[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 25, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33140-33144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11693]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 25, 73, and 76

[MB Docket No. 14-127; FCC 16-4]


Expanded Online Public Inspection File Obligations to Cable and 
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees

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 Report and 
Order, Expansion of Online Public File Obligations To Cable and 
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees. 
This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated 
that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register 
announcing OMB approval and the effective date of the rules.

DATES: The amendments to 47 CFR 25.701(d), (d)(2), (d)(3), (e)(3), and 
(f)(6), 25.702, 73.1943(d), 73.3526(b)(1) through (3), 73.3527(b)(1) 
and (2), 76.630, 76.1700, and 76.1702(a), published at 81 FR 10105, 
February 29, 2016, are effective June 24, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information contact 
Cathy Williams, [email protected], (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on May 4, 
2016, OMB approved the information collection requirements contained in 
the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 16-4, published at 81 FR 10105, 
February 29, 2016. The OMB Control Numbers are 3060-1207, 3060-0214, 
and 3060-0316. The Commission publishes this notice as an announcement 
of the effective date of the rules. If you have any comments on

[[Page 33141]]

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 
Numbers, 3060-1207, 3060-0214, and 3060-0316, 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 
May 4, 2016, for the new information collection requirements contained 
in the Commission's rules at 47 CFR 25.701(d), (d)(2), (d)(3), (e)(3) 
and (f)(6), 25.702, 73.1943(d), 73.3526(b)(1)-(3), 73.3527(b)(1) and 
(2), 76.630, 76.1700 and 76.1702(a). Under 5 CFR 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 Numbers are 3060-1207, 3060-0214, 
and 3060-0316.
    The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Public Law 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: 3060-1207.
    OMB Approval Date: May 4, 2016.
    OMB Expiration Date: May 31, 2019.
    Title: Section 25.701, Other DBS Public Interest Obligations, and 
25.702, Other SDARS Public Interest Obligations.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Respondents: Business and other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 3 respondents; 3 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 18 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; on occasion 
reporting requirement; Third party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority which covers this information collection is 
contained in Sections 154, 301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 319, 332, 605, and 
721 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 54 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $592.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: The Commission prepared a system of 
records notice (SORN), FCC/MB-2, ``Broadcast Station Public Inspection 
Files,'' that covers the PII contained in the broadcast station public 
inspection files located on the Commission's Web site. The Commission 
will revise appropriate privacy requirements as necessary to include 
any entities and information added to the online public file in this 
proceeding.
    Needs and Uses: In 2012, the Commission replaced the decades-old 
requirement that commercial and noncommercial television stations 
maintain public files at their main studios with a requirement to post 
most of the documents in those files to a central, online public file 
hosted by the Commission. On January 28, 2016, the Commission adopted a 
Report and Order (``R&O'') in MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 16-4, In the 
Matter of Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and 
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees, 
expanding the requirement that public inspection files be posted to the 
FCC-hosted online public file database to satellite TV (also referred 
to as ``Direct Broadcast Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers and to 
satellite radio (also referred to as ``satellite Digital Audio Radio 
Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees, among other entities. The 
Commission stated that its goal is to make information that these 
entities are already required to make publicly available more 
accessible while also reducing costs both for the government and the 
public sector. The Commission took the same general approach to 
transitioning these entities to the online file that it took with 
television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring the requirements as 
necessary to the different services. The Commission also took similar 
measures to minimize the effort and cost entities must undertake to 
move their public files online. Specifically, the Commission required 
entities to upload to the online public file only documents that are 
not already on file with the Commission or that the Commission 
maintains in its own database. The Commission also exempted existing 
political file material from the online file requirement and required 
that political file documents be uploaded only on a going-forward 
basis.
    The Commission first adopted a public inspection file requirement 
for broadcasters 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.'' The information provided 
in the public file enables citizens to engage in an informed dialog 
with their local video provider or to file complaints regarding 
provider operations. Satellite TV (also known as ``Direct Broadcast 
Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers and satellite radio (also referred to 
as ``Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees 
have public and political file requirements modeled, in large part, on 
the longstanding broadcast requirements. With respect to DBS providers, 
the Commission adopted public and political inspection file 
requirements in 1998 in conjunction with the imposition of certain 
public interest obligations, including political broadcasting 
requirements, on those entities. DBS providers were required to ``abide 
by political file obligations similar to those requirements placed on 
terrestrial broadcasters and cable systems'' and were also required to 
maintain a public file with records relating to other DBS public 
interest obligations. The Commission imposed equal employment 
opportunity and political broadcast requirements on SDARS licensees in 
1997, noting that the rationale behind imposing these requirements on 
broadcasters also applies to satellite radio.
    47 CFR 25.701(d) requires each DBS provider to keep and permit 
public inspection of a complete and orderly record (political file) of 
all requests for DBS origination time made by or on behalf of 
candidates for public office, together with an appropriate notation 
showing the disposition made by the provider 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,

