Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission, 14519-14522 [2012-5897]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 48 (Monday, March 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14519-14522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-5897]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on the following information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995. 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 estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information collected; (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; and (e) 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 May 11, 
2012. 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 
PRA@fcc.gov and to Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1150.
    Title: Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program, 
Second Report and Order and Order, CG Docket No. 10-51.
    Form Number N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 28 respondents; 89 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .017 hours (1 minute) to 50 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual, on occasion, and one-time reporting 
requirements; third party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for the information collections are found at 
section 225 of the Act, 47 U.S.C. 225. The law was enacted on July 26, 
1990, as Title IV of the ADA, Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327, 366-
69.
    Total Annual Burden: 934 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: None.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: An assurance of 
confidentiality is not offered because this information collection does 
not require the collection of personally identifiable information (PII) 
from individuals.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On July 28, 2011, in document FCC 11-118, the 
Commission released a Second Report and Order and Order, published at 
76 FR 47469, August 5, 2011, and at 76 FR 47476, August 5, 2011, 
adopting final and interim rules--designed to help prevent fraud and 
abuse, and ensure quality service, in the provision of Internet-based 
forms of Telecommunications Relay Services (iTRS). The Second Report 
and Order and Order amends the Commission's process for certifying 
Internet-based Telecommunications Relay Service (iTRS) providers as 
eligible for payment from the Interstate TRS Fund (Fund) for their 
provision of iTRS, as proposed in the Commission's April 2011 Further 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Video Relay Service (VRS) reform 
proceeding, CG Docket No. 10-51, published at 76 FR 24437, May 2, 2011. 
The Commission adopted the newly revised certification process to 
ensure that iTRS providers receiving certification are qualified to 
provide iTRS in compliance with the

[[Page 14520]]

