2020-05787. Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and 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. Comments are requested concerning: 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; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 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; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES:

Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before May 19, 2020. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all PRA comments to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email [e-mail] and to [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information about the information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control Number: 3060-1081.

Title: Section 54.202, 54.209, 54.307, 54.313, 54.314, and 54.809, Telecommunications Carriers Eligible for Universal Service Support.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 20 respondents; 20 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 40 hours.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority is contained in sections 201(b), 214(e)(6), and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 201(b), 214(e)(6), 303(r).

Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirement.

Total Annual Burden: 800 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Nature of Extent of Confidentiality: If respondents submit information which respondents believe is confidential, respondents may request confidential treatment of such information pursuant to section 0.459 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.459.

Needs and Uses: Designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) makes a telecommunications carrier eligible to receive support from the universal service high-cost and low-income programs, which supports the extension of telecommunications services to underserved rural communities. In the absence of this information collection, the Federal Communications Commission's (the Commission's) ability to fulfill its statutory obligation and to oversee the use of federal universal service funds and to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the use of federal funds would be compromised. Section 54.202 of the Commission's rules requires carriers seeking designation from the Commission to submit an application that certifies that the carrier will comply with the service requirements applicable to the support that it receives, 47 CFR 54.202(a)(1)(i). Additionally, applicants must submit a five-year plan that describes with specificity proposed improvements or upgrades to the applicant's network throughout its proposed service area, with estimates of the area and population that will be served as a result of the improvements, § 54.202(a)(1)(ii). An applicant must demonstrate its ability to remain functional in emergency situations, including: A demonstration that it has a reasonable amount of back-up power to ensure functionality without an external power source; is able to reroute traffic around damaged facilities; is capable of managing traffic spikes resulting from emergency situations, § 54.202(a)(2); and a demonstration that it will satisfy applicable consumer protection and service quality standards, § 54.202(a)(3).

A commitment by wireless applicants to comply with the Cellular Telecommunications and internet Association's Consumer Code for Wireless Service will satisfy this requirement and other commitments will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If the common carrier is seeking designation as an ETC under section 214(e)(6) for any part of Tribal lands, it shall provide a copy of its petition to the affected tribal government and tribal regulatory authority, as applicable, at the time it files its petition with the Commission. In addition, the Commission will send any public notice seeking comment on any petition for designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier on Tribal lands, at the time it is released, to the affected tribal government and tribal regulatory authority, as applicable, by the most expeditious means available, § 54.202(c).

OMB Control Number: 3060-1224.

Title: Reverse Auction (Auction 1001) Incentive Payment Instructions from Reverse Auction Winning Bidder.

Form Number: FCC Form 1875.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit institutions and State, Local or Tribal government.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 750 respondents; 1,500 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 2.5 hours.

Frequency of Response: One-time reporting requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this information collection is contained in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Public Law 112-96 (Spectrum Act) § 6403(a)(1).

Total Annual Burden: 3,750 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No Cost.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The information collection includes information identifying bank accounts and providing account and routing numbers to access those accounts. FCC considers that information to be records not routinely available for public inspection under 47 CFR 0.457, and exempt from disclosure under FOIA exemption 4 (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Needs and Uses: The Spectrum Act mandates “a reverse auction to determine the amount of compensation that each broadcast television licensee would accept in return for voluntarily relinquishing some or all of its broadcast television spectrum usage rights in order to make spectrum available for assignment through a system of competitive bidding”.^[1]

The Commission conducted notice-and-comment rulemaking to implement the Spectrum Act, and ruled in the Incentive Auction Report and Order that: “we adopt the Commission's proposal to require successful bidders in the reverse auction to submit additional information to facilitate incentive payments. As mentioned in the NPRM, we envision that the information would be submitted on standardized incentive payment forms similar to the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) forms unsuccessful bidders in typical spectrum license auctions use to request refunds of their deposits and upfront payments. This information collection is necessary to facilitate incentive payments and should not be burdensome to successful bidders. Specifically, without further instruction and bank account information from successful bidders, the Commission would not know where to send the incentive payments.” [footnotes omitted] ^[2]

The information collection for which we are requesting approval is the standardized incentive payment form referred to in the paragraph above.

Federal Communications Commission.

Cecilia Sigmund,

Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Public Law 112-96 (Spectrum Act) § 6403(a)(1).

2.  Expanding the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions, GN Docket No. 12-268, Report and Order, 29 FCC Rcd 6567 (2014) (“Incentive Auction R&O”) at 537.