[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 8, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44532-44533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15445]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Submitted for 
Review to the Office of Management and Budget

July 26, 2007.
SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the 
following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid 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 (PRA) that does not display a valid 
control number. Comments are requested concerning (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 estimate; (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.

DATES: Written Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) comments should be 
submitted on or before September 7, 2007. If you anticipate that you 
will be submitting PRA comments, but find it difficult to do so within 
the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the FCC 
contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Jasmeet K. Seehra, Office of 
Management and Budget, Room 10236 NEOB, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 
395-3123, or via fax at 202-395-5167 or via Internet at [email protected] and to [email protected], Federal 
Communications Commission, Room 1-B441, 445 12th Street, SW., DC 20554 
or an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to obtain or view a copy 
of this information collection, you may do so by visiting the FCC PRA 
Web page at: http://www.fcc.gov/omd/pra.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies 
of the information collection(s), contact Judith B. Herman at 202-418-
0214 or via the Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0999.
    Title: Section 20.19, Hearing Aid-Compatible Mobile Handsets 
(Hearing Aid Compatibility Act).
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 925 respondents; 1,850 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2-160 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirement and third party 
disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Mandatory.
    Total Annual Burden: 6,050 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: N/A.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: N/A.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Information requested in the 
annual reports might need to disclose confidential information. 
However, covered entities would be allowed to request that such 
materials submitted to the Commission be withheld from public 
inspection under 47 CFR 0.459.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information 
collection to OMB as a revision during this comment period to obtain 
the full three-year clearance from them. The Commission is reporting a 
decrease in the number of respondents that are no longer subject to the 
rules because they have met certain benchmark requirements. The 
estimate regarding the annual hourly burden requires adjustment because 
the Commission did not impose the semi-annual reporting requirement on 
all three groups. Instead, it required wireless service providers and 
digital wireless handset manufacturers to report every six months for 
the first three years of implementation, and then annually thereafter 
through the fifth year of implementation. The Commission expects that 
each company would utilize staff engineers to draft the reports, and 
each report would take about two hours to draft. Therefore, the service 
provider and handset manufacturer reports to an estimated total of four 
hours per entity for the first three years, and will take two hours per 
entity in the current (fourth) and the fifth year. Thus, the annual 
burden for the remaining information collections involving annual 
reports is 925 (965 entities were reported to OMB in 2004) x 2 hours 
per entity = 1,850 hours per year. The actual hour burden may be less 
because the Commission gave these

[[Page 44533]]

entities the option to submit joint reports, if desired.
    The Commission anticipates there may be ongoing modifications to 
the technical standard. We expect that a subset of approximately 50 of 
the 965 entities will meet and make modifications to the technical 
standard for the remaining years. The total estimated annual burden 
hours for these entities are 4,200 hours. Additionally, we anticipate 
that 12 principal representatives will account for 1,920 hours (12 
entities x 160 per entity = 1,920 hours) and 38 representatives will 
account for 2,280 hours (38 entities x 60 hours per entity = 2,280). 
1,920 + 2,280 hours = 6,050 total annual burden hours is being reported 
to OMB.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0950.
    Title: Bidding Credits for Tribal Lands.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit 
institutions, and state, local or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 3 respondents; 3 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10-180 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement and 
recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Total Annual Burden: 600 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $108,000.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: N/A.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information 
collection to OMB as an extension (no change in reporting or 
recordkeeping requirements) during this comment period to obtain the 
full three-year clearance from them. Due to significantly less 
respondents (-1,310 respondents estimated in 2004) since the last 
submission to the OMB, the Commission has adjusted the number of 
respondents, burden hours and annual costs for this information 
collection. Although there are currently three applicants taking part 
in the Tribal Land Bidding Credit (TLBC) program, almost all applicants 
in any auction where TLBCs are available could take part in the 
program. Because so many could participate, we need to continue this 
collection.
    On June 2000, the Commission adopted rules and policies to 
encourage the deployment of wireless services to tribal lands. Pursuant 
to the objectives and requirements of section 309(j)(3) and (4) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended and in conjunction with the 1990 
Census which indicates that communities on tribal lands have 
historically had less access to telecommunications services than any 
other segment of the population. The Commission adopted rules and 
policies to encourage deployment of wireless services to tribal 
communities.
    On March 2003, the Commission adopted rules which extended the time 
period during which winning bidders can negotiate with relevant tribes 
to obtain the certification needed to obtain the bidding credit in a 
particular market from 90 days to 180 days.
    On August 2004, the Commission adopted a third final rule which 
raised the wireline telephone penetration rate at which tribal lands 
are eligible for a bidding credit from 70 percent or less to 85 percent 
or less, and increased the amount of the bidding credit available to 
carriers that pledge to deploy on and serve qualifying tribal lands. A 
winning bidder seeking a bidding credit to serve a qualifying tribal 
land within a particular market must meet specific requirements (filing 
FCC Form 601) and various certifications from tribal government stating 
specific requirements are met.
    The Commission believes that the lack of basic telecommunications 
services puts affected tribal communities at a social and economic 
disadvantage. This information collection will be used to ensure that 
tribal communities within federally-recognized tribal areas have access 
to wireless telecommunications services equivalent to that of the 
nation as a whole.

    Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-15445 Filed 8-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P