[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 96 (Thursday, May 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27431-27432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10601]



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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-XXXX; FRS 27279]


Information Collections 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 collection(s). 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 July 19, 2021. 
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 to 
[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 Number: 3060-XXXX.
    Title: Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, 
Fourth Report and Order, CG Docket No. 17-59, FCC 20-187.
    Type of Review: New information collection.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Total Annual Burden: 199,412 hours.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents: 6,493 respondents; 582,434 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .25 to 40 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On-occasion reporting requirement, on-going 
reporting requirement and Third-party Disclosure requirement.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for these collections are contained in sections 
4(i), 201, 202, 217, 227, 227b, 251(e), 303(r), and 403 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 201, 202, 
217, 227, 227b, 251(e), 303(r), 403.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Needs and Uses: This notice and request for comments seeks to 
establish a new information collection as it pertains to the Advanced 
Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls Fourth Report and 
Order (``Call Blocking Fourth Report and Order''), FCC 20-187. Unwanted 
and illegal robocalls have long been the Federal Communication 
Commission's (``Commission'') top source of consumer complaints and one 
of the Commission's top consumer protection priorities. In 2019, 
Congress passed the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal 
Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act. In addition to directing the 
Commission to mandate adoption of caller ID authentication technology 
and encourage voice service providers to block calls by establishing 
safe harbors, the TRACED Act directs the Commission to ensure that both 
consumers and callers are provided with transparency and effective 
redress when calls are blocked in error. In the Call Blocking Fourth 
Report and Order, the Commission took several steps to better protect 
consumers from unwanted and illegal robocalls, and implement the TRACED 
Act. The Commission expanded the existing safe harbor for blocking of 
calls, established affirmative requirements to ensure that voice 
service providers better police their networks against illegal calls, 
and adopted several transparency and redress requirements to ensure 
that erroneous blocking can be quickly identified and remedied.

Call Blocking Fourth Report and Order, FCC 20-187, Paras. 22-31, 47 CFR 
64.1200(n)(2)

    A voice service provider must: . . . Take steps to effectively 
mitigate illegal traffic when it receives actual written notice of such 
traffic from the Commission through its Enforcement Bureau. In 
providing notice, the Enforcement Bureau shall identify with as much 
particularity as possible the suspected traffic; provide the basis for 
the Enforcement Bureau's reasonable belief that the identified traffic 
is unlawful; cite the statutory or regulatory provisions the suspected 
traffic appears to violate; and direct the voice service provider 
receiving the notice that it must comply with this section. Each 
notified provider must promptly investigate the identified traffic. 
Each notified provider must then promptly report the results of its 
investigation to the Enforcement Bureau, including any steps the 
provider has taken to effectively mitigate the identified traffic or an 
explanation as to why the provider has reasonably concluded that the 
identified calls were not illegal and what steps it took to reach that 
conclusion. Should the notified provider find that the traffic comes 
from an upstream provider with direct access to the U.S. Public 
Switched Telephone Network, that provider must promptly inform the 
Enforcement Bureau of the source of the traffic and, if possible, take 
steps to mitigate this traffic.
    The first portion of the new information collection for which OMB 
approval is sought comes from the affirmative obligation adopted in the 
Call Blocking Fourth Report and Order that voice service providers 
effectively mitigate illegal traffic when notified of such traffic by 
the Commission's Enforcement Bureau. In adopting this requirement as 
well as the other affirmative obligations, the Commission made clear 
that, while most blocking is done by terminating voice service 
providers, originating and intermediate voice service providers are 
integral to stopping illegal calls. This requirement in particular 
gives the Commission an important tool in the fight to stop illegal 
calls.

Call Blocking Fourth Report and Order, FCC 20-187, Paras. 62-70, 47 CFR 
64.1200(k)(10)

    Any terminating provider that blocks calls on an opt-out or opt-in 
basis, either itself or through a third-party blocking service, must 
provide, at the request of the subscriber to a number, at no

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additional charge and within 3 business days of such a request, a list 
of calls to that number, including the date and time of the call and 
the calling number, that the terminating provider or its designee 
blocked within the 28 days prior to the request.
    The second portion of the new information collection for which OMB 
approval is sought comes from the requirement in the Call Blocking 
Fourth Report and Order that any terminating voice service provider 
that blocks calls on an opt-in or opt-out basis must provide, on the 
request of the subscriber to a particular number, a list of all calls 
intended for that number that the voice service provider or its 
designee has blocked. The list must include the prior 28 days of 
blocked calls and must be provided to the subscriber within 3 business 
days.The TRACED Act expressly directs the Commission to ensure that 
both consumers and callers are provided with transparency. In the Call 
Blocking Fourth Report and Order, the Commission determined that, while 
opt-in or opt-out blocking must already be disclosed to consumers, a 
consumer may be unaware that particular calls are blocked absent such a 
list. Consumers can use the list to determine whether to opt out of 
blocking services or reach out to callers whose calls may have been 
blocked.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-10601 Filed 5-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P