Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to Office of Management and Budget, 84593-84594 [2024-24546]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84593-84594]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24546]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1216; FR ID 255118]


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

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, 
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 November 22, 
2024.

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

[[Page 84594]]

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 No.: 3060-1216.
    Title: Media Bureau Incentive Auction Implementation, Sections 
73.3700(c), (g)(4), (h)(5) and (h)(6).
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Not for profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,353 respondents and 46,302 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .004-15 hours.
    Frequency of Response: One-time reporting requirement; on occasion 
reporting requirement; recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for these collections are contained in 47 U.S.C. 
151, 154, 301, 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, 316, 319, 325(b), 332, 336(f), 
338, 339, 340, 399b, 403, 534, 535, 1404, 1452, and 1454.
    Total Annual Burden: 17,802 hours.
    Annual Cost Burden: $961,800.
    Needs and Uses: The Spectrum Act directed the Commission to hold a 
``reverse auction'' in which broadcasters can voluntarily return some 
or all of their broadcast spectrum usage rights in exchange for 
incentive payments. The Spectrum Act also required the Commission to 
reorganize the broadcast television band, which will be accomplished by 
repacking stations, or moving broadcast stations to different channels. 
The Spectrum Act directed the Commission to hold a forward auction of 
the ultra-high frequency (UHF) spectrum obtained as a result of the 
reverse auction and channel repacking. This UHF spectrum was auctioned 
as flexible-use licenses suitable for providing mobile broadband 
service. Broadcast stations that participated in the forward auction 
were able to relinquish their spectrum rights, agree to share a channel 
with another broadcaster or move from the UHF to VHF band or from a 
high VHF channel to a low VHF channel. For non-participating broadcast 
stations, the Spectrum Act established a TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund 
(Fund) to reimburse reassigned broadcasters and multichannel video 
programming distributors (MVPDs) that incur expenses associated with 
continuing to carry relocated stations, for their reasonable expenses 
resulting from the post-auction channel reassignment. The Commission 
adopted rules implementing the provisions of the Spectrum Act. The 
Incentive Auction concluded and repack process commented in April 2017. 
The rules governing the post-incentive auction licensing and other 
post-auction station-related matters are codified at 47 CFR parts 0, 1, 
27, 73 and 74.
    On September 19, 2023, the Commission released a Report and Order, 
FCC 23-72, wherein it adopted several revisions to its Part 73 rules 
including 73.3700. As a result of these rule revisions, a number of 
collections and burdens were either revised or eliminated altogether as 
reflected in this revised supporting statement. Sections 
73.3700(b)(4)(i) and (ii) and 73.3700(d) of the rules were eliminated 
and therefore the corresponding collections and burdens for these rules 
have been eliminated. Also, revisions were made to estimates for 
73.3700(c), 73.3700(g)(4) and 73.3700 (h)(5) and (h)(6) to reflected 
updated data now that the incentive auction is complete and the exact 
universe of affected entities is known.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-24546 Filed 10-22-24; 8:45 am]
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