Commission's rules, and to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse through 
improved oversight of such providers.
    The Second Report and Order and Order contains information 
collection requirements with respect to the following eight 
requirements, all of which aims to ensure that providers are qualified 
to provide iTRS and that the services are provided in compliance with 
the Commission's rules with no or minimal service interruption.
    (A) Required Evidence for Submission for Eligibility Certification. 
The Second Report and Order and Order requires that potential iTRS 
providers must provide full and detailed information in its application 
for certification that show its ability to comply with the Commission's 
rules. The Second Report and Order and Order requires that applicants 
must provide a detailed description of how the applicant will meet all 
non-waived mandatory minimum standards applicable to each form of TRS 
offered, including documentary and other evidence, and in the case of 
VRS, such documentary and other evidence shall demonstrate that the 
applicant leases, licenses or has acquired its own facilities and 
operates such facilities associated with TRS call centers and employees 
communications assistants, on a full or part-time basis, to staff such 
call centers at the date of the application. Such evidence shall 
include but not be limited to:
    1. For VRS applicants operating five or fewer call centers within 
the United States, a copy of each deed or lease for each call center 
operated by the applicant within the United States;
    2. For VRS applicants operating more than five call centers within 
the United States, a copy of each deed or lease for a representative 
sampling (taking into account size (by number of communications 
assistants) and location) of five call centers operated by the 
applicant within the United States;
    3. For VRS applicants operating call centers outside of the United 
States, a copy of each deed or lease for each call center operated by 
the Applicant outside of the United States;
    4. For all applicants, a list of individuals or entities that hold 
at least a 10 percent equity interest in the applicant, have the power 
to vote 10 percent or more of the securities of the applicant, or 
exercise de jure or de facto control over the applicant, a description 
of the applicant's organizational structure, and the names of its 
executives, officers, members of its board of directors, general 
partners (in the case of a partnership), and managing members (in the 
case of a limited liability company);
    5. For all applicants, a list of the number of applicant's full-
time and part-time employees involved in TRS operations, including and 
divided by the following positions: executives and officers; video 
phone installers (in the case of VRS), communications assistants, and 
persons involved in marketing and sponsorship activities;
    6. Where applicable, a description of the call center 
infrastructure, and for all core call center functions (automatic call 
distribution, routing, call setup, mapping, call features, billing for 
compensation from the TRS fund, and registration) a statement whether 
such equipment is owned, leased or licensed (and from whom if leased or 
licensed) and proofs of purchase, leases or license agreements, 
including a complete copy of any lease or license agreement for 
automatic call distribution;
    7. For all applicants, copies of employment agreements for all of 
the provider's employees directly involved in TRS operations, 
executives and communications assistants, and a list of names of 
employees directly involved in TRS operations, need not be submitted 
with the application, but must be retained by the applicant and 
submitted to the Commission upon request; and
    8. For all applicants, a list of all sponsorship arrangements 
relating to Internet-based TRS, including any associated written 
agreements.
    (B) Submission of Annual Report. The Second Report and Order and 
Order requires that providers submit annual reports that include 
updates to the information listed under Section A above or certify that 
there are no changes to the information listed under Section A above.
    (C) Requiring Providers to Seek Prior Authorization of Voluntary 
Interruption of Service. The Second Report and Order and Order requires 
that a VRS provider seeking to voluntarily interrupt service for a 
period of 30 minutes or more in duration must first obtain Commission 
authorization by submitting a written request to the Commission's 
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) at least 60 days prior 
to any planned service interruption, with detailed information of:
    (i) Its justification for such interruption;
    (ii) Its plan to notify customers about the impending interruption; 
and
    (iii) Its plans for resuming service, so as to minimize the impact 
of such disruption on consumers through a smooth transition of 
temporary service to another provider, and restoration of its service 
at the completion of such interruption.
    (D) Reporting of Unforeseen Service Interruptions. With respect to 
brief, unforeseen service interruptions or in the event of a VRS 
provider's voluntary service interruption of less than 30 minutes in 
duration, the Second Report and Order and Order requires that the 
affected provider submit a written notification to CGB within two 
business days of the commencement of the service interruption, with an 
explanation of when and how the provider has restored service or the 
provider's plan to do so imminently. In the event the provider has not 
restored service at the time such report is filed, the provider must 
submit a second report within two business days of the restoration of 
service with an explanation of when and how the provider has restored 
service.
    (E) Applicant Certifying Under Penalty of Perjury for Certification 
Application.
    The chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), 
or other senior executive of an applicant for Internet-based TRS 
certification with first hand knowledge of the accuracy and 
completeness of the information provided, when submitting an 
application for certification for eligibility to receive compensation 
from the Intestate TRS Fund, must certify under penalty of perjury that 
all application information required under the Commission's rules and 
orders has been provided and that all statements of fact, as well as 
all documentation contained in the application submission, are true, 
accurate, and complete.
    (F) Certified Provider Certifying Under Penalty of Perjury for 
Annual Compliance Filings.
    The Second Report and Order and Order requires the chief executive 
officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), or other senior executive 
of an Internet-based TRS provider with first hand knowledge of the 
accuracy and completeness of the information provided, when submitting 
an annual compliance report under paragraph (g) of section 64.606 of 
the Commission's rules, must certify under penalty of perjury that all 
information required under the Commission's rules and orders has been 
provided and all statements of fact, as well as all documentation 
contained in the annual compliance report submission, are true, 
accurate, and complete.
    (G) Notification of Service Cessation.
    The Second Report and Order and Order requires the applicant for 
certification must give its customers at least 30 days notice that it 
will no longer provide service should the

[[Page 14521]]

