[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39427-39429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17443]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[OMB 3060-1201 and 3060-xxxx]
Information Collections 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 the Commission) invites the
general
[[Page 39428]]
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment
on the following information collection. 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 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 Commission 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 September 18,
2017. 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 listed below as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB, via
email [email protected]; and to Cathy Williams, FCC, via
email [email protected] and to [email protected]. Include in the
comments the OMB control number as shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION 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: As part of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC or the Commission) invites the general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following
information collection. 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 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.
OMB Control Number: 3060-1201.
Title: Video Relay Services, CG Docket Nos. 10-51 & 03-123.
Form Number: N/A.
Type of Review: Revision of currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Individuals or
households; Not-for-profit institutions.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 135,350 respondents; 2,395,180
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 3 minutes (.05 hours) to 300 hours.
Frequency of Response: Annual, monthly, on-going, one-time, and
quarterly reporting requirements; Recordkeeping requirement, Third
party disclosure requirement.
Obligation To Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The
statutory authority for this information collection is section 225 of
the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 225. The law was enacted on July 26,
1990, as Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA),
Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327, 366-69.
Total Annual Burden: 473,809 hours.
Total Annual Cost: $41,000.
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 updated
system of records notice (SORN), FCC/CGB-4, ``Internet-based
Telecommunications Relay Service-User Registration Database (ITRS-
URD).'' As required by the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Commission
also published a SORN, FCC/CGB-4 ``Internet-based Telecommunications
Relay Service-User Registration Database (ITRS-URD),'' in the Federal
Register on February 9, 2015 (80 FR 6963) which became effective on
March 23, 2015.
Privacy Impact Assessment: This information collection affects
individuals or households. As required by the Office of Management and
Budget Memorandum M-03-22 (September 26, 2003), the FCC is in the
process of completing the Privacy Impact Assessment.
Needs and Uses: On June 10, 2013, the Commission released Structure
and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program et al., FCC 13-82,
published at 78 FR 40582, July 5, 2013 (2013 VRS Reform Order),
adopting further measures to improve the structure, efficiency, and
quality of the video relay service (VRS) program, reducing the noted
inefficiencies in the program, as well as reducing the risk of waste,
fraud, and abuse, and ensuring that the program makes full use of
advances in commercially-available technology. In this Order, the
Commission (1) required reporting of unauthorized and unnecessary use
of VRS; (2) required provider certification of annual compliance plans;
(3) established a central telecommunications relay services (TRS) user
registration database (TRS-URD) which incorporates a centralized
eligibility verification requirement to ensure accurate registration
and verification of users, as well as per-call validation, to achieve
more effective prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse; (4) established
procedures to prevent unauthorized changes of a user's default TRS
provider; and (5) established procedures to protect TRS users' customer
proprietary network information (CPNI) from disclosure.
On March 23, 2017, the Commission released Structure and Practices
of the Video Relay Services Program et al., FCC 17-26, published at 82
FR 17754, April 13, 2017, (2017 VRS Improvements Order), which among
other things, (1) allows VRS providers to assign TRS Numbering
Directory 10-digit telephone numbers to hearing individuals for the
limited purpose of making point-to-point video calls, and (2) gives VRS
providers the option to participate in an at-home call handling pilot
program, subject to certain limitations, as well as recordkeeping and
reporting requirements.
OMB Control Number: 3060-xxxx.
[[Page 39429]]
Title: Sections 1.9020(n), 1.9030(m), 1.9035(o), Community
notification requirement for certain contraband interdiction systems;
Section 20.18(r), Contraband Interdiction System (CIS) requirement;
Section 20.23(a), Good faith negotiations.
Form No.: N/A.
Type of Review: New collection.
Respondents: Businesses or other for profit entities and state,
local or Tribal Governments.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 26 respondents and 28
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 8-16 hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
Obligation To Respond: There is no obligation to respond; response
required to obtain benefits. The statutory authority for this
collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 154(j), 301,
302a, 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, and 332.
Total Annual Burden: 325 hours.
Annual Cost Burden: No cost.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for
confidentiality with this collection of information.
