[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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