[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 61 (Thursday, March 30, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19001-19004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06508]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[WC Docket Nos. 12-375, 23-62; FCC 23-19; FR ID 133862]


Incarcerated People's Communications Services; Implementation of 
the Martha Wright-Reed Act; Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling 
Services

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Delegations of authority; reaffirmation and modification.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission) reaffirms its prior delegation of authority to the 
Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and Office of Economics and Analytics 
(OEA) to modify the Commission's most recent mandatory data collection 
as appropriate to implement the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable 
Communications Act of 2022. The Commission also reaffirms and updates 
its prior delegation of authority to WCB and the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) to modify the instructions and 
reporting template for the annual reports required from service 
providers as appropriate to supplement the information that will be 
received in this data collection.

DATES: The delegations of authority to WCB, OEA, and CGB are effective 
March 30, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Scott, Disability Rights 
Office of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at (202) 418-
1264 or via email at [email protected], regarding portions of this 
document relating to communications services for incarcerated people 
with hearing or speech disabilities, and Stephen Meil, Pricing Policy 
Division of the Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-7233 or via 
email at [email protected], regarding other matters.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order, 
document FCC 23-19, released March 17, 2023, in WC Docket Nos. 12-375 
and 23-62. The full text of document FCC 23-19 can be accessed 
electronically via the FCC's Electronic Document Management System 
(EDOCS) website at www.fcc.gov/edocs or via the FCC's Electronic 
Comment Filing System (ECFS) website at www.fcc.gov/ecfs. 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) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    1. In this Order, the Commission builds on its efforts to date, 
bolstered by the new authority Congress has bestowed, and begins the 
process of implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable 
Communications Act of 2022 (Martha Wright-Reed Act or Act) to adopt 
just and reasonable rates and charges for incarcerated people's audio 
and video communications services. Martha Wright-Reed Act, Public Law 
117-338, 136 Stat. 6156. This Order continues and expands on the 
Commission's ongoing efforts to reform providers' rates, charges, and 
practices in connection with interstate and international inmate 
calling services in WC Docket No. 12-375. At the same time, document 
FCC 23-19 initiates a new docket, WC Docket No. 23-62, to specifically 
address implementation of, and changes required by, the provisions of 
the Martha Wright-Reed Act.

[[Page 19002]]

    2. In the Order, the Commission reaffirms its prior delegation of 
data collection authority to WCB and OEA and directs them to update and 
restructure their most recent data collection as appropriate in light 
of the requirements of the new statute, so that the Commission may meet 
its statutory obligation to ensure that the rates and charges for 
communications services between incarcerated people and their friends 
and families are just and reasonable. The Commission also reaffirms and 
updates its prior delegation of authority to WCB and CGB to modify the 
instructions and reporting template for the annual reports required 
from service providers as appropriate to supplement the information 
that will be received in this data collection.

Background

    3. Data Collection. On January 5, 2023, President Biden signed into 
law the Martha Wright-Reed Act. The Act was the product of efforts by 
multiple individuals and committed stakeholders over a number of years 
to comprehensively address the persistent problem of unreasonably high 
rates and charges incarcerated people and their families pay for 
communications services. At its core, the Act removes the statutory 
limitations that previously prevented the Commission from setting 
comprehensive and effective just and reasonable rates for incarcerated 
people's communications services.
    4. Specifically, the Martha Wright-Reed Act modifies section 276 of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (Communications Act) to explicitly 
enable the Commission to require that rates for incarcerated people's 
communications services be just and reasonable, irrespective of the 
``calling device'' used. The Act expressly allows the Commission to 
``use industry-wide average costs,'' as well as the ``average costs of 
service of a communications service provider'' in setting just and 
reasonable rates. The Martha Wright-Reed Act also requires that the 
Commission ``shall consider,'' as part of its ratemaking, ``costs 
associated with any safety and security measures necessary to provide'' 
telephone service and advanced communications services. The statute 
further directs the Commission to promulgate regulations necessary to 
implement the statutory provisions not earlier than 18 months and not 
later than 24 months after the date of its enactment.
    5. In 2013, the Commission adopted interim interstate rate caps and 
adopted the Commission's first mandatory data collection regarding 
inmate calling services (ICS), requiring all providers of those 
services to submit data on their underlying costs of service. Rates for 
Interstate Inmate Calling Services, 78 FR 67956, November 13, 2013. It 
also adopted an annual reporting obligation requiring providers to 
provide specific information on their operations, including their rates 
and ancillary service charges.
    6. In 2015, in light of record evidence of continued ``egregiously 
high'' rates, the Commission adopted a comprehensive framework for 
regulating rates and charges for both interstate and intrastate calling 
services for incarcerated people, re-adopting the interim interstate 
rate caps it adopted in 2013, and extending them to intrastate calls 
pending the effectiveness of the new rate caps. The Commission also 
adopted a Second Mandatory Data Collection to enable it to identify 
trends in the market and adopt further reforms. Rates for Interstate 
Inmate Calling Services, 80 FR 79135, December 18, 2015.
    7. Subsequently, after seeking comment on additional steps to 
address unreasonable rates, the Commission released a comprehensive 
order in which, among other actions, it reformed the treatment of site 
commissions, set new interim interstate rate caps for prisons and jails 
with average daily populations of 1,000 or more incarcerated people, 
and capped international calling rates for the first time. Rates for 
Interstate Inmate Calling Services, 86 FR 40682, July 28, 2021 (2021 
ICS Order).
    8. In the 2021 ICS Order, the Commission also sought to improve the 
data it collected on calling services for incarcerated people as part 
of its efforts to set reasonable permanent rate caps. It delegated 
authority to WCB and OEA to establish a Third Mandatory Data Collection 
to collect uniform cost data to use in setting rate caps that more 
closely reflect inmate service providers' costs of providing service at 
correctional facilities. After seeking public comment, in January 2022, 
WCB and OEA released an Order adopting the data collection. Parties' 
responses to the Third Mandatory Data Collection were due June 30, 
2022, and the Commission affirmatively incorporates those responses 
into the record in this proceeding.

