Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission, 53891-53893 [2023-17008]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53891-53893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17008]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1089; FR ID 160423]


Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission

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, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (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 PRA comments should be submitted on or before October 
10, 2023. 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 to 
[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.
    OMB Control No.: 3060-1089.
    Title: Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program; 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, CG Docket Nos. 10-51 
& 03-123.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Individuals or 
households; Not-for-profit institutions; State, Local or Tribal 
Government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 187,019 respondents; 1,836,456 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.05 hours (3 minutes) to 300 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annual, monthly, on occasion, on-going, one-
time, and quarterly reporting requirements; Recordkeeping requirement; 
and Third-Party Disclosure requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for the collection is contained in section 225 of 
the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 225. The law was enacted on July 26, 
1990, as Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 
Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327, 366-69, and amended by the Twenty-
First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, 
Public Law 111-260, 103(a), 124 Stat. 2751, 2755 (2010) (CVAA); Public 
Law 111-265 (technical amendments to CVAA).
    Total Annual Burden: 320,484 hours.
    Annual Cost Burden: $280,200.
    Needs and Uses: The telecommunications relay service (TRS) program 
enables access to the nation's telephone network by persons with 
hearing and speech disabilities. In 1991, as required by the Americans 
with Disabilities Act and codified at 47 U.S.C. 225, the Commission 
adopted rules governing the telecommunications relay services (TRS) 
program and procedures for each state TRS program to apply for initial 
Commission certification and renewal of Commission certification of 
each state program. Telecommunications Services for Individuals with 
Hearing and Speech Disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities 
Act of 1990, Report and Order and Request for Comments, document FCC 
91-213, published at 56 FR 36729, August 1, 1991 (1991 TRS 
Implementation Order).
    Between 2008 and 2011, to integrate internet-based TRS into the 
North American Numbering plan and facilitate interoperability, 
universal calling, and 911 emergency services, the Commission adopted 
rules in three separate orders related to the telephone numbering 
system and enhanced 911 (E911) services for users of two forms of 
internet-based TRS: Video Relay Service (VRS) and internet Protocol 
Relay service (IP Relay). See document FCC 08-151, Report and Order and 
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, published at 73 FR 41286, July 
18, 2008 (First Numbering Order); document FCC 08-275, Second Report 
and Order and Order on Reconsideration, published at 73 FR 79683, 
December 30, 2008 (Second Numbering Order); and document FCC 11-123, 
Report and Order, published at 76 FR 59551, September 27, 2011 
(internet-based TRS Toll Free Order).
    The rules adopted in these three orders have information collection

[[Page 53892]]

