[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63667-63669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30374]



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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 64 and 68

[CC Docket No. 87-124; FCC 95-474]


Access to Telecommunications Equipment and Services by Persons 
With Disabilities (Hearing Aid Compatibility)

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On November 28, 1995, the Commission adopted a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding hearing aid compatibility of 
wireline telephones. Rules proposed in the NPRM would require that all 
wireline telephones in the workplace, confined settings (e.g., 
hospitals, nursing homes) and hotels and motels eventually would be 
hearing aid compatible and have volume control. This NPRM contains 
proposed or modified information collections subject to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). It has been submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Section 3507(d) of the 
PRA. OMB, the general public, and other Federal agencies are invited to 
comment on the proposed or modified information collections contained 
in this proceeding.

DATES: Written comments by the public on the NPRM and on the proposed 
and/or modified information collections are due on or before January 
12, 1996, and reply comments are due on or before February 16, 1996. 
Written comments must be submitted by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) on the proposed and/or modified information collections on 
or before February 12, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Office of the Secretary, Room 222, Federal Communications 
Commission, 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20554. In addition to 
filing comments with the Secretary, a copy of any comments on the 
information collections contained herein should be submitted to Dorothy 
Conway, Federal Communications Commission, Room 234, 1919 M Street, 
N.W., Washington, DC 20554, or via the Internet to [email protected], and 
to Timothy Fain, OMB Desk Officer, 10236 NEOB, 725--17th Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC 20503 or via the Internet to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Lipscomb, Attorney, 202/418-2340, 
Fax 202/418-2345, TTY 202/418-0484, [email protected], Network Services 

[[Page 63668]]
Division, Common Carrier Bureau. For additional information concerning 
the information collections contained in this NPRM contact Dorothy 
Conway at 202-418-0217, or via the Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This summarizes the Commission's Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking in the matter of Access to Telecommunications 
Equipment and Services by Persons With Disabilities, (CC Docket 87-124, 
adopted November 28, 1995, and released November 28, 1995). The file is 
available for inspection and copying during the weekday hour of 9 a.m. 
to 4:30 p.m. in the Commission's Reference Center, Room 239, 1919 M 
Street, N.W., or copies may be purchased from the Commission's 
duplicating contractor, ITS, Inc., 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140, 
Washington D.C. 20037, phone 202/857-3800.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This NPRM contains either a proposed or modified information 
collection. The Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork burdens, invites the general public and the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to comment on the information collections 
contained in this NPRM, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Pub. L. No. 104-13. Public and agency comments are due at the 
same time as other comments on this NPRM; OMB comments are due 60 days 
from date of publication of this NPRM in the Federal Register. Comments 
should address: (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimates; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (d) 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.

    OMB Approval Number: NA.
    Title: Access to Telecommunications Equipment and Services by 
Persons With Disabilities, CC Docket No. 87-124.
    Form No.: NA.
    Type of Review: New Collection.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for profit.
    Number of Respondents: 806,100.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2 hours.
    Total Annual Burden: 1,635,000 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The manufacturing date stamp on telephone equipment 
is needed for, and will be used for, determining whether a particular 
telephone is hearing aid compatible. The designation of emergency use 
hearing aid compatible telephones is needed to provide access to 
workplace emergency telephones for persons with hearing disabilities 
until workplaces are required to provide that all workplace telephones 
are hearing aid compatible. The equipment packaging and instructions 
information is needed to alert consumers in cases where a packaged 
telephone is not hearing aid compatible.
    Analysis of Proceeding: In 1992, the Commission adopted rules 
implementing the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988, 47 U.S.C. 
Sec. 610 (HAC Act). In 1993, the Commission suspended portions of the 
1992 rules because petitions filed by establishments affected by the 
regulations stated that the establishments were encountering serious 
difficulties in their attempts to comply. On March 27, 1995, the 
Commission announced that an advisory committee, the Hearing Aid 
Compatibility Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee), would 
consider whether the rule suspension should be lifted and whether new 
rules should be proposed. (See 59 FR 60343 (Nov. 23, 1994); 58 FR 1539 
(March 27, 1995); and 60 FR 27945 (May 26, 1995). The Committee 
represented the views and interests of all interested parties, 
including those of the Commission, telephone equipment manufacturers, 
employers, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, and persons 
with disabilities. The Committee's recommendations, adopted by 
unanimous consent, were filed with the Commission in the Committee's 
Final Report of August, 1995. The NPRM reflects the recommendations of 
the Committee.
    The NPRM seeks comment first, on the Committee's proposal to 
require hearing aid-compatible telephones in: (1) The non-common areas 
of the workplace; (2) the patient and residential rooms of confined 
settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes; and (3) the guest rooms 
of hotels and motels. Second, the NPRM seeks comment on a proposal that 
all replacement telephones and all newly purchased telephones should be 
equipped with volume control, in addition to having electro-magnetic 
coil hearing aid-compatibility. The NPRM also seeks comment on a 
proposed rule that would require that all telephones manufactured or 
imported for use in the United States have a volume control feature, 
and includes a proposed technical specification for volume control. 
Third, the NPRM seeks comment on a proposal to modify our rules 
governing telephone equipment labelling requirements. Fourth, the NPRM 
seeks comment on proposals to implement additional recommendations of 
the Committee regarding consumer education. Finally, the NPRM seeks 
comment on proposed amendments to existing hearing aid compatibility 
rules for the purpose of clarification.
    The proposed rules provide, in general, that all wireline 
telephones in the workplace, in confined settings, and in hotels and 
motels eventually would be hearing aid compatible, as defined at 47 
C.F.R. Section 68.316 (electro-magnetic coil compatibility). The 
proposed rules would require no testing or retrofitting of existing 
workplace telephones. Instead, the proposed rules set deadlines that 
are beyond the normal life-cycle times for the telephones in these 
establishments to be replaced. The proposed rules also would require 
volume control for newly acquired and replacement telephones in these 
establishments, once the Commission's technical standards and 
implementation rules for volume control are in place. Replacement or 
retrofitting for volume control also would not be required, and 
existing inventories of telephones would not be affected by the volume 
control requirement. The NPRM states that the volume control feature 
could assist many telephone users, whether they have hearing 
disabilities, and whether they rely on telephones that are hearing aid 
compatible. The rules are necessary to implement the Hearing Aid 
Compatibility Act of 1988. If adopted, the proposed rules would 
increase access by persons with hearing disabilities to telephones 
provided for emergency use.
    Under the proposed rules, most workplace telephones would be 
required to be hearing aid compatible by January 1, 2000. In harmony 
with the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 
establishments with fewer than fifteen employees would be exempt from 
these requirements. After the applicable date for having hearing aid 
compatible telephones, employers could presume that their telephones 
were hearing aid compatible. Any person legitimately on the premises 
could challenge this presumption with a good faith request for a 
hearing aid compatible telephone. Upon receipt of such a request, the 
employer would have fifteen working days to replace any particular 
telephone 

