80 FR 79484 - Review of the Emergency Alert System

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 245 (December 22, 2015)

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with the Commission's EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS). This notice is consistent with the Emergency Alert System (EAS) Sixth Report and Order, FCC 15-60, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 245 (Tuesday, December 22, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 79484-79485]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32034]


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

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 11

[EB Docket No. 04-296; FCC 15-60]


Review of the Emergency Alert System

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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

SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, 
the information collection associated with the Commission's EAS Test 
Reporting System (ETRS). This notice is consistent with the Emergency 
Alert System (EAS) Sixth Report and Order, FCC 15-60, which stated that 
the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register 
announcing the effective date of those rules.

DATES: The amendments to 47 CFR 11.21(a) and 11.61(a)(3)(iv) published 
at 80 FR 37167, June 30, 2015, are effective on December 31, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Fowlkes, Deputy Bureau Chief, 
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, at (202) 418-7452, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on December 4, 
2015, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection requirements relating to the access stimulation rules 
contained in the Commission's EAS Sixth Report and Order, FCC 15-60, 
published at 80 FR 37167, June 30, 2015.
    The OMB Control Number is 3060-0207. 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 Nicole Ongele, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room A-C620, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. 
Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0207, in your 
correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via email 
at [email protected].
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an email to [email protected] 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 final OMB 
approval on December 4, 2015, for the information collection 
requirements contained in the modifications to the Commission's rules 
in 47 CFR part 11. 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 3060-0207.
    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: 3060-0207.
    OMB Approval Date: December 4, 2015.
    OMB Expiration Date: December 31, 2018.
    Title: Part 11, Emergency Alert System (EAS), Sixth Report and 
Order.
    Form Number: N/A.

[[Page 79485]]

    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities, not-for-profit 
institutions, and state, local or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 63,080 respondents; 3,569,028 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 43 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement and 
recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Obligatory for all entities required to 
participate in EAS.
    Total Annual Burden: 82,008 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Filings will be given the 
presumption of confidentiality. The Commission will allow test data and 
reports containing individual test data to be shared on a confidential 
basis with other Federal agencies and state governmental emergency 
management agencies that have confidentiality protection at least equal 
to that provided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). See 5 U.S.C. 
552 (2006), amended by OPEN Government Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-175, 
121 Stat. 2524 (stating the FOIA confidentiality standard, along with 
relevant exemptions).
    Privacy Act: No impact.
    Needs and Uses: Part 11 contains rules and regulations addressing 
the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS provides the 
President with the capability to provide immediate communications and 
information to the general public at the national, state and local area 
level during periods of national emergency. The EAS also provides state 
and local governments and the National Weather Service with the 
capability to provide immediate communications and information to the 
general public concerning emergency situations posing a threat to life 
and property.
    EAS Participants must utilize the ETRS to file identifying and test 
result data as part of their participation in the second nationwide EAS 
test. Although the ETRS adopted in this Sixth Report and Order in EB 
Docket No. 04-296, FCC 15-60, largely resembles the version used during 
the first nationwide EAS test, it also contains certain improvements, 
such as support for pre-population of form data, and integration of 
form data into an EAS ``Mapbook.'' ETRS will continue to collect such 
identifying information as station call letters, license identification 
number, geographic coordinates, EAS designation, EAS monitoring 
assignment, and emergency contact information. EAS Participants will 
submit this identifying data prior to the test date. On the day of the 
test, EAS Participants will input test results into ETRS (e.g., whether 
the test message was received and processed successfully). They will 
input the remaining data called for by our reporting rules (e.g., more 
detailed test results) within 45 day of the test. The Commission 
believes that structuring ETRS in this fashion will allow EAS 
Participants to timely provide the Commission with test data in a 
minimally burdensome fashion.
    Our analysis indicates that this revised collection will cause no 
change in the burden estimates or reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements that the Commission submitted (and which OMB subsequently 
approved) for the 2011 system. The revised information collection 
requirements contained in this collection are as follows: Section 
11.21(a) requires EAS Participants to provide the identifying 
information required by the ETRS no later than sixty days after the 
publication in the Federal Register of a notice announcing the approval 
by the Office of Management and Budget of the modified information 
collection requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
an effective date of the rule amendment, or within sixty days of the 
launch of the ETRS, whichever is later, and shall renew this 
identifying information on a yearly basis or as required by any 
revision of the EAS Participant's State EAS Plan filed pursuant to 
section 11.21 of this part, and consistent with the requirements of 
paragraph 11.61(a)(3)(iv) of this part. Section 11.61(a)(3)(iv) 
requires test results to be logged by all EAS Participants into the 
ETRS as determined by the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland 
Security Bureau, subject to the following requirements. EAS 
Participants shall provide the identifying information required by the 
ETRS initially no later than sixty days after the publication in the 
Federal Register of a notice announcing the approval by the Office of 
Management and Budget of the modified information collection 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and an effective 
date of the rule amendment, or within sixty days of the launch of the 
ETRS, whichever is later, and shall renew this identifying information 
on a yearly basis or as required by any revision of the EAS 
Participant's State EAS Plan filed pursuant to section 11.21 of this 
part. EAS Participants must also file ``day of test'' data in the ETRS 
within 24 hours of any nationwide test or as otherwise required by the 
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.


Federal Communications Commission.
Gloria J. Miles,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-32034 Filed 12-21-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P