Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission
As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commiss...
As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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.
DATES:
Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before November 9, 2026. 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.
For additional information about the information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The FCC 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.
OMB Control No.:
3060-0678.
Title:
Part 25 of the Federal Communications Commission's Rules Governing the Licensing of, and Spectrum Usage by Commercial Earth Stations and Space Station.
Form Nos.:
FCC Form 312, FCC Form 312-EZ, FCC Form 312-R and Schedules A, B and S.
Type of Review:
Revision of a currently approved information collection.
Respondents:
Business or other for-profit entities and not-for-profit institutions.
Number of Respondents and Responses:
4,171 respondents; 4,223 responses.
Estimated Time per Response:
0.5-78 hours per response.
Frequency of Response:
On occasion, one time, and annual reporting requirements; third-party disclosure requirements; recordkeeping requirement.
Obligation to Respond:
Required to obtain or retain benefits. The Commission has statutory authority for the information collection requirements under 47 U.S.C. 154, 301, 302, 303, 307, 309, 310, 319, 332, 605, and 721.
( printed page 57595)
Total Annual Burden:
37,129 hours.
Annual Cost Burden:
$7,159,040.
Needs and Uses:
On August 8, 2025, the Commission released a Second Report and Order, FCC 25-48, IB Docket Nos. 22-411 and 22-271, titled “Expediting Initial Processing of Satellite and Earth Station Applications; Space Innovation.” In this Second Report and Order, the Commission streamlines, simplifies, and modernizes the processing of space and earth station applications. Specifically, the Second Report and Order: (1) adopts a new process by which earth station operators may receive a baseline license without identifying a specific satellite point of communication, and adopts a procedure by which earth station applicants can easily add or remove identified points of communication; (2) expands the list of license modifications that do not require prior authorization; (3) eliminates the requirement to retain paper copies of applications; (4) changes the default
ex parte
status of all space station and earth station applications from “restricted” to “permit-but-disclose;” (5) adopts expanded timeframes to file license renewal applications for earth stations and replacement applications for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) space stations; (6) provides non-U.S. licensed market access grantees the ability to receive the equivalent of a grant of special temporary authority; and (7) adopts a 30-day shot clock for earth station renewal applications.
The relevant rules for purposes of this revised information collection are §§ 25.110(e), 25.117(i), 25.118(a)(3), 25.118(b)(1), 25.118(b)(2), 25.118(b)(3), 25.118(e)(4), 25.118(h), and 25.137(h).
On May 1, 2026, the Commission released a Report and Order, FCC 26-26, SB Docket No. 25-157, titled “Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband.” In this Report and Order the Commission replaced the Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) framework with modern, performance-based geostationary orbit (GSO) protection criteria that take account of the improved spectrum sharing possibilities that modern satellite technology has brought, including through use of adaptive coding and modulation (ACM). As relevant to this information collection, a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) FSS applicant must either certify that it has completed a coordination agreement with any operational co-frequency GSO satellite network, or submit for Commission approval a compatibility showing which demonstrates by use of a degraded throughput methodology that it will not cause unacceptable interference to any such system with which coordination has not been completed.
The relevant rules for purposes of this revised information collection are §§ 25.146(a)(3) and 25.289(a)(2).
The new information collection requirements in this collection remove previously required information collections that are no longer considered necessary. In addition, the new information is required to ensure that applicants are meeting the Commission's rules when they modify their systems without prior approval from the Commission. In addition, the information is required to ensure that the public and the Commission are provided with accurate information about the operations of a system.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 57594
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission,” thefederalregister.org (September 10, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-18414/information-collection-being-reviewed-by-the-federal-communications-commission.
47 U.S.C. 154