81 FR 30538 - Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 95 (May 17, 2016)

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), 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. 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. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 95 (Tuesday, May 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30538-30540]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11583]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0207]


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 (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501-3520), 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. 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.
    The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless it displays a currently valid 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 Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before July 18, 
2016. 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 Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email 
[email protected] and to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0207.
    Title: Part 11--Emergency Alert System (EAS), Order, FCC 16-32.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    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; 3,596,546 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour (EAS Participants); 20 hours 
(SECCs).
    Frequency of Response: One-time reporting requirement and 
recordkeeping requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Obligatory for all entities required to 
participate in

[[Page 30539]]

EAS. Statutory authority for this collection of information is 
contained in 47 U.S.C. 154(i) and 606 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 110,476 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No Impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality.
    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. State and local use of the EAS is required to be 
described in State EAS Plans that are administered by State Emergency 
Communications Committees (SECC) and submitted to the FCC for approval.
    In the Third Report and Order in EB Docket No. 04-296, FCC 11-12, 
the Commission adopted rules establishing a regulatory structure for a 
national test of the EAS. In order for the Commission to determine the 
extent to which the test, and by extension the EAS, was successful, the 
FCC adopted rules requiring EAS Participants, within forty five (45) 
days of the date of the first national EAS test, to record and submit 
to the Commission the following test-related diagnostic information for 
each alert received from each message source monitored at the time of 
the national test:
     Whether they received the alert message during the 
designated test;
     whether they retransmitted the alert;
     if they were not able to receive and/or transmit the 
alert, their `best effort' diagnostic analysis regarding the cause(s) 
for such failure;
     a description of their station identification and level of 
designation (PEP, LP-1, etc.);
     the date/time of receipt of the EAN message by all 
stations; the date/time of PEP station acknowledgement of receipt of 
the EAN message to FOC;
     the date/time of initiation of actual broadcast of the 
Presidential message;
     the date/time of receipt of the EAT message by all 
stations;
     who they were monitoring at the time of the test, and the 
make and
     model number of the EAS equipment that they utilized.
    The Third Report and Order indicates that the national tests of 
EAS, and related information collections will likely be carried out on 
an annual basis. On March 10, 2010, OMB approved the collection as 
indicated by the related Notice of Office of Management and Budget 
Action notification.
    The FCC is submitting this information collection to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) as a revision of the previously approved 
information collection that established the mandatory Electronic Test 
Reporting System (ETRS) that EAS Participants must utilize to file 
identifying and test result data as part of their participation in 
nationwide EAS testing. Specifically, the Order adopted in EB Docket 
No. 04-296, FCC 16-32, amends the State EAS Plan filing requirements 
set forth at Section 11.21 of the Commission's rules to require EAS 
Participants (i.e., the broadcasters, cable systems, and other service 
providers subject to the FCC's EAS rules) to provide the following 
information to their respective SECC, who in turn will include such 
information in the State EAS Plan submitted to the Commission for 
approval:
     A description of any actions taken by the EAS Participant 
(acting individually, in conjunction with other EAS Participants in the 
geographic area, and/or in consultation with state and local emergency 
authorities), to make EAS alert content available in languages other 
than English to its non-English speaking audience(s);
     A description of any future actions planned by the EAS 
Participant, in consultation with state and local emergency 
authorities, to provide EAS alert content in languages other than 
English to its non-English speaking audience(s), along with an 
explanation for the EAS Participant's decision to plan or not plan such 
actions; and
     Any other relevant information that the EAS Participant 
may wish to provide.
    In addition, in the event that there is a material change to any of 
the information that EAS Participants are required to furnish their 
respective SECCs, EAS Participants must, within 60 days of the 
occurrence of such material change, submit aa letter to their 
respective SECCs, copying the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland 
Security Bureau (Bureau) that describe such change. The SECCs are 
required to incorporate the information in such letters as amendments 
to the State EAS Plans on file with the Bureau.
    This information will be used by FCC staff to gauge the 
effectiveness of the EAS's capacity to disseminate in-language EAS 
emergency alert content to persons who communicate in a language other 
than English or may have a limited understanding of the English 
language; to determine whether private and local efforts to disseminate 
EAS multilingual content might be incorporated into the overall 
national EAS structure; and to confirm that private and local EAS 
multilingual operations are consistent with national plans, FCC 
regulations, and EAS operation.
    The Commission expects that the costs to EAS Participants to comply 
with these reporting requirements will be minimal, and largely limited 
to internal administrative charges associated with drafting a brief 
statement, and submitting that statement, and any other relevant 
information that the EAS Participant may wish to provide to their SECC 
for inclusion into the State EAS Plan for the state in which the EAS 
Participant operates. The Commission further expects that the vast 
majority of EAS Participants are not engaged in multilingual EAS 
activities and therefore will need to submit nothing more than a very 
brief statement to their SECC explaining their decision to plan or not 
plan future actions to provide EAS alert content in languages other 
than English to their non-English speaking audience(s). For the 
presumably small percentage of EAS Participants that actually are 
engaged in multilingual EAS activities, the filing will merely require 
that they supply a summary of actions they already have taken in this 
regard. Accordingly, the FCC estimates that complying with the 
reporting requirement will take EAS Participants, on average, 
approximately one hour. The FCC estimates that compiling the EAS 
Participant summaries of multilingual EAS activities and incorporating 
such information into the State EAS Plan will take SECCs, on average, 
approximately 20 hours.
    The following information collection contained in part 11 may be 
impacted by these rule amendments: Section 11.21 requires that state 
and local EAS plans be reviewed and approved by the Chief, Public 
Safety and Homeland Security, prior to implementation to ensure that 
they are consistent with national plans, FCC regulations, and EAS 
operation.


[[Page 30540]]


Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-11583 Filed 5-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P