[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8256-8257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3929]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


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

February 17, 2009.
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, 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

[[Page 8257]]

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 April 27, 2009. 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 Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of 
Management and Budget, (202) 395-5887, or via fax at 202-395-5167 or 
via internet at [email protected] and to [email protected], Federal Communications Commission, or an e-mail to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, 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 Annual 
Reporting (Hearing Aid Compatibility Act).
    Form No.: FCC Form 655--electronic only.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 925 respondents; 925 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1-3 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirement and third party 
disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for these information collections is contained in 
47 U.S.C. Sections 154(i), 303(r), and 610.
    Total Annual Burden: 12,525 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: N/A.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: N/A.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: In submitting the information 
requested in the annual reports, respondents may need to disclose 
confidential information to satisfy the requirements. However, covered 
entities would be free to request that such materials submitted to the 
Commission be withheld from public inspection under 47 CFR 0.459 of the 
Commission's rules. The Commission's rules provide for requesting that 
confidential treatment be afforded particular materials that the 
requesting party identifies and submission of those materials (for 
review by the Commission) for which a party seeks confidential 
treatment. This same treatment is available for licensing applications 
filed in ULS and other reports that are filed electronically.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information 
collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) after this 60-
day comment period in order to obtain its full three year clearance. 
The Commission is requesting a revision of this information collection. 
The Commission is reporting a decrease in respondents since the last 
submission to OMB because manufacturers have already filed their 
January 15, 2009 reports. Therefore, each respondent now needs to file 
only one report per year. Starting July 15, 2009, all annual reports 
filed by service providers and manufacturers will be submitted using 
electronic FCC Form 655.
    The Commission is implementing a mandatory electronic filing 
requirement for all manufacturers and service providers. The Commission 
is eliminating the use of paper-based annual reports and will require 
annual reports filed by manufacturers and service providers to be 
submitted using electronic FCC Form 655 beginning July 15, 2009. Use of 
the electronic FCC Form 655 will help filers ensure that their reports 
include all of the required information; will facilitate the 
Commission's compilation of data from the reports; and will decrease 
the paperwork burden on all respondents (service providers and 
manufacturers). The reporting criteria will assist the Commission staff 
in monitoring the progress of implementation by phone manufacturers and 
wireless service providers, and it will provide valuable information to 
the public concerning hearing aid-compatible handsets. The annual 
reports will permit the Commission to continue to stay abreast of 
ongoing standards work and other pertinent information associated with 
achieving digital wireless compatibility with hearing aids and cochlear 
implants. This information will help to ensure that the Commission's 
decisions relating to hearing aid compatibility with wireless phones 
are fair to all involved and reflect the actual status of technology. 
The technical standard for hearing aid compatibility is required by the 
Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Act of 1988, and will be used by 
covered entities and the Commission as a compliance guide.
    The Commission adopted and released a First Report and Order on 
February 28, 2008 (73 FR 25566) in which the Commission modified the 
deployment benchmarks for hearing aid-compatible phones, and imposed 
new requirements on manufacturers and service providers to ensure their 
product lines are current and include handset models with varying 
levels of functionality and are periodically refreshed. The Commission 
also required manufacturers and service providers to continue to file 
reports on the status of their compliance with these requirements, and 
it modified the content and timing of these reports (service providers 
were required to file the new reports annually beginning on January 15, 
2009 and subsequently thereafter, and manufacturers also filed their 
reports on January 15, 2009 and then are required to file annually 
thereafter beginning on July 15, 2009). The requirement to provide 
certain information in conjunction with product labeling remains, 
although the details of the information required have changed slightly, 
especially with regard to phones that have Wi-Fi air interface 
capability. Finally, the Commission required manufacturers and service 
providers which already have public Web sites to publish up-to-date 
information on their Web sites regarding their hearing aid-compatible 
models and to keep that information current.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-3929 Filed 2-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P