[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21120-21122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07630]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0484, OMB 3060-1003; FR ID 80736]


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 (PRA) of 1995, the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the Commission) invites the 
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to 
comment on the following information collection. 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 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before June 10, 
2022. 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: 3060-0484.
    Title: Amendments to Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning 
Disruptions to Communications.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,065 respondents; 27,395 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour-2 hours (average per response).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting 
requirements and recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Mandatory and Voluntary. Statutory authority 
for this collection is contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 4(o), 
251(e)(3), 254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 307, 309(a), 309(j), 316, 
332, and 403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and section 
706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i)-(j) & 
(o), 251(e)(3), 254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 332, 403, and 1302.
    Total Annual Burden: 54,215 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: In accordance with 47 CFR 
4.2, reports and information contained in the underlying NORS filings 
are presumed confidential. The filings are shared with the Department 
of Homeland Security through password-protected real time access to 
NORS. Other persons seeking disclosure must follow the procedure 
delineated in 47 CFR 0.457 and 0.459 of the Commission's Rules for 
requests for and disclosure of information. The modified collection 
proposed here will allow ``need to know'' agencies acting on behalf of 
the federal government, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Tribal 
Nations, and the U.S. territories access to confidential information 
derived from NORS filings based on events occurring within an agency's 
jurisdiction, provided those agencies maintain the confidentiality of 
the information and report any breach of that confidentiality.
    The Commission has adopted procedures allowing state, federal, 
local,

[[Page 21121]]

and Tribal agencies with a demonstrated ``need to know'' to apply for 
``read-only'' access to NORS reports impacting locations where the 
agency has jurisdiction. To protect the confidentiality of the NORS and 
DIRS information disclosed to these Participating Agencies, the 
Commission limited the access to only those agencies who complete the 
registration process and then limits by geographic area the reports 
available to each Participating Agency. The Commission also adopted 
safeguards to protect the data accessed by Participating Agencies from 
manipulation and from distribution to unauthorized recipients.
    Needs and Uses: The general purpose of the Commission's Part 4 
rules is to gather sufficient information regarding disruptions to 
telecommunications to facilitate FCC monitoring, analysis, and 
investigation of the reliability and security of voice, paging, and 
interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (interconnected VoIP) 
communications services, and to identify and act on potential threats 
to our Nation's telecommunications infrastructure. The Commission uses 
this information collection to identify the duration, magnitude, root 
causes, and contributing factors with respect to significant outages, 
and to identify outage trends; support service restoration efforts; and 
help coordinate with public safety officials during times of crisis. 
The Commission also maintains an ongoing dialogue with reporting 
entities, as well as with the communications industry at large, 
generally regarding lessons learned from the information collection in 
order to foster a better understanding of the root causes of 
significant outages and to explore preventive measures in the future so 
as to mitigate the potential scale and impact of such outages.
    In a Second Report and Order adopted on March 18, 2021, as FCC 21-
34, the Commission adopted rules allowing certain federal, state, and 
Tribal Nation agencies 10 (Participating Agencies) to access to certain 
geographically relevant outage reports filed in the Commission's 
Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). The information collections and 
record keeping provisions adopted will allow federal, state and Tribal 
Nation agencies (Participating Agencies) to apply for, and receive 
access to, NORS report in the areas where they have jurisdiction. The 
collection will further enable these Participating Agencies, at their 
election, to share NORS reports with qualified local agencies whose 
jurisdiction is affected by an outage, while still maintaining the 
confidentiality of the substantive data. The changes to the data 
collections fields in the NORS filings made by service providers will 
further facilitate the ability of Participating Agencies to access 
those reports relevant to their specific geographies. Finally, the 
changes to the information collection and associated recordkeeping 
requirements, including retention by participating agencies of 
qualification forms submitted by local agency seeking access to NORS 
data, as well as a list of which local agencies receive information 
from the Participating Agency, training materials setting clear 
parameters for the use of NORS data, and a list of those persons 
granted NORS account access, will enable auditing functions to ensure 
accountability in the use of NORS information and immediate reporting 
of breaches of access or confidentiality protocols.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1003.
    Title: Communications Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 400 respondents; 104,000 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour-1.5 hours (average per 
response).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting 
requirements and recordkeeping requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Voluntary. Statutory authority for this 
collection is contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 4(o), 251(e)(3), 
254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 307, 309(a), 309(j), 316, 332, and 
403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and section 706 of 
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i)-(j) & (o), 
251(e)(3), 254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 332, 403, and 1302.
    Total Annual Burden: 16,320 hours.
    Total Annual Costs: No Cost.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission provides 
respondents with assurances that their collected filings reports will 
be treated with a presumption of confidentiality. As noted in the DIRS 
User Manual, ``[b]ecause the information that communications companies 
input to [their collected filings] is sensitive for national security 
and/or commercial reasons, [the collected filings] shall be treated as 
presumptively confidential upon filing.''
    In accordance with 47 CFR 4.2, reports and information contained in 
the underlying DIRS filings are presumed confidential. The filings are 
shared with the Department of Homeland Security through password-
protected real time access to NORS. Other persons seeking disclosure 
must follow the procedure delineated in 47 CFR 0.457 and 0.459 of the 
Commission's Rules for requests for and disclosure of information. The 
modified collection proposed here will allow ``need to know'' agencies 
acting on behalf of the federal government, the 50 states, the District 
of Columbia, Tribal Nations, and the U.S. territories access to 
confidential information derived from DIRS filings based on events 
occurring within an agency's jurisdiction, provided those agencies 
maintain the confidentiality of the information and report any breach 
of that confidentiality.
    The Commission has adopted procedures allowing state, federal, 
local, and Tribal agencies with a demonstrated ``need to know'' to 
apply for ``read-only'' access to DIRS reports impacting locations 
where the agency has jurisdiction. To protect the confidentiality of 
the NORS and DIRS information disclosed to these Participating 
Agencies, the Commission limited the access to only those agencies who 
complete the registration process and then limits by geographic area 
the reports available to each Participating Agency. The Commission also 
adopted safeguards to protect the data accessed by Participating 
Agencies from manipulation and from distribution to unauthorized 
recipients.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission launched the Disaster Information 
Reporting System (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 facilitate 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. In 
a Second Report and Order adopted on March 18, 2021, as FCC 21-34, the 
Commission adopted rules allowing certain federal, state, and Tribal 
Nation agencies (Participating Agencies) to access to