[[Page 33142]]

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. 
All records required to be retained by this section must be placed in 
the political file as soon as possible and retained for a period of two 
years. DBS providers must make available, by fax, email, or by mail 
upon telephone request, copies of documents in their political files 
and assist callers by answering questions about the contents of their 
political files. If a requester prefers access by mail, the DBS 
provider must pay for postage but may require individuals requesting 
documents to pay for photocopying. If a DBS provider places its 
political file on its Web site, it may refer the public to the Web site 
in lieu of mailing copies.
    Any material required to be maintained in the political file must 
be made available to the public by either mailing or Web site access or 
both.
    The R&O changes 47 CFR 25.701(d) to require DBS providers to place 
all new political file material required to be retained by this section 
in the online file hosted by the Commission. The R&O also eliminates 
the requirement that DBS providers honor requests by telephone for 
copies of political file materials if those materials are made 
available online.
    47 CFR 25.701(f)(6) requires each DBS provider to maintain a public 
file containing a complete and orderly record of quarterly measurements 
of: Channel capacity and yearly average calculations on which it bases 
its four percent reservation, as well as its responses to any capacity 
changes; a record of entities to whom noncommercial capacity is being 
provided, the amount of capacity being provided to each entity, the 
conditions under which it is being provided and the rates, if any, 
being paid by the entity; and a record of entities that have requested 
capacity, disposition of those requests and reasons for the 
disposition. All records required by this provision must be placed in a 
file available to the public as soon as possible and be retained for a 
period of two years.
    The R&O changes 47 CFR 25.701(f)(6) to require DBS providers to 
place all public file material required to be retained by this section 
in the online file hosted by the Commission. The R&O also requires that 
each DBS provider place in the online file the records required to be 
placed in the public inspection file by 47 CFR 25.701(e)(commercial 
limits in children's programs) and by 47 CFR 25.601 and Part 76, 
Subpart E (equal employment opportunity requirements) and retain those 
records for the period required by those rules. In addition, the R&O 
requires each DBS provider to provide a link to the public inspection 
file hosted on the Commission's Web site from the home page of its own 
Web site, if the provider has a Web site, and provide on its Web site 
contact information for a representative who can assist any person with 
disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files. 
Each DBS provider is also required to include in the online public file 
the name, phone number, and email address of the licensee's designated 
contact for questions about the public file. In addition, each DBS 
provider must place the address of the provider's local public file in 
the Commission's online file unless the provider has fully transitioned 
to the FCC's online public file (e.g., posts to the FCC's online file 
database all public and political file material required to be 
maintained in the public inspection file) and also provides online 
access via the provider's own Web site to back-up political file 
material in the event the online file becomes temporarily unavailable.
    47 CFR 25.702. The R&O adds this new rule. New 47 CFR 25.702(b) 
requires each SDARS licensee to maintain a complete and orderly record 
(political file) of all requests for SDARS origination time made by or 
on behalf of candidates for public office, together with the 
disposition made by the provider of such requests, and the charges 
made, if any, if the request is granted. The disposition must include 
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. SDARS licensees 
are required to place all records required by this section in the 
political file as soon as possible and retain the record for a period 
of two years.
    New 47 CFR 25.702(c) requires each SDARS applicant or licensee to 
place in the online file hosted by the Commission the records required 
to be placed in the public inspection file by 47 CFR 25.601 and 73.2080 
(equal employment opportunities) and to retain those records for the 
period required by those rules. Each SDARS licensee must provide a link 
to the public inspection file hosted on the Commission's Web site from 
the home page of its own Web site, if the licensee has a Web site, and 
provide on its Web site contact information for a representative who 
can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the 
content of the public files. Each SDARS licensee is also required to 
include in the online public file the name, phone number, and email 
address of the licensee's designated contact for questions about the 
public file. In addition, each SDARS licensee must place the address of 
the provider's local public file in the Commission's online file unless 
the provider has fully transitioned to the FCC's online public file 
(i.e., posts to the Commission's online public file all public and 
political file material required to be maintained in the public 
inspection file) and also provides online access via the licensee's own 
Web site to back-up political file material in the event the online 
file becomes temporarily unavailable.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0214.
    OMB Approval Date: May 4, 2016.
    OMB Expiration Date: May 31, 2019.
    Title: Sections 73.3526 and 73.3527, Local Public Inspection File, 
Sections 73.1212, 76.1701 and 73.1943, Political Files.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Not for profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal government; Individuals or 
households.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 24,962 respondents; 64,374 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1-52 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; on occasion 
reporting requirements; Third party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 
Sections 151, 152, 154(i), 303, 307 and 308 of the Communications Act 
of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 2,093,149 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $3,653,372.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: The Commission prepared a system of 
records notice (SORN), FCC/MB-2, ``Broadcast Station Public Inspection 
Files,'' that covers the PII contained in the broadcast station public 
inspection files located on the Commission's Web site. The Commission 
will revise appropriate privacy requirements as necessary to include 
any entities and information added to the online public file in this 
proceeding.
    Needs and Uses: In 2012, the Commission replaced the decades-old