Order

    9. The Martha Wright-Reed Act directs the Commission to promulgate 
regulations necessary to implement its provisions not earlier than 18 
months and not later than 24 months after the date of its enactment, 
and includes specific language addressing the use of data in 
promulgating implementing regulations. The statutory language provides 
both guidance and directives regarding the use of data, including 
allowing the Commission to ``use industry-wide average costs of 
telephone service and advanced communications services and the average 
costs of service of a communications service provider'' in determining 
just and reasonable rates while ensuring providers are fairly 
compensated. It further states that the Commission ``shall consider 
costs associated with safety and security measures necessary to provide 
a service'' and ``differences in costs'' by ``small, medium and large 
facilities or other characteristics.'' These provisions contemplate and 
require the collection and analysis of advanced communications 
services' costs and related data, especially for video communications, 
among other data that, prior to the Act, the Commission either had no 
jurisdiction to collect or reason for doing so. The data analysis to 
implement the statute's mandate that rates and charges be ``just and 
reasonable'' must be completed within the required 18 to 24 month 
timeframe.
    10. The Commission's most recent data collection, limited only to 
inmate telephone services data, took nearly 14 months from the date the 
Commission delegated authority to WCB and OEA to conduct the data 
collection on May 24, 2021, to obtaining OMB approval of the data 
collection instructions and templates, issuing the order directing 
providers to file their responses and waiting for responses to be filed 
on June 30, 2022 (a total 402 days for Commission staff to receive 
responses from the date of delegation of authority). In addition to 
these steps, WCB and OEA will need time to compile the data into a 
consistent and meaningful format, analyze the data, and make 
recommendations for Commission consideration to result in the Act's 
implementing rules.
    11. To ensure that the Commission has the data it needs, in time to 
meet this statutory mandate, and given the procedurally complex and 
time-consuming process for data collections generally, the Commission 
reaffirms its prior delegation of authority to WCB and OEA and directs 
them to update the prior data collection to encompass, and collect, 
data on all incarcerated people's communications services from all 
providers of those services now subject to its expanded authority under 
the Martha Wright-Reed Act and the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended. Specifically, the Commission delegates authority to WCB and 
OEA to

[[Page 19003]]

