[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19953-19955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06940]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0233, 3060-0804, 3060-0819, 3060-1126; FR ID 134448]


Information Collections Being Submitted for Review and Approval 
to Office of Management and Budget

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, 
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. Pursuant to the Small Business 
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the FCC seeks specific comment on how it 
might ``further reduce the information collection burden for small 
business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.'' The Commission 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 and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be submitted on or before May 4, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting 
``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using 
the search function. Your comment must be submitted into 
www.reginfo.gov per the

[[Page 19954]]

above instructions for it to be considered. In addition to submitting 
in www.reginfo.gov also send a copy of your comment on the proposed 
information collection to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email to [email protected] 
and to [email protected]. Include in the comments the OMB control 
number as shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies 
of the information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991. 
To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) submitted 
to OMB: (1) go to the web page http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, (2) look for the section of the web page called ``Currently 
Under Review,'' (3) click on the downward-pointing arrow in the 
``Select Agency'' box below the ``Currently Under Review'' heading, (4) 
select ``Federal Communications Commission'' from the list of agencies 
presented in the ``Select Agency'' box, (5) click the ``Submit'' button 
to the right of the ``Select Agency'' box, (6) when the list of FCC 
ICRs currently under review appears, look for the Title of this ICR and 
then click on the ICR Reference Number. A copy of the FCC submission to 
OMB will be displayed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork burdens, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the FCC invited the general public and 
other Federal Agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the 
following information collection. Comments are requested concerning: 
(a) 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; (b) the accuracy 
of the Commission's burden estimates; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) 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. Pursuant to the Small Business 
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(4), the FCC seeks specific comment on how it might ``further 
reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns 
with fewer than 25 employees.''
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0233.
    Title: Part 54--Rate-of-Return Carrier Universal Service Reporting 
Requirements.
    Form Number: FCC Form 507, FCC Form 508 and FCC Form 509.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,095 respondents; 4,044 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1-22 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting 
requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. 151-154, 214, 218-220, 221(c), 254, and 303(r).
    Total Annual Burden: 43,638 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
    Needs and Uses: In order to determine which carriers are entitled 
to universal service support, all rate-of-return regulated (rate-of-
return) incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) must provide the 
National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) with the loop cost and 
loop count data required by section 54.1305 for each of its study areas 
and, if applicable, for each wire center as that term is defined in 47 
CFR part 54. See 47 CFR 54.1305 and 54.5. The loop cost and loop count 
information is to be filed annually with NECA by July 31st of each 
year, and may be updated occasionally pursuant to section 54.1306. See 
47 CFR 54.1306. Pursuant to section 54.1307, the information filed on 
July 31st of each year will be used to calculate universal service 
support for each study area and is filed by NECA with the Commission on 
October 1 of each year. See 47 CFR 54.1307. An incumbent LEC is defined 
as a carrier that meets the definition of ``incumbent local exchange 
carrier'' in section 51.5 of the Commission's rules. See 47 CFR 51.5.
    In March 2016, the Commission adopted the Rate-of-Return Reform 
Order to continue modernizing the universal service support mechanisms 
for rate-of-return carriers. The Rate-of-Return Reform Order replaced 
the Interstate Common Line Support (ICLS) mechanism with the Connect 
America Fund--Broadband Loop Support (CAF-BLS) mechanism. While ICLS 
supported only lines used to provide traditional voice service 
(including voice service bundled with broadband service), CAF-BLS also 
supports consumer broadband-only loops. In March 2016, the Commission 
adopted the Rate-of-Return Reform Order to continue modernizing the 
universal service support mechanisms for rate-of-return carriers. The 
Rate-of-Return Reform Order replaced the Interstate Common Line Support 
(ICLS) mechanism with the Connect America Fund--Broadband Loop Support 
(CAF-BLS) mechanism. While ICLS supported only lines used to provide 
traditional voice service (including voice service bundled with 
broadband service), CAF-BLS also supports consumer broadband-only 
loops. For the purposes of calculating and monitoring CAF-BLS, rate-of-
return carriers that receive CAF-BLS must file common line and consumer 
broadband-only loop counts on FCC Form 507, forecasted common line and 
consumer broadband-only loop costs and revenues on FCC Form 508, and 
actual common line and consumer broadband-only loop costs and revenues 
on FCC Form 509. See 47 CFR 54.903(a).
    In December 2018, the Commission adopted the December 2018 Rate-of-
Return Reform Order to require rate-of-return carriers that receive 
Alternative Connect American Model (A-CAM) or Alaska Plan support to 
file line count data on FCC Form 507 as a condition of high-cost 
support. Historically, all rate-of-return carriers received CAF BLS or, 
prior to that, ICLS, and were required to file line count data on FCC 
Form 507 as a condition of that support. In recent years, some rate-of-
return carriers have elected to receive A-CAM I, A-CAM II, or Alaska 
Plan instead, and those carriers were not required to file line count 
data because the requirement to file applied only to rate-of-return 
carriers receiving CAF BLS. In order to restore a data set that the 
Commission relied on to evaluate the effectiveness of its high-cost 
universal service programs, the Commission revised its rules in that 
Order to require all rate-of-return carriers to file that data. While 
carriers receiving CAF-BLS must file the line count data on March 31 
for line counts as of the prior December 31, the A-CAM I, A-CAM II, and 
Alaska Plan carriers will be required to file on July 1 of each year to 
coincide with other existing requirements in OMB Control No. 3060-0986. 
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) (2018 Rate-of-Return Reform 
Order). See also 47 CFR 54.313(f)(5).
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0804.
    Title: Universal Service--Rural Health Care Program.
    Form Numbers: FCC Forms 460, 461, 462, 463, 465, 466, and 467.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; Federal Government; and State, Local, or Tribal 
governments.