[[Page 33143]]

requirement that commercial and noncommercial television stations 
maintain public files at their main studios with a requirement to post 
most of the documents in those files to a central, online public file 
hosted by the Commission. On January 28, 2016, the Commission adopted a 
Report and Order (``R&O'') in MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 16-4, In the 
Matter of Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and 
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees. The 
R&O expands the requirement that public inspection files be posted to 
an FCC-hosted online public file database to cable operators, satellite 
TV (also referred to as ``Direct Broadcast Satellite'' or ``DBS'') 
providers, broadcast radio licensees, and satellite radio (also 
referred to as ``Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services'' or ``SDARS'') 
licensees. The Commission stated that its goal is to make information 
that these entities are already required to make publicly available 
more accessible while also reducing costs both for the government and 
the public sector. The Commission took the same general approach to 
transitioning these entities to the online file that it took with 
television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring the requirements as 
necessary to the different services. The Commission also took similar 
measures to minimize the effort and cost entities must undertake to 
move their public files online. Specifically, the Commission required 
entities to upload to the online public file only documents that are 
not already on file with the Commission or that the Commission 
maintains in its own database. The Commission also exempted existing 
political file material from the online file requirement and required 
that political file documents be uploaded only on a going-forward 
basis.
    With respect to broadcast radio licensees, the Commission commenced 
the transition to an online file with commercial stations in larger 
markets with five or more full-time employees, while postponing 
temporarily all online file requirements for other radio stations. The 
R&O also requires stations to provide information to the online file 
regarding the location of the station's main studio.
    With respect to cable operator public file requirements, the R&O 
phased-in the requirement to commence uploading political file 
documents to the online file for smaller cable systems and exempted 
cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all online public 
file requirements.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0316.
    OMB Approval Date: May 4, 2016.
    OMB Expiration Date: May 31, 2019.
    Title: 47 CFR Sections 76.1700, Records to be maintained locally by 
Cable System Operators; 76.1702, Equal Employment Opportunity; 76.1703, 
Commercial Records on Children's Programs; 76.1707, Leased Access; 
76.1711, Emergency Alert System (EAS) Tests and Activation.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business and other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 3,000 respondents; 3,000 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 18 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 
Sections 151, 152, 153, 154, 301, 302, 302a, 303, 303a, 307, 308, 309, 
312, 315, 317, 325, 339, 340, 341, 503, 521, 522, 531, 532, 534, 535, 
536, 537, 543, 544, 544a, 545, 548, 549, 552, 554, 556, 558, 560, 561, 
571, 572, and 573 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 54,000 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $591,840.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: The Commission prepared a system of 
records notice (SORN), FCC/MB-2, ``Broadcast Station Public Inspection 
