[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1728-1729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00970]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0185 and OMB 3060-0214]


Information Collections Approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for a non-substantive 
and non-material change to a currently approved public information 
collection pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. An agency 
may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it 
displays a currently valid OMB control number, and no person is 
required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid control number. Comments concerning the accuracy of the 
burden estimates and any suggestions for reducing the burden should be 
directed to the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathy Williams, Office of the Managing 
Director, at (202) 418-2918, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The total annual reporting burdens and costs 
for the respondents are as follows:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0185.
    OMB Approval Date: December 4, 2018.
    OMB Expiration Date: July 31, 2020.
    Title: Section 73.3613, Availability of Contracts.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities and Not-for-
profit institutions.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,400 respondents; 2,400 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.25 to 0.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On-occasion reporting requirement, 
Recordkeeping requirement, Third-party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 
sections 154(i) and 303 the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 975 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $ 135,000.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this information collection.
    Privacy Act: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirements included 
under OMB Control Number 3060-0185 require that commercial and 
noncommercial AM, FM, TV, and international broadcast stations make 
station contracts and other documents available to the FCC as set forth 
in 47 CFR 73.3613. The FCC received approval from OMB for a non-
substantive and non-material change to the information collection under 
OMB Control No. 3060-0185 as a result of a recent rulemaking discussed 
below.
    On October 23, 2018, the FCC adopted and released the Filing of 
Contracts Report & Order, FCC 18-145 (Order), as part of the FCC's 
ongoing Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative. The Order 
advances the FCC's goal of eliminating outdated and unnecessary 
regulatory burdens that can impede competition and innovation in media 
markets.
    In the Order, the FCC revised Section 73.3613 to eliminate the 
requirement that licensees and permittees of commercial and 
noncommercial AM, FM, TV, and international broadcast stations 
routinely file paper copies of station contracts and other documents 
with the FCC within 30 days of executing such documents. Rather than 
continuing to require routine paper filings, the FCC will rely instead 
on its existing online public inspection file rules as discussed in the 
Order and its ability to obtain the documents from licensees and 
permittees upon request as needed.
    In addition to eliminating the routine paper filing requirement for 
Section 73.3613 documents, the FCC also eliminated a redundant 
disclosure requirement pertaining to certain Section 73.3613 documents 
and expanded an existing redaction allowance for confidential or 
proprietary information in Section 73.3613 documents. Unredacted copies 
of the documents must be provided to the FCC upon request. The revised 
requirements will take effect as stated in the summary of the Order, 
published at 83 FR 65551, on December 21, 2018.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0214.
    OMB Approval Date: December 6, 2018.

[[Page 1729]]

    OMB Expiration Date: March 31, 2021.
    Title: Sections 73.3526 and 73.3527, Local Public Inspection Files; 
Sections 73.1212, 76.1701 and 73.1943, Political Files.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit entities; Not for profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal government; Individuals or 
households.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 24,013 respondents; 63,261 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 to 52 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On-occasion reporting requirement, 
Recordkeeping requirement, Third-party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 
sections 151, 152, 154(i), 303, 307 and 308 of the Communications Act 
of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 2,067,853 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $27,168.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Most of the documents 
comprising the public file consist of materials that are not of a 
confidential nature. With respect to any such documents that may 
contain proprietary trade secrets and confidential information, the FCC 
has instituted procedures to protect the confidentiality of any such 
information to the extent permitted by law. For example, licensees are 
explicitly authorized to redact information from contracts for the 
joint sale of advertising time that is confidential or proprietary in 
nature, and the requirement to disclose other SSAs also allows for the 
redaction of information that is confidential or proprietary in nature. 
Respondents complying with the information collection requirements may 
request that the information they submit be withheld from disclosure. 
If confidentiality is requested, such requests will be processed in 
accordance with the FCC's rules, 47 CFR 0.459.
    Privacy Act: The FCC prepared a system of records notice (SORN), 
FCC/MB-2, ``Broadcast Station Public Inspection Files,'' that covers 
the PII contained in the broadcast station public inspection files 
located on the FCC's website.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirements included 
under OMB Control Number 3060-0214 require that commercial and 
noncommercial broadcast stations maintain for public inspection a file 
containing the material set forth in 47 CFR 73.3526 and 73.3527. The 
FCC received approval from OMB for a non-substantive and non-material 
change to the information collection under OMB Control No. 3060-0214 as 
a result of a recent rulemaking discussed below.
    On October 23, 2018, the FCC adopted and released the Filing of 
Contracts Report & Order, FCC 18-145 (Order), as part of the FCC's 
ongoing Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative. The Order 
advances the FCC's goal of eliminating outdated and unnecessary 
regulatory burdens that can impede competition and innovation in media 
markets. In the Order, the FCC eliminated the requirement that 
licensees and permittees of commercial and noncommercial AM, FM, TV, 
and international broadcast stations routinely file paper copies of 
station contracts and other documents with the FCC within 30 days of 
executing such documents. Rather than continuing to require routine 
paper filings, the FCC will rely instead on its existing online public 
inspection file (OPIF) rules and its ability to obtain the documents 
from licensees and permittees upon request, as discussed in the Order. 
The existing OPIF rules already require licensees and permittees of 
commercial and noncommercial AM, FM, and TV stations to make the 
relevant documents available to the FCC and the public electronically 
via the OPIF.
    To ensure that the FCC and the public continue to have timely 
access to the relevant documents, the FCC revised Sections 73.3526(e) 
and 73.3527(e) to require that licensees and permittees update the 
documents in the OPIF within the same 30-day timeframe previously 
required under the eliminated paper filing requirement. The FCC also 
revised Sections 73.3526(e)(5) and 73.3527(e)(4) to require that 
licensees and permittees that list the required documents in the OPIF 
include on their list all of the information that they are already 
required provide for such documents on broadcast ownership reports. In 
addition, the FCC expanded an existing redaction allowance for 
confidential or proprietary information in documents that may contain 
proprietary trade secrets and confidential information. The revised 
requirements will take effect as stated in the summary of the Order, 
published at 83 FR 65551, on December 21, 2018.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-00970 Filed 2-4-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P