[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 55 (Friday, March 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16101-16102]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05787]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1081, 3060-1224; FRS 16567]


Information Collections 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) of 1995, 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. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before May 19, 
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 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 at (202) 418-2991.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1081.
    Title: Section 54.202, 54.209, 54.307, 54.313, 54.314, and 54.809, 
Telecommunications Carriers Eligible for Universal Service Support.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 20 respondents; 20 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 40 hours.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority is contained in sections 201(b), 214(e)(6), and 
303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 201(b), 
214(e)(6), 303(r).
    Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 800 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature of Extent of Confidentiality: If respondents submit 
information which respondents believe is confidential, respondents may 
request confidential treatment of such information pursuant to section 
0.459 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.459.
    Needs and Uses: Designation as an Eligible Telecommunications 
Carrier (ETC) makes a telecommunications carrier eligible to receive 
support from the universal service high-cost and low-income programs, 
which supports the extension of telecommunications services to 
underserved rural communities. In the absence of this information 
collection, the Federal Communications Commission's (the Commission's) 
ability to fulfill its statutory obligation and to oversee the use of 
federal universal service funds and to combat waste, fraud, and abuse 
in the use of federal funds would be compromised. Section 54.202 of the 
Commission's rules requires carriers seeking designation from the 
Commission to submit an application that certifies that the carrier 
will comply with the service requirements applicable to the support 
that it receives, 47 CFR 54.202(a)(1)(i). Additionally, applicants must 
submit a five-year plan that describes with specificity proposed 
improvements or upgrades to the applicant's network throughout its 
proposed service area, with estimates of the area and population that 
will be served as a result of the improvements, Sec.  54.202(a)(1)(ii). 
An applicant must demonstrate its ability to remain functional in 
emergency situations, including: A demonstration that it has a 
reasonable amount of back-up power to ensure functionality without an 
external power source; is able to reroute traffic around damaged 
facilities; is capable of managing traffic spikes resulting from 
emergency situations, Sec.  54.202(a)(2); and a demonstration that it 
will satisfy applicable consumer protection and service quality 
standards, Sec.  54.202(a)(3).
    A commitment by wireless applicants to comply with the Cellular 
Telecommunications and internet Association's Consumer Code for 
Wireless Service will satisfy this requirement and other commitments 
will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If the common carrier is 
seeking designation as an ETC under section 214(e)(6) for any part of 
Tribal lands, it shall provide a copy of its petition to the affected 
tribal government and tribal regulatory authority, as applicable, at 
the time it files its petition with the Commission. In addition, the

[[Page 16102]]

Commission will send any public notice seeking comment on any petition 
for designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier on Tribal 
lands, at the time it is released, to the affected tribal government 
and tribal regulatory authority, as applicable, by the most expeditious 
means available, Sec.  54.202(c).

    OMB Control Number: 3060-1224.
    Title: Reverse Auction (Auction 1001) Incentive Payment 
Instructions from Reverse Auction Winning Bidder.
    Form Number: FCC Form 1875.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit 
institutions and State, Local or Tribal government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 750 respondents; 1,500 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: One-time reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this information collection is contained in the 
Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Public Law 112-96 
(Spectrum Act) Sec.  6403(a)(1).
    Total Annual Burden: 3,750 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The information collection 
includes information identifying bank accounts and providing account 
and routing numbers to access those accounts. FCC considers that 
information to be records not routinely available for public inspection 
under 47 CFR 0.457, and exempt from disclosure under FOIA exemption 4 
(5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: The Spectrum Act mandates ``a reverse auction to 
determine the amount of compensation that each broadcast television 
licensee would accept in return for voluntarily relinquishing some or 
all of its broadcast television spectrum usage rights in order to make 
spectrum available for assignment through a system of competitive 
bidding''.\1\
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    \1\ Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Public 
Law 112-96 (Spectrum Act) Sec.  6403(a)(1).
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    The Commission conducted notice-and-comment rulemaking to implement 
the Spectrum Act, and ruled in the Incentive Auction Report and Order 
that: ``we adopt the Commission's proposal to require successful 
bidders in the reverse auction to submit additional information to 
facilitate incentive payments. As mentioned in the NPRM, we envision 
that the information would be submitted on standardized incentive 
payment forms similar to the Automated Clearing House (``ACH'') forms 
unsuccessful bidders in typical spectrum license auctions use to 
request refunds of their deposits and upfront payments. This 
information collection is necessary to facilitate incentive payments 
and should not be burdensome to successful bidders. Specifically, 
without further instruction and bank account information from 
successful bidders, the Commission would not know where to send the 
incentive payments.'' [footnotes omitted] \2\
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    \2\ Expanding the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of 
Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions, GN Docket No. 12-268, Report 
and Order, 29 FCC Rcd 6567 (2014) (``Incentive Auction R&O'') at 
537.
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    The information collection for which we are requesting approval is 
the standardized incentive payment form referred to in the paragraph 
above.

Federal Communications Commission.
Cecilia Sigmund,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-05787 Filed 3-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P