Information Collections Being Submitted for Review and Approval to the Office of Management and Budget

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 (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. 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 comments should be submitted on or before August 24, 2016. 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 contacts below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB, via email Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov; and to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email PRA@fcc.gov and to Nicole.Ongele@fcc.gov. Include in the comments the OMB control number as shown in the Supplementary Information section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information or copies of the information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991. To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) submitted to OMB: (1) Go to the Web page < http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain >, (2) look for the section of the Web page called “Currently Under Review,” (3) click on the downward-pointing arrow in the “Select Agency” box below the “Currently Under Review” heading, (4) select “Federal Communications Commission” from the list of agencies presented in the “Select Agency” box, (5) click the “Submit” button to the right of the “Select Agency” box, (6) when the list of FCC ICRs currently under review appears, look for the OMB control number of this ICR and then click on the ICR Reference Number. A copy of the FCC submission to OMB will be displayed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control Number: 3060-0298.

Title: Part 61, Tariffs (Other than Tariff Review Plan).

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for profit.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,840 respondents; 4,277 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 30 hours-50 hours.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151-155, 201-205, 208, 251-271, 403, 502, and 503 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Frequency of Response: On occasion, annual, biennial, and one-time reporting requirements.

Total Annual Burden: 156,080 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $1,307,670.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not requesting that the respondents submit confidential information to the FCC. Respondents may, however, request confidential treatment for information they believe to be confidential under 47 CFR 0.459 of the Commission's rules.

Needs and Uses: On March 23, 2016, the Commission adopted a Report and Order, FCC 16-33, which reformed universal service for rate-of-return local exchange carriers (LECs). These reforms require approximately 95 rate-of-return LECs to make one-time tariff filings and NECA to make two tariff filings with the necessary support materials outside the normal annual filing period. We note that we are removing the requirement that competitive and incumbent LECs make a one-time intrastate tariff filing to establish Voice over Internet Protocol rates at intrastate levels, as this requirement has been met. Part 61 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR part 61, prescribes the framework for the initial establishment of and subsequent revisions to tariffs. The information collected through the carriers' tariffs and supporting documentation is used by the Commission and state commissions to determine whether the services are offered in a just and reasonable manner.

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 entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,840 respondents; 5,437 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 hours-53 hours.

Frequency of Response: On occasion, annual, biennial, and one-time reporting requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 201, 202, 203, and 251(b)(5) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Total Annual Burden: 66,000 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Privacy 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: On March 23, 2016, the Commission adopted the Rate-of-Return Order, FCC 16-33, which reformed universal service for rate-of-return local exchange carriers (LECs). These reforms require rate-of-return LECs to make tariff filings with the necessary support materials outside the normal tariff filing period. We note that at this time, we are removing the requirement that competitive and incumbent LECs make a one-time intrastate tariff filing to establish Voice over Internet Protocol rates at intrastate levels, as this requirement has been met.

Sections 201, 202, and 203 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act) require common carriers to establish just and reasonable charges, practices, and regulations for their interstate telecommunications services provided. For services that are still covered under Section 203, tariff schedules containing charges, rates, rules, and regulations must be filed with the Commission. Part 61 of the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR part 61, prescribes the framework for the establishment of and subsequent revisions to tariffs. Certain local exchange carriers are required to submit a biennial or annual Tariff Review Plan (TRP) in partial fulfillment of cost support material required by Part 61. The Commission developed the TRP to minimize reporting burdens on reporting incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs). TRPs set forth the summary material ILECs file to support revisions to the rates in their interstate access service tariffs. For those services still requiring cost support, TRPs assist the Commission in determining whether ILEC access charges are just and reasonable as required under the Act.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0819.

Title: Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization, Telecommunications Carriers Eligible for Universal Service Support, Connect America Fund.

Form Numbers: FCC Form 497, 555, & 481.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Individuals or households and business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents: 21,162,260 respondents; 23,956,240 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: .0167 hours-250 hours.

Frequency of Response: Annual and on occasion reporting requirements and third party disclosure requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

Total Annual Burden: 13,484,412 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $937,500.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: Yes. The Commission completed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for some of the information collection requirements contain in this collect. The PIA was published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 73535 on December 6, 2013. The PIA may be reviewed at: http://www.fcc.gov/omd/privacyact/Privacy_Impact_Assessment.html.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Some of the requirements contained in this information collection do affect individuals or households, and thus, there are impacts under the Privacy Act. The FCC's system of records notice (SORN), FCC/WCB-1, “Lifeline Program.” The Commission will use the information contained in FCC/WCB-1 to cover the personally identifiable information (PII) that is required as part of the Lifeline Program (“Lifeline”). As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Commission also published a SORN, FCC/WCB-1 “Lifeline Program” in the Federal Register on December 6, 2013 (78 FR 73535).

Also, respondents may request materials or information submitted to the Commission or to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC or Administrator) be withheld from public inspection under 47 CFR 0.459 of the FCC's rules. We note that USAC must preserve the confidentiality of all data obtained from respondents; must not use the data except for purposes of administering the universal service programs; and must not disclose data in company-specific form unless directed to do so by the Commission.

Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information collection after this comment period to obtain the full, three-year clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Commission also proposes several revisions to this information collection.

On April 27, 2016, the Commission released an order reforming its low-income universal service support mechanisms. Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization; Telecommunications Carriers Eligible for Universal Service Support; Connect America Fund, WC Docket Nos. 11-42, 09-197, 10-90, Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Report and Order, (Lifeline Third Reform Order). This revised information collection addresses requirements to carry out the programs to which the Commission committed itself in the Lifeline Third Reform Order. Under this information collection, the Commission seeks to revise the information collection to comply with the Commission's new rules, adopted in the Lifeline Third Reform Order, regarding phasing out support for mobile voice over the next six years, requiring Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) to certify compliance with the new minimum service requirements, creating a new ETC designation for Lifeline Broadband Providers (LBPs), updating the obligations to advertise Lifeline offerings, modifying the non-usage de-enrollment requirements within the program, moving to rolling annual subscriber recertification, and streamlining the first-year ETC audit requirements. Also, the Commission seeks to update the number of respondents for all the existing information collection requirements, thus increasing the total burden hours for some requirements and decreasing the total burden hours for other requirements. Finally, the Commission seeks to revise the FCC Forms 555, 497, and 481 to incorporate the new Commission rules and modify the filings for FCC Forms 555 and 497 to include detailed field descriptions.