[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50118-50120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19242]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1207; FR ID 45832]


Information Collection 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 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 November 
8, 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 contact listed 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: 3060-1207.
    Title: Sections 25.701, Other DBS Public Interest Obligations, and 
25.702, Other SDARS Public Interest Obligations.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension of an existing collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 3 respondents and 3 responses.
    Estimated Hours per Response: 18 hrs.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement, 
Recordkeeping requirement, Third party disclosure requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 54 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $592.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to be obtained or retained for 
benefits. The statutory authority for this information collection is 
contained in sections 154, 301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 319, 332, 605, and 
721 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Needs and Uses: In 2012, the Commission replaced the decades-old 
requirement that commercial and noncommercial television stations 
maintain public files at their main studios with a requirement to post 
most of the documents in those files to a central, online public file 
hosted by the Commission. On January 28, 2016, the Commission adopted a 
Report and Order (``R&O'') in MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 16-4, In the 
Matter of Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and 
Satellite TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees, 
expanding the requirement that public inspection files be posted to the 
FCC-hosted online public file database to satellite TV (also referred 
to as ``Direct Broadcast Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers and to 
satellite radio (also referred to as ``satellite Digital Audio Radio 
Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees, among other entities. The 
Commission stated that its goal is to make information that these 
entities are already required to make publicly available more 
accessible while also reducing costs both for the government and the 
public sector. The Commission took the same general approach to 
transitioning these entities to the online file that it took with 
television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring the requirements as 
necessary to the different services. The Commission also took similar 
measures to minimize the effort and cost entities must undertake to 
move their public files online. Specifically, the Commission required 
entities to upload to the online public file only documents that are 
not already

[[Page 50119]]

