[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 23 (Monday, February 4, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1409-1410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00967]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123; FCC 18-79]


IP CTS Modernization and Reform

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 rules adopted in the 
Commission's document Misuse of internet Protocol (IP) Captioned 
Telephone Service et al. Report and Order and Declaratory Ruling 
(Order). This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that 
the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register 
announcing the effective date of those rules.

DATES: Sec.  64.604(c)(5)(iii)(D)(1), (6) published at 83 FR 30082, 
June 27, 2018, is effective February 4, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eliot Greenwald, Disability Rights 
Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at (202) 418-2235, or 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on December 
19, 2018, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection requirements contained in the Commission's Order, FCC 18-79, 
published at 83 FR 30082, June 27, 2018. The OMB Control Number is 
3060-0463. The Commission publishes this notice as an announcement of 
the effective date of the rules. If you have any comments on 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 Number, 
3060-0463, 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) or (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 
December 19, 2018, for the information collection requirements 
contained in the Commission's rules at Sec.  64.604(c)(5)(iii)(D)(1), 
(6).
    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 Number is 3060-0463.
    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: 3060-0463.
    OMB Approval Date: December 19, 2018.
    OMB Expiration Date: December 31, 2021.
    Title: Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech 
Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG 
Docket No. 03-123.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Individuals or 
household; State, Local and Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 5,072 respondents; 7,314 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 hours (30 minutes) to 80 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annually, monthly, on occasion, and one-time 
reporting requirements; Recordkeeping and Third-Party Disclosure 
requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefit. The 
statutory authority for the information collection requirements is 
found at section 225 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 225. The law 
was enacted on July 26, 1990, as Title IV of the ADA, Public Law 101-
336, 104 Stat. 327, 366-69.
    Total Annual Burden: 12,342 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $10,800.
    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-1, ``Informal Complaints, 
Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute Assistance.'' As required by the 
Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Commission also published a SORN, FCC/
CGB-1 ``Informal Complaints, Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute 
Assistance,'' in the Federal Register on August 15, 2014 (79 FR 48152) 
which became effective on September 24, 2014.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: The FCC completed a Privacy Impact 
Assessment (PIA) on June 28, 2007. It may be reviewed at https://www.fcc.gov/general/privacy-act-information#pia. The Commission is in 
the process of updating the PIA to incorporate various revisions to it 
as a result of revisions to the SORN.
    Needs and Uses: On December 21, 2001, the Commission released the 
2001 TRS Cost Recovery Order, document FCC 01-371, published at 67 FR 
4203, January 29, 2002, in which the Commission:
    (1) Directed the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) 
Fund (TRS Fund) administrator to continue to use the average cost per 
minute compensation methodology for the traditional TRS compensation 
rate;
    (2) required TRS providers to submit certain projected TRS-related 
cost and demand data to the TRS Fund administrator to be used to 
calculate the rate; and
    (3) directed the TRS Fund administrator to expand its form for 
providers to itemize their actual and projected costs and demand data, 
and to include specific sections to capture speech-to-speech (STS) and 
video relay service (VRS) costs and minutes of use.
    In 2003, the Commission released the 2003 Second Improved TRS 
Order, published at 68 FR 50973, August 25, 2003, which among other 
things required that TRS providers offer certain local exchange carrier 
(LEC)-based improved services and features where technologically 
feasible, including a speed dialing requirement which may entail 
voluntary recordkeeping for TRS providers to maintain a list of 
telephone numbers. See also 47 CFR 64.604(a)(3)(vi)(B).
    In 2007, the Commission released the Section 225/255 VoIP Report 
and Order, published at 72 FR 43546, August 6, 2007, extending the 
disability access requirements that apply to

[[Page 1410]]

telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers under 
47 U.S.C. 225, 255 to interconnected voice over internet protocol 
(VoIP) service providers and equipment manufacturers. As a result, 
under rules implementing section 225 of the Act, interconnected VoIP 
service providers are required to publicize information about 
telecommunications relay services (TRS) and 711 abbreviated dialing 
access to TRS. See also 47 CFR 64.604(c)(3).
    In 2007, the Commission also released the 2007 Cost Recovery Report 
and Order and Declaratory Ruling, published at 73 FR 3197, January 17, 
2008, in which the Commission:
    (1) Adopted a new cost recovery methodology for interstate 
traditional TRS and interstate STS based on the Multi-state Average 
Rate Structure (MARS) plan, under which interstate TRS compensation 
rates are determined by weighted average of the states' intrastate 
compensation rates, and which includes for STS additional compensation 
approved by the Commission for STS outreach;
    (2) requires STS providers to file a report annually with the TRS 
Fund administrator and the Commission on their specific outreach 
efforts directly attributable to the additional compensation approved 
by the Commission for STS outreach.
    (3) adopted a new cost recovery methodology for interstate 
captioned telephone service (CTS), as well as internet Protocol 
captioned telephone service (IP CTS), based on the MARS plan;
    (4) adopted a cost recovery methodology for internet Protocol (IP) 
Relay based on price caps;
    (5) adopted a cost recovery methodology for VRS that adopted tiered 
rates based on call volume;
    (6) clarified the nature and extent that certain categories of 
costs are compensable from the Fund; and
    (7) addressed certain issues concerning the management and 
oversight of the Fund, including prohibiting financial incentives 
offered to consumers to make relay calls.
    In 2018, the Commission released the IP CTS Modernization Order, 
published at 83 FR 30082, June 27, 2018, in which the Commission:
    (1) Determined that it would transition the methodology for IP CTS 
cost recovery from the MARS plan to cost-based rates and adopted 
interim rates; and
    (2) added two cost reporting requirements for IP CTS providers: (i) 
In annual cost data filings and supplementary information provided to 
the TRS Fund administrator, IP CTS providers that contract for the 
supply of services used in the provision of TRS, shall include 
information about payments under such contracts, classified according 
to the substantive cost categories specified by the TRS Fund 
administrator; and (ii) in the course of an audit or otherwise upon 
demand, IP CTS providers must make available any relevant 
documentation. 47 CFR 64.604(c)(5)(iii)(D)(1), (6).

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-00967 Filed 2-1-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P