[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]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P