on file with the Commission or that the Commission maintains in its own 
database. The Commission also exempted existing political file material 
from the online file requirement and required that political file 
documents be uploaded only on a going-forward basis.
    The Commission first adopted a public inspection file requirement 
for broadcasters more than 40 years ago. The public file requirement 
grew out of Congress' 1960 amendment of Sections 309 and 311 of the 
Communications Act of 1934. Finding that Congress, in enacting these 
provisions, was guarding ``the right of the general public to be 
informed, not merely the rights of those who have special interests,'' 
the Commission adopted the public inspection file requirement to ``make 
information to which the public already has a right more readily 
available, so that the public will be encouraged to play a more active 
part in dialogue with broadcast licensees.'' The information provided 
in the public file enables citizens to engage in an informed dialog 
with their local video provider or to file complaints regarding 
provider operations. Satellite TV (also known as ``Direct Broadcast 
Satellite'' or ``DBS'') providers and satellite radio (also referred to 
as ``Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services'' or ``SDARS'') licensees 
have public and political file requirements modeled, in large part, on 
the longstanding broadcast requirements. With respect to DBS providers, 
the Commission adopted public and political inspection file 
requirements in 1998 in conjunction with the imposition of certain 
public interest obligations, including political broadcasting 
requirements, on those entities. DBS providers were required to ``abide 
by political file obligations similar to those requirements placed on 
terrestrial broadcasters and cable systems'' and were also required to 
maintain a public file with records relating to other DBS public 
interest obligations. The Commission imposed equal employment 
opportunity and political broadcast requirements on SDARS licensees in 
1997, noting that the rationale behind imposing these requirements on 
broadcasters also applies to satellite radio.
    The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 
25.701(d) require each DBS provider to keep and permit public 
inspection of a complete and orderly record (political file) of all 
requests for DBS origination time made by or on behalf of candidates 
for public office, together with an appropriate notation showing the 
disposition made by the provider of such requests, and the charges 
made, if any, if the request is granted. The disposition includes the 
schedule of time purchased, when the spots actually aired, the rates 
charged, and the classes of time purchased. Also, when free time is 
provided for use by or on behalf of candidates, a record of the free 
time provided is to be placed in the political file. All records 
required to be retained by this section must be placed in the political 
file as soon as possible and retained for a period of two years. DBS 
providers must make available, by fax, email, or by mail upon telephone 
request, copies of documents in their political files and assist 
callers by answering questions about the contents of their political 
files. If a requester prefers access by mail, the DBS provider must pay 
for postage but may require individuals requesting documents to pay for 
photocopying. If a DBS provider places its political file on its 
website, it may refer the public to the website in lieu of mailing 
copies.
    Any material required to be maintained in the political file must 
be made available to the public by either mailing or website access or 
both.
    The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 
25.701(d) require DBS providers to place all new political file 
material required to be retained by this section in the online file 
hosted by the Commission.
    47 CFR 25.701(f)(6) information collection requirements require 
each DBS provider to maintain a public file containing a complete and 
orderly record of quarterly measurements of: Channel capacity and 
yearly average calculations on which it bases its four percent 
reservation, as well as its responses to any capacity changes; a record 
of entities to whom noncommercial capacity is being provided, the 
amount of capacity being provided to each entity, the conditions under 
which it is being provided and the rates, if any, being paid by the 
entity; and a record of entities that have requested capacity, 
disposition of those requests and reasons for the disposition. All 
records required by this provision must be placed in a file available 
to the public as soon as possible and be retained for a period of two 
years.
    47 CFR 25.701(f)(6) to require DBS providers to place all public 
file material required to be retained by this section in the online 
file hosted by the Commission. Each DBS provider must place in the 
online file the records required to be placed in the public inspection 
file by 47 CFR 25.701(e)(commercial limits in children's programs) and 
by 47 CFR 25.601 and Part 76, Subpart E (equal employment opportunity 
requirements) and retain those records for the period required by those 
rules. In addition, each DBS provider is required to provide a link to 
the public inspection file hosted on the Commission's website from the 
home page of its own website, if the provider has a website, and 
provide on its website contact information for a representative who can 
assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content 
of the public files. Each DBS provider is also required to include in 
the online public file the name, phone number, and email address of the 
licensee's designated contact for questions about the public file. In 
addition, each DBS provider must place the address of the provider's 
local public file in the Commission's online file unless the provider 
has fully transitioned to the FCC's online public file (e.g., posts to 
the FCC's online file database all public and political file material 
required to be maintained in the public inspection file) and also 
provides online access via the provider's own website to back-up 
political file material in the event the online file becomes 
temporarily unavailable.
    47 CFR 25.702(b) requires each SDARS licensee to maintain a 
complete and orderly record (political file) of all requests for SDARS 
origination time made by or on behalf of candidates for public office, 
together with the disposition made by the provider of such requests, 
and the charges made, if any, if the request is granted. The 
disposition must include the schedule of time purchased, when the spots 
actually aired, the rates charged, and the classes of time purchased. 
Also, when free time is provided for use by or on behalf of candidates, 
a record of the free time provided is to be placed in the political 
file. SDARS licensees are required to place all records required by 
this section in the political file as soon as possible and retain the 
record for a period of two years.
    The information collection requirements contained in 47 CFR 
25.702(c) require each SDARS applicant or licensee to place in the 
online file hosted by the Commission the records required to be placed 
in the public inspection file by 47 CFR 25.601 and 73.2080 (equal 
employment opportunities) and to retain those records for the period 
required by those rules. Each SDARS licensee must provide a link to the 
public inspection file hosted on the Commission's website from the home 
page of its own website, if the licensee has a website, and provide on 
its website contact information for a representative who

[[Page 50120]]

can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the 
content of the public files. Each SDARS licensee is also required to 
include in the online public file the name, phone number, and email 
address of the licensee's designated contact for questions about the 
public file. In addition, each SDARS licensee must place the address of 
the provider's local public file in the Commission's online file unless 
the provider has fully transitioned to the FCC's online public file 
(i.e., posts to the Commission's online public file all public and 
political file material required to be maintained in the public 
inspection file) and also provides online access via the licensee's own 
website to back-up political file material in the event the online file 
becomes temporarily unavailable.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-19242 Filed 9-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P