2021-00193. Information Collections Being Submitted for Review and Approval to Office of Management and Budget

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the Commission) invites the general public and other Federal Agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection. Pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the FCC seeks specific comment on how it can further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.

DATES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be submitted on or before February 10, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Comments should be sent to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. Your comment must be submitted into www.reginfo.gov per the above instructions for it to be considered. In addition to submitting in www.reginfo.gov also send a copy of your comment on the proposed information collection to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email to [e-mail] and to [e-mail]. Include in the comments the OMB control number as shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information or copies of the information collection, contact Cathy Williams at [phone]. To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) submitted to OMB: (1) Go to the web page http://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain,, (2) look for the section of the web page called “Currently Under Review,” (3) click on the downward-pointing arrow in the “Select Agency” box below the “Currently Under Review” heading, (4) select “Federal Communications Commission” from the list of agencies presented in the “Select Agency” box, (5) click the “Submit” button to the right of the “Select Agency” box, (6) when the list of FCC ICRs currently under review appears, look for the Title of this ICR and then click on the ICR Reference Number. A copy of the FCC submission to OMB will be displayed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Commission may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA that does not display a valid OMB control number.

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the FCC invited the general public and other Federal Agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection. Comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimates; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), the FCC seeks specific comment on how it might “further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.”

OMB Control Number: 3060-0761.

Title: Section 79.1, Closed Captioning of Video Programming, CG Docket No. 05-231.

Form No.: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Individuals or households; and Not-for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 64,218 respondents; 521,074 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 (30 minutes) to 30 hours.

Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirement; Third party disclosure requirement; Recordkeeping requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this obligation is found at section 713 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 613, and implemented at 47 CFR 79.1.

Total Annual Burden: 727,143 hours.

Annual Cost Burden: $34,350,444.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Confidentiality is an issue to the extent that individuals and households provide personally identifiable information, which is covered under the FCC's system of records notice (SORN), FCC/CGB-1, “Informal Complaints, Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute Assistance.” As required by the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Commission also published a SORN, FCC/CGB-1 “Informal Complaints, Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute Assistance” in the Federal Register on August 15, 2014, published at 79 FR 48152, which became effective on September 24, 2014.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: Yes.

Needs and Uses: The Commission seeks to extend existing information collection requirements in its closed captioning rules (47 CFR 79.1), which require that, with some exceptions, all new video programming, and 75 percent of “pre-rule” programming, be closed captioned. The existing collections include petitions by video programming providers, producers, and owners for exemptions from the closed captioning rules, responses by commenters, and replies; complaints by viewers alleging violations of the closed captioning rules, responses by video programming distributors (VPDs) and video programmers, recordkeeping in support of complaint responses, and compliance ladder obligations in the event of a pattern or trend of violations; recordkeeping of monitoring and maintenance activities; caption quality best practices procedures; making video programming distributor contact information available to viewers in phone directories, on the Commission's website and the websites of video programming distributors (if they have them), and in billing statements (to the extent video programming distributors issue them); and video programmers filing of contact information and compliance certifications with the Commission.

On February 19, 2016, the Commission adopted the Closed Captioning Quality Second Report and Order, published at 81 FR 57473, August 23, 2016, amending its rules to allocate the responsibilities of VPDs and video programmers with respect to the provision and quality of closed captioning. The Commission took the following actions, among others:

(a) Required video programmers to file certifications with the Commission that (1) the video programmer (i) is in compliance with the rules requiring the inclusion of closed captions, and (ii) either is in compliance with the captioning quality standards or has adopted and is following related Best Practices; or (2) is exempt from the captioning obligation and specifies the exemption claimed.

(b) Revised the procedures for receiving, serving, and addressing television closed captioning complaints in accordance with a burden-shifting compliance model.

(c) Established a compliance ladder for the Commission's television closed captioning quality requirements.

(d) Required VPDs to use the Commission's web form when providing contact information to the VPD registry.

(e) Required video programmers to register their contact information with the Commission for the receipt and handling of written closed captioning complaints.

OMB Control Number: 3060-1171.

Title: Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (“CALM”) Act; 73.682(e) and 76.607(a).

Form Number: Not applicable.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,937 respondents and 4,868 responses.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; Third party disclosure requirement; On occasion reporting requirement.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.25-80 hours.

Total Annual Burden: 6,036 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i) and (j), 303(r) and 621.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents with this collection of information.

Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Needs and Uses: The Commission will use this information to determine compliance with the CALM Act. The CALM Act mandates that the Commission make the Advanced Television Systems Committee (“ATSC”) A/85 Recommended Practice mandatory for all commercial TV stations and cable/multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs).

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene Dortch,

Secretary, Office of the Secretary.