[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16626-16627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06093]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[OMB 3060-1003; FRS 16575]
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 May 26,
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, (202) 418-2991.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 3060-1003.
Title: Communications Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).
Form No.: Not applicable.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for- profit entities; Not-for-profit
institutions; Federal Government; and/or State, local or tribal
governments.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 400 Respondents and 104,000
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.1-0.5 Hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Mandatory and Voluntary. For Support
Recipients, the obligation to report is mandatory. For all other DIRS
participants, the obligation to report is voluntary. Statutory
authority for collecting this information from satellite providers is
contained in 47 U.S.C. 151 et. seq., 154(i), 218, 303(r) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
Total Annual Burden: 16,320 Hours.
Total Annual Costs: No Cost(s).
[[Page 16627]]
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The information collection
from respondents shall be treated as presumptively confidential upon
filing. The Commission will limit direct access to DIRS reports to
select Commission staff and, with protections at least as strong as
required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), with select federal
and potentially state agency partners, including the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS). The Commission will not publish the individual
submissions but may publish this information on an aggregated basis in
daily communications status reports. The Commission will also work with
respondents to ensure that any concerns regarding the confidentiality
of their DIRS filings are resolved in a manner consistent with
Commission rules.
Needs and Uses: The Commission launched DIRS in 2007 pursuant to
its mandate to promote the safety of life and property through the use
of wire and radio communication as required by the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended. DIRS is a voluntary, efficient and web-based
system that communications companies may use to report their
infrastructure status during times of crisis (e.g., related to a
disaster). DIRS uses a number of template forms tailored to different
communications sectors (i.e., wireless, wireline, broadcast, and cable)
to facility the entry of this information. To use DIRS, a company first
inputs its emergency contact information. After this, they submit
information using the template form appropriate for their
communications sector. OMB initially approved the DIRS information
collection in 2007 under OMB Control Number 3060-1003, and OMB has
approved multiple revisions and extensions of the collection since that
time. (See OMB Control No. 3060-1003; 07/21/2007; 06/08/2012; 07/02/
2015; 07/17/2018.)
The Commission is now revising the DIRS information collection to
provide for one new form tailored to satellite communications providers
and to update its previous burden estimates. First, the new form has
the same general scope as existing forms, already approved by OMB, but
is tailored to satellite providers' networks. Since OMB's 2007
approval, satellite providers have been expressly authorized to
participate in DIRS, but DIRS does not currently include a tailored
form for them to do so. Collecting this information from satellite
providers via DIRS is necessary to meet the Commission's goals of
restoring communications quickly and ensuring that emergency and
defense personnel have access to effective communications during
disaster events, thus helping fulfill the Commission's public safety
mandate.
Second, as a part of the Commission's response to the 2017
hurricane season, the Commission adopted the PR and USVI Funds Order to
improve Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island's communications
networks' resiliency and recovery efforts, amongst other purposes. (PR
and USVI Funds Order, FCC 19-95, para. 1-9). The PR and USVI Funds
Order requires Support Recipients to report in DIRS. The Commission
requests a revision of the currently approved collection to include
mandatory DIRS reporting for Support Recipients. Mandatory DIRS
reporting will allow the Commission to track networking hardening
efforts and increase Support Recipients' accountability, which the
Commission expects will improve network hardening efforts and make
networks more resilient in future. The PR and USVI Funds Order does not
otherwise alter DIRS.
Federal Communications Commission.
Cecilia Sigmund,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-06093 Filed 3-23-20; 8:45 am]
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