[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60857-60859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25794]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1151]


Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission

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 of 1995 (PRA), 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 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 PRA comments should be submitted on or before January 
28, 2019. 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 contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email 
[email protected] and to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Nicole Ongele, (202) 418-2991.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1151.
    Title: Sections 1.1411, 1.1412, 1.1413, and 1.1415 Pole Attachment 
Access Requirements.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently-approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 1,142 respondents; 145,538 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.5-6 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On-occasion reporting requirement, 
recordkeeping requirement, and third-party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. Statutory authority for this 
information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 224.
    Total Annual Burden: 554,410 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $6,750,000.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: No questions of a 
confidential nature are asked.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission is requesting Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) approval for revisions to,

[[Page 60858]]

and a three-year extension of, this information collection. In 
Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to 
Infrastructure Investment, WC Docket No. 17-84, WT Docket No. 17-70, 
Third Report and Order and Declaratory Ruling, FCC 18-111 (2018) 
(Order), the Commission adopted rules that implement the pole 
attachment requirements in section 224 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended. The Order substantially revised 47 CFR 1.1411, 
1.1412, and 1.1413. It also added new 47 CFR 1.1415.
    Section 1.1411. In the Order, the Commission adopted a new one-
touch, make-ready (OTMR) process for when a telecommunications carrier 
or cable television system (new attacher) elects to do the work itself 
to prepare a utility pole for a simple wireline attachment in the 
communications space. As part of the OTMR process, the new attacher 
typically first conducts a survey of the affected poles, giving the 
utility and existing attachers a chance to be present for the survey. 
New attachers must elect the OTMR process in their pole attachment 
application and must demonstrate to the utility that the planned work 
qualifies for OTMR. The utility then must determine whether the pole 
attachment application is complete and whether the work qualifies for 
OTMR, and then must either grant or deny pole access and explain its 
decision in writing. The utility also can object to the new attacher's 
determination that the work qualifies for OTMR, and that objection is 
final and determinative so long as it is specific and in writing, 
includes all relevant evidence and information supporting its decision, 
made in good faith, and explains how such evidence and information 
relates to a determination that the make-ready is not simple. If the 
new attacher's OTMR application is approved, then it can proceed with 
OTMR work by giving advance notice to the utility and existing 
attachers and allowing them an opportunity to be present when OTMR work 
is being done. New attachers must provide immediate notice to affected 
utilities and existing attachers if outages or equipment damage is 
caused by their OTMR work. Finally, new attachers must provide notice 
to affected utilities and existing attachers after OTMR work is 
completed, allowing them to inspect the work and request remediation, 
if necessary.
    The Commission also adopted changes to its existing pole attachment 
timeline, which still will be used for complex work, work above the 
communications space on a utility pole, and in situations where new 
attachers do not want to elect OTMR. The Commission largely kept the 
existing pole attachment timeline intact, except for the following 
changes: (1) Revising the definition of a complete pole attachment 
application and establishing a timeline for a utility's determination 
whether an application is complete; (2) requiring utilities to provide 
at least three business days' advance notice of any surveys to 
attachers; (3) establishing a 30-day deadline for completion of all 
make-ready work in the communications space; (4) eliminating the 15-day 
utility make-ready period for communications space attachments; (5) 
streamlining the utility's notice requirements; (6) enhancing the new 
attacher's self-help remedy by making the remedy available for surveys 
and make-ready work for all attachments anywhere on the pole in the 
event that the utility or the existing attachers fail to meet the 
required deadlines; (7) providing notice requirements when new 
attachers elect self-help, such notices to be given when new attachers 
