[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 245 (Friday, December 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72721-72723]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24794]


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

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


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

December 17, 2007.
SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 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 of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. 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 Reductions Act (PRA) comments should be 
submitted on or before January 22, 2008. 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 FCC 
contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of 
Management and Budget, via e-mail to [email protected] 
or via fax at (202) 395-5167 and to the Federal Communications 
Commission via e-mail to [email protected] or by U.S. mail to Leslie F. 
Smith, Federal Communications Commission, Room 1-C216, 445 12th Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20554 at 202-418-0217.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information contact 
Leslie F. Smith via e-mail at [email protected] or call 202-418-0217. 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/

[[Page 72722]]

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 title of the ICR (or 
its OMB control number, if there is one) and then click on the ICR 
Reference Number to view detailed information about this ICR.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-XXXX.
    Title: Comprehensive Review of the Universal Service Fund 
Management, Administration, and Oversight; Federal-State Joint Board on 
Universal Service; Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support 
Mechanism; Rule Health Care Support Mechanism; Lifeline and Link-up; 
and Changes to the Board of Directors for the National Exchange Carrier 
Association, Inc., WC Docket No. 05-195 et al., FCC 07-150.
    Form Number: N/A
    Type of Review: New information collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 1 respondent; 1 response.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1.0 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Total Annual Burden: 1.0 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: None.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Respondents may request that 
information be withheld from disclosure. Requests for confidentiality 
are processed in accordance with FCC rules under 47 CFR Section 0.459.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On August 29, 2007, the FCC released a Report and 
Order (``R&O''), Comprehensive Review of the Universal Service Fund 
Management, Administration, and Oversight; Federal-State Joint Board on 
Universal Service; Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support 
Mechanism; Rule Health Care Support Mechanism; Lifeline and Link-up; 
and Changes to the Board of Directors for the National Exchange Carrier 
Association, Inc., WC Docket No. 05-195 et al., FCC 07-150.
    In this R&O, the FCC has adopted new and revised information 
collection requirements that include timely filing for 
Telecommunications Reporting Worksheets, a reminder that USF 
contributors must file FCC Forms 499-A and 499-Q on a periodic basis, 
document retention and recordkeeping requirements and administrative 
limitation periods for the high-cost, low-income, and rural health care 
universal service programs, and various other performance measures and 
reporting requirements for the universal service programs and for the 
Universal Service Fund (``USF'') Administrator. These recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements are part of the FCC's continuing process to 
deter misconduct and inappropriate uses of the universal service funds. 
It is the FCC's intention that these requirements will both safeguard 
the USF from waste, fraud, and abuse and improve the management, 
administration, and oversight of the USF. These information collection 
requirements are as follows:
    Timely Filing for Worksheets: At present, Universal Service Fund 
contributors must file FCC Form 499-Q, ``Telecommunications Reporting 
Worksheet'' (``Worksheet''), on a timely filing basis and must not 
submit inaccurate or untruthful information. In addition, the R&O will 
require the USF Administrator to add information, e.g., a notification 
requirement, to the monthly invoice sent to contributors. Each monthly 
invoice must now also include language pertaining to the Debt 
Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) of 1996, substantially as follows:
    A failure to submit payment may result in sanctions, including, but 
not limited to, the initiation of proceedings to recover the 
outstanding debt, together with any applicable administrative charges, 
penalties, and interest pursuant to the provisions of the Debt 
Collection Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-365) and the Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996, (Pub. L. 104-134) as amended (the ``DCIA''), 
as set forth below.
    The date of payment on the invoice is the due date. If full payment 
is not received by the date due, the debt is delinquent. Because the 
unpaid amount is a debt owed to the United States, we are required by 
the DCIA to impose interest and to inform you what may happen if you do 
not pay the full outstanding debt. Under the DCIA, the United States 
will charge interest at the annual rate equal to the U.S. prime rate as 
of the date of delinquency plus 3.5 percent from the date the 
contribution was due. This interest rate incorporates administrative 
charges of collection pursuant to 47 CFR 54.713. If the debt remains 
unpaid more than 90 days , you will be charged an additional penalty of 
6 percent a year for any part of the debt that is more than 90 days 
past due. If the debt remains unpaid, the full amount of the 
outstanding debt may be transferred to the United States Department of 
Treasury (``Treasury'') for debt collection, and you will be required 
to pay the administrative costs of processing and handling a delinquent 
claim as set by the Treasury (currently 28 percent of the debt). 
However, if you pay the full amount of the outstanding debt and 
associated administrative fees and penalties within 30 days of the due 
date, the DCIA Interest will be waived. These requirements are set out 
at 31 U.S.C. 3717.
    In addition to the language in the invoice, the R&O has specified 
that USF Administrator's invoice shall state clearly that the invoiced 
amount is due on a specific date and that the debt is delinquent if not 
paid in full by that date. The USF Administrator's invoices and any 
letters shall also explain the applicable sanction and administrative 
changes for late payments, i.e., under 31 U.S.C. 3717, a delinquent 
debt that is not paid in full within 30 days from the date due will 
incur interest, and if not paid in full within 90 days from the due 
date, will also incur a penalty of 6 percent per year. In addition, the 
delinquent contributor will be assessed the administrative costs of 
collection, pursuant to 47 CFR 54.713 of FCC rules. Finally, an invoice 
sent after partial payment should show clearly that the payment was 
applied to outstanding penalties, administrative costs, accrued 
interest, and then to the oldest outstanding principal (``American 
Rule'').
    Document retention requirements. Having concluded in the R&O that 
document retention and recordkeeping requirements not only prevent 
waste, fraud, and abuse, but also protect applicants and service 
providers in the event of vendor disputes, the FCC has adopted or 
revised several of these requirements that will demonstrate compliance 
with FCC rules and regulations and be available to the USF 
Administrator, auditors, and the FCC, as follows:
    High-cost program. Recipients of universal service support for 
high-cost providers must retain all records that they may require to 
demonstrate to auditors that the support they received was consistent 
with the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and FCC rules, 
assuming that the audits are conducted within five years of 
disbursement of such support. This R&O clarifies that beneficiaries 
must make available all such documents and records that pertain to 
them,

[[Page 72723]]

including those of NECA, contractors, and consultants working on behalf 
of the beneficiaries to the Commission's Office of Inspector General 
(``OIG''), to the USF Administrator, and to their auditors. See 47 CFR 
54.202(e).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 47 CFR Sec.  54.202(e): All eligible telecommunications 
carriers shall retain all records required to demonstrate to 
auditors that the support received was consistent with the universal 
service high-cost program rules. These rules should include the 
following: data supporting line count filings; historical customer 
records; fixed asset property accounting records; general ledgers; 
invoice copies for the purchase and maintenance of equipment; 
maintenance contracts for the upgrade or equipment; and any other 
relevant documentation. This documentation must be maintained for at 
least five years from the receipt of funding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Low-income program. With respect to the two low-income universal 
service programs Lifeline and Link-Up, the FCC has concluded that it 
should maintain the current two-tiered document retention requirements. 
Participating service providers must retain a record verifying the 
eligibility of a recipient of the program for as long as the recipient 
continues to receive supported service and three years more, and to 
make it available in conjunction with any audit to which it may be 
relevant. However, the R&O removes the clause that waives the 
requirement to retain documentation of eligibility once an audit is 
completed. The FCC also clarifies that beneficiaries must make 
available all documentation and records that pertain to them, including 
those of contractors and consultants working on their behalf, to the 
Commission's OIG, to the USF Administrator, and to auditors working on 
their behalf. See 47 CFR 54.417(a).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ 47 CFR Sec.  54.417(a): Eligible telecommunications carriers 
must maintain records to document compliance with all Commission and 
state requirements governing the Lifeline/Link Up programs for the 
three full years preceding calendar years and requiring carriers to 
retain documentation for as long as the customer receives Lifeline 
service from the ETC or until audited by the Administrator and 
provide that documentation to the Commission or Administrator upon 
request * * *.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rural health care and schools and libraries programs. The FCC 
maintains the current requirement that rural health care providers and 
schools and libraries must retain their records, which evidence that 
the funding they receive was proper, for 5 years. In addition, this 
requirement will now also apply to those service providers that receive 
support for serving rural health care providers. Furthermore, the FCC 
clarifies that beneficiaries must make available all documents and 
records that pertain to them, including those of contractors and 
consultants, working on their behalf, to the Commission's OIG, to the 
USF Administrator, and to their auditors, as required by 47 CFR 
54.516(a) \3\ and 47 CFR 54.619(a).\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 47 CFR Sec.  54.516(a) Recordkeeping requirements--(1) 
Schools and libraries. Schools and libraries shall retain all 
documents related to the application for, receipt, and delivery of 
discounted telecommunications and other supported services for at 
least 5 years after the last day of the service delivered in a 
particular Funding Year. Any other document that demonstrates 
compliance with the statutory or regulatory requirements for the 
schools and libraries mechanism shall be retained as well. Schools 
and libraries shall maintain asset and inventory records of 
equipment purchased as components of supported internal connections 
services sufficient to verify the actual location of such equipment 
for a period of five years after purchase.
    \4\ 47 CFR Sec.  54.619(d) Service providers. Service providers 
shall retain documents related to the delivery of discounted 
telecommunications and other supported services for at least five 
years after the last day of the delivery of discounted services. Any 
documentation that demonstrates compliance with the statutory or 
regulatory requirements for the rural health care mechanism shall be 
retained as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Contributors. The R&O also requires contributors to the Universal 
Service Fund to retain all documents and records, e.g., financial 
statements and supporting documentation, etc., that they may require to 
demonstrate to auditors that their contributions were made in 
compliance with the program rules, assuming that audits are conducted 
within 5 years. The FCC clarifies that contributors must make available 
all documents and records that pertain to them, including those of 
contractors and consultants working on their behalf, to the 
Commission's OIG, to the USF Administrator, and to their auditors.
    Connectivity. The FCC will require the USF Administrator to work 
with the Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau to modify the 
relevant FCC Forms or to create additional questions for USF program 
participants to determine more accurately how schools and libraries 
connect to the Internet and their precise levels of connectivity.
    These new and revised information collection requirements, which 
include document retention and recordkeeping requirements, etc., will 
affect numerous information collections that the FCC currently 
maintains. Once OMB approves these requirements, the FCC will begin to 
update these information collections as required by the rules adopted 
in this R&O.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-24794 Filed 12-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P