Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities, 51445-51447 [2014-20434]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 167 (Thursday, August 28, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51445-51447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20434]



[[Page 51445]]

Vol. 79

Thursday,

No. 167

August 28, 2014

Part IV





Federal Communications Commission





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47 CFR Part 64





Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities; Final Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 167 / Thursday, August 28, 2014 / 
Rules and Regulations

[[Page 51446]]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123; FCC 13-118]


Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of six months, 
the information collection associated with the Commission's document 
Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities (Report and Order). 
This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated 
that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register 
announcing the effective date of those rules.

DATES: The final rule amending 47 CFR 64.604(c)(9), published at 78 FR 
53684, August 30, 2013, is effective August 28, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eliot Greenwald, Disability Rights 
Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at (202) 418-2235, or 
email Eliot.Greenwald@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on August 5, 
2014, OMB approved, for a period of six months, the information 
collection requirements contained in the Commission's Report and Order, 
FCC 13-118, published at 78 FR 53684, August 30, 2013. The OMB Control 
Number is 3060-1053. The Commission publishes this notice as an 
announcement of the effective date of the rules. If you have any 
comments on the burden estimates listed below, or how the Commission 
can improve the collections and reduce any burdens caused thereby, 
please contact Cathy Williams, Federal Communications Commission, Room 
1-C823, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. Please include the 
OMB Control Number, 3060-1053, in your correspondence. The Commission 
will also accept your comments via the Internet if you send them to 
PRA@fcc.gov.
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received OMB approval on 
August 5, 2014, for the information collection requirements contained 
in the Commission's rules at 47 CFR 64.604(c)(9).
    Under 5 CFR 1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection 
of information unless it displays a current, valid OMB Control Number.
    No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply 
with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB 
Control Number is 3060-1053.
    The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Pub. L. 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
    The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents 
are as follows:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1053.
    OMB Approval Date: August 5, 2014.
    OMB Expiration Date: February 28, 2015.\n\n
    Title: Two-Line Captioned Telephone Order and IP Captioned 
Telephone Service Declaratory Ruling; and Internet Protocol Captioned 
Telephone Service Reform Order, CG Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123.
    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: 186,005 respondents; 745,280 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .25 hours (15 minutes) to 20 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual, every five years, on-going, and one-
time reporting requirements; Recordkeeping requirement; Third party 
disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for the information collection requirements is 
found at Sec. 225 [47 U.S.C. 225] Telecommunications Services for 
Hearing-Impaired Individuals; The Americans With Disabilities Act of 
1990 (ADA), Pub. L. 101-336, 104 Stat. 327, 366-69, was enacted on July 
26, 1990.
    Total Annual Burden: 542,252 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $1,008,000.
    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 by 
the Commission from individuals.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On August 1, 2003, the Commission released the 
Declaratory Ruling, In the Matter of Telecommunication Relay Services 
and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech 
Disabilities, CC Docket No. 98-67, published at 68 FR 55898, September 
28, 2003. In the Declaratory Ruling, the Commission clarified that one-
line captioned telephone voice carry over (VCO) service is a type of 
telecommunications relay service (TRS) and that eligible providers of 
such services are eligible to recover their costs in accordance with 
section 225 of the Communications Act. The Commission also clarified 
that certain TRS mandatory minimum standards do not apply to one-line 
captioned telephone VCO service and waived 47 CFR 64.604(a)(1) and 
(a)(3) for all current and future captioned telephone VCO service 
providers, for the same period of time beginning August 1, 2003. The 
waivers were contingent on the filing of annual reports, for a period 
of three years, with the Commission. Sections 64.604(a)(1) and (a)(3) 
of the Commission's rules, which contained information collection 
requirements under the PRA, became effective on March 26, 2004.
    On July 19, 2005, the Commission released an Order, In the Matter 
of Telecommunication Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CC Docket No. 98-67 
and CG Docket No. 03-123, published at 70 FR 54294, September 14, 2005, 
clarifying that two-line captioned telephone VCO service, like one-line 
captioned telephone VCO service, is a type of TRS eligible for 
compensation from the Interstate TRS Fund. Also, the Commission 
clarified that certain TRS mandatory minimum standards do not apply to 
two-line captioned VCO service and waived 47 CFR 64.604(a)(1) and 
(a)(3) for providers who offer two-line captioned VCO service.
    On January 11, 2007, the Commission released a Declaratory Ruling, 
In the Matter of Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech 
Services