Commission determine that the applicant's certification application 
does not qualify for certification under paragraph (a)(2) of section 
64.606 of the Commission's rules.
    (H) Notification on Web site.
    The Second Report and Order and Order requires the provider must 
provide notification of temporary service outages to consumers on an 
accessible Web site, and the provider must ensure that the information 
regarding service status is updated on its Web site in a timely manner.
    On October 17, 2011, in document FCC 11-155, the Commission 
released a Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O), published at 76 FR 
67070, October 31, 2011, addressing the petition for reconsideration 
filed by Sorenson Communications, Inc. (Sorenson). Sorenson 
concurrently filed a PRA comment challenging two aspects of the 
information collection requirements as being too burdensome. The 
Commission modified two aspects of information collection requirements 
contained in the July 28, 2011 Second Report and Order and Order to 
lessen the burdens on applicants for VRS certification and VRS 
providers to provide certain documentation to the Commission. In the 
MO&O, the Commission revised the language in the rules to require that 
providers that operate five or more domestic call centers only submit 
copies of proofs of purchase, leases or license agreements for 
technology and equipment used to support their call center functions 
for five of their call centers that constitute a representative sample 
of their centers, rather than requiring copies for all call centers. 
Further, the Commission clarifies that the rule requiring submission of 
a list of all sponsorship arrangements relating to iTRS only requires 
that a certification applicant include on the list associated written 
agreements, and does not require the applicant to provide copies of all 
written agreements.
    Therefore, the information collection requirements listed above in 
section (A) 6 and 8 were revised to read as follows:
    6. A description of the technology and equipment used to support 
their call center functions--including, but not limited to, automatic 
call distribution, routing, call setup, mapping, call features, billing 
for compensation from the TRS Fund, and registration--and for each core 
function of each call center for which the applicant must provide a 
copy of technology and equipment proofs of purchase, leases or license 
agreements in accordance with paragraphs (a)-(d) listed below, a 
statement whether such technology and equipment is owned, leased or 
licensed (and from whom if leased or licensed);
    (a) For VRS providers operating five or fewer call centers within 
the United States, a copy of each proof of purchase, lease or license 
agreement for all technology and equipment used to support their call 
center functions, for each call center operated by the applicant within 
the United States;
    (b) For VRS providers operating more than five call centers within 
the United States, a copy of each proof of purchase, lease or license 
agreement for technology and equipment used to support their call 
center functions for a representative sampling (taking into account 
size (by number of communications assistants) and location) of five 
call centers operated by the applicant within the United States; a copy 
of each proof of purchase, lease or license agreement for technology 
and equipment used to support their call center functions for all call 
centers operated by the applicant within the United States must be 
retained by the applicant for three years from the date of the 
application, and submitted to the Commission upon request;
    (c) For VRS providers operating call centers outside of the United 
States, a copy of each proof of purchase, lease or license agreement 
for all technology and equipment used to support their call center 
functions for each call center operated by the applicant outside of the 
United States; and
    (d) A complete copy of each lease or license agreement for 
automatic call distribution.
    8. For all applicants, a list of all sponsorship arrangements 
relating to Internet-based TRS, including on that list a description of 
any associated written agreements; copies of all such arrangements and 
agreements must be retained by the applicant for three years from the 
date of the application, and submitted to the Commission upon request.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1154.
    Title: Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (``CALM'') Act; 
Financial Hardship and General Waiver Requests.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 300 respondents and 300 
responses.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1-20 hours.
    Total Annual Burden: 3,150 hours.
    Total Annual Cost to Respondents: $90,000.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain benefits. The statutory 
authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C 
151, 152, 154(i) and (j), 303(r) and 621.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no assurance of 
confidentiality provided to respondents, but, in accordance with the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.459, a station/MVPD may request 
confidential treatment for financial information supplied with its 
waiver request.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: TV stations and multichannel video programming 
distributors (MVPDs) may file financial hardship waiver requests to 
seek a one-year waiver of the effective date of the rules implementing 
the CALM Act or to request a one-year renewal of such waiver. A TV 
station or MVPD must demonstrate in its waiver request that it would be 
a ``financial hardship'' to obtain the necessary equipment to comply 
with the rules. TV stations and MVPDs may file general waiver requests 
to request waiver of the rules implementing the CALM Act for good 
cause. The information obtained by financial hardship and general 
waiver requests will be used by Commission staff to evaluate whether 
grant of a waiver would be in the public interest.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-xxxx.
    Title: Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (``CALM'') Act; 
73.682(e) and 76.607(a).
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,937 respondents and 2,937 
responses.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; Third party 
disclosure requirement; On occasion reporting requirement; Annual 
reporting requirement.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.25-80 hours.
    Total Annual Burden: 6,240 hours.
    Total Annual Cost to Respondents: None.
    Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. The statutory authority for this 
collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C 151, 152, 154(i) and 
(j), 303(r) and 621.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no assurance of 
confidentiality provided to respondents.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On December 13, 2011, the FCC released a Report & 
Order

[[Page 14522]]

(``R&O''), FCC 11-182, adopting rules to implement the Commercial 
Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (``CALM'') Act. Among other things, 
the CALM Act directs the Commission to incorporate into its rules by 
reference and make mandatory a technical standard developed by an 
industry standard-setting body that is designed to prevent television 
commercial advertisements from being transmitted at louder volumes than 
the program material they accompany. Specifically, the CALM Act 
requires the Commission to incorporate by reference the Advanced 
Television Systems Committee (``ATSC'') A/85 Recommended Practice 
(``ATSC A/85 RP'') and make it mandatory ``insofar as such recommended 
practice concerns the transmission of commercial advertisements by a 
television broadcast station, cable operator, or other multichannel 
video programming distributor.'' As mandated by the statute, the rules 
will apply to TV broadcasters, cable operators and other multichannel 
video programming distributors (``MVPDs'').The Commission will use this 
information to determine compliance with the CALM Act.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of Managing Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-5897 Filed 3-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P