82 FR 48773 - Promoting Technological Solutions to Combat Contraband Wireless Devices in Correctional Facilities

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 202 (October 20, 2017)

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (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 Report and Order, FCC 17-25. This document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval of the information collection requirement and the relevant effective date of the rules.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 202 (Friday, October 20, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48773-48774]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22635]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 1 and 20

[GN Docket No. 13-111; FCC 17-25]


Promoting Technological Solutions to Combat Contraband Wireless 
Devices in Correctional Facilities

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(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 Report and Order, FCC 17-25. This 
document is consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the 
Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing 
OMB approval of the information collection requirement and the relevant 
effective date of the rules.

DATES: The rule amendments to 47 CFR 1.9020(n), 1.9030(m), 1.9035(o), 
and 20.23(a), published at 82 FR 22742, May 18, 2017, which required 
OMB approval, are effective on October 20, 2017. The rule amendments to 
(1) 47 CFR 1.9020(d)(8), 1.9030(d)(8), 1.9035(d)(4), and 20.18(a), 
which did not require OMB approval; and (2) 47 CFR 20.18(r), which 
required OMB approval, published at 82 FR 22742, May 18, 2017, are 
effective on February 12, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, contact 
Cathy Williams by email at [email protected] and telephone at 
(202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on October 2, 
2017, OMB approved the information collection requirement contained in 
the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 17-25, published at 82 FR 22742, 
May 18, 2017. The OMB Control Number is 3060-1243. The Commission 
publishes this document as an announcement of the effective dates of 
the rules. Note that the rules effective on February 12, 2018, as 
listed above, are effective on that date pursuant to the Report and 
Order, paragraph 142, the date 270 days after publication of the text 
or a summary thereof in the Federal Register. If you have any comments 
on the burden estimates listed below, or how the Commission can improve 
the collection and reduce any burdens caused thereby, please contact 
Cathy Williams, Federal Communications Commission, Room 1-C823, 445 
12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. Please include the OMB Control 
Number 3060-1243 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 Commission is notifying the public that it received final 
OMB approval on October 2, 2017, for the information collection 
requirement contained in 47 CFR 1.9020(n), 1.9030(m), 1.9035(o), 20.18, 
and 20.23(a), as amended in the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 17-
25.
    Under 5 CFR part 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 3060-1243.
    The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Public Law 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: 3060-1243.
    OMB Approval Date: October 2, 2017.
    OMB Expiration Date: October 31, 2020.
    Title: Sections 1.9020(n), 1.9030(m), 1.9035(o), Community 
notification requirement for certain contraband

[[Page 48774]]

