register on December 5, 2025.
• Quiet hours petition (DA 25-216). The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance and other petitioners filed a petition on March 3, 2025, asking whether consumers who gave prior express written consent to receive texts can claim TCPA damages for telemarketing texts received outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment on March 11, 2025. Watch CG Docket Nos. 02-278 and 21-402 for any ruling.
• FCC 24-84. Proposed rules on AI-generated calls remain a proposal.

How to follow a docket

• Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Search by docket number to see every filing, newest first: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/
• FCC document files. Orders and notices are posted as PDFs on docs.fcc.gov. The file name follows the document number, for example https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-26-67A1.pdf
• Federal Register. Search by agency and docket number to find rules and effective dates: https://www.federalregister.gov/
• FCC open meetings. Items for each monthly meeting are announced in advance, and the Sunshine Act notice is published in the Federal Register.