Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority, 39191-39192 [2020-14026]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 126 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39191-39192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14026]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1243; FRS 16847]


Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on the following information collections. 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.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before August 31, 
2020. 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 contacts below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email 
[email protected] and to [email protected].

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FCC 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.
    As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and 
as required by the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the FCC invites 
the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity 
to comment on the following information collections. 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.
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1243.
    Title: Sections 1.9020(n), 1.9030(m), 1.9035(o), Community 
notification requirement for certain contraband interdiction systems; 
Section 20.18(r), Contraband Interdiction System (CIS) requirement; 
Section 20.23(a), good faith negotiations.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit entities and state, 
local or Tribal Governments.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 26 respondents and 28 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 8-16 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: There is no obligation to respond; response 
required to obtain benefits. The statutory authority for this 
collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 154(j), 301, 
302a, 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, and 332.
    Total Annual Burden: 325 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Privacy Act: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On March 24, 2017, the Federal Communications 
Commission released a Report and Order, Promoting Technological 
Solutions to Combat Contraband Wireless Devices in Correctional 
Facilities, GN Docket No. 13-111, FCC 17-25 (Report and Order), in 
which the Commission took important steps to help law enforcement 
combat the serious threats posed by the illegal use of contraband 
wireless devices by inmates. Across the country, inmates have used 
contraband devices to order hits, run drug operations, operate phone 
scams, and otherwise engage in criminal activity that endangers prison 
employees, other inmates, and innocent members of the public. In the 
Report and Order, the Commission streamlined the process of deploying 
contraband wireless device interdiction systems--systems that use radio 
communications signals requiring Commission authorization--in 
correctional facilities. The action will reduce the cost of deploying 
solutions and ensure that they can be deployed more quickly and 
efficiently. In particular, the Commission waived certain filing 
requirements and provided for immediate approval of the spectrum lease 
applications needed to operate these systems.
    The effectiveness of Contraband Interdiction System (CIS) 
deployment requires all carriers in the relevant area of the 
correctional facility to execute a spectrum lease with the CIS 
provider. Even if the major Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) 
licensees negotiate expeditiously and in good faith, if one CMRS 
licensee in the area fails to engage in lease negotiations in a 
reasonable time frame or at all, the CIS

[[Page 39192]]

solution will not be effective. The lack of cooperation of even a 
single wireless provider in a geographic area of a correctional 
facility can result in deployment of a system with insufficient 
spectral coverage, subject to abuse by inmates in possession of 
contraband wireless devices operating on frequencies not covered by a 
spectrum lease agreement. While some carriers have been cooperative, it 
is imperative that all CMRS licensees be required to engage in lease 
negotiations in good faith and in a timely fashion. Therefore, the 
Commission adopted a rule requiring that CMRS licensees negotiate in 
good faith with entities seeking to deploy a CIS in a correctional 
facility. If, after a 45 day period, there is no agreement, CIS 
providers seeking Special Temporary Authority (STA) to operate in the 
absence of CMRS licensee consent may file a request for STA with the 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), with a copy served at the 
same time on the CMRS licensee, accompanied by evidence demonstrating 
its good faith, and the unreasonableness of the CMRS licensee's 
actions, in negotiating an agreement. The CMRS licensee may then file a 
response with WTB, with a copy served on the CIS provider at that time, 
within 10 days of the filing of the STA request.
    The supplementary information provided along with the STA 
application by the CIS provider will be used by WTB to determine 
whether the CIS provider has negotiated in good faith, yet the CMRS 
licensee has not negotiated in good faith. The CMRS licensee may use 
the evidence accompanying the STA application to craft a response. WTB 
will analyze the evidence from the CIS providers and the CMRS 
licensee's response to determine whether to issue STA to the entity 
seeking to deploy the CIS.
    The Commission explored whether it should impose a requirement that 
the community in the vicinity of a correctional facility where a CIS is 
installed be notified of the installation. The Commission explained 
that a goal of the proceeding is to expedite the deployment of 
technological solutions to combat the use of contraband wireless 
devices, not to impose unnecessary barriers to CIS deployment. 
Consistent with that goal, the Commission found that a flexible and 
community-tailored notification requirement for certain CISs outweighed 
the minimal burden of notification and furthered the public interest. 
After careful consideration of the record, the Commission imposed a 
rule that, 10 days prior to deploying a CIS that prevents 
communications to or from mobile devices, a lessee must notify the 
community in which the correctional facility is located, and the 
Commission amended its spectrum leasing rules to reflect this 
requirement. The Commission agreed with commenters that support 
notification of the surrounding community due to the potential for 
accidental call blocking and the public safety issues involved. The 
information provided in the notification will put the houses and 
businesses in the surrounding community on notice that a CIS will be 
deployed in the vicinity that has the potential for accidental call 
blocking.
    Acknowledging the importance of ensuring the availability of 
emergency 911 calls from correctional facilities, and the fact that 
delivering emergency calls to public safety answering points (PSAPs) 
facilitates public safety services and generally serves the public 
interest, the Commission amended its rules to require that CIS 
providers regulated as private mobile radio service (PMRS) must route 
all 911 calls to the local PSAP. That said, the Commission also 
acknowledged the important role state and local public safety officials 
play in the administration of the 911 system. Accordingly, although the 
CIS provider is required to pass through emergency 911 calls, the PSAPs 
can inform the CIS provider that they do not want to receive calls from 
a given correctional facility. By allowing the PSAPs to decline the 
emergency 911 calls, the Commission recognized the reported increased 
volume of PSAP harassment through repeated inmate fraudulent 911 calls. 
The information provided by the PSAP or emergency authority will result 
in the CIS provider not passing through E911 calls from a particular 
correctional facility.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-14026 Filed 6-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P