2017-12958. Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission

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 August 21, 2017. 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:

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collections. 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.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0400.

Title: Part 61, Tariff Review Plan (TRP).

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,749 respondents; 4,165 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours-53 hours.

Frequency of Response: One-time, on occasion, biennial, and annual reporting requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection (IC) is contained in 47 U.S.C. 10(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Total Annual Burden: 60,878 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Respondents are not being asked to submit confidential information to the Commission. If the Commission requests respondents to submit information which respondents believe are confidential, respondents may request confidential treatment of such information under 47 CFR 0.459 of the Commission's rules.

Needs and Uses: The Commission has developed standardized Tariff Review Plans (TRPs) that set forth the summary material that incumbent LECs (ILECs) file to support revisions to the rates in their interstate access service tariffs. The TRPs display basic data on rate development in a consistent manner, thereby facilitating review of the ILEC rate revisions by the Commission and interested parties. The TRPs have served this purpose effectively in past years.

On April 20, 2017, the Commission adopted the Business Data Services Order, FCC 17-43, reforming the business data services/special access regulations for incumbent and competitive LECs by detariffing certain business data services and modifying the regulatory obligations for those business data services that will remain tariffed. Additionally, the Business Data Services Order adopted an X-factor of two percent and required price cap ILECs to make a one-time filing to revise their TRPs to implement the new X-factor to become effective on December 1, 2017. In particular, the Commission amended section 61.45(b)(1)(iv) of its rules to state that the X-factor shall equal 2 percent effective December 1, 2017. To ease the burden on industry, the only factor that changes in the revised TRPs is the X-factor. Base period demand and the value of GDP-PI will stay constant for this particular filing.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene H. Dortch,

Secretary, Office of the Secretary.