[[Page 63669]]
that turns out not to be hearing aid compatible.
    For confined settings, the proposed rules would require that 
establishments with fifty or more beds make their telephones hearing 
aid compatible within one year of the Commission's implementing Order, 
while those with fewer than fifty beds would have to comply within two 
years. Telephones in all confined setting establishments would be 
exempt if alternate signalling devices were available, monitored and 
working, or if a resident brought in and maintained his or her own 
telephone equipment.
    The proposed rules would require that hotels and motels with eighty 
or more guest rooms be required to provide hearing aid compatible 
telephones within two years of the Commission's implementing Order, 
while those with fewer than eighty guest rooms would have three years 
to do so. Upon the effective date of these proposed rules, generally 
twenty percent of guest rooms must have telephones that are hearing aid 
compatible.
    The proposed rules do not address wireless telephone hearing aid 
compatible issues, because those are being addressed by the 
Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    As required by Section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 
1980, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., the Commission has prepared an Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``IRFA'') of the expected impact on 
small entities of the proposals suggested in this document. The IRFA is 
set forth in Appendix C of the NPRM. Written public comments are 
requested in the IRFA. These comments must be filed in accordance with 
the same filing procedures as other comments in this proceeding, but 
they also must have a separate and distinct heading designating them as 
responses to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.
    Reason for Action: The NPRM responds to the recommendations of the 
Hearing Aid Compatibility Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. Pursuant to 
the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, the Commission is obligated to initiate 
this rulemaking proceeding.
    Objectives: The objective of this proposal is to provide greater 
access to the telephone network by persons with hearing disabilities, 
while at the same time balancing the needs of establishments that must 
provide hearing aid-compatible telephones.
    Legal Basis: The proposed action is authorized under Sections 1, 
201-205, and 218 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 
U.S.C. Sections 151, 154, 201-205, and 218.
    Reporting, Record Keeping and Other Compliance Requirements: The 
proposed rules would require manufacturers and importers of telephones 
for use in the United States to provide volume control with their 
equipment after a certain date. Such telephone equipment manufacturers 
and importers also would be required to display on their equipment the 
date of manufacture. In addition, workplaces with fifteen or more 
employees, confined setting establishments and hotels and motels would 
have to provide hearing aid-compatible telephones after certain dates.
    Federal Rules Which Overlap, Duplicate, or Conflict with These 
Rules: None.
    Description, Potential Impact and Number of Small Entities 
Involved: The proposals set forth in this Notice may have an economic 
impact on workplaces with fifteen or more employees, confined setting 
establishments and hotels and motels. These establishments eventually 
may be required to replace some or all of their existing telephones 
with telephones that are hearing aid-compatible, including telephones 
that have volume control. These proposals also may make it easier for 
these establishments to acquire employees and generate business.
    Any Significant Alternatives Minimizing the Impact on Small 
Entities, Consistent with Stated Objectives: None.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 64

    Communications common carriers, Handicapped, Telephone, Hearing aid 
compatibility.

47 CFR Part 68

    Administrative practice and procedure, Communications common 
carriers, Communications equipment, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Telephone, Hearing aid compatibility, Volume control.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-30374 Filed 12-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P