Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 239 / Tuesday, December 14, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 77781 

Flooding source(s) Location of referenced elevation 

* Elevation in 

feet (NGVD) 

+ Elevation in 

feet (NAVD) 

# Depth in feet 

above ground 

∧Elevation in 

meters (MSL) 

Modified 

Communities 

affected 

ADDRESSES 

City of Prairie Du Chien 

Maps are available for inspection at 214 East Blackhawk Avenue, Prairie Du Chien, WI 53821. 

Unincorporated Areas of Crawford County 

Maps are available for inspection at 225 North Beaumont Road, Prairie Du Chien, WI 53821. 

Village of De Soto 

Maps are available for inspection at 115 South Houghton Street, De Soto, WI 54624. 

Village of Ferryville 

Maps are available for inspection at 170 Pine Street, Ferryville, WI 54628. 

Village of Lynxville 

Maps are available for inspection at 475 Bench Street, Lynxville, WI 54626. 

Village of Soldiers Grove 

Maps are available for inspection at 102 Passive Sun Drive, Soldiers Grove, WI 54655. 

Village of Steuben 

Maps are available for inspection at 123 Midway Street, Steuben, WI 54657. 

Village of Wauzeka 

Maps are available for inspection at 213B East Front Street, Wauzeka, WI 53826. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 

97.022, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) 

Dated: December 7, 2010. 

Sandra K. Knight, 

Deputy Federal Insurance and Mitigation 

Administrator, Mitigation, Department of 

Homeland Security, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2010–31360 Filed 12–13–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–12–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 20 

[FCC 10–145; WT Docket No. 07–250] 

Amendment of the Commission’s 

Rules Governing Hearing AidCompatible Mobile Handsets; 

Announcement of Effective Date 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of 

effective date. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission 

announces that it has received OMB 

approval for collection 3060–099. The 

Commission adopted these rules to 

ensure that consumers with hearing loss 

are able to access wireless 

communications services. 

DATES: The amendment to 47 CFR 

20.19(f) published at 75 FR 54508, 

September 8, 2010, is effective 

December 14, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Judith B. Herman, Federal 

Communications Commission, at (202) 

418–0214 or via the Internet at JudithB.Herman@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Communications Commission 

(FCC) has received Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval for the following public 

information collection pursuant to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. An agency may not 

conduct or sponsor and a person is not 

required to respond to a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid control number. OMB Control No.: 3060–0999. 

Expiration Date: 12/31/13. 

Title: Hearing Aid Compatibility 

Status Report and Section 20.19, 

Hearing Aid-Compatible Mobile 

Handsets (Hearing Aid Compatibility 

Act). 

Form No.: FCC Form 655—electronic 

only. 

Estimated Annual Burden: 925 

respondents; 925 responses; 12,063 total 

annual hours. 

Needs and Uses: In the Report and 

Order in WT Docket 01–309, FCC 03– 

168, adopted and released in September 

2003, the Federal Communications 

Commission modified the exemption for 

telephones used with public mobile 

services from the requirements of the 

Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 

(HAC Act). The Order required digital 

wireless phone manufacturers and 

service providers to make certain digital 

wireless phones capable of effective use 

with hearing aids. As part of that Order, 

manufacturers and service providers 

were required to label certain phones 

they sold with information about their 

compatibility with hearing aids, and 

also to report to the Commission (at first 

every six months, then on an annual 

basis) on the numbers and types of 

hearing aid-compatible phones they 

were producing or offering to the public. In February 2008, the Commission 

adopted final rules in a Report and 

Order, FCC 08–68, which updated 

several of the performance benchmarks 

for manufacturers and service providers, 

and instituted new requirements for 

manufacturers to refresh their product 

lines and for service providers to offer 

hearing aid-compatible handset models 

with differing levels of functionality. 

The Commission also adopted a new 

version of the technical standard for 

measuring hearing aid compatibility, 

and addressed the application of the 

rules to phones that operate in multiple 

frequency bands or air interfaces. In 

order to avoid potential consumer 

confusion over technical capabilities, 

the Order also modified the product 

labeling requirements slightly. To assist the Commission in 

monitoring the implementation of the 

new requirements and to provide 

information to the public, the Report 

and Order also required manufacturers 

and service providers to continue to file 

annual reports on the status of their 

compliance with these requirements, 

and required manufacturers and service 

providers that maintain public Web 

sites to publish up-to-date information 

on those Web sites regarding their 

hearing aid-compatible handset models. 

The annual reports required in the 

Order contained different and 

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77782 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 239 / Tuesday, December 14, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

1Means of providing this language at the point of 

sale could include, for example, call-out cards or an 

insert in the handset’s packaging. 