perform self-help surveys and make-ready work, when outages or 
equipment damage results from self-help work, and upon completion of 
self-help work to allow for inspection; (8) allowing utilities to meet 
the survey requirement by electing to use surveys previously prepared 
on the affected poles by new attachers; and (9) requiring utilities to 
provide detailed make-ready cost estimates and final invoices on a 
pole-by-pole basis if requested by new attachers. Both utilities and 
existing attachers can deviate from the existing pole attachment make-
ready timeline for reasons of safety or service interruption by giving 
written notice to the affected parties that includes a detailed 
explanation of the need for the deviation and a new completion date. 
The deviation shall be for a period no longer than necessary to 
complete make-ready on the affected poles, and the deviating party 
shall resume make-ready without discrimination when it returns to 
routine operations.
    Section 1.1412. The Commission required utilities to make 
available, and keep up-to-date, a reasonably sufficient list of 
contractors that they authorize to perform surveys and make-ready work 
that are complex or involve self-help work above the communications 
space of a utility pole. Attachers can request to add to the list any 
contractor that meets certain minimum qualifications, subject to the 
utility's ability to reasonably object. For simple work, a utility may, 
but is not required, to keep an up-to-date, reasonably sufficient list 
of contractors that they authorize to perform surveys and simple make-
ready work. For any utility-supplied contractor list, the utility must 
ensure that the contractors meet certain minimum requirements. 
Attachers can request to add to the list any contractor that meets the 
minimum qualifications, subject to the utility's ability to reasonably 
object. If the utility does not provide a list of approved contractors 
for surveys or simple make-ready, or no utility-approved contractor is 
available within a reasonable time period, then the new attacher may 
choose its own qualified contractor that meets the minimum 
requirements, subject to notice and the utility's ability to disqualify 
the chosen contractor for reasonable safety or reliability concerns.
    Section 1.1413. The Commission established a presumption that in a 
complaint proceeding challenging a utility's rates, terms, or 
conditions of pole attachment, an incumbent local exchange carrier 
(LEC) is similarly situated to an attacher that is a telecommunications 
carrier or a cable television system providing telecommunications 
services for purposes of obtaining comparable pole attachment rates, 
terms, or conditions. To rebut the presumption, the utility must 
demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the incumbent LEC 
receives benefits under its pole attachment agreement with a utility 
that materially advantages the incumbent LEC over other 
telecommunications carriers or cable television systems providing 
telecommunications service on the same poles. Such a presumption 
applies only to pole attachment agreements entered into, or renewed 
after, the effective date of the Order, The Commission addressed the 
paperwork burdens for changes to Section 1.1413 in a separate 
collection--OMB Control No. 3060-0392, 47 CFR part 1 Subpart J--Pole 
Attachment Complaint Procedures.
    Section 1.1415. The Commission adopted a new rule codifying its 
policy that utilities may not require an attacher to obtain prior 
approval for overlashing on an attacher's existing wires or for third-
party overlashing of an existing attachment when such overlashing is 
conducted with the permission of the existing attacher. In addition, 
the Commission adopted a rule that allows utilities to establish 
reasonable advance notice requirements for overlashing (up to 15 days' 
advance notice). If a utility requires advance notice for overlashing, 
then the utility must provide existing attachers with advance written 
notice of the notice requirement or include the notice requirement in 
the attachment agreement with the existing attacher. If,

[[Page 60859]]

after receiving advance notice, the utility determines that an overlash 
would create a capacity, safety, reliability, or engineering issue, 
then it must provide specific documentation of the issue to the party 
seeking to overlash within the 15-day advance notice period, and the 
party seeking to overlash must address any identified issues before 
continuing with the overlash either by modifying its proposal or by 
explaining why, in the party's view, a modification is unnecessary. An 
overlashing party must notify the affected utility within 15 days of 
completion of the overlash and provide the affected utility at least 90 
days to inspect the overlash. If damage or code violations are 
discovered by the utility during the inspection, then it must notify 
the overlashing party, provide adequate documentation of the problem, 
and elect to either fix the problem itself at the overlashing party's 
expense or require remediation by the overlashing party.

Federal Communications Commission.
Katura Jackson,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-25794 Filed 11-26-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P