requirements that include requiring VRS and IP Relay providers to: 
register each user who selects the provider as his or her default 
provider, including obtaining a self-certification from each user; 
verify the accuracy of each user's registration information; provision 
and maintain their registered users' routing information to the TRS 
Numbering Directory; place their users' Registered Location and certain 
callback information in Automatic Location Information (ALI) databases 
across the country and provide a means for their users to update their 
Registered Locations; include advisories on their websites and in any 
promotional materials addressing numbering and E911 services for VRS or 
IP Relay; verify in the TRS Numbering Directory whether each dial-
around user is registered with another provider; and if they provide 
equipment to a consumer, make available to other VRS providers enough 
information about that equipment to enable another VRS provider 
selected as the consumer's default provider to perform all of the 
functions of a default provider.
    On July 28, 2011, the Commission released Structure and Practices 
of the Video Relay Service Program, document FCC 11-118, published at 
76 FR 47469, August 5, 2011, and at 76 FR 47476, August 5, 2011 (VRS 
Certification Order), adopting final and interim rules--designed to 
help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, and ensure quality service, in 
the provision of internet-based forms of TRS. On October 17, 2011, the 
Commission released Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service 
Program, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Order, and Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, document FCC 11-155, published at 76 FR 67070, 
October 31, 2011 (VRS Certification Reconsideration Order), modifying 
two aspects of information collection requirements contained in the VRS 
Certification Order.
    On June 10, 2013, the Commission made permanent the interim rules 
adopted in the VRS Certification Order. Structure and Practices of the 
Video Relay Service Program; Telecommunications Relay Services and 
Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech 
Disabilities, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, document FCC 13-82, published at 78 FR 40582, July 5, 2013 
(2013 VRS Reform Order).
    The VRS Certification Order as modified by the VRS Certification 
Reconsideration Order and, as applicable, made permanent by the 2013 
VRS Reform Order, amended the Commission's process for certifying 
internet-based TRS providers as eligible for payment from the 
Interstate TRS Fund (Fund) for their provision of internet-based TRS to 
ensure that internet-based TRS providers receiving certification are 
qualified to provide internet-based TRS in compliance with the 
Commission's rules and to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse through 
improved oversight of such providers. They contain information 
collection requirements including: submission of detailed information 
in an application for certification that shows the applicant's ability 
to comply with the Commission's rules; submission of annual reports 
that include updates to the provider's information on file with the 
Commission or a certification that there are no changes to the 
information; requirements for a senior executive of an applicant for 
internet-based TRS certification or an internet-based TRS provider, 
when submitting an annual compliance report, to certify under penalty 
of perjury to its accuracy and completeness; requirements for VRS 
providers to obtain prior authorization from the Commission for planned 
interruptions of service, to report to the Commission unforeseen 
interruptions of service, and to provide notification of temporary 
service outages, including updates, to consumers on their websites; and 
requirements for internet-based TRS providers that will no longer be 
providing service to give their customers at least 30-days notice.
    In the 2013 VRS Reform Order, the Commission adopted further 
measures to improve the structure, efficiency, and quality of the VRS 
program, reducing the noted inefficiencies in the program, as well as 
reducing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse, and ensuring that the 
program makes full use of advances in commercially-available 
technology. The Commission required reporting of unauthorized and 
unnecessary us of VRS; established a central TRS user registration 
database (TRS-URD) for VRS, which incorporates a centralized 
eligibility verification requirement to ensure accurate registration 
and verification of users, as well as per-call validation, to achieve 
more effective prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse; established 
procedures to prevent unauthorized changes of a user's default TRS 
provider; and established procedures to protect TRS users' customer 
proprietary network information (CPNI) from disclosure.
    On March 23, 2017, the Commission released Structure and Practices 
of the Video Relay Services Program et al., FCC 17-26, published at 82 
FR 17754, April 13, 2017, (2017 VRS Improvements Order), which among 
other things, allows VRS providers to assign TRS Numbering Directory 
10-digit telephone numbers to hearing individuals for the limited 
purpose of making point-to-pint video calls, and gives VRS providers 
the option to participate in an at-home call handling pilot program, 
subject to certain limitations, as well as recordkeeping and reporting 
requirements.
    On May 15, 2019, the Commission released Structure and Practices of 
the Video Relay Service Program; Telecommunications Relay Services and 
Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech 
Disabilities, FCC 19-39, published at 84 FR 26364, June 6, 2019 (2019 
VRS Program Management Order). The Commission further improved the 
structure, efficiency, and quality of the VRS program, reduced the risk 
of waste, fraud, and abuse, and ensured that the program makes full use 
of advances in commercially-available technology. These improvements 
include information collection requirements, including: the 
establishment of procedures to register enterprise and public 
videophones to the TRS-URD; and permitting Qualified Direct Video 
Calling (DVC) Entities to access the TRS Numbering Directory and 
establishing an application procedure to authorize such access, 
including rules governing DVC entities and entry of information in the 
TRS Numbering Directory and the TRS-URD.
    On August 2, 2019, the Commission released Implementing Kari's Law 
and Section 506 of RAY BAUM's Act; Inquiry Concerning 911 Access, 
Routing, and Location in Enterprise Communications Systems; Amending 
the Definition of Interconnected VoIP Service in Section 9.3 of the 
Commission's Rules, FCC 19-76, published at 84 FR 66716, December 5, 
2019 (MLTS 911 and Dispatchable Location Order). The Commission amended 
its rules to ensure that the dispatchable location is conveyed to a 
Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) with a 911 call, regardless of the 
technological platform used. Based on the directive in section 506 of 
RAY BAUM'S Act, the Commission adopted dispatchable location 
requirements that in effect modified the existing information 
collection requirements applicable to VRS, IP Relay and covered 
internet Protocol captioned telephone service (IP CTS) by improving the 
options for providing accurate location information to PSAPs as part of 
911 calls.
    Fixed internet-based TRS devices must provide automated 
dispatchable

[[Page 53893]]

location. For non-fixed devices, when dispatchable location is not 
technically feasible, internet-based TRS providers may fall back to 
Registered Location or provide alternative location information. As a 
last resort, internet-based providers may route calls to Emergency 
Relay Calling Centers after making a good faith effort to obtain 
location data from all available alternative location sources. 
Dispatchable location means a location delivered to the PSAP with a 911 
call that consists of the validated street address of the calling 
party, plus additional information such as suite, apartment or similar 
information necessary to adequately identify the location of the 
calling party. Automated dispatchable location means automatic 
generation of dispatchable location. Alternative location information 
is location information (which may be coordinate-based) sufficient to 
identify the caller's civic address and approximate in-building 
location, including floor level, in large buildings.
    On January 31, 2020, the Commission released Structure and 
Practices of the Video Relay Service Program; Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities, FCC 20-7, 85 FR 27309, May 8, 2020 (VRS At-Home 
Call Handling Order). The Commission amended its rules to convert the 
VRS at-home call handling pilot program into a permanent one, thereby 
allowing CAs to work from home. To ensure user privacy and call 
confidentiality and to help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, the 
modified information collections include requirements for VRS providers 
to apply for certification to allow their communications assistants to 
handle calls while working at home; monitoring and oversight 
requirements; and reporting requirements.
    On June 30, 2022, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities; Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service 
Program; Misuse of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service, FCC 
22-51, published at 87 FR 57645, September 21, 2022 (Registration Grace 
Period Order). To offer more efficient service to VRS and IP CTS users 
without risk of waste, fraud, and abuse to the TRS Fund, the Commission 
amended its rules to allow VRS and IP CTS providers to provide 
compensable service to a new user for up to two weeks after submitting 
the user's information to the TRS URD if the user's identity is 
verified within that period.
    On September 30, 2022, the Commission released Rates for Interstate 
Inmate Calling Services, FCC 22-76, published at 87 FR 75496, December 
9, 2022 (Accessible Carceral Communications Order). To improve access 
to communications services for incarcerated people with communications 
disabilities, the Commission adopted modifications to the user 
registration and verification requirements for use of internet-based 
TRS in correctional facilities.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-17008 Filed 8-8-23; 8:45 am]
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