2022-13953. Information Collections 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 of 1995 (PRA), 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 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 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 PRA comments should be submitted on or before August 29, 2022. 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 Cathy Williams, FCC, via email to [e-mail] and to [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information about the information collection, contact Cathy Williams at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

 

OMB Control Number: 3060-0316.

Title: 47 CFR 76.5, Definitions, 76.1700, Records to Be Maintained Locally by Cable System Operators; 76.1702, Equal Employment Opportunity; 76.1703, Commercial Records on Children's Programs; 76.1707, Leased Access; 76.1711, Emergency Alert System (EAS) Tests and Activation.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 3,000 respondents; 3,000 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 14 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this information collection is contained in sections 151, 152, 153, 154, 301, 302, 302a, 303, 303a, 307, 308, 309, 312, 315, 317, 325, 339, 340, 341, 503, 521, 522, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 537, 543, 544, 544a, 545, 548, 549, 552, 554, 556, 558, 560, 561, 571, 572, 573 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Total Annual Burden: 42,000 hours.

Total Annual Cost: None.

Needs and Uses: The Commission is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the extension of a currently approved collection. The information collection requirements for this information collection are as follows: 47 CFR 76.1700 requires cable system operators to place the public inspection file materials required to be retained by the following rules in the online public file hosted by the Commission, with the exception of existing political file material which cable systems may continue to retain in their local public file until the end of the retention period: Sections 76.1701 (political file), 76.1702 (EEO), 76.1703 (commercial records for children's programming), 76.1705 (performance tests—channels delivered); 76.1707 (leased access); and 76.1709 (availability of signals), 76.1710 (operator interests in video programming), 76.1715 (sponsorship identification), and 76.630 (compatibility with consumer electronics equipment. Cable systems with fewer than 5,000 subscribers may continue to retain their political file locally and are not required to upload new political file material to the online public file until March 1, 2018. In addition, cable systems may elect to retain the material required by Section 76.1708 (principal headend) locally rather than placing this material in the online public file.

47 CFR 76.1700(b) requires cable system operators to make the records required to be retained by the following rules available to local franchising authorities: Sections 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data) and 76.1713 (complaint resolution).

47 CFR 76.1700(c) requires cable system operators to make the records required to be retained by the following rules available to the Commission: Sections 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data), 76.1706 (signal leakage logs and repair records), 76.1711 (emergency alert system and activations), 76.1713 (complaint resolution), and 76.1716 (subscriber records).

47 CFR 76.1700(d) exempts cable television systems having fewer than 1,000 subscribers from the online public file and the public inspection requirements contained in 47 CFR 76.1701 (political file); 76.1702 (equal employment opportunity); 76.1703 (commercial records for children's programming); 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data); 76.1706 (signal leakage logs and repair records); and 76.1715 (sponsorship identifications).

47 CFR 76.1700(e) requires that public file material that continues to be retained at the system be retained in a public inspection file maintained at the office which the system operator maintains for the ordinary collection of subscriber charges, resolution of subscriber complaints, and other business or at any accessible place in the community served by the system unit(s) (such as a public registry for documents or an attorney's office). Public files must be available for public inspection during regular business hours.

47 CFR 76.1700(f) requires cable systems to provide a link to the public inspection file hosted on the Commission's website from the home page of its own website, if the system has a website, and provide contact information on its website for a system representative who can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files. A system also is required to include in the online public file the address of the system's local public file, if the system retains documents in the local file that are not available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone number, and email address of the system's designated contact for questions about the public file. In addition, a system must provide on the online public file a list of the five digit ZIP codes served by the system.

47 CFR 76.1700(g) requires that cable operators make any material in the public inspection file that is not also available in the Commission's online file available for machine reproduction upon request made in person, provided the requesting party shall pay the reasonable cost of reproduction. Requests for machine copies must be fulfilled at a location specified by the system operator, within a reasonable period of time, which in no event shall be longer than seven days. The system operator is not required to honor requests made by mail but may do so if it chooses.

47 CFR 76.1702(a) requires that every employment unit with six or more full-time employees shall maintain for public inspection a file containing copies of all EEO program annual reports filed with the Commission and the equal employment opportunity program information described in 47 CFR 76.1702(b). These materials shall be placed in the Commission's online public inspection file for each cable system associated with the employment unit. These materials must be placed in the Commission's online public inspection file annually by the date that the unit's EEO program annual report is due to be filed and shall be retained for a period of five years. A headquarters employment unit file and a file containing a consolidated set of all documents pertaining to the other employment units of a multichannel video programming distributor that operates multiple units shall be maintained in the Commission's online public file for every cable system associated with the headquarters employment unit.

