81 FR 95993 - Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 250 (December 29, 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 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. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid 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.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95993-95994]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31420]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1163]


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 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. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid 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.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before February 
27, 2017. 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 
[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:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1163.
    Title: Regulations Applicable to Broadcast, Common Carrier, and 
Aeronautical Radio Licensees Under Section 310(b) of the Communications 
Act of 1934, as amended.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 81 respondents; 81 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2 hours-46 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On-occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation To Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 
152, 154(i), 154(j), 160, 303(r), 309, 310 and 403.
    Total Annual Burden: 1,830 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $524,400.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: In submitting the information 
request, respondents may need to disclose confidential information to 
satisfy the requirements. However, covered entities would be free to 
request that such materials submitted to the Commission be withheld 
from public inspection (see 47 CFR 0.459 of the Commission's rules).
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impacts(s).
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information 
collection to OMB after this 60-day comment period as a revision to 
obtain the full three-year clearance from OMB.
    On September 29, 2016, the Commission adopted final rules in Review 
of Foreign Ownership Policies for Broadcast, Common Carrier and 
Aeronautical Radio Licensees under Section 310(b)(4) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as Amended, Report and Order, 31 FCC Rcd 
11272 (2016) (2016 Foreign Ownership Report and Order). In the 2016 
Foreign Ownership Order, the Commission:
     Modified its foreign ownership filing and review process 
for broadcast licensees by extending to such licensees the streamlined 
rules and procedures developed for foreign ownership reviews of common 
carrier and certain aeronautical licensees (collectively, ``common 
carrier'' licensees) under Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act 
of 1934, as amended (the Act) with certain modifications to tailor them 
to the broadcast context; and
     Reformed the methodology used by both common carrier and 
broadcast licensees that are, or are controlled by, U.S. publicly 
traded companies to assess their compliance with the foreign ownership 
limits in Sections 310(b)(3) and 310(b)(4) of the Act, respectively.
    The Commission therefore requests approval of substantial changes 
to the above-referenced information collection in order to apply to 
broadcast licensees substantially the same foreign ownership rules and 
procedures that apply to common carrier licensees and spectrum lessees 
and certain aeronautical licensees (collectively, ``common carrier'' 
licensees) under this information collection and the rules adopted in 
Review of Foreign Ownership Policies for Common Carrier and 
Aeronautical Radio Licensees under Section 310(b)(4) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as Amended, IB Docket No. 11-133, Second 
Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd 5741(2013).
    The 2016 Foreign Ownership Report and Order incorporated 
broadcasters into the common carrier foreign ownership rules 
(previously codified in

[[Page 95994]]

Part 1, Subpart F, Sections 1.990 through 1.994 of the Commission's 
rules) through various changes. Notably, the Commission added new text 
to certain paragraphs of the rules (see e.g. Note to paragraph (i)(1) 
of Section 1.5001(i)), and by adding new paragraphs where needed. In 
this regard, we have added new paragraph (e) to Section 1.5000, which 
sets forth the new methodology for eligible public companies--both 
broadcast and common carrier--and new paragraphs (f)(2)-(3) of Section 
1.5004, which sets forth new compliance provisions for such companies.
    The rules adopted in the 2016 Foreign Ownership Report and Order 
include the following broadcast-specific provisions in lieu of 
provisions applicable to common carrier licensees:
     Broadcast licensees filing a petition for declaratory 
ruling (petition) to request Commission approval of foreign ownership 
in excess of the 25 percent benchmark in Section 310(b)(4) will use the 
broadcast ``attribution'' criteria to determine those U.S. and foreign 
ownership interests that must be disclosed in the petition. The 
disclosure will ensure the Commission has sufficient information to 
understand the licensee's ownership structure and to verify the 
identity and ultimate control of the foreign investor for which the 
petitioner seeks specific approval.
     Broadcast licensees will use the broadcast ``insulation 
criteria'' set forth in the broadcast attribution rules in determining 
whether the broadcaster must include in its petition a request for 
``specific approval'' of a particular foreign investor because the 
investor holds, or would hold, directly and/or indirectly, more than 5 
percent (or, in the case of certain passive investors, more than 10 
percent) of the total outstanding capital stock (equity) and/or voting 
stock (or a controlling share) of the licensee's controlling U.S.-
organized parent company. The current insulation criteria for common 
carrier licensees will continue to apply.
    The Commission does not anticipate that these broadcast-specific 
provisions will impact the time per response for broadcast companies 
filing a Section 310(b)(4) petition. Thus, we estimate the same time 
per response for broadcast as for common carrier petitions. The 
Commission also finds that adopting a standardized filing and review 
process for broadcast licensees' requests to exceed the 25 percent 
foreign ownership benchmark in Section 310(b)(4), as the Commission has 
done for common carrier licensees, will provide the broadcast sector 
with greater transparency, more predictability, and reduce regulatory 
burdens and costs.
    In addition to these tailored changes to incorporate broadcast 
licensees into the existing foreign ownership rules applicable to 
common carrier licensees under Section 310(b)(4), the 2016 Foreign 
Ownership Report and Order clarifies the Commission's foreign ownership 
compliance procedures (to be codified in Section 1.5004(f)(3)-(4)) 
specifically to allow a broadcast or common carrier licensee to file a 
petition for declaratory ruling to remedy the licensee's inadvertent 
non-compliance with the statutory foreign ownership limits or the terms 
and conditions of the licensee's existing foreign ownership ruling with 
reasonable assurance that the Commission will not take enforcement 
action.
    The Commission is also making non-substantial changes to this 
information collection to renumber the foreign ownership rules, which 
currently are codified in Part 1, Subpart F, Sections 1.990 through 
1.994 of the Commission's rules. The new rules, as adopted in the 2016 
Foreign Ownership Report and Order, will be codified in Part 1, Subpart 
T, Section 1.5000 through 1.5004 of the Commission's rules. There is 
for the most part a one-to-one correlation between the existing rules 
(1.990-1.994) and the new rules (1.5000-1.5004).

Federal Communications Commission.
Katura Jackson,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-31420 Filed 12-28-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P