[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 8, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30391-30393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11903]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[WC Docket Nos. 18-143, 10-90, 14-58; FCC 19-95; FRS 30653]


The Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund, Connect 
America Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection 
associated with the rules for the Connect America Fund contained in the 
Commission's Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, 
FCC 19-95. This document is consistent with the Uniendo a Puerto Rico 
Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, which stated that the Commission 
would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the 
effective date of the new information collection requirements.

DATES: The amendments to Sec.  54.313(e) introductory text, (e)(2) 
introductory text and paragraphs (n) and (o) published at 84 FR 59937, 
November 7, 2019 are effective June 8, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Yelen, Wireline Competition 
Bureau at (202) 418-7400 or TTY (202) 418-0484. For additional 
information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act information 
collection requirements contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991 or via 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission submitted revised information 
collection requirements for review and approval by OMB, as required by 
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, on March 8, 2021, which were 
approved by OMB on May 10, 2021. The information collection 
requirements are contained in the Commission's Uniendo a Puerto Rico 
Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, FCC 19-95 published at 84 FR 59937, 
November 7, 2019. The OMB Control Number is 3060-0986. If you have any 
comments on the burden estimates listed in the following, or how the 
Commission can improve the collections and reduce any burdens caused 
thereby, please contact Nicole Ongele, Federal Communications 
Commission, 45 L Street NE,

[[Page 30392]]

Washington, DC 20554. Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0986, 
in your correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments 
via email at [email protected].
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507), the Commission is notifying the public that it received OMB 
approval on May 10, 2021, for the information collection requirements 
contained in 47 CFR 54.313(e) introductory text, (e)(2) introductory 
text and paragraphs (n) and (o) published at 84 FR 59937, November 7, 
2019. Under 5 CFR part 1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a 
collection of information unless it displays a current, valid OMB 
Control Number.
    No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply 
with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB 
Control Number is 3060-0986.
    The foregoing notification is required by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
    The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents 
are as follows:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0986.
    OMB Approval Date: May 10, 2021.
    OMB Expiration Date: May 31, 2024.
    Title: High-Cost Universal Service Support.
    Form Number: FCC Form 481 and FCC Form 525.
    Type of Review: Revision 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: 2,049 unique respondents; 
14,358 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.1-15 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion, quarterly and annual reporting 
requirements, recordkeeping requirement and third party disclosure 
requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. 151-154, 155, 201-206, 214, 218-220, 251, 252, 254, 256, 303(r), 
332, 403, 405, 410, and 1302.
    Total Annual Burden: 53,955 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission notes that the 
Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) must preserve the 
confidentiality of all data obtained from respondents and contributors 
to the universal service support program mechanism; must not use the 
data except for purposes of administering the universal service 
program; must not use the data except for purposes of administering the 
universal support program; and must not disclose data in company-
specific form unless directed to do so by the Commission. Parties may 
submit confidential information in relation to the Privately Held Rate-
of-Return Carrier Financial Information requirement pursuant to a 
protective order. Also, respondents may request materials or 
information submitted to the Commission or to the Administrator 
believed confidential to be withheld from public inspection under 47 
CFR 0.459 of the FCC's rules.
    Needs and Uses: On November 18, 2011, the Commission adopted an 
order reforming its high-cost universal service support mechanisms. 
Connect America Fund; A National Broadband Plan for Our Future; 
Establish Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange Carriers; High-
Cost Universal Service Support; Developing a Unified Intercarrier 
Compensation Regime; Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service; 
Lifeline and Link-Up; Universal Service Reform--Mobility Fund, WC 
Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, 03-109; GN Docket No. 09-51; CC 
Docket Nos. 01-92, 96-45; WT Docket No. 10-208, Order and Further 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 26 FCC Rcd 17663 (2011) (USF/ICC 
Transformation Order), and the Commission and Wireline Competition 
Bureau have since adopted a number of orders that implement the USF/ICC 
Transformation Order; see also Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket 
No. 10-90 et al., Third Order on Reconsideration, 27 FCC Rcd 5622 
(2012); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Order, 
27 FCC Rcd 605 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2012); Connect America Fund et al., 
WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Fifth Order on Reconsideration, 27 FCC Rcd 
14549 (2012); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., 
Order, 28 FCC Rcd 2051 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America Fund 
et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Order, 28 FCC Rcd 7227 (Wireline 
Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Report and 
Order, 28 FCC Rcd 7766 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America 
Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd 7211 (Wireline 
Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Report and 
Order, 28 FCC Rcd 10488 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America 
Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Report and Order, Order and 
Order on Reconsideration and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 31 
FCC Rcd 3087 (2016); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 
16-271; WT Docket No. 10-208, Report and Order and Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 10139 (2016); Connect America Fund; ETC 
Annual Reports and Certifications, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-58, Order, 
32 FCC Rcd 968 (2017); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 
et al., Report and Order, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and 
Order on Reconsideration, 33 FCC Rcd 11893 (2018); Connect America 
Fund; ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-
58, Report and Order, 32 FCC Rcd 5944 (2017). The Commission has 
received OMB approval for most of the information collections required 
by these orders. At a later date, the Commission plans to submit 
additional revisions for OMB review to address other reforms adopted in 
the orders.
    More recently, the Commission adopted the Uniendo a Puerto Rico 
Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, which allocated nearly a billion 
additional dollars to United States territories that had suffered 
extensive infrastructure damage due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The 
Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund, et al., WC Docket 
No. 18-143, et al., Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 34 
FCC Rcd 9109 (2019) (Puerto Rico and USVI Stage 2 Order). The 
Commission adopted similar accountability measures for recipients of 
this support as required of other high-cost support recipients to 
ensure that providers receive support ``only for the provision, 
maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the 
support is intended.'' Puerto Rico and USVI Stage 2 Order, 34 FCC Rcd 
at 9149, para. 72.
    In the 2019 Supply Chain Order, the Commission also adopted a rule 
prohibiting the use of USF support to purchase or obtain any equipment 
or services produced or provided by a covered company posing a national 
security threat to the integrity of

