CPP BEAR Form 472 Now Available in EPC

February 12, 2026

USAC has released the Cybersecurity Pilot Program (CPP) version of the Form 472 BEAR, along with a training video and helpful CPP Form 472 User Guide.  If you have received your CPP Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL), already received your equipment or services, and paid your vendor in full for the equipment or services, you may now submit the CPP BEAR to seek reimbursement. 

CPP BEAR Form 472 User Guide:  FINAL_Pilot-FCC-Form-472_UserGuide.pdf

CPP BEAR Form 472 Training Webinar:  Webinar recording

Where to Find CPP BEAR:  From your EPC Landing Page, click on the waffle icon in the top right corner of the page to reach the Cybersecurity Pilot Portal.  Then, select Actions on the right side of the page to be shown a drop-down menu of available forms.  Select “Create CBR Form 472.”  Note:  CBR is USAC’s acronym for the Cybersecurity Pilot Program, more commonly known as CPP. 

Several important notes about the CPP BEAR:

• The person submitting the CPP BEAR must have permission to do so in EPC.  Your EPC AA can grant you permission under Related Actions > Manage User Permissions (see page 8 of the CPP Form 472 User Guide).  Because this is a new form, weassume that everyone filing the CPP BEAR will need to have been granted such permission anew.  Meaning, just because you have permission to file the E-rate BEAR, does not mean that the system automatically granted you permission to file the CPP BEAR.

• If the make or model you for which you are seeking reimbursement has changed from what was approved CPP Form 471, you will need to submit a service substitution request using the new Form 488 (Post-Commitment Change Request Form) prior to invoicing for the FRN line item.  This form is similar to the E-rate Form 500 and I will be sending a separate message on the CPP Form 488 shortly.  Other reasons you may need to submit a CPP Form 488 prior to submitting the BEAR are to change the Invoicing Method, change the Service Provider, or change the Service Start and/or Service End Date. 

• In the Supporting Documentation section, you must upload the vendor invoices that support the reimbursement, as well as documentation to show the eligible products/services were received or delivered, including location and date of delivery.

• After a CPP BEAR has been submitted, you can view the BEAR record in the CPP Portal.  From the CPP Dashboard, navigate to the My Forms and Requests tab, then from the Application Type dropdown, select FCC Form 472 . In the Invoice Level dropdown, select Invoice Detail or Invoice Line Item.  In the Invoice Detail grid, each Form 472 is represented as a row.  You can see the status of the entire BEAR, or if you select the Invoice Line Item, you can see a more granular status.  Note that CPP BEARs only appear in the CPP Portal, not in the E-Rate Invoicing Dashboard.

• Your CPP BEAR will be subject to PIA review and you may receive USAC outreach to seek additional details or supporting documentation.  You have 15 calendar days to respond to questions from USAC reviewers. To respond to inquiries through the CPP, navigate to the My Pending Inquiries tab.

• After the CPP BEAR has been processed, you will receive a BEAR Notification Letter. This letter will include the amounts disbursed for any line items and any relevant decision codes and decision explanations.

• USAC has not committed to a set cadence for CPP disbursements, but we think it would be safe to assume that payments will occur about every 2 weeks.

If you have any questions about the reimbursement process or the CPP BEAR Form 472, please contact the USAC Customer Service Center (CSC) at (888) 203-8100 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday. You can also create a customer service case in EPC via the Contact Us link on your EPC landing page, using the customer service case form, topic Cybersecurity Pilot.

— Julie

Julie Tritt Schell
Senior PA E-rate Advisor

jtschell@comcast.net

www.e-ratepa.org