2019-27620. 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 might “further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.” 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.

DATES:

Written comments should be submitted on or before January 22, 2020. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments but find it difficult to do so with the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the contacts listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB, via email [e-mail]; and to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email [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:

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: 3060-0311.

Title: 47 CFR 76.54, Significantly Viewed Signals; Method to be followed for Special Showings.

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: 500 respondents, 1,274 responses.

Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting and third-party disclosure requirements.

Estimated Time per Response: 1-15 hours (average).

Total Annual Burden: 20,610 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $300,000.

Nature of Response: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this information collection is contained in Section 4(i) and 340 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for confidentiality with this collection of information.

Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Needs and Uses: The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 76.54(b) state significant viewing in a cable television or satellite community for signals not shown as significantly viewed under 47 CFR 76.54(a) or (d) may be demonstrated by an independent professional audience survey of over-the-air television homes that covers at least two weekly periods separated by at least thirty days but no more than one of which shall be a week between the months of April and September. If two surveys are taken, they shall include samples sufficient to assure that the combined surveys result in an average figure at least one standard error above the required viewing level.

The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 76.54(c) are used to notify interested parties, including licensees or permittees of television broadcast stations, about audience surveys that are being conducted by an organization to demonstrate that a particular broadcast station is eligible for significantly viewed status under the Commission's rules. The notifications provide interested parties with an opportunity to review survey methodologies and file objections.

Lastly, 47 CFR 76.54(e) and (f), are used to notify television broadcast stations about the retransmission of significantly viewed signals by a satellite carrier into these stations' local market.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0433.

Title: Basic Signal Leakage Performance Report.

Form Number: FCC Form 320.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 3,413 respondents and 3,413 responses.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement, Annual reporting requirement.

Estimated Time per Hour: 20 hours.

Total Annual Burden: 68,260 hours.

Total Annual Cost: None.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this collection is contained in Sections 4(i), 302 and 303 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for confidentiality with this collection of information.

Privacy Impact Assessment(s): No impact(s).

Needs and Uses: Cable television system operators and Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MPVDs) who use frequencies in the bands 108-137 and 225-400 MHz (aeronautical frequencies) are required to file a Cumulative Signal Leakage Index (CLI) derived under 47 CFR 76.611(a)(1) or the results of airspace measurements derived under 47 CFR 76.611(a)(2). This filing must include a description of the method by which compliance with basic signal leakage criteria is achieved and the method of calibrating the measurement equipment. This yearly filing of FCC Form 320 is done in accordance with 47 CFR 76.1803. The records must be retained by cable operators.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0863.

Title: Satellite Delivery of Network Signals to Unserved Households for Purposes of the Satellite Home Viewer Act.

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: 848 respondents; 250,000 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement, On occasion reporting requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection action is contained in the Satellite Home Viewer Act, 17 U.S.C. 119. The Satellite Home Viewer Act is an amendment of the Copyright Act; and Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010, Title V of the “American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010,” Public Law 111-175, 124 Stat. 1218 (2010) (STELA), see footnote 3.

Total Annual Burden to Respondents: 125,000 hours.

Total Annual Cost: None.

Privacy Impact Assessment(s): No impact(s).

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for confidentiality with this collection of information.

Needs and Uses: The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 73.686 describes a method for measuring signal strength at a household so that the satellite and broadcast industries would have a uniform method for making an actual determination of the signal strength that a household received. The information gathered as part of the Grade B contour signal strength tests will be used to indicate whether a household is “unserved” by over-the-air network signals.

Satellite and broadcast industries making field strength measurements for formal submission to the Commission in rulemaking proceedings, or making such measurements upon the request of the Commission, shall follow the procedure for making and reporting such measurements which shall be included in a report to the Commission and submitted in affidavit form, in triplicate. The report shall contain the following information:

(a) Tables of field strength measurements, which for each measuring location; (b) U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps; (c) All information necessary to determine the pertinent characteristics of the transmitting installation; (d) A list of calibrated equipment used in the field strength survey; (e) A detailed description of the calibration of the measuring equipment, and (f) Terrain profiles in each direction in which measurements were made.

The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 73.686 also requires satellite and broadcast companies to maintain a written record describing, for each location, factors which may affect the recorded field (i.e., the approximate time or measurement, weather, topography, overhead wiring, heights and types of vegetation, buildings and other structures, the orientation of the measuring location, objects of such shape and size that cause shadows or reflections, signals received that arrived from a direction other than that of the transmitter, survey, list of the measured value field strength, time and date of the measurements and signature of the person making the measurements).

The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 73.686(e) describes the procedures for measuring the field strength of digital television signals. These procedures will be used to determine whether a household is eligible to receive a distant digital network signal from a satellite television provider, largely rely on existing, proven methods the Commission has already established for measuring analog television signal strength at any individual location, as set forth in Section 73.686(d) of the existing rules, but include modifications as necessary to accommodate the inherent differences between analog and digital TV signals. The new digital signal measurement procedures include provisions for the location of the measurement antenna, antenna height, signal measurement method, antenna orientation and polarization, and data recording.

Therefore, satellite and broadcast industries making field strength measurements shall maintain written records and include the following information: (a) A list of calibrated equipment used in the field strength survey, which for each instrument specifies the manufacturer, type, serial number and rated accuracy, and the date of the most recent calibration by the manufacturer or by a laboratory. Include complete details of any instrument not of standard manufacture; (b) A detailed description of the calibration of the measuring equipment, including field strength meters, measuring antenna, and connecting cable; (c) For each spot at the measuring site, all factors which may affect the recorded field, such as topography, height and types of vegetation, buildings, obstacles, weather, and other local features; (d) A description of where the cluster measurements were made; (e) Time and date of the measurements and signature of the person making the measurements; (f) For each channel being measured, a list of the measured value of field strength (in units of dBμ after adjustment for line loss and antenna factor) of the five readings made during the cluster measurement process, with the median value highlighted.

Federal Communications Commission.

Cecilia Sigmund,

Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.