[[Page 30393]]

communications networks or the communications supply chain. Protecting 
Against National Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain 
Through FCC Programs, WC Docket No. 18-89, Report and Order, Further 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Order, 34 FCC Rcd 11423, 11433, 
para. 26. See also 47 CFR 54.9. In June 2020, the Public Safety and 
Homeland Security Bureau issued final designations of Huawei 
Technologies Company (Huawei) and ZTE Corp. (ZTE) as covered companies 
for the purposes of this rule. Protecting Against National Security 
Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC Programs--Huawei 
Designation, WC Docket No. 19-351, Order, 35 FCC Rcd 6604 (PSHSB June 
30, 2020) (Huawei Designation Order); Protecting Against National 
Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC 
Programs--ZTE Designation, WC Docket No. 19-352, Order, 35 FCC Rcd 6633 
(PSHSB June 30, 2020) (ZTE Designation Order). Accordingly, USF 
recipients may not use USF funds to purchase, obtain, maintain, 
improve, modify, manage, or otherwise support Huawei or ZTE equipment 
or services in any way, including upgrades to existing Huawei or ZTE 
equipment and services. Huawei Designation Order, 35 FCC Rcd at 6608, 
para. 10; ZTE Designation Order, 35 FCC Rcd at 6637, para. 10. 
Moreover, USF recipients must certify that they are in compliance with 
this rule. 2019 Supply Chain Order, 34 FCC Rcd at 11454, para. 79; see 
also 47 CFR 54.9.
    Lastly, in the CAF Phase II Auction Order, in addition to rules 
requiring Connect America Phase II auction support recipients to report 
regarding support used for capital expenditures, certify regarding 
available funds, and certify that the Phase II-funded network meets 
performance requirements, the Commission also adopted rules requiring 
that Phase II auction support recipients must report information on 
served community anchor institutions and certify regarding bidding on 
FCC Form 470 postings for eligible schools and libraries in census 
blocks where the carrier receives auction support. Connect America 
Fund, et al., WC Docket No. 10-90, et al., Report and Order and Further 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 5949 (2016) (CAF Phase II 
Auction Order). Recipients of Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect 
USVI Fund Stage 2 support must also observe these requirements in 
addition to the general requirements for high-cost support recipients 
and requirements specific to the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect 
USVI Fund programs. See Puerto Rico and USVI Stage 2 Order, 34 FCC Rcd 
at 9150, para. 74.
    The Commission therefore revises this information collection, as 
well as Form 481 and its accompanying instructions, to reflect these 
new and revised requirements. We also eliminated one requirement that 
is associated with obligations no longer in effect for certain 
carriers. Any increased burdens for reporting requirements account for 
the additional carriers that will be subject to those requirements as a 
condition for receiving high-cost support.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-11903 Filed 6-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P