[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50730-50732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20719]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Information Collection Being Submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget for Review and Approval

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 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, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. 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; (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; and (e) ways to further reduce the information 
collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees.
    The FCC 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 PRA that does not display a valid Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before September 15, 
2011. 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 below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB, via fax 
202-395-5167, or via e-mail [email protected]; and to 
Cathy Williams, FCC, via e-mail [email protected] and to 
[email protected]. Include in the comments the OMB control number 
as shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies 
of the information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-
2918. 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/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 OMB control number of 
this ICR and then click on the ICR Reference Number. A copy of the FCC 
submission to OMB will be displayed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0214.
    Title: Sections 73.3526 and 73.3527, Local Public Inspection Files; 
Sections 76.1701 and 73.1943, Political Files.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; not for-profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 25,422 respondents; 59,833 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour to 109 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping and third party disclosure 
requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefit. The 
statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
Sections 154(i), 303 and 308 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 2,176,815 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: None.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: The Commission published a 60-day notice on April 
18, 2011 seeking comments from the public (see 76 FR 21739). This 
current published notice is seeking an

[[Page 50731]]

additional 30 days of public comment. The Commission received the 
previous comments from the 60-day notice and has taken them into 
account.
    The Commission first adopted a public inspection file requirement 
more than 40 years ago. The public file requirement grew out of 
Congress' 1960 amendment of Sections 309 and 311 of the Communications 
Act of 1934. Finding that Congress, in enacting these provisions, was 
guarding ``the right of the general public to be informed, not merely 
the rights of those who have special interests,'' the Commission 
adopted the public inspection file requirement to ``make information to 
which the public already has a right more readily available, so that 
the public will be encouraged to play a more active part in dialogue 
with broadcast licensees.'' In return for their exclusive use of public 
spectrum, broadcasters must operate and program their stations in the 
``public interest, convenience and necessity.'' This means that all 
stations must be responsive and accountable to their local community of 
license. The manner in which broadcasters communicate with their 
communities is a core function of their role as licensees. Specific 
items in the public file, listed below, include items that provide 
station information to the public, like ownership reports, contour 
maps, citizens agreements, EEO reports and quarterly lists of programs 
that the stations believe addressed important issues in their 
community. Access to the public inspection file allows the public to 
monitor a station's public interest performance. The information 
provided in a station's public file enables citizens to engage in an 
informed dialog with their local stations or to file complaints or 
petitions to deny the renewal of a station's license. Comments, 
complaints, and petitions to deny filed by the viewing public have long 
been a part of the regulatory and the renewal process. As part of the 
Commission's license renewal process, the Commission does not routinely 
monitor every aspect of stations' compliance with Commission rules; 
rather, it depends on viewers and listeners to provide information 
about whether stations are meeting their public interest obligations.
    The following Information Collection Requirements are part of this 
collection and have been approved by OMB:
    47 CFR 73.3526(a) and 73.3527(a) require that licensees and 
permittees of commercial and noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcast 
stations maintain a local public inspection file. The contents of the 
file vary according to type of service and status. A separate file 
shall be maintained for each station for which an application is 
pending or for which an authorization is outstanding. The public 
inspection file must be maintained so long as an authorization to 
operate the station is outstanding.
    47 CFR 73.3526(b) and 73.3527(b) require that the public inspection 
file be maintained at the main studio of the station. An applicant for 
a new station or change of community shall maintain its file at an 
accessible place in the proposed community of license or at its 
proposed main studio.
    47 CFR 73.3526(c) and 73.3527(c) require the licensee/permittee to 
make the file available for public inspection at any time during 
regular business hours. All or part of this file may be maintained in a 
computer database as long as a computer terminal is made available to 
members of the public. Materials in the public file must be made 
available for review, printing or reproduction upon request.
    Licensees that maintain their main studios and public file outside 
their communities of license are required to mail a copy of ``The 
Public and Broadcasting'' to anyone requesting a copy. Licensees shall 
be prepared to assist members of the public in identifying the 
documents they may want to be sent to them by mail.
    47 CFR 73.3526(d) and 73.3527(d) require an assignor to maintain 
the public inspection file until such time as the assignment is 
consummated. At that time, the assignee is required to maintain the 
file.
    47 CFR 73.3526(e) and 73.3527(e) specify the contents of the public 
inspection files. Separate rule sections not subject to this 
information collection require the creation and submission to the 
Commission of many of the items that must be retained in the public 
inspection file. As such, the burden estimates for creation and 
submission of these documents are calculated in other information 
collections. The burden estimates included in this information 
collection pertain only to making these items publicly available. We 
have listed below some of the relevant information collections 
pertaining to the creation and submission of such documents. The 
documents to be retained in the public inspection files are as follows:
    (a) A copy of the current FCC authorization to construct or operate 
the station, as well as any other documents necessary to reflect any 
modifications thereto or any conditions that the FCC has placed on the 
authorization;
    (b) A copy of any application tendered for filing with the FCC, 
together with all related material, and copies of Initial Decision and 
Final Decisions in hearing cases. If petitions to deny are filed 
against the application, a statement that such a petition has been 
filed shall be maintained in the file together with the name and 
address of the party filing the petition [Application for Construction 
Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station (OMB control number 3060-0027, 
FCC Form 301; Application for New Commercial or Noncommercial 
Educational Broadcast Station License (OMB control number 3060-0029, 
FCC Form 340); Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast 
Station Construction Permit or License, FCC Form 314; Application for 
Consent to Transfer Control of Entity Holding Broadcast Station 
Construction Permit or License, FCC Form 315; Section 73.3580, Local 
Public Notice of Filing of Broadcast Applications (OMB control number 
3060-0031)];
    (c) For commercial broadcast stations, a copy of every written 
citizen agreement;
    (d) A copy of any service contour maps, submitted with any 
application, together with any other information in the application 
showing service contours and/or main studio and transmitter location;
    (e) A copy of the most recent, complete Ownership Report (FCC Form 
323) filed with the FCC for the station, together with any statements 
filed with the FCC certifying that the current Report is accurate 
[Ownership Report for Broadcast Station (OMB control number 3060-0010, 
FCC Form 323); Ownership Report for Noncommercial Educational TV, FM or 
Standard Broadcast Station (OMB control number 3060-0084, FCC Form 323-
E)];
    (f) A political file of records required by 47 CFR 73.1943 
concerning broadcasts by candidates for public office [Section 73.1942, 
Candidates Rates, 76.206, Candidates Rates, Section 76.1611, Political 
Cable Rates and Classes of Time (OMB control number 3060-0501)];
    (g) An Equal Employment Opportunity File required by 47 CFR 73.2080 
[Broadcast EEO Program Report, FCC Form 396 (OMB control number 3060-
0113); Multi-Channel Video Program Distributor EEO Program Annual 
Report (OMB control number 3060-1033, FCC Form 396-C)].
    (h) A copy of the most recent edition of the manual entitled ``The 
Public and Broadcasting;''
    (i) For commercial broadcast stations, all written comments and 
suggestions (letters and electronic mail) received from the public 
regarding operation of the station;

