2023-04753. VRS and IP CTS-Commencement of Pending User Registration

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Final rule; announcement of effective date.

SUMMARY:

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with rules adopted in the Commission's documents Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities et. al, Report and Order, FCC 22-51. This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

DATES:

The amendments to §§ 64.611 and 64.615 (amendatory instructions 3 and 4) published at 87 FR 57645, September 21, 2022, are effective March 8, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Wallace, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at [phone], or email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document announces that, on February 27, 2023, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements contained in the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 22-51, published at 87 FR 57645, September 21, 2022. The OMB Control Number is 3060-1053. The Commission publishes this notice as an announcement of the effective date of the rules. If you have any comments on the burden estimates listed below, or how the Commission can improve the collections and reduce any burdens caused thereby, please contact Cathy Williams, Federal Communications Commission, via email: [e-mail]. Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-1053, in your correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via the internet if you send them to [e-mail].

To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to [e-mail] or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at [phone] (voice).

Synopsis

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received OMB approval on February 27, 2023, for the information collection requirements contained in the Commission's rules at §§ 64.611 and 64.615.

Under 5 CFR 1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a current, valid OMB Control Number.

No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB Control Number is 3060-1053.

The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.

The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents are as follows:

OMB Control Number: 3060-1053.

OMB Approval Date: February 27, 2023.

OMB Expiration Date: February 28, 2026.

Title: Misuse of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS); Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123.

Form Number: N/A.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 186,012 respondents; 672,819 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.1 hours (6 minutes) to 40 hours.

Frequency of Response: Annual, every five years, monthly, and ongoing reporting requirements; Recordkeeping requirements; Third party disclosure requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for the information collection requirements is found at Sec. 225 [47 U.S.C. 225] Telecommunications Services for Hearing-Impaired Individuals; The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA), Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327, 366-69, enacted on July 26, 1990.

Total Annual Burden: 339,781 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $72,000.

Needs and Uses: On August 1, 2003, the Commission released Telecommunication Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CC Docket No. 98-67, Declaratory Ruling, 68 FR 55898, September 28, 2003, clarifying that one-line captioned telephone voice carry over (VCO) service is a type of telecommunications relay service (TRS) and that eligible providers of such services are eligible to recover their costs from the Interstate TRS Fund (Fund) in accordance with section 225 of the Communications Act.

On July 19, 2005, the Commission released Telecommunication Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CC Docket No. 98-67 and CG Docket No. 03-123, Order, 70 FR 54294, September 14, 2005, clarifying that two-line captioned telephone VCO service, like one-line captioned telephone VCO service, is a type of TRS eligible for compensation from the Fund.

On January 11, 2007, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket No. 03-123, Declaratory Ruling, 72 FR 6960, February 14, 2007, granting a request for clarification that internet Protocol (IP) captioned telephone relay service (IP CTS) is a type of TRS eligible for compensation from the Fund.

On August 26, 2013, the Commission issued Misuse of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123, Report and Order, 78 FR 53684, August 30, 2013, to regulate practices relating to the marketing of IP CTS, impose certain requirements for the provision of this service, and mandate registration and certification of IP CTS users.

On June 8, 2018, the Commission issued Misuse of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123, Report and Order and Declaratory Ruling, 83 FR 30082, June 27, 2018 ( 2018 IP CTS Modernization Order), to facilitate the Commission's efforts to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse and improve its ability to efficiently manage the IP CTS program through regulating practices related to the marketing of IP CTS, generally prohibiting the provision of IP CTS to consumers who do not genuinely need the service, permitting the provision of IP CTS in emergency shelters, and approving the use of automatic speech recognition to generate captions without the assistance of a communications assistant.

On February 15, 2019, the Commission issued Misuse of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123, Report and Order, and Order, 84 FR 8457, March 8, 2019 ( 2019 IP CTS Program Management Order), requiring the submission of IP CTS user registration information to the telecommunications relay service (TRS) User Registration Database (Database) so that the Database administrator can verify IP CTS users to reduce the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse in the IP CTS program.

On June 30, 2022, the Commission issued Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program; Misuse of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service, CG Docket Nos. 03-123, 10-51, and 13-24, Report and Order, published at 87 FR 57645, September 21, 2022 ( Registration Grace Period Order), allowing IP CTS and Video Relay Service (VRS) providers to provide compensable service to a new user for up to two weeks after submitting the user's information to the Database if the user's identity is verified within that period, in order to offer more efficient service to IP CTS and VRS users without risk of waste, fraud, and abuse to the Fund.

The programmatic changes in information collection burdens that apply to VRS due to the Registration and Grace Period Order will be addressed separately in modifications to information collection No. 3060-1089.

Federal Communications Commission.

Katura Jackson,

Federal Register Liaison Officer.