Files,'' that covers the PII contained in the broadcast station public 
inspection files located on the Commission's Web site. The Commission 
will revise appropriate privacy requirements as necessary to include 
any entities and information added to the online public file in this 
proceeding.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission revised this collection to reflect 
the Commission's adoption of a Report and Order (``R&O'') in MB Docket 
No. 14-127, FCC 16-4, In the Matter of Expansion of Online Public File 
Obligations to Cable and Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and 
Satellite Radio Licensees, adopted on January 28, 2016. The R&O revised 
47 CFR Sections 76.1700 and 76.1702(a).
    The R&O expands to cable operators the requirement that public 
inspection files be posted to an FCC-hosted online public file 
database. The Commission stated that its goal is to make information 
that these entities are already required to make publicly available 
more accessible while also reducing costs both for the government and 
the public sector. The Commission took the same general approach to 
transitioning cable operators to the online file that it took with 
television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring the requirements as 
necessary to the different services. The Commission also took similar 
measures to minimize the effort and cost entities must undertake to 
move their public files online. Specifically, the Commission required 
cable operators to upload to the online public file only documents that 
are not already on file with the Commission or that the Commission 
maintains in its own database. The Commission also exempted existing 
political file material from the online file requirement and required 
that political file documents be uploaded only on a going-forward 
basis.
    Section 76.1700 addresses the records to be maintained by cable 
system operators. The R&O revised Section 76.1700 to require that cable 
operators maintain their public inspection file online on the Web site 
hosted by the FCC. In addition, the Commission reorganized Section 
76.1700 to more clearly address which records must be maintained in the 
public inspection file versus those that must be made available to the 
Commission or franchising authority upon request. Among other changes, 
the Commission clarified that proof-of-performance test data and signal 
leakage logs and repair data must be made available only to the 
Commission and, in the case of proof-of-performance test data, also to 
the franchisor, and not to the public. Accordingly, this information is 
not required to be included in the public inspection file or in the 
online public inspection file.
    The Commission phased-in the requirement to commence uploading 
political file documents to the online file for smaller cable systems 
and exempted cable systems with fewer than 1,000 subscribers from all 
online public file requirements. The R&O also made several minor 
additional changes to the existing cable public file requirements--it 
requires operators, when first establishing their online public file, 
to provide a list of the zip codes served by the system and requires 
them to identify the employment unit(s) associated with the system. The 
R&O also requires cable systems to provide the contact information for 
their local file. In addition, each cable system must place the address 
of its local public file in the Commission's online file unless the 
system has fully transitioned to the FCC's online public file (i.e., 
posts to the Commission's online public file all public and political 
file material required to be maintained in the public

