Information Collections Being Submitted for Review and Approval to Office of Management and Budget, 48465-48467 [2023-15934]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 143 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48465-48467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15934]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0685 and OMB 3060-0798; FR ID 158560]


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

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

[[Page 48466]]


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.''

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be submitted on or before August 28, 
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 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 Cathy Williams, 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 Cathy Williams at (202) 418-
2918. To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) 
submitted to OMB: (1) go to the web page https://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: 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.
    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: 3060-0685.
    Title: Updating Maximum Permitted Rates for Regulated Services and 
Equipment, FCC Form 1210; Annual Updating of Maximum Permitted Rates 
for Regulated Cable Services, FCC Form 1240.
    Form Number: FCC Form 1210 and FCC Form 1240.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; State, Local or 
Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 3,400 respondents; 5,350 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour to 15 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirement; Quarterly 
reporting requirement; Third party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this collection is contained in 4(i) and 623 of 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 44,800 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $3,196,875.
    Needs and Uses: Cable operators use FCC Form 1210 to file for 
adjustments in maximum permitted rates for regulated services to 
reflect external costs. Regulated cable operators submit this form to 
local franchising authorities.
    FCC Form 1240 is filed by cable operators seeking to adjust maximum 
permitted rates for regulated cable services to reflect changes in 
external costs.
    Cable operators submit Form 1240 to their respective local 
franchising authorities (``LFAs'') to justify rates for the basic 
service tier and related equipment or with the Commission (in 
situations where the Commission has assumed jurisdiction).
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0798.
    Title: FCC Authorization for Radio Service Authorization; Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau; Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.
    Form Number: FCC Form 601.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Individual and households, Business or other for-
profit entities, state, local, or tribal government, and not for profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 255,552 respondents; 255,552 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.5 to 1.25 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; third party 
disclosure requirement, on occasion reporting requirement and periodic 
reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for these collections are contained in 47 U.S.C. 
151, 152, 154, 154(i), 155(c), 157, 201, 202, 208, 214, 301, 302a, 303, 
307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 314, 316, 319, 324, 331, 332, 333, 336, 534, 
535, and 554 of the Communications Act of 1934.
    Total Annual Burden: 225,808 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $72,474,000.
    Needs and Uses: FCC Form 601 is a consolidated, multi-part 
application form that is used for market-based and site-based licensing 
for wireless telecommunications services, including public safety, 
which are filed through the Commission's Universal Licensing System 
(ULS) or any other electronic filing interface the Commission develops. 
FCC Form 601 is composed of a main form that contains administrative 
information and a series of schedules used for filing technical and 
other information. This form is used to apply for a new license, to 
amend or withdraw a pending application, to modify or renew an existing 
license, cancel a license, submit required notifications, request an 
extension of time to satisfy construction

[[Page 48467]]

requirements, request an administrative update to an existing license 
(such as mailing address change), or request a Special Temporary 
Authority License. Respondents are required to submit FCC Form 601 
electronically. On January 18, 2023, the Commission adopted the 4.9 GHz 
Seventh Report and Order (FCC 23-3) where it concluded that collecting 
additional technical data on public safety operations in the 4.94-4.99 
GHz band (4.9 GHz band) will improve interference protection and give 
public safety licensees more confidence in the band without adding a 
significant burden on licensees or applicants. The Commission also 
established a Band Manager to coordinate operations in the 4.9 GHz 
band. The Band Manager will use the more granular technical data 
collected on public safety operations in ULS via the FCC Form 601 to 
perform frequency coordination and will be empowered to work with 
public safety licensees to ensure efficient use of this spectrum and 
enable new, non-commercial operations on a secondary, preemptable 
basis.
    The Commission is creating two new radio service codes and 
directing applicants seeking to license 4.9 GHz band base/mobile, 
mobile-only or temporary fixed stations (new radio service code PB) to 
submit with their applications on FCC Form 601: coordinates (base), 
antenna height above average terrain (base), center frequency, emission 
designator, effective radiated power, number of units (mobile and 
temporary fixed), and area of operation (mobile and temporary fixed). 
Similarly, the Commission is directing applicants seeking to license 
4.9 GHz band permanent fixed point-to-point, point-to-multi-point and 
fixed receiver stations (new radio service code PF) to submit with 
their applications on FCC Form 601: transmitter and receiver antenna 
coordinates, frequencies, polarizations, tolerance, effective isotropic 
radiated power, emission designator, type of modulation, antenna model, 
gain, antenna center line height(s) above ground level and ground 
elevation above mean sea level, and path azimuth and distance.
    The current FCC Form 601 already collects the information detailed 
above on Schedules D, H and I, but existing 4.9 GHz band operations 
under radio service code PA are not currently required to utilize these 
schedules. The changes proposed herein will modify the instructions of 
the FCC Form 601 to include the two new radio service codes and to 
duplicate certain questions from Schedule D onto Schedule I regarding 
eligibility, extended implementation and associated call sign.
    On July 18, 2022, the Commission released a Report and Order and 
Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Partitioning, 
Disaggregation, and Leasing of Spectrum, WT Docket No. 19-38, FCC 22-
53, in which the Commission established the Enhanced Competition 
Incentive Program (ECIP) to establish incentives for wireless radio 
service licensees to make underutilized spectrum available to small 
carriers, Tribal Nations, and entities serving rural areas (ECIP Report 
and Order in WT Docket No. 19-38, FCC 22-53). In the Report and Order, 
the Commission adopted a program under which any covered geographic 
area licensee may offer spectrum to an unaffiliated eligible entity 
through a partition and/or disaggregation, and any covered geographic 
area licensee eligible to lease in an included service may offer 
spectrum to an unaffiliated eligible entity through a long-term leasing 
arrangement. If the FCC finds that approval of an ECIP eligible 
assignment or lease is in the public interest, the agency will consent 
to the transaction and confer benefits, including five-year license 
term extensions, one year construction extensions, and substituted 
alternative construction requirements for rural-focused transactions. 
The Commission also established rules to permit reaggregation of 
geographic licenses.
    In establishing the ECIP, the Commission requires applicants 
seeking to participate in the program to submit certain information 
that shows the transaction qualifies for ECIP inclusion. The Commission 
found that the ECIP builds on Congressional goals in the MOBILE NOW Act 
to incentivize beneficial transactions in the public interest that will 
promote greater competition in the provision of wireless services, 
facilitate increased availability of advanced wireless services in 
rural areas, facilitate new opportunities for small carriers and Tribal 
Nations to increase access to spectrum, and bring more advanced 
wireless service including 5G to underserved communities. The ECIP 
related change created a new Schedule O, similar to schedule K, that 
will be used by certain ECIP Licensees to file either their Initial 
Operation Requirement Notifications (IORN) or their Final Operation 
Requirement Notifications (FORN), as required by 47 CFR 1.60004, 
1.60006.
    The Commission now seeks approval for revisions to its currently 
approved collection of information under OMB Control Number 3060-0798 
to permit the collection of the two changes. We anticipate that these 
revisions will have no impact on the hourly burden to complete FCC Form 
601, as the existing burden already provides the appropriate estimate. 
The Commission therefore seeks approval for a revision to its currently 
approved information collection on FCC Form 601 to revise FCC Form 601 
accordingly.

    Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-15934 Filed 7-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P