update and restructure the most recent data collection as appropriate 
to implement the Martha Wright-Reed Act. The Commission has conducted 
three data collections related to incarcerated people's calling 
services in the past ten years. To allow for consistent data reporting, 
the Commission directed the Commission staff to develop a template for 
providers to use when submitting their data and to furnish providers 
with instructions to implement the collection. The Commission also 
directed staff to review the providers' submissions and delegated to 
the staff the authority to require providers to submit additional data 
as necessary to perform its review.
    12. The Commission concludes that it must immediately begin the 
process of updating and restructuring the most recent data collection 
if it is to meet both its procedural obligations (to consider certain 
types of data) and its substantive responsibilities (to set just and 
reasonable rates and charges) under the Martha Wright-Reed Act and the 
Communications Act. It therefore delegates to WCB and OEA authority to 
implement any appropriate modifications to this data collection, 
including with respect to information concerning intrastate services 
and ``any audio or video communications service used by inmates for the 
purpose of communicating with individuals outside of the correctional 
institution where the inmate is held, regardless of technology used.'' 
The Commission directs WCB and OEA to modify the template and 
instructions for the collection to the extent appropriate to timely 
collect such information to cover the additional services and providers 
now subject to its authority. It also delegates to WCB and OEA the 
authority to require providers now covered by section 276 of the 
Communications Act to submit any additional information that they find 
will assist the Commission in implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act, 
including, but not limited to, the authority to request more recent 
data for additional years not covered by the most recent data 
collection. Finally, the Commission delegates to WCB and OEA the 
authority to conduct the requisite Paperwork Reduction Act analysis for 
any new or modified data collection(s) that they implement pursuant to 
this Order. Any new or modified requirements that require approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act shall be effective on the date specified in a notice published in 
the Federal Register announcing OMB's approval.
    13. Annual Reports. The Commission also reaffirms and updates its 
prior delegation of authority to WCB and the CGB to revise the 
instructions and reporting template for the Annual Reports that all 
service providers are required to file each year. Specifically, it 
delegates authority to WCB and CGB to modify, supplement, and update 
those instructions and that template as appropriate to supplement the 
information the Commission will be receiving in response to the 
Mandatory Data Collection described above. The Commission finds that 
this additional information is needed to enable it to understand the 
rates and ancillary service fees incarcerated people's communications 
service providers charge for or in connection with the audio and video 
services now subject to its authority. However, the Commission notes 
that incarcerated people's communications services providers that do 
not provide any services classified as inmate calling services under 
its current rules will not be subject to this reporting requirement. 
Finally, the Commission delegates to WCB and CGB the authority to 
conduct the requisite Paperwork Reduction Act analysis for any changes 
to the Annual Report requirements that are implemented pursuant to this 
Order.
    14. Effective Date of Delegations of Authority. The Commission's 
delegations of authority to WCB, OEA, and CGB will take effect on March 
30, 2023. Making the delegations effective at that time will enable 
WCB, OEA, and CGB to move as expeditiously as practicable toward 
modifying, supplementing, and updating the Third Mandatory Data 
Collection to include additional information to facilitate the 
Commission's ability to fully implement the Martha Wright-Reed Act. 
Indeed, the Martha Wright-Reed Act directs the Commission to 
``promulgate any regulations necessary'' to establish just and 
reasonable rates ``not later than 24 months'' after enactment. Any 
unnecessary delay in its efforts to collect appropriate information 
would be inconsistent with, and undermine its ability to meet the 
deadlines contained in, the Act. Furthermore, given the importance of 
these areas to incarcerated people, including those with communication 
disabilities, any unnecessary delay in these initiatives would be 
inconsistent with the public interest.
    15. For purposes of administrative efficiency and to further assist 
the Commission in its efforts to implement the Martha Wright-Reed Act, 
the Commission intends to consider the extensive record developed in WC 
Docket No. 12-375, Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services, and 
hereby incorporates the record of that proceeding into WC Docket No. 
23-62.

Procedural Matters

    16. Congressional Review Act. The Commission has determined that 
this Order does not adopt any rules as defined under 5 U.S.C. 551, 804. 
Accordingly, the Commission is not required to submit, and will not be 
submitting, a copy of document FCC 23-19 to Congress and the Government 
Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, 5 
U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
    17. Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Commission has determined that 
this Order does not adopt any rules as defined under 5 U.S.C. 551. 
Accordingly, the Commission is not required to issue, and will not be 
issuing, a final regulatory flexibility analysis concerning the impact 
of this Order. See 5 U.S.C. 604.
    18. Paperwork Reduction Act. The Commission has determined that 
this Order does not contain information collection(s) subject to the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition, 
therefore, it does not contain any new or modified information 
collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, 
Public Law 107-198.

Ordering Clauses

    19. Pursuant to the authority contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i)-(j), 
5(c), 201(b), 218, 220, 225, 255, 276, 403, and 716 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i)-(j), 
155(c), 201(b), 218, 220, 225, 255, 276, 403, and 617, and the Martha 
Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, Public Law 
117-338, 136 Stat 6156 (2022), the Order in document FCC 23-19 is 
adopted.
    20. Pursuant to the authority contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i)-(j), 
5(c), 201(b), 218, 220, 225, 255, 276, 403, and 716, of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i)-(j), 
155(c), 201(b), 218, 220, 225, 255, 276, 403, and 617, and the Martha 
Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, Public Law 
117-338, 136 Stat 6156 (2022), and sections 0.201 and 1.103(a) of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.201, 1.103(a), the Order in document FCC 
23-19 shall be effective on March 30, 2023.


[[Page 19004]]


Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-06508 Filed 3-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P