56140 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 209 / Wednesday, October 29, 1997 / Proposed Rules

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 52 and 64

[CC Docket No. 92–237; FCC 97–386]

Administration of the North American

Numbering Plan, Carrier Identification

Codes (CICs)

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: On October 22, 1997, the

Commission released a Second Further

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Second

FNPRM) addressing carrier

identification codes (CICs). The Second

FNPRM is intended to obtain comment

on issues related to conversion of local

exchange carrier (LEC) switches to

provide equal access and to accept fourdigit CIcs. The Commission

concurrently released a Order on

Reconsideration and an Order on

Application for Review in the same

docket.

DATES: Comments must be filed on or

before December 8, 1997, and reply

comments must be filed on or before

January 12, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications

Commission, Secretary, Room 222, 1919

M Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elizabeth Nightingale, Attorney,

Network Services Division, Common

Carrier Bureau, (202) 418–2352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

summarizes the Commission’s Second

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

in the matter of Administration of the

North American Numbering Plan,

Carrier Identification Codes (CICs), CC

Docket No. 92–237, adopted October 20,

1997, and released October 22, 1997.

The file is available for inspection and

copying during the weekday hours of 9

a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Commission’s

Reference Center, Room 239, 1919 M

St., N.W., Washington D.C., or copies

may be purchased from the

Commission’s duplicating contractor,

ITS, Inc., 1231 20th Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20036, phone (202)

857–3800.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act

Analysis

The Commission has prepared an

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

(IRFA) of the expected economic impact

on small entities by the policies and

proposals in this Second FNPRM. The

Commission solicited written public

comments on the IRFA, which must be

filed by the deadlines for the

submission of comments in this

proceeding.

Need for and Objectives of Proposed

Rules

Inquiries by Commission staff

regarding the status of LEC conversion

to accept four-digit CICs reveal that

some independent incumbent LECs in

rural and isolated areas do not provide

equal access. The Commission

recognizes that a requirement that all

LEC end office switches be upgraded to

accept four-digit CICs by January 1,

1998, may have the unintended effect of

requiring those LECs that have never

received a bona fide request for equal

access, or that are not subject to a

specific timetable for providing equal

access, nonetheless to upgrade their end

offices to offer equal access by January

1, 1998. The Commission notes that

such a requirement would modify the

Commission’s equal access

implementation schedule for non-GTE

independent telephone companies. The

Commission tentatively concludes that

requiring LECs whose end offices are

equipped with SPC switches to upgrade

their facilities to enable them to offer

equal access, even if they have not

received a request for equal access, and

LECs whose end offices are equipped

with non-SPC switches to convert their

facilities to provide equal access, is not

inconsistent with the Commission’s

general goal, expressed in the

Independent Telephone Company Equal

Access Report and Order (50 FR 15547,

published April 19, 1985), that equal

access occur as soon as practicable,

regardless of whether a request has been

made for equal access, and regardless of

the type of switch with which an end

office is equipped.

Legal Basis

Authority for actions proposed in this

Second FNPRM may be found in:

Sections 1, 4(i) and (j), 201–205, 218

and 251(e)(1) of the Communications

Act of 1934 as amended, 47 U.S.C.

Sections 151, 154(i), 154(j), 201–205,

218 and 251(e)(1).

Description and Estimate of the Number

of Small Entities To Which the

Proposed Rules Will Apply

The proposal made by the

Commission in this Second FNPRM will

apply to local exchange carriers. The

IRFA seeks comment on whether other

entities should be included in our final

regulatory flexibility analysis. We

estimate that there are fewer than 1,347

small incumbent LECs that may be

affected by the proposal in this Second

FNPRM.

Description of Projected Reporting,

Recordkeeping and Other Compliance

Requirements

The proposal in the Second FNPRM,

if adopted, would require that LECs

with SPC switches that have not

received a bona fide request for equal

access should upgrade their facilities to

provide equal access and to accept fourdigit CICs within three years of the

effective date of an Order adopted in

this proceeding. The proposal also

would require that LECs whose end

offices are equipped with non-SPC

switches should provide equal access

and convert their switches to accept

four-digit CICs when they next replace

their switching facilities.