Needs and Uses: On March 24, 2017, the Federal Communications
Commission released a Report and Order, Promoting Technological
Solutions to Combat Contraband Wireless Devices in Correctional
Facilities, GN Docket No. 13-111, FCC 17-25 (Report and Order), in
which the Commission took important steps to help law enforcement
combat the serious threats posed by the illegal use of contraband
wireless devices by inmates. Across the country, inmates have used
contraband devices to order hits, run drug operations, operate phone
scams, and otherwise engage in criminal activity that endangers prison
employees, other inmates, and innocent members of the public. In the
Report and Order, the Commission streamlined the process of deploying
contraband wireless device interdiction systems--systems that use radio
communications signals requiring Commission authorization--in
correctional facilities. The action will reduce the cost of deploying
solutions and ensure that they can be deployed more quickly and
efficiently. In particular, the Commission waived certain filing
requirements and provided for immediate approval of the spectrum lease
applications needed to operate these systems.
The effectiveness of Contraband Interdiction System (CIS)
deployment requires all carriers in the relevant area of the
correctional facility to execute a spectrum lease with the CIS
provider. Even if the major Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS)
licensees negotiate expeditiously and in good faith, if one CMRS
licensee in the area fails to engage in lease negotiations in a
reasonable time frame or at all, the CIS solution will not be
effective. The lack of cooperation of even a single wireless provider
in a geographic area of a correctional facility can result in
deployment of a system with insufficient spectral coverage, subject to
abuse by inmates in possession of contraband wireless devices operating
on frequencies not covered by a spectrum lease agreement. While some
carriers have been cooperative, it is imperative that all CMRS
licensees be required to engage in lease negotiations in good faith and
in a timely fashion. Therefore, the Commission adopted a rule requiring
that CMRS licensees negotiate in good faith with entities seeking to
deploy a CIS in a correctional facility. If, after a 45 day period,
there is no agreement, CIS providers seeking Special Temporary
Authority (STA) to operate in the absence of CMRS licensee consent may
file a request for STA with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
(WTB), with a copy served at the same time on the CMRS licensee,
accompanied by evidence demonstrating its good faith, and the
unreasonableness of the CMRS licensee's actions, in negotiating an
agreement. The CMRS licensee may then file a response with WTB, with a
copy served on the CIS provider at that time, within 10 days of the
filing of the STA request.
The supplementary information provided along with the STA
application by the CIS provider will be used by WTB to determine
whether the CIS provider has negotiated in good faith, yet the CMRS
licensee has not negotiated in good faith. The CMRS licensee may use
the evidence accompanying the STA application to craft a response. WTB
will analyze the evidence from the CIS providers and the CMRS
licensee's response to determine whether to issue STA to the entity
seeking to deploy the CIS.
The Commission explored whether it should impose a requirement that
the community in the vicinity of a correctional facility where a CIS is
installed be notified of the installation. The Commission explained
that a goal of the proceeding is to expedite the deployment of
technological solutions to combat the use of contraband wireless
devices, not to impose unnecessary barriers to CIS deployment.
Consistent with that goal, the Commission found that a flexible and
community-tailored notification requirement for certain CISs outweighed
the minimal burden of notification and furthered the public interest.
After careful consideration of the record, the Commission imposed a
rule that, 10 days prior to deploying a CIS that prevents
communications to or from mobile devices, a lessee must notify the
community in which the correctional facility is located, and the
Commission amended its spectrum leasing rules to reflect this
requirement. The Commission agreed with commenters that support
notification of the surrounding community due to the potential for
accidental call blocking and the public safety issues involved. The
information provided in the notification will put the houses and
businesses in the surrounding community on notice that a CIS will be
deployed in the vicinity that has the potential for accidental call
blocking.
Acknowledging the importance of ensuring the availability of
emergency 911 calls from correctional facilities, and the fact that
delivering emergency calls to public safety answering points (PSAPs)
facilitates public safety services and generally serves the public
interest, the Commission amended its rules to require that CIS
providers regulated as private mobile radio service (PMRS) must route
all 911 calls to the local PSAP. That said, the Commission also
acknowledged the important role state and local public safety officials
play in the administration of the 911 system. Accordingly, although the
CIS provider is required to pass through emergency 911 calls, the PSAPs
can inform the CIS provider that they do not want to receive calls from
a given correctional facility. By allowing the PSAPs to decline the
emergency 911 calls, the Commission recognized the reported increased
volume of PSAP harassment through repeated inmate fraudulent 911 calls.
The information provided by the PSAP or emergency authority will result
in the CIS provider not passing through E911 calls from a particular
correctional facility.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-17443 Filed 8-17-17; 8:45 am]
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