47 CFR 76.1702(b) requires that the following equal employment opportunity program information shall be included annually in the unit's public file, and on the unit's website, if it has one, at the time of the filing of its FCC Form 396-C: (1) A list of all full-time vacancies filled by the multichannel video programming distributor employment unit during the preceding year, identified by job title; (2) For each such vacancy, the recruitment source(s) utilized to fill the vacancy (including, if applicable, organizations entitled to notification, which should be separately identified), identified by name, address, contact person and telephone number; (3) The recruitment source that referred the hiree for each full-time vacancy during the preceding year; (4) Data reflecting the total number of persons interviewed for full-time vacancies during the preceding year and the total number of interviewees referred by each recruitment source utilized in connection with such vacancies; and (5) A list and brief description of the initiatives undertaken during the preceding year, if applicable.

47 CFR 76.1703 requires that cable operations airing children's programming must maintain records sufficient to verify compliance with 47 CFR 76.225 and make such records available to the public. Such records must be maintained for a period sufficient to cover the limitation period specified in 47 U.S.C. 503(b)(6)(B). Cable television operators must file their certifications of compliance with the commercial limits in children's programming annually within 30 days after the end of the calendar year.

47 CFR 76.1707 requires that if a cable operator adopts and enforces a written policy regarding indecent leased access programming pursuant to § 76.701, such a policy will be considered published pursuant to that rule by inclusion of the written policy in the operator's public inspection file.

47 CFR 76.1711 requires that records be kept of each test and activation of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) procedures pursuant to the requirement of 47 CFR part 11 and the EAS Operating Handbook. These records shall be kept for three years.

47 CFR 76.5 describes certain terms covered in the cable industry.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0750.

Title: 47 CFR 73.671, Educational and Informational Programming for Children; 47 CFR 73.673, Public Information Initiatives Regarding Educational and informational Programming for Children.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,756 respondents; 1,116,816 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.017-0.084 hours.

Frequency of Response: Third-party disclosure requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this collection is contained in Sections 154(i), 303, and 336 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Total Annual Burden: 57,105 hours.

Total Annual Cost: None.

Needs and Uses: The Commission is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the extension of a currently approved collection. The information collection requirements for this information collection are as follows:

Pursuant to 47 CFR 73.671(c)(5), each commercial television broadcast station must identify programming as specifically designed to educate and inform children by the display on the television screen throughout the program of the symbol E/I. This requirement is intended to assist parents in identifying educational and informational programming for their children. Noncommercial television broadcast stations are no longer required to identify Core Programming by displaying the E/I symbol throughout the program.

Pursuant to 47 CFR 73.671(e), each television broadcast station that preempts an episode of a regularly scheduled weekly Core Program on its primary stream will be permitted to count the episode toward the Core Programming processing guidelines if it reschedules the episode on its primary stream in accordance with the requirements of 47 CFR 73.671(e). Similarly, each television broadcast station that preempts an episode of a regularly scheduled weekly Core Program on a multicast stream will be permitted to count the episode toward the Core Programming processing guidelines if it reschedules the episode on the multicast stream in accordance with the requirements of 47 CFR 73.671(e). Among other requirements, the station must make an on-air notification of the schedule change during the same time slot as the preempted episode. The on-air notification must include the alternate date and time when the program will air.

Pursuant to 47 CFR 73.673, each commercial television broadcast station licensee must provide information identifying programming specifically designed to educate and inform children to publishers of program guides. This requirement is intended to improve the information available to parents regarding programming specifically designed for children's educational and informational needs. Commercial television broadcast station licensees are no longer required to provide program guide publishers an indication of the age group for which the programming is intended.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0754.

Title: FCC Form 2100, Application for Media Bureau Audio and Video Service Authorization, Schedule H.

Form Number: FCC Form 2100, Schedule H.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for profit entities.

Number of Respondents: 1,756 respondents; 1,756 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 10 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement: Annual reporting requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in Sections 154(i) and 303 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Total Annual Burden: 17,560 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $1,053,600.

Needs and Uses: The Commission is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the extension of a currently approved collection. Commercial full-power and Class A television broadcast stations are required to file FCC Form 2100, Schedule H (formerly FCC Form 398) (Children's Television Programming Report) within 30 days after the end of each calendar year. FCC Form 2100, Schedule H is a standardized form that: (a) Provides a consistent format for reporting the children's educational television programming aired by licensees to meet their obligation under the Children's Television Act of 1990 (CTA), and (b) facilitates efforts by the public and the FCC to monitor compliance with the CTA.

Commercial full-power and Class A television stations are required to complete FCC Form 2100, Schedule H within 30 days after the end of each calendar year and file the form with the Commission. The Commission places the form in the station's online public inspection file maintained on the Commission's database ( www.fcc.gov ). Stations use FCC Form 2100, Schedule H to report, among other things, the Core Programming ( i.e., children's educational and informational programming) the station aired the previous calendar year. FCC Form 2100, Schedule H also includes a “Preemption Report” that must be completed for each Core Program that was preempted during the year. This “Preemption Report” requests information on the reason for the preemption, the date of each preemption, the reason for the preemption and, if the program was rescheduled, the date and time the program was re-aired.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene Dortch,

Secretary, Office of the Secretary.