PUBLIC NOTICE
     FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
     1919 M STREET N.W.
     WASHINGTON, D.C.  20554
     
     News media information 202/418-0500.
      
PRA 95-021
         PUBLIC INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS SUBMITTED TO
          OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET FOR EMERGENCY REVIEW;
               ADDITIONALLY, THE COMMISSION SEEKS COMMENTS
                       ON THIS PROPOSED COLLECTION
                                    
          The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork
          burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment
          on the following information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, (44
          U.S.C. 3507).  Comments concerning the Commission's need for this information, the accuracy of
          the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent burden,
          including the use of automated information techniques, are requested.  The Commission has
          requested an emergency OMB review of the Form 1240 with an approval by December 8, 1995.  
          Persons wishing to comment on this information collection should  direct all comments to Timothy
          Fain, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10236 NEOB, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 395-
          3561 or via internet at fain_t@a1.eop.gov, and Dorothy Conway, Federal Communications, Room
          234, 1919 M St., N.W., Washington, DC 20554  or via internet to dconway@fcc.gov.  All
          comments should be submited prior to December 8, 1995.

          OMB approves emergency submissions for only 90 days.  In order to maintain the OMB approval
          after this time the Commission will be resubmitting the FCC 1240 as a regular submission. 
          Therefore  the Commission is requesting comments for the regular submission be submitted to
          Commission at the address indicated above by  January 31, 1996. 

          For additional information or copies of the information collections contact Dorothy Conway at
          202-418-0217 or via internet at dconway@fcc.gov.  Copies may also be obtained via fax by
          contacting the Commission's Fax on Demand System.  To obtain fax copies call 202-418-0177
          from the handset on your fax machine, and enter the document retrieval 601240, when prompted.

          Supplementary Information:

          On September 22, 1995, the Commission released a Thirteenth Order on Reconsideration
          ("Benchmark Cleanup Order"), FCC 95-397, MM Docket No. 92-266, Implementation of Sections
          of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992.  In the "Benchmark
          Cleanup Order", the Commission adopts a new optional rate adjustment methodology where cable
          operators will be permitted to make annual rate changes to their Basic Service Tiers and Cable
          Programming Services Tiers.  Operators that elect to use this new methodology will adjust their
          rates once per year to reflect reasonably certain and reasonably quantifiable changes in external
          costs, inflation, and the number of regulated channels that are projected for the 12 months
          following the rate change.  Because operators will be permitted to estimate cost changes that will
          occur in the 12 months following the rate filing, we expect that this methodology will limit delays
          in recovering costs that operators may experience under the current system.   If actual and
          projected costs are different during the rate year, a "true up" mechanism is available to correct
          estimated costs with actual cost changes.  The "true up" requires operators to decrease their rates
          or alternatively, permits them to increase their rates to make adjustments for over- or under-
          estimations of these cost changes.  Operators would not lose the right to make a rate increase at a
          later date if they choose not to implement a rate adjustment at the beginning of the next rate year. 
          Finally, in order that operators not feel compelled to make rate filings or increase rates when they
          otherwise would not, we eliminated the "use or lose" requirement for operators that elect this
          methodology.  


          Filing Instructions for the Form 1240

          If this is your first time filing Form 1240 (assuming your franchise area is already subject to
          regulation), and if your most recent Form 1210 does not incorporate changes through June 30,
          1995, there are two circumstances under which you must file a Form 1210 which records the
          changes in your system's costs which have occurred between the last Form 1210 and June 30,
          1995.  The first is if you moved any channels between regulated tiers in this time period.  The
          second is if you have added channels to your regulated tier(s) during this time period and you
          wish to claim Caps Method or Markup Method adjustments for these channels.  Any Form 1210
          you file to meet these two conditions should not be treated as a separate filing, but rather as an
          attachment to your Form 1240.  If your most recent Form 1210 does incorporate changes through
          June 30, 1995, you do not have to perform this first step.

          If this is your first time filing Form 1240 and you have never been subject to CPST regulation, in
          order to meet your burden of showing that your CPST rate is not unreasonable, you may have to
          provide details about your previous increases.

          If your local franchising authority becomes certified to regulate the basic service tier  you are
          required to follow the Commission's existing rules and file a Form 1200, a Form 1205, and a Form
          1210.  Once those have been filed, you may switch to the annual filing system.

          The Commission's rules recognize seven categories of external costs: retransmission consent fees,
          copyright fees, programming costs, certain cable specific taxes, franchise-related costs, franchise
          fees and Commission regulatory fees.  You may adjust your maximum permitted rate for changes
          in these categories of costs except for franchise fees, which are not included in your permitted
          rates but rather are simply added to them.

          Form 1240 must be filed with your local franchising authority at least 90 days before you plan to
          implement a change in your basic rates if your local franchising authority is certified to regulate
          basic rates.  You must notify your local franchising authority of the annual filing date prior to filing
          Form 1240.

          If the Commission found your cable programming service rates to be unreasonable less than one
          year ago, or if a complaint about a CPST rate is pending before the Commission,  and you now
          wish to increase your CPST rates, you must submit FCC Form 1240 to the Commission at least 30
          days before raising your rates.  

 
          OMB Approval Number:  New Collection
          Title:  Annual Updating of Maximum Permitted Rates for Regulated Cable Services
          Form No.:  FCC Form 1240
          Type of Review:  New Collection
          Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State, Local or Tribal Governments
          Number of Respondents:  5,850
          Estimated Time Per Response:  15 hours
          Total Annual Burden:  116,438 hours
          Needs and Uses: The Commission has created the FCC Form 1240 Annual Updating of Maximum
          Permitted Rates for Regulated Cable Services as a filing alternative to the FCC Form 1210, which is
          filed quarterly.  The Form 1240, like the Form 1210, is filed by cable operators seeking to adjust
          maximum permitted rates for regulated services to reflect changes in external costs. Cable
          operators will submit the Form 1240 to their respective local franchising authorities upon
          certification to regulate basic service tier rates and associated equipment; or with the Commission
          (in situations where the Commission has assumed jurisdiction).  The Form 1240 will also be filed
          with the Commission when responding to a complaint filed with the Commission about cable
          programming service rates and associated equipment.  The data will be used by the Commission
          and local franchising authorities to adjudicate permitted rates for regulated cable services and
          equipment, for the addition of new programming tiers and to account for the addition and deletion
          of channels and the allowance for pass throughs of external costs and costs due to inflation.
          Fax Document Retrieval Number: 601240

      -FCC -