2The need for the consumer to reduce the power 

in order to meet the hearing aid compatibility 

standard should also be clearly stated in the filing 

for equipment certification. 

additional information than in previous 

versions of this information collection 

and, for the first time, were required to 

be submitted by manufacturers and 

service providers using electronic FCC 

Form 655. The reporting and third party 

disclosure requirements for the 

aforementioned Report and Order were 

approved most recently by OMB on June 

5, 2009 under OMB Control Number 

3060–0999. 

Recently, on August 5, 2010, the 

Commission adopted final rules in a 

Second Report and Order, published at 

FCC 10–145, 75 FR 54508, September 8, 

2010, that, among other things, updated 

disclosure requirements for 

manufacturers and service providers. 

Manufacturers and service providers are 

now required to adequately inform 

consumers about the functionality and 

the limitations of their handsets in two 

specific situations. For handsets that 

meet hearing aid compatibility 

requirements over all air interfaces and 

frequency bands for which hearing aid 

compatibility technical standards have 

been established, but that are also 

capable of supporting voice operations 

in any new frequency band or air 

interface for which such standards do 

not exist, beginning March 8, 2011, the 

following disclosure language must be 

clearly and effectively conveyed to 

consumers wherever the hearing aid 

compatibility rating for the handset is 

provided, including at the point of sale 1

and on company Web sites: ‘‘This phone 

has been tested and rated for use with 

hearing aids for some of the wireless 

technologies that it uses. However, there 

may be some newer wireless 

technologies used in this phone that 

have not been tested yet for use with 

hearing aids. It is important to try the 

different features of this phone 

thoroughly and in different locations, 

using your hearing aid or cochlear 

implant, to determine if you hear any 

interfering noise. Consult your service 

provider or the manufacturer of this 

phone for information on hearing aid 

compatibility. If you have questions 

about return or exchange policies, 

consult your service provider or phone 

retailer.’’ 

The Second Report and Order also 

modifies the de minimis exception in 

the existing rule so that all large entities 

are required to offer at least one hearing 

aid-compatible model after a two-year 

initial period. Further, the Commission 

is allowing companies that offer one or 

two handset models over the Global 

System for Mobile Communications 

(‘‘GSM’’) air interface, if they would have 

been eligible for the amended de 

minimis exception but for their size, to 

satisfy their obligation to offer one 

hearing aid-compatible handset over the 

GSM air interface by offering a handset 

that lets the consumer reduce maximum 

transmit power for GSM operations in 

the 1900 MHz band by up to 2.5 

decibels. The Commission grants this 

exception subject to certain conditions, 

one of which is that companies that 

choose to use this exception must 

adequately inform consumers of the 

need to select the power reduction 

option to achieve hearing aid 

compatibility and of the consequences 

of doing so. Specifically, wherever a 

manufacturer or service provider 

provides the hearing aid compatibility 

rating for such a handset, it shall 

indicate that user activation of a special 

mode is necessary to meet the hearing 

aid compatibility standard for radio 

frequency (RF) interference reduction. 

In addition, the handset manual or a 

product insert must explain how to 

activate the special mode and that doing 

so may result in a diminution of 

coverage.2

Beyond the updated disclosure 

requirements noted above, certain fields 

have been changed on Form 655 in 

order to clarify information previously 

gathered in this collection and bring the 

collection into conformance with the 

amended rules. Specifically, 

manufacturers and service providers are 

asked to provide the brand names under 

which they are offering digital 

commercial mobile radio services (if a 

service provider) or handsets (if a device 

manufacturer), in order to avoid 

confusion by identifying products and 

services offered under more than one 

brand name. In addition, the questions 

concerning handsets capable of Wi-Fi 

voice operation have been expanded to 

include handsets that are capable of 

voice communication without changes 

to the hardware in the handset over any 

air interface or frequency band for 

which hearing aid compatibility 

technical standards do not exist. 

The updated disclosures will create 

no additional burden for manufacturers 

and service providers, but will ensure 

that consumers and the Commission are 

provided with consistent and sufficient 

information about the functionality and 

the limitations of offered handsets. 

These actions are taken to ensure that 

consumers who use hearing aids and 

cochlear implants have access to a 

variety of phones and are adequately 

informed about the functionality and 

the limitations of the handsets, while 

preserving competitive opportunities for 

small companies as well as 

opportunities for innovation and 

investment. Similarly, the additional 

fields will create no significant 

additional burden for manufacturers 

and service providers but will clarify 

the responses already required by Form 

655, helping the Commission compile 

data and monitor compliance with the 

hearing aid compatibility rules while 

making more complete and accessible 

information available to consumers. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2010–31358 Filed 12–13–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

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