[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 8957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4910]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for Review

February 21, 1997.

     The Federal Communications Commission has submitted the following 
information collection requirement to OMB for review and clearance 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Section 3507. 
Persons wishing to comment on this information collection should 
contact Timothy Fain, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10236, 
NEOB, Washington, D.C. 20503, (202) 395-0651. For further information, 
contact Dorothy Conway, Federal Communications Commission, (202) 418-
0217.
    Please note: The Commission has requested emergency review of this 
collection by February 28, 1997, under the provisions of 5 CFR Section 
1320.13.

Federal Communications Commission.

OMB Control No.: 3060-0536.
    Title: Rules and Requirements for Telecommunications Relay Services 
(TRS) Interstate Cost Recovery.
    Form No.: FCC Form 431.
    Action: Revised Collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5000 respondents; 3.1 hours per response 
(avg.); 15593 hours total annual burden.
    Needs and Uses: Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (ADA) requires the Commission to ensure that telecommunications 
relay services are available, to the extent possible, to individuals 
with hearing and speech disabilities in the United States. To fulfill 
this mandate, the Commission adopted rules that require the provision 
of TRS service beginning July 26, 1993. The Commission set minimum 
standards for TRS providers and established a shared-funding mechanism 
(TRS Fund) for recovering the costs of providing interstate TRS. The 
Commission also appointed the National Exchange Carrier Association 
(NECA) the TRS Fund administrator, and directed NECA to establish a 
non-paid, voluntary advisory committee to monitor cost recovery 
matters.
    The Commission's rules require all carriers providing interstate 
telecommunications services to contribute to the TRS Fund. The amount 
contributed is the product of the carrier's gross interstate revenues 
for the previous year and a contribution factor determined annually by 
the Commission. Contributions are calculated in accordance with a TRS 
Fund Worksheet which is prepared each year by the Commission and 
published in the Federal Register. Payments from the fund are made to 
eligible TRS providers and are designed to cover the reasonable costs 
incurred in providing interstate TRS service. The TRS Fund 
administrator files a proposed payment formula and estimated fund 
requirements with the Commission each year, and this payment formula is 
subject to Commission approval. See 47 CFR Sec. 64.601-64.608 for rules 
and requirements governing telecommunications relay services. On 
December 17, 1996, the Commission's Common Carrier Bureau released an 
order approving the contribution factor for the April 1997 through 
March 1998 contribution period and the 1997 TRS Fund Worksheet (FCC 
Form 431) and also making several revisions to the form.
    The foregoing estimates include the time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the burden 
estimates or any other aspect of the collection of information 
including suggestions for reducing the burden to the Federal 
Communications Commission, Records Management Division, Paperwork 
Reduction Project, Washington, DC 20554.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-4910 Filed 2-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-F