[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 248 (Monday, December 29, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 77916-77917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30379]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 79

[CG Docket No. 05-231; FCC 14-12]


Closed Captioning of Video Programming; Telecommunications for 
the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; Petition for Rulemaking

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, 
the information collection associated with the Commission's document 
Closed Captioning of Video Programming; Telecommunications for the Deaf 
and Hard of Hearing; Petition for Rulemaking (Report and Order). This 
document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the 
Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing 
the effective date of those rules.

DATES: 47 CFR 79.1(c)(3), (e)(11)(iii), (iv) and (v), (j), and (k), 
published at 79 FR 17911, March 31, 2014, are effective March 16, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eliot Greenwald, Disability Rights 
Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at (202) 418-2235, or 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on December 
18, 2014, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection requirements contained in the Commission's Report and Order, 
FCC 14-12, published at 79 FR 17911, March 31, 2014. The OMB Control 
Number is 3060-0761. The Commission publishes this document as an 
announcement of the effective date of the rules. If you have any 
comments on the burden estimates listed below, or how the Commission 
can improve the collections and reduce any burdens caused thereby, 
please contact Cathy Williams, Federal Communications Commission, Room 
1-C823, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. Please include the 
OMB Control Number, 3060-0761, in your correspondence. The Commission 
will also accept your comments via the Internet if you send them to 
[email protected].
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received OMB approval on 
December 18, 2014, for the information collection requirements 
contained in the Commission's rules at 47 CFR 79.1(c)(3), (e)(11)(iii), 
(iv) and (v), (j), and (k). Under 5 CFR part 1320, an agency may not 
conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a 
current, valid OMB 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 
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB 
Control Number is 3060-0761.
    The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Pub. L. 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
    The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents 
are as follows:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0761.
    OMB Approval Date: December 18, 2014.
    OMB Expiration Date: December 31, 2017.
    Title: Section 79.1, Closed Captioning of Video Programming, CG 
Docket No. 05-231.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Individuals or 
households; and Not-for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 22,565 respondents; 1,149,437 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.25 hours (15 minutes) to 120 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual, one-time and on-occasion reporting 
requirements; Third party disclosure requirement; Recordkeeping 
requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory

[[Page 77917]]

authority for this obligation is found at section 713 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 613, and implemented 
at 47 CFR 79.1.
    Total Annual Burden: 1,254,358 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $40,220,496.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Confidentiality is an issue 
to the extent that individuals and households provide personally 
identifiable information, which is covered under the FCC's system of 
records notice (SORN), FCC/CGB-1, ``Informal Complaints, Inquiries and 
Request for Dispute Assistance.'' As required by the Privacy Act, 5 
U.S.C. 552a, the Commission also published a SORN, FCC/CGB-1 ``Informal 
Complaints, Inquiries and Request for Dispute Assistance,'' in the 
Federal Register on August 15, 2014 (79 FR 48152) which became 
effective on September 24, 2014.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: Yes.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission seeks to extend existing information 
collection requirements in its closed captioning rules (47 CFR 79.1), 
which require that, with some exceptions, all new video programming, 
and 75 percent of ``pre-rule'' programming, be closed captioned. The 
existing collections include petitions by video programming providers, 
producers, and owners for exemptions from the closed captioning rules, 
responses by commenters, and replies; complaints by viewers alleging 
violations of the closed captioning rules, responses by video 
programming distributors, and recordkeeping in support of complaint 
responses; and making video programming distributor contact information 
available to viewers in phone directories, on the Commission's Web site 
and the Web sites of video programming distributors (if they have 
them), and in billing statements (to the extent video programming 
distributors issue them). In addition, the Commission seeks to extend 
proposed information collection requirements. Specifically, on February 
20, 2014, the Commission adopted rules governing the quality of closed 
captioning on television. Closed Captioning of Video Programming; 
Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. Petition for 
Rulemaking, CG Docket No. 05-231, Report and Order, Declaratory Ruling, 
and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 29 FCC Rcd 2221 (2014), 
published at 79 FR 17911 (March 31, 2014). The Commission took the 
following actions, among others:
    (a) Required video programming distributors to make best efforts to 
obtain certification from video programmers that their programming (i) 
complies with the captioning quality standards established in the 
Report and Order; (ii) adheres to the Best Practices for video 
programmers set out in the Report and Order; or (iii) is exempt from 
the closed captioning rules under one or more properly attained and 
specified exemptions.
    (b) Adopted additional requirements and a ``compliance ladder'' for 
broadcasters that use electronic newsroom technique.
    (c) Required video programming distributors to keep records of 
their activities related to the maintenance, monitoring, and technical 
checks of their captioning equipment.
    (d) Required that petitions requesting an exemption based on the 
economically burdensome standard and all subsequent pleadings, as well 
as comments, oppositions, or replies to comments, be filed 
electronically in accordance with 47 CFR 0.401(a)(1)(iii) instead of as 
a paper filing.
    Comments, oppositions, or replies to comments must be served on the 
other party, by delivering or mailing a copy to the last known address 
in accordance with 47 CFR 1.47 or by sending a copy to the email 
address last provided by the party, its attorney, or other duly 
constituted agent, and must include a certification that the other 
party was served with a copy.

Federal Communications Commission.
Sheryl D. Todd,
Deputy Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of the Managing 
Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-30379 Filed 12-24-14; 8:45 am]
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