[[Page 51447]]

for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket No. 03-
123, published at 72 FR 6960, February 14, 2007, granting a request for 
clarification that Internet Protocol (IP) captioned telephone relay 
service (IP CTS) is a type of TRS eligible for compensation from the 
Interstate TRS Fund (Fund) when offered in compliance with the 
applicable TRS mandatory minimum standards.
    On August 26, 2013, the Commission issued a Report and Order, In 
the Matter of Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone 
Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech 
Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG 
Docket Nos. 13-24 and 03-123, published at 78 FR 53684, August 30, 
2013, to regulate practices relating to the marketing of IP CTS, impose 
certain requirements for the provision of this service, and mandate 
registration and certification of IP CTS users. The Commission 
published a notice in the Federal Register pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d) 
on September 25, 2013 (78 FR 59025), seeking comments from the public 
on the information collection requirements contained in the initial 
supporting statement. Sorenson Communications, Inc., and its subsidiary 
CaptionCall, LLC (together, CaptionCall), filed comments on November 
25, 2013, regarding the user registration and certification 
requirements adopted in the Report and Order as well as the 
certification, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for hardship 
exemptions to the captions-off default setting requirement, also 
adopted in the Report and Order. CaptionCall did not comment on the 
other collections adopted in the Report and Order.
    Subsequently, on December 6, 2013, the United States Court of 
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stayed ``the rule adopted 
by the Commission [in the Report and Order] prohibiting compensation to 
providers for minutes of use generated by equipment consumers received 
from providers for free or for less than $75.'' Sorenson 
Communications, Inc. and CaptionCall, LLC v. FCC, Order, D.C. Cir., No. 
13-1246, December 6, 2013, at 1-2. (For convenience, this notice refers 
to the requirement subject to the stay as ``the $75 equipment charge 
rule.'') In the revised supporting statement, the Commission sought OMB 
approval of the following requirements adopted in the Report and Order: 
(1) The requirements regarding the labeling of equipment, software and 
mobile applications; (2) the certification, recordkeeping, and 
reporting requirements for the hardship exemption to the captions 
default-off requirement; and (3) an additional information reporting 
requirement for IP CTS applicants that seek Commission certification to 
provide IP CTS and for IP CTS providers, requiring applicants to 
provide assurance that they will not request or collect payment from 
the TRS Fund for service to consumers who do not satisfy the 
Commission's IP CTS registration and certification requirements. 
Because the registration and certification requirements adopted in the 
Report and Order are related to the $75 equipment charge rule that was 
stayed by the court of appeals, the Commission did not seek OMB 
approval of those requirements at that time. See 79 FR 23354, April 28, 
2014.
    On June 18, 2014, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the 
information collection requirements specified above that are contained 
in the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 11-118, published at 78 FR 
53684, August 30, 2013. The OMB Control Number is 3060-1053.
    On June 20, 2014, the D.C. Circuit vacated the $75 equipment charge 
rule and the rule requiring providers to maintain captions-off as the 
default setting for IP CTS equipment. Sorenson Communications, Inc. and 
CaptionCall, LLC v. FCC (D.C. Cir., Nos. 13-1122 and 13-1246, June 20, 
2014).
    On July 11, 2014, the Commission published a notice in the Federal 
Register, at 79 FR 40003, a notification that information collection 
requirements (1) regarding the labeling of equipment, software and 
mobile applications; (2) the certification, recordkeeping, and 
reporting for the hardship exemption to the captions default-off 
requirement; and (3) for IP CTS applicants that seek Commission 
certification to provide IP CTS and for IP CTS providers to provide 
assurance that they will not request or collect payment from the TRS 
Fund for service to consumers who do not satisfy the Commission's IP 
CTS registration and certification requirements would become effective 
immediately. Because the court had not yet issued its mandate, the 
captions-off default requirement, 47 CFR 64.604(c)(10)(i), (iii), and 
(v), remained in effect, and the certification, recordkeeping, and 
reporting requirements for the hardship exemption to the captions 
default-off requirement, 47 CFR 64.604(c)(10)(iv), became effective at 
that time.
    On August 19, 2014, the court issued its mandate vacating the $75 
equipment charge rule and the rule requiring providers to maintain 
captions-off as the default setting for IP CTS equipment. Sorenson 
Communications, Inc. and CaptionCall, LLC v. FCC (D.C. Cir., Nos. 13-
1122 and 13-1246, August 19, 2014). Because the captions-off default 
requirement, 47 CFR 64.604(c)(10)(i), (iii), and (v), has been vacated, 
at a later time the Commission will remove from the supporting 
statement the certification, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements 
for the hardship exemption to the captions default-off requirement, 47 
CFR 64.604(c)(10)(iv).
    On August 5, 2014, OMB approved, for a period of six months, the 
information collection requirements pertaining to the user registration 
and certification requirements adopted in the IP CTS Reform Order. 
Specifically, IP CTS providers are required to obtain from new and 
existing IP CTS consumers identifying information as well as self-
certification of hearing loss necessitating the use of IP CTS and their 
understanding of the IP CTS program. In addition, existing IP CTS 
consumers with free or de minimis cost equipment who commenced service 
prior to March 7, 2013 must further submit professional certification 
evidencing that the consumer has a hearing loss that necessitates use 
of captioned telephone service. 47 CFR 64.604(c)(9).

Federal Communications Commission.
Gloria J. Miles,
Federal Register Liaison.
[FR Doc. 2014-20434 Filed 8-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P