[[Page 19955]]

    Number of Respondents and Responses: 12,854 unique respondents; 
102,681 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.30-17 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion, One-time, Annual, and Monthly 
reporting requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
sections 1-4, 201-205, 214, 254, 303(r), and 403 of the Communications 
Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151-154, 201-205, 214, 254, 303(r), 
and 403, unless otherwise noted.
    Total Annual Burden: 413,460 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission seeks OMB approval of an extension 
of this information collection, which is scheduled to expire on May 31, 
2023. This collection is utilized for the RHC support mechanism of the 
Commission's universal service fund (USF). The collection of this 
information is necessary so that the Commission and the Universal 
Service Administrative Company (USAC) will have sufficient information 
to determine if entities are eligible for funding pursuant to the RHC 
universal service support mechanism, to determine if entities are 
complying with the Commission's rules, and to prevent waste, fraud, and 
abuse. This information is also necessary in order to allow the 
Commission to evaluate the extent to which the RHC Program is meeting 
the statutory objectives specified in section 254(h) of the 1996 Act, 
and the Commission's performance goals for the RHC Program.
    The Healthcare Connect Fund Program currently includes FCC Forms 
460, 461, 462, and 463 and the Telecom Program currently includes FCC 
Forms 465, 466, and 467. The information on the FCC Form templates is a 
representative description of the information to be collected via an 
online portal and is not intended to be a visual representation of what 
each applicant or service provider will see, the order in which they 
will see information, or the exact wording or directions used to 
collect the information. Where possible, information already provided 
by applicants from previous filing years or that was pre-filed in the 
system portal will be carried forward and auto-generated into the form 
to simplify the information collection for applicants.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0819.
    Title: Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers, 
Lifeline and Link Up Reform and Modernization, Telecommunications 
Carriers Eligible for Universal Service Support.
    Form No.: FCC Form 481, 497, 555, 5629, 5630, and 5631.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Individuals or households and business or other for-
profit enterprises.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 25,110,064 respondents; 
26,877,404 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.0167-125 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual, biennial, monthly, daily and on 
occasion reporting requirements, recordkeeping requirement and third-
party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority is contained in Sections 1, 4(i), 5, 201, 205, 214, 
219, 220, 254, 303[supreg], and 403 of the Communications Act of 1934, 
as amended, and section 706 of the Communications Act of 1996, as 
amended; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 201, 205, 214, 219, 220, 254, 
303(r), 403, and 1302.
    Total Annual Burden: 6,534,374 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $937,500.
    Needs and Uses: This revision implements several process and 
procedural changes made to reflect the full implementation of the 
National Verifier in all states and territories and updates several of 
the forms associated with this collection. These changes require minor 
modifications to the previously approved requirements. These changes 
have a moderate impact on the overall burden, increasing the burden 
hours for some requirements and decreasing the burden hours for other 
requirements.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1126.
    Title: Testing and Logging Requirements for Wireless Emergency 
Alerts (WEA).
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 76 Participating CMS 
Providers; 429,020 Responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.000694 hours (2.5 seconds) to 
generate each alert log; 2 hours to respond to each request for alert 
log data or information about geo-targeting
    Frequency of Response: Monthly and on occasion reporting 
requirements and recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i) and (o), 301, 301(r), 303(v), 307, 309, 335, 
403, 544(g), 606 and 615 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 
as well as by sections 602(a), (b), (c), (f), 603, 604 and 606 of the 
WARN Act.
    Total Annual Burden: 119,021 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission adopted requirements for 
Participating CMS Providers to log the basic attributes of alerts they 
receive at their Alert Gateway, to maintain those logs for at least 12 
months, to make those logs available upon request to the Commission and 
FEMA, and to emergency management agencies that offer confidentiality 
protection at least equal to that provided by federal FOIA. The 
Commission also requires Participating CMS Providers to disclose 
information regarding their capabilities for geo-targeting Alert 
Messages upon request to such emergency management agencies insofar as 
it would pertain to Alert Messages initiated by that emergency 
management agency. These recordkeeping and reporting requirements have 
potential to increase emergency managers' confidence that WEA will work 
as intended when needed. This increased confidence in system 
availability encourages emergency management agencies that do not 
currently use WEA to become authorized. These reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements also help to ensure a fundamental component 
of system integrity. Alert logs are necessary to establish a baseline 
for system integrity against which future iterations of WEA can be 
evaluated. Without records that can be used to describe the quality of 
system integrity, and the most common causes of message transmission 
failure, it would be difficult to evaluate how any changes to WEA may 
affect system integrity.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-06940 Filed 4-3-23; 8:45 am]
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