Document
Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to Office of Management and Budget
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 Commiss...
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 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 Number:
3060-0548.
Title:
Sections 76.1709 and 76.1620, Availability of Signals; Section 76.1614, Identification of Must-Carry Signals.
Type of Review:
Extension without change of a currently approved collection.
Respondents:
Businesses or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents and Responses:
4,103 respondents; 49,236 responses.
Estimated Time per Response:
0.5-1.0 hour.
Frequency of Response:
Recordkeeping requirement, Third party disclosure requirement, On occasion reporting requirement.
Obligation to Respond:
Voluntary.
Total Annual Burden:
24,618 hours.
Total Annual Cost:
No cost.
Needs and Uses:
47 CFR 76.1709(a) states that the operator of every cable television system shall maintain for public inspection a file containing a list of all broadcast television stations carried by its system in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements. Such list shall include the call sign; community of license, broadcast channel number, cable channel number, and in the case of a noncommercial educational broadcast station, whether that station was carried by the cable system on March 29, 1990. 47 CFR 76.1614 and 47 CFR 76.1709(c) each state that a cable operator shall respond in writing within 30 days to any written request by any person for the identification of the signals carried on its system in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements. In addition, 47 CFR 76.1614 states that the required written response may be delivered by email, if the consumer used email to make the request or complaint directly to the cable operator, or if the consumer specifies email as the preferred delivery method in the request or complaint.
47 CFR 76.1620, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 614(b)(7), states that if a cable operator authorizes subscribers to install additional receiver connections, but does not provide the subscriber with such connections, or with the equipment and materials for such connections, the operator shall notify such subscribers of all broadcast stations carried on the cable system which cannot be viewed via cable without a converter box and shall offer to sell or lease such a converter box to such subscribers. Such notification must be provided by June 2, 1993, and annually thereafter and to each new subscriber upon initial installation. The notice, which may be included in routine billing statements, shall identify the signals that are unavailable without an additional connection, the manner for obtaining such additional connection and instructions for installation. 47 CFR 76.1600(a) provides that written information provided by cable operators to subscribers or customers pursuant to § 76.1620 may be delivered electronically by email to any subscriber who has not opted out of electronic delivery if the entity: (1) Sends the notice to the subscriber's or customer's verified email address; (2) Provides either the entirety of the written information or a weblink to the written information in the notice; and (3) Includes, in the body of the notice, a telephone number that is clearly and prominently presented to subscribers so that it is readily identifiable as an opt-out mechanism that will allow subscribers to continue to receive paper copies of the written material.
Note:
These recordkeeping and notification requirements ensure that subscribers are aware of the broadcast stations carried in compliance with the Commission's cable must-carry rules, see 47 CFR 76.56.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain