[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 46 (Friday, March 7, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12415-12417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4597]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to OMB for 
Emergency Review and Approval

March 4, 2008.
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, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act 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

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collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Written Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) comments should be 
submitted on or before March 12, 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 contacts 
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 Jerry Cowden, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room 1-B135, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information contact 
Jerry Cowden via e-mail at [email protected] or at 202-418-0447. To view or 
obtain a copy of this information collection request (ICR) submitted to 
OMB: (1) Go to this OMB/GSA 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, and (6) when the list of FCC 
ICRs currently under review appears, look for the title ``Information 
Needed in Requests for Waiver of June 26, 2008 Deadline for Rebanding 
Completion'' and then click on the ICR Reference Number above it. A 
copy of the FCC submission to OMB will be displayed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission is requesting emergency OMB 
processing of this information collection and has requested OMB 
approval by March 14, 2008.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Title: Information Needed in Requests for Waiver of June 26, 2008 
Deadline for Rebanding Completion.
    Form No.: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Respondents: State, local or tribal governments; private sector.
    Number of Respondents: 780 respondents; 1080 responses.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 0.861 hour.
    Frequency of Response: One to two-time reporting.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Total Annual Burden: 930 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $62,400.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission will work with 
respondents to ensure that their concerns regarding the confidentiality 
of any proprietary or public safety-sensitive information are resolved 
in a manner consistent with the Commission's rules. See 47 CFR 0.459.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: This information collection does not 
affect individuals or households, and therefore a privacy impact 
assessment is not required.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection sought will enable the 
Commission to implement its rebanding program. Under that program, 
certain licensees are being relocated to new frequencies in the 800 MHz 
band, with all rebanding costs to be paid by Sprint Nextel Corporation 
(Sprint). The Commission's overarching objective in this proceeding is 
to eliminate interference to public safety communications. The 
Commission's orders provided for the 800 MHz licensees in non-border 
areas to complete rebanding by June 26, 2008. Those Orders also adopted 
various information collection requirements necessary to implement 800 
MHz incumbent relocation, which have been approved by OMB (See OMB 
Control Number 3060-1080). Incumbent licensees may request a waiver of 
the relocation schedule. The Public Notice at issue here provides 
licensees guidance on what information they should submit as part of 
those waiver requests.
    On January 17, 2008, the Commission released a Public Notice that 
established that any 800 MHz non-border licensee that will require 
additional time past June 26, 2008 to complete rebanding must request a 
waiver. The Commission stated that the ``guidance contained in this 
Public Notice is intended to expedite both the preparation and 
submission of waiver requests by licensees as well as the review of 
such requests by the Bureau, consistent with the Commission's 
overarching goal of ensuring that rebanding is accomplished in a 
reasonable, prudent, and timely manner.'' The deadlines for filing 
waiver requests are March 17, 2008, for licensees in Waves 1 and 2 and 
April 15, 2008, for licensees in Wave 3. Licensees may also file 
interim waiver requests until they file a waiver request that will 
include a proposed rebanding timetable.
    The Commission will make use of electronic collection techniques. 
It is expected that all respondents will employ electronic 
correspondence to submit their responses. To further ease the burden 
imposed by this information collection, respondents are encouraged to 
make use of template forms created for the purpose of this collection. 
Those forms are publicly available.
    Information will be sought concerning public safety systems that 
are being relocated to new frequencies under the Commission's 800 MHz 
rebanding program. We encourage licensees that are part of a regional 
coordination plan or that are otherwise coordinating their rebanding 
efforts to file coordinated requests as well as individual requests for 
each member of the regional coordination plan. We recommend that 
licensees address the following factors in their request: (1) System 
size and complexity; (2) interoperability with other systems, and how 
such interoperability will affect the ultimate rebanding schedule; and 
(3) steps already taken to complete physical reconfiguration, including 
participation in the Subscriber Equipment Deployment (SED) program and 
participation in a TA-sponsored regional planning session in its Public 
Safety Region (or commitment to participate in such a session). 
Licensees should provide a proposed timetable that includes the 
following elements: (1) What steps in the rebanding process have been 
or will be taken prior to the June 26, 2008 deadline; (2) anticipated 
dates of commencement and completion of (a) replacement or retuning of 
mobiles/portables, and (b) infrastructure retuning; (3) the anticipated 
date(s) that the licensee will commence operations on its post-
rebanding channels and stop operations on its pre-rebanding channels; 
(4) additional rebanding steps that the licensee must take after 
commencement of operations on rebanded channels (e.g., removing old 
channels from radios) and the anticipated date for completion of these 
steps. The 800 MHz Transition Administrator has developed a template 
form for licensee use to provide the above information in their waiver 
requests. To expedite licensee preparation of requests and Bureau 
review, we recommend that licensees use this template in preparing 
their requests. Licensees that are unable to propose a specific 
timetable because they have not executed a Frequency Reconfiguration 
Agreement (FRA) with Sprint by the applicable deadline for filing a 
waiver request should file an interim extension request. The interim 
extension request should (1) state when the licensee anticipates having 
an FRA and (2) when the licensee anticipates filing a final waiver 
request that will

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include a proposed timetable as described above.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-4597 Filed 3-6-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P