[[Page 33144]]

inspection file) and also provides online access via the system's own 
Web site to back-up political file material in the event the online 
file becomes temporarily unavailable.
    Apart from these minor exceptions, the R&O does not adopt new or 
modified public inspection file requirements. The Commission's goal was 
simply to adapt the existing cable public file requirements to an 
online format.
    47 CFR 76.1700 requires cable system operators to place the public 
inspection file materials required to be retained by the following 
rules in the online public file hosted by the Commission, with the 
exception of existing political file material which cable systems may 
continue to retain in their local public file until the end of the 
retention period: 76.1701 (political file), 76.1702 (EEO), 76.1703 
(commercial records for children's programming), 76.1705 (performance 
tests--channels delivered); 76.1707 (leased access); and 76.1709 
(availability of signals), 76.1710 (operator interests in video 
programming), 76.1715 (sponsorship identification), and 76.630 
(compatibility with consumer electronics equipment). Cable systems with 
fewer than 5,000 subscribers may continue to retain their political 
file locally and are not required to upload new political file material 
to the online public file until March 1, 2018. In addition, cable 
systems may elect to retain the material required by 76.1708 (principal 
headend) locally rather than placing this material in the online public 
file.
    47 CFR 76.1700(b) requires cable system operators to make the 
records required to be retained by the following rules available to 
local franchising authorities: 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data) 
and 76.1713 (complaint resolution).
    47 CFR 76.1700(c) requires cable system operators to make the 
records required to be retained by the following rules available to the 
Commission: 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data), 76.1706 (signal 
leakage logs and repair records), 76.1711 (emergency alert system and 
activations), 76.1713 (complaint resolution), and 76.1716 (subscriber 
records).
    47 CFR 76.1700(d) exempts cable television systems having fewer 
than 1,000 subscribers from the online public file and the public 
inspection requirements contained in 47 CFR 76.1701 (political file); 
76.1702 (equal employment opportunity); 76.1703 (commercial records for 
children's programming); 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data); 
76.1706 (signal leakage logs and repair records); and 76.1715 
(sponsorship identifications).
    47 CFR 76.1700(e) requires that public file material that continues 
to be retained at the system be retained in a public inspection file 
maintained at the office which the system operator maintains for the 
ordinary collection of subscriber charges, resolution of subscriber 
complaints, and other business or at any accessible place in the 
community served by the system unit(s) (such as a public registry for 
documents or an attorney's office). Public files must be available for 
public inspection during regular business hours.
    47 CFR 76.1700(f) requires cable systems to provide a link to the 
public inspection file hosted on the Commission's Web site from the 
home page of its own Web site, if the system has a Web site, and 
provide contact information on its Web site for a system representative 
who can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the 
content of the public files. A system also is required to include in 
the online public file the address of the system's local public file, 
if the system retains documents in the local file that are not 
available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone number, 
and email address of the system's designated contact for questions 
about the public file. In addition, a system must provide on the online 
public file a list of the five digit ZIP codes served by the system.
    47 CFR 76.1700(g) requires that cable operators make any material 
in the public inspection file that is not also available in the 
Commission's online file available for machine reproduction upon 
request made in person, provided the requesting party shall pay the 
reasonable cost of reproduction. Requests for machine copies must be 
fulfilled at a location specified by the system operator, within a 
reasonable period of time, which in no event shall be longer than seven 
days. The system operator is not required to honor requests made by 
mail but may do so if it chooses.
    47 CFR 76.1702(a) requires that every employment unit with six or 
more full-time employees shall maintain for public inspection a file 
containing copies of all EEO program annual reports filed with the 
Commission and the equal employment opportunity program information 
described in 47 CFR 76.1702(b). These materials shall be placed in the 
Commission's online public inspection file for each cable system 
associated with the employment unit. These materials must be placed in 
the Commission's online public inspection file annually by the date 
that the unit's EEO program annual report is due to be filed and shall 
be retained for a period of five years. A headquarters employment unit 
file and a file containing a consolidated set of all documents 
pertaining to the other employment units of a multichannel video 
programming distributor that operates multiple units shall be 
maintained in the Commission's online public file for every cable 
system associated with the headquarters employment unit.
    Special note--The information collection requirements contained in 
47 CFR 76.630 was approved by the OMB on March 21, 2016 under a non-
substantive change submission. The OMB control number is 3060-0667.

Federal Communications Commission.
Gloria J. Miles,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-11693 Filed 5-24-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P