[[Page 21122]]

certain geographically relevant reports filed in the Commission's 
Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). The information 
collections and record keeping provisions adopted will allow 
Participating Agencies to apply for, and receive access to, DIRS report 
in the areas where they have jurisdiction. The collection will further 
enable these Participating Agencies, at their election, to share DIRS 
reports with qualified local agencies whose jurisdiction is affected by 
a disaster, while still maintaining the confidentiality of the 
substantive data. The changes to the data collections fields in the 
DIRS filings made by service providers will further facilitate the 
ability of Participating Agencies to access those reports relevant to 
their specific geographies. Finally, the changes to the information 
collection and associated recordkeeping requirements, including 
retention by participating agencies of qualification forms submitted by 
local agency seeking access to DIRS data, as well as a list of which 
local agencies receive information from the Participating Agency, 
training materials setting clear parameters for the use of DIRS data, 
and a list of those persons granted DIRS account access, will enable 
auditing functions to ensure accountability in the use of DIRS 
information and immediate reporting of breaches of access or 
confidentiality protocols.
    The Commission notes that the information sharing framework 
established in the Second Report and Order allows for access to be 
granted not only for DIRS, but also to the Commission's Network Outage 
Reporting System (NORS). We note that the process and requirements for 
Participating Agencies under this framework is identical, regardless of 
whether they seek access to NORS, DIRS, or both. Because the Commission 
anticipates that NORS and DIRS access will be requested together in 
most cases, it believes that the estimated burden hours and costs for 
Participating Agencies associated with DIRS access are fully included 
in the estimates that it has separately submitted as part of its 
collection on Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning Disruptions 
to Communications, OMB Control No. 3060-0484. To avoid double-counting 
the estimated burden hours and costs associated with both collections, 
the Commission estimates the marginal cost of the Participating Agency 
aspect of this collection to be zero.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-07630 Filed 4-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P