[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 140 (Thursday, July 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47389-47390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17180]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0804]


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

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the 
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to 
comment on the following information collections. Comments are 
requested concerning: 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; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the 
respondents, including the use of automated

[[Page 47390]]

collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and 
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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 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 OMB 
control number.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before August 22, 
2016. 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 
email [email protected]; and to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via 
email [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 Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991. 
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: 3060-0804.
    Title: Universal Service--Rural Health Care Program.
    Form Numbers: FCC Forms 460, 461, 462, 463, 465, 466, and 467.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; federal government; and state, local, or Tribal 
governments.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 19,484 respondents; 137,846 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.1-40 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion, one-time, annual, quarterly, 
and monthly reporting requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 201-205, 214, 254, and 403 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151-154, 201-205, 
218-220, 254, 303(r), 403 and 405.
    Total Annual Burden: 289,484 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not 
requesting that the respondents submit confidential information to the 
Commission. Respondents may, however, request confidential treatment 
for information they believe to be confidential under 47 CFR 0.459 of 
the Commission's rules. We note that the universal service 
administrator, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), 
must preserve the confidentiality of all data obtained from respondents 
and contributors to the universal service support program mechanism; 
must not use the data except for purposes of administering the 
universal service support program; and must not disclose data in 
company-specific form unless directed to do so by the Commission.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission is seeking Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval to revise the information collection requirements 
contained in this collection. There is a change in the reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.
    This collection is utilized for the rural health care (RHC) support 
mechanism of the Commission's universal service fund (USF). The 
collection of the information is necessary so that the Commission and 
USAC will have sufficient information to determine if entities are 
eligible for funding pursuant to the RHC universal service support 
mechanism, to determine if entities are complying with the Commission's 
rules, and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. In addition, the 
information is necessary in order to allow the Commission to evaluate 
the extent to which the RHC Programs are meeting the statutory 
objectives specified in section 254(h) of the 1996 Act, and the 
Commission's own performance goals for the Healthcare Connect Fund. 
This information collection is being revised to: (1) Eliminate the 
information requirement for the Internet Access Program; (2) extend 
some of the existing collection requirements for the Healthcare Connect 
Fund, the 2006 Pilot Program, and the Telecommunications Program; and 
(3) revise some of the existing information collection requirements for 
the Healthcare Connect Fund and the Telecommunications Programs. This 
information collection is organized by program indicating which 
information collection requirements are being eliminated, extended, 
and/or revised for each RHC Program. The Healthcare Connect Fund 
includes FCC Forms 460, 461, 462, and 463, and the Telecommunications 
Program includes FCC Forms 465, 466, 467. At the time of the 
Commission's last information collection submission, 2006 Pilot Program 
participants were using the FCC Forms for the Telecommunications and 
Internet Access Programs. 2006 Pilot Program participants and former 
2006 Pilot Program participants, however, can now seek funding from the 
Healthcare Connect Fund and the Telecommunications Programs using the 
forms for those programs. The revisions to these FCC Forms, where 
applicable, are intended to make the RHC Program information requests 
consistent between the programs, to the extent possible. Since the last 
revision to this information collection, USAC has upgraded its 
information technology environment to create an integrated online 
application and administrative process for the Healthcare Connect Fund 
and all Healthcare Connect Fund forms are being submitted and processed 
via the online portal. Similarly, the information collection 
requirements associated with the Telecommunications Program have also 
been placed online. Taken as a whole, the implementation of these 
automated systems should reduce administrative burdens and costs for 
applicants, service providers, and USAC. Since the application 
processes have now been automated, the Commission will, in this 
information collection request, submit templates describing the type of 
information that will be requested from RHC Program participants, 
rather than submitting paper forms. As part of this information 
collection, we propose to make the revisions to this information 
collection and all RHC forms processed via the online portal effective 
January 1, 2017. The current FCC Forms will remain in effect until that 
date.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-17180 Filed 7-20-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P