2017-19218. Noncommercial Educational Station Fundraising for Third-Party Non-Profit Organizations

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Final rule; announcement of effective date.

SUMMARY:

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's Noncommercial Educational Station Fundraising for Third-Party Non-Profit Organizations Report and Order's third-party fundraising rules. 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 47 CFR 73.503(e)(1), 73.621(f)(1), and 73.2527(e)(14), published at 82 FR 21127, May 5, 2017, are effective November 13, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathy Berthot, Media Bureau, Policy Division, at [phone], or email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document announces that, on August 30, 2017, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirements relating to the third-party fundraising rules contained in the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 17-41, published at 82 FR 21127, May 5, 2017. The OMB Control Number is 3060-1174. The Commission publishes this document 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, Room 1-C823, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-1174, in your correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via email at [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), [phone] (TTY).

Synopsis

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received final OMB approval on August 30, 2017, for the information collection requirements contained in the Commission's rules at 47 CFR 73.503(e)(1), 73.621(f)(1), and 73.2527(e)(14).

Under 5 CFR part 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 3060-1174.

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: 3060-1174.

OMB Approval Date: August 30, 2017.

OMB Expiration Date: August 31, 2020.

Title: Section 73.503, Licensing requirements and service; Section 73.621, Noncommercial educational TV stations; Section 73.3527, Local public inspection file of noncommercial educational stations.

Form Number: N/A.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Not-for-profit institutions.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,200 respondents; 33,000 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; Third party disclosure requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority which covers these information collections is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 303, and 399B.

Total Annual Burden: 16,500 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: An assurance of confidentiality is not offered because this information collection does not require the collection of personally identifiable information (PII) from individuals.

Privacy Act: No impact(s).

Needs and Uses: On April 20, 2017, the Commission adopted a Report and Order in MB Docket No. 12-106, FCC 17-41, In the Matter of Noncommercial Educational Station Fundraising for Third-Party Non-Profit Organizations. Under the Commission's existing rules, a noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcast station may not conduct fundraising activities to benefit any entity besides the station itself if the activities would substantially alter or suspend regular programming. The Report and Order relaxes the rules to allow NCE stations to spend up to one percent of their total annual airtime conducting on-air fundraising activities that interrupt regular programming for the benefit of third-party non-profit organizations.

The following is a description of the information collection requirements for which the Commission received OMB approval:

Audience disclosure: Pursuant to 47 CFR 73.503(e)(1), a noncommercial educational FM broadcast station that interrupts regular programming to conduct fundraising activities on behalf of third-party non-profit organizations must air a disclosure during such activities clearly stating that the fundraiser is not for the benefit of the station itself and identifying the entity for which it is fundraising. Pursuant to 47 CFR 73.621(f)(1), a noncommercial educational TV broadcast station that interrupts regular programming to conduct fundraising activities on behalf of third-party non-profit organizations must air a disclosure during such activities clearly stating that the fundraiser is not for the benefit of the station itself and identifying the entity for which it is fundraising. The audience disclosure must be aired at the beginning and the end of each fundraising program and at least once during each hour in which the program is on the air.

Retention of information on fundraising activities in local public inspection file: Pursuant to 47 CFR 73.3527(e)(14), each noncommercial educational FM broadcast station and noncommercial educational TV broadcast station that interrupts regular programming to conduct fundraising activities on behalf of a third-party non-profit organization must place in its local public inspection file, on a quarterly basis, the following information for each third-party fundraising program or activity: The date, time, and duration of the fundraiser; the type of fundraising activity; the name of the non-profit organization benefitted by the fundraiser; a brief description of the specific cause or project, if any, supported by the fundraiser; and, to the extent that the station participated in tallying or receiving any funds for the non-profit group, an approximation, to the nearest $10,000, of the total funds raised. The information for each calendar quarter is to be filed by the tenth day of the succeeding calendar quarter (e.g., January 10 for the quarter October-December, April 10 for the quarter January-March, etc.).

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene H. Dortch,

Secretary.