[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 27 (Monday, February 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7553-7555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02589]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[OMB 3060-0967; FRS 16471]
Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal
Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority
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), 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 comments should be submitted on or before April 10,
2020. 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 below as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email
[email protected] and to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the
information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control No.: 3060-0967.
Title: Section 79.2, Accessibility of Programming Providing
Emergency Information, and Emergency Information; Section 79.105, Video
Description and Emergency Information Accessibility Requirements for
All Apparatus; Section 79.106, Video Description and Emergency
Information Accessibility Requirements for Recording Devices.
Form No.: N/A.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Individuals or households; Business or other for-
profit; Not-for-profit institutions; and State, local, or tribal
governments.
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Number of Respondents and Responses: 61 respondents; 161 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 to 5 hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement; Third
party disclosure requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Voluntary. The statutory authority for the
collection is contained in the Twenty-First Century Communications and
Video Accessibility Act of 2010, Public Law 111-260, 124 Stat. 2751,
and sections 4(i), 4(j), 303, 330(b), 713, and 716 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), 303,
330(b), 613, and 617.
Total Annual Burden: 175 hours.
Annual Cost Burden: $15,300.
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,'' which became
effective on September 24, 2014. The Commission believes that it
provides sufficient safeguards to protect the privacy of individuals
who file complaints alleging violations of the Commission's televised
emergency information rules, 47 CFR 79.2, and complaints alleging
violations of the apparatus emergency information and video description
requirements, 47 CFR 79.105-79.106.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: The Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)
for Informal Complaints, Inquiries, and Requests for Dispute Assistance
was completed on June 28, 2007. It may be reviewed at http://www.fcc.gov/omd/privacyact/Privacy-Impact-Assessment.html. 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: In 2000, the Commission adopted rules to require
video programming distributors (VPDs) to make emergency information
provided in the audio portion of the programming accessible to viewers
who have hearing disabilities. Second Report and Order, MM Docket No.
95-176, FCC 00-136. Later that year, to ensure that televised emergency
information is accessible to viewers who are blind or visually
impaired, the Commission modified its rules to require VPDs to make
emergency information audible when provided in the video portion of a
regularly scheduled newscast or a newscast that interrupts regular
programming, and to provide an aural tone when emergency information is
provided visually during regular programming (e.g., through screen
crawls or scrolls). Report and Order, MM Docket No. 99-339, FCC 00-258.
In 2013, the Commission adopted rules related to accessible
emergency information and apparatus requirements for emergency
information and video description. Report and Order and Further Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking, MB Docket Nos. 12-107 and 11-43, FCC 13-45.
Specifically, the Commission's rules require that VPDs and video
programming providers (VPPs) (including program owners) make emergency
information accessible to individuals who are blind or visually
impaired by using a secondary audio stream to convey televised
emergency information aurally, when such information is conveyed
visually during programming other than newscasts. The Commission's
rules also require certain apparatus that receive, play back, or record
video programming to make available video description services and
accessible emergency information.
Finally, in 2015, the Commission adopted rules to require the
following: (1) Apparatus manufacturers must provide a mechanism that is
simple and easy to use for activating the secondary audio stream to
access audible emergency information; and (2) starting no later than
July 10, 2017, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) must
pass through the secondary audio stream containing audible emergency
information when it is provided on linear programming accessed on
second screen devices (e.g., tablets, smartphones, laptops and similar
devices) over their networks as part of their MVPD services. Second
Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MB
Docket No. 12-107, FCC 15-56.
These rules are codified at 47 CFR 79.2, 79.105, and 79.106.
Information Collection Requirements
(a) Complaints alleging violations of the emergency information
rules.
Section 79.2(c) of the Commission's rules provides that a complaint
alleging a violation of Sec. 79.2 of its rules, may be transmitted to
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau by any reasonable means,
such as the Commission's online informal complaint filing system,
letter, facsimile transmission, telephone (voice/TRS/TTY), internet
email, audio-cassette recording, Braille, or some other method that
would best accommodate the complainant's disability. After the
Commission receives the complaint, the Commission notifies the VPD or
VPP of the complaint, and the VPD or VPP has 30 days to reply.
(b) Complaints alleging violations of the apparatus emergency
information and video description requirements.
Complaints alleging violations of the rules containing apparatus
emergency information and video description requirements, 47 CFR
79.105-79.106, may be transmitted to the Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau by any reasonable means, such as the Commission's online
informal complaint filing system, letter in writing or Braille,
facsimile transmission, telephone (voice/TRS/TTY), email, or some other
method that would best accommodate the complainant's disability. Given
that the population intended to benefit from the rules adopted will be
blind or visually impaired, if a complainant calls the Commission for
assistance in preparing a complaint, Commission staff will document the
complaint in writing for the consumer. The Commission will forward such
complaints, as appropriate, to the named manufacturer or provider for
its response, as well as to any other entity that Commission staff
determines may be involved, and may request additional information from
any relevant parties when, in the estimation of Commission staff, such
information is needed to investigate the complaint or adjudicate
potential violations of Commission rules.
(c) Requests for Commission determination of technical feasibility
of emergency information and video description apparatus requirements.
The requirements pertaining to apparatus designed to receive or
play back video programming apply only to the extent they are
``technically feasible.'' Parties may raise technical infeasibility as
a defense when faced with a complaint alleging a violation of the
apparatus requirements or they may file a request for a ruling under
section[thinsp]1.41 of the Commission's rules as to technical
infeasibility before manufacturing or importing the product.
(d) Requests for Commission determination of achievability of
emergency information and video description apparatus requirements.
The requirements pertaining to certain apparatus designed to
receive, play back, or record video programming apply only to the
extent they are achievable. Manufacturers of apparatus that use a
picture screen of less than 13 inches in size and of recording devices
may petition the Commission, pursuant to 47 CFR 1.41, for a full or
partial exemption from the video description and emergency information
requirements before manufacturing or
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importing the apparatus. Alternatively, manufacturers may assert that a
particular apparatus is fully or partially exempt as a response to a
complaint, which the Commission may dismiss upon a finding that the
requirements of this section are not achievable. A petition for
exemption or a response to a complaint must be supported with
sufficient evidence to demonstrate that compliance with the
requirements is not achievable (meaning with reasonable effort or
expense), and the Commission will consider four specific factors when
making such a determination.
(e) Petitions for purpose-based waivers of emergency information
and video description apparatus requirements.
The Commission may waive emergency information and video
description apparatus requirements for any apparatus or class of
apparatus that is (a) primarily designed for activities other than
receiving or playing back video programming transmitted simultaneously
with sound, or (b) designed for multiple purposes, capable of receiving
or playing video programming transmitted simultaneously with sound but
whose essential utility is derived from other purposes. The Commission
will address any requests for a purpose-based waiver on a case-by-case
basis, and waivers will be available prospectively for manufacturers
seeking certainty prior to the sale of a device.
(f) Submission and review of consumer eligibility information
pertaining to DIRECTV, LLC's (DIRECTV's) waiver for provision of aural
emergency information during The Weather Channel's programming.
The Commission granted DIRECTV a waiver with respect to the set-top
box models on which it is not able to implement audio functionality for
emergency information, but conditioned such relief by requiring DIRECTV
to provide, upon request and at no additional cost to customers who are
blind or visually impaired, a set-top box model that is capable of
providing aural emergency information. DIRECTV may require customers
who are blind or visually impaired to submit reasonable documentation
of disability to DIRECTV as a condition to providing the box at no
additional cost.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-02589 Filed 2-7-20; 8:45 am]
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