interdiction systems; Section 20.18(r), Contraband Interdiction System 
(CIS) requirement; Section 20.23(a), good faith negotiations.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for profit entities and state, 
local or Tribal Governments.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 26 respondents and 28 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 8-16 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: There is no obligation to respond; response 
required to obtain benefits. The statutory authority for this 
collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 154(j), 301, 
302a, 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, and 332.
    Total Annual Burden: 325 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality with this collection of information.
    Privacy Act: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On March 24, 2017, the Federal Communications 
Commission released a Report and Order, Promoting Technological 
Solutions to Combat Contraband Wireless Devices in Correctional 
Facilities, GN Docket No. 13-111, FCC 17-25 (Report and Order), in 
which the Commission took important steps to help law enforcement 
combat the serious threats posed by the illegal use of contraband 
wireless devices by inmates. Across the country, inmates have used 
contraband devices to order hits, run drug operations, operate phone 
scams, and otherwise engage in criminal activity that endangers prison 
employees, other inmates, and innocent members of the public. In the 
Report and Order, the Commission streamlined the process of deploying 
contraband wireless device interdiction systems--systems that use radio 
communications signals requiring Commission authorization--in 
correctional facilities. The action will reduce the cost of deploying 
solutions and ensure that they can be deployed more quickly and 
efficiently. In particular, the Commission waived certain filing 
requirements and provided for immediate approval of the spectrum lease 
applications needed to operate these systems.
    The effectiveness of Contraband Interdiction System (CIS) 
deployment requires all carriers in the relevant area of the 
correctional facility to execute a spectrum lease with the CIS 
provider. Even if the major Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) 
licensees negotiate expeditiously and in good faith, if one CMRS 
licensee in the area fails to engage in lease negotiations in a 
reasonable time frame or at all, the CIS solution will not be 
effective. The lack of cooperation of even a single wireless provider 
in a geographic area of a correctional facility can result in 
deployment of a system with insufficient spectral coverage, subject to 
abuse by inmates in possession of contraband wireless devices operating 
on frequencies not covered by a spectrum lease agreement. While some 
carriers have been cooperative, it is imperative that all CMRS 
licensees be required to engage in lease negotiations in good faith and 
in a timely fashion. Therefore, the Commission adopted a rule requiring 
that CMRS licensees negotiate in good faith with entities seeking to 
deploy a CIS in a correctional facility. If, after a 45 day period, 
there is no agreement, CIS providers seeking Special Temporary 
Authority (STA) to operate in the absence of CMRS licensee consent may 
file a request for STA with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 
(WTB), with a copy served at the same time on the CMRS licensee, 
accompanied by evidence demonstrating its good faith, and the 
unreasonableness of the CMRS licensee's actions, in negotiating an 
agreement. The CMRS licensee may then file a response with WTB, with a 
copy served on the CIS provider at that time, within 10 days of the 
filing of the STA request.
    The supplementary information provided along with the STA 
application by the CIS provider will be used by WTB to determine 
whether the CIS provider has negotiated in good faith, yet the CMRS 
licensee has not negotiated in good faith. The CMRS licensee may use 
the evidence accompanying the STA application to craft a response. WTB 
will analyze the evidence from the CIS providers and the CMRS 
licensee's response to determine whether to issue STA to the entity 
seeking to deploy the CIS.
    The Commission explored whether it should impose a requirement that 
the community in the vicinity of a correctional facility where a CIS is 
installed be notified of the installation. The Commission explained 
that a goal of the proceeding is to expedite the deployment of 
technological solutions to combat the use of contraband wireless 
devices, not to impose unnecessary barriers to CIS deployment. 
Consistent with that goal, the Commission found that a flexible and 
community-tailored notification requirement for certain CISs outweighed 
the minimal burden of notification and furthered the public interest. 
After careful consideration of the record, the Commission imposed a 
rule that, 10 days prior to deploying a CIS that prevents 
communications to or from mobile devices, a lessee must notify the 
community in which the correctional facility is located, and the 
Commission amended its spectrum leasing rules to reflect this 
requirement. The Commission agreed with commenters that support 
notification of the surrounding community due to the potential for 
accidental call blocking and the public safety issues involved. The 
information provided in the notification will put the houses and 
businesses in the surrounding community on notice that a CIS will be 
deployed in the vicinity that has the potential for accidental call 
blocking.
    Acknowledging the importance of ensuring the availability of 
emergency 911 calls from correctional facilities, and the fact that 
delivering emergency calls to public safety answering points (PSAPs) 
facilitates public safety services and generally serves the public 
interest, the Commission amended its rules to require that CIS 
providers regulated as private mobile radio service (PMRS) must route 
all 911 calls to the local PSAP. That said, the Commission also 
acknowledged the important role state and local public safety officials 
play in the administration of the 911 system. Accordingly, although the 
CIS provider is required to pass through emergency 911 calls, the PSAPs 
can inform the CIS provider that they do not want to receive calls from 
a given correctional facility. By allowing the PSAPs to decline the 
emergency 911 calls, the Commission recognized the reported increased 
volume of PSAP harassment through repeated inmate fraudulent 911 calls. 
The information provided by the PSAP or emergency authority will result 
in the CIS provider not passing through E911 calls from a particular 
correctional facility.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-22635 Filed 10-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P