[[Page 50732]]

    (j) Material having a substantial bearing on a matter which is the 
subject of an FCC investigation or complaint to the FCC of which the 
applicant/permittee/licensee has been advised;
    (k) For commercial radio and TV broadcast stations and non-exempt 
NCE broadcast stations, a list of programs that have provided the 
station's most significant treatment of community issues. This list is 
kept on a quarterly basis and contains a brief description of how each 
issue was treated;
    (l) For commercial TV broadcast stations, records sufficient to 
permit substantiation of the station's certification, in its license 
renewal application, of compliance with the commercial limits on 
children's television programming. The records must be placed in the 
public file quarterly. The FCC Form 398, Children's Television 
Programming Reports, reflecting efforts made by the licensee during the 
preceding quarter, and efforts planned for the next quarter, to serve 
the educational and informational needs of children must be placed in 
the public file quarterly [Children's Television Programming Report 
(OMB control number 3060-0754, FCC Form 398)];
    (m) For NCE stations, a list of donors supporting specific 
programs. The list is to be retained for two years from the date of the 
broadcast of the specific program supported, and will be reserved for 
sponsors/underwriters of specific programming;
    (n) Each applicant for renewal of license shall place in the public 
file a statement certifying compliance with the pre-filing and post-
filing local public notice announcements. These statements shall be 
placed in the public file within 7 days of the last day of broadcast 
[Section 73.3580, Local Public Notice of Filing of Broadcast 
Applications (OMB control number 3060-0031)];
    (o) Commercial radio and TV licensees who provide programming to 
another licensee's station, pursuant to time brokerage agreements, are 
required to keep copies of those agreements in their public inspection 
files, with confidential information blocked out where appropriate;
    (p) Commercial TV stations must make an election between 
retransmission consent and must-carry status once every three years. 
Television stations that fail to make an election will be deemed to 
have elected must-carry status. This statement must be placed in the 
station's public inspection file. This rule codifies Section 
325(b)(3)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended [Section 
73.1601, Deletion of Repositioning of Broadcast Signals; Section 
76.1617, Initial Must-Carry Notice; and Sections 76.1697 and 76.1708, 
Principal Headend (OMB control number 3060-0649)];
    (q) NCE television stations requesting mandatory carriage on any 
cable system pursuant to 47 CFR 76.56 shall place in its public file 
the request and relevant correspondence; and
    (r) Commercial radio and TV licensees who have entered into joint 
sales agreements must place the agreements in the public inspection 
file, with confidential and propriety information blocked out where 
appropriate.
    47 CFR 73.1212(e), 73.1943 and 76.1701 require licensees of 
broadcast stations and every cable television system to keep and permit 
public inspection of a complete record (political file) of all requests 
for broadcast and cablecast time made by or on behalf of candidates for 
public office, together with an appropriate notation showing the 
disposition made by the system of such requests, and the charges made, 
if any, if the request is granted. The disposition includes the 
schedule of time purchased, when the spots actually aired, the rates 
charged, and the classes of time purchased. Also, when free time is 
provided for use by or on behalf of candidates, a record of the free 
time provided is to be placed in the political file as soon as possible 
and maintained for a period of two years. 47 CFR 73.1212(e) and 76.1701 
also require that, when an entity sponsors broadcast or cablecast 
material that concerns a political matter or a discussion of a 
controversial issue of public importance, a list must be maintained in 
the public file of the system that includes the sponsoring entity's 
chief executive officers, or members of its executive committee or of 
its board of directors [Sections 73.1212, 76.1615 and 76.1715, 
Sponsorship Identification (OMB control number 3060-0174); Section 
73.1942, Candidates Rates, 76.206, Candidates Rates, Section 76.1611, 
Political Cable Rates and Classes of Time (OMB control number 3060-
0501)].
    The Commission is requesting an extension of this information 
collection for a three year period from OMB.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of Managing Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-20719 Filed 8-15-11; 8:45 am]
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