Steps Taken to Minimize Economic

Impact on Small Entities and

Significant Alternatives Considered

In the Second FNPRM, the

Commission seeks to gather relevant

information from all interested parties,

including small business entities, about

the effect of requiring equal access

conversion, even by those LECs that

have not received a request for it, or

whose end offices are not equipped with

SPC switches. The Second FNPRM asks

that commenters opposed to our

tentative conclusion suggest

alternatives. In addition, in the IRFA,

the Commission tentatively concludes

that the proposals in the Second

FNPRM would impose minimum

burdens on small entities, especially

given that: (1) the Commission, in the

Independent Telephone Company Equal

Access Report and Order, adopted over

twelve years ago, expressed a general

desire that equal access occur as soon as

practicable, regardless of whether a

request has been made for equal access,

and regardless of the type of switch with

which an end office is equipped, and

stated that where generic software is

available, the telephone company

should endeavor to make the necessary

conversions in less than three years; and

(2) the responses to inquiries by

Commission staff indicate that the fourdigit CIC software generally is included

in equal access software packages

developed since 1995. The IRFA seeks

comment on this tentative conclusion.

Federal Rules that May Duplicate,

Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed

Rules

None.

Analysis of Proceeding

1. The Commission’s inquiries

regarding the status of LEC conversion

to accept four-digit CICs reveal that

some independent incumbent LECs in

rural and isolated areas do not provide
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 209 / Wednesday, October 29, 1997 / Proposed Rules 56141

equal access. Some of those LECs’ end

offices are equipped with SPC switches,

but the LECs have never received a bona

fide request to provide equal access. In

other instances, the LECs’ end offices

are not equipped with SPC switches

and, therefore, the LECs are not required

to convert to equal access according to

a specific timetable, even if a LEC

received a reasonable request for equal

access. The Commission acknowledged,

therefore, that a requirement that all

LEC end office switches be upgraded to

accept four-digit CICs by January 1,

1998, may have the unintended effect of

requiring those LECs that have never

received a bona fide request for equal

access or that are not subject to a

specific timetable for providing equal

access nonetheless to upgrade their end

offices to offer equal access by January

1, 1998. Such a requirement would

modify the Commission’s equal access

implementation schedule for non-GTE

independent telephone companies, set

by the 1985 Independent Telephone

Company Equal Access Report and

Order. More than twelve years have

passed since the adoption of the

Independent Telephone Company Equal

Access Report and Order. The Second

FNPRM therefore tentatively concludes

that all LEC end offices, including those

LECs whose end offices are equipped

with SPC switches, but have not

received a bona fide request for equal

access and those LECs whose end

offices are equipped with non-SPC

switches, should nevertheless be

required to provide equal access. This

requirement also would apply to LECs

who may have received a waiver of the

Commission’s equal access rules, to the

extent those waivers remain in place.

The Second FNPRM tentatively

concludes that LECs with SPC switches

that have not received a bona fide

request for equal access should be

required to upgrade their facilities to

provide equal access and to accept fourdigit CICs within three years of the

effective date of an Order adopted in

this proceeding. The Second FNPRM

further tentatively concludes that LECs

whose end offices are equipped with

non-SPC switches should be required to

provide equal access and to convert

their switches to accept four-digit CICs

when they next replace their switching

facilities. The Second FNPRM

tentatively concludes that requiring

LECs whose end offices are equipped

with SPC switches to upgrade their

facilities to enable them to offer equal

access, even if they have not received a

request for equal access, and LECs

whose end offices are equipped with

non-SPC switches to convert their

facilities to provide equal access, is not

inconsistent with the Commission’s

general goal, expressed in the

Independent Telephone Company Equal

Access Report and Order, that equal

access occur as soon as practicable,

regardless of whether a request has been

made for equal access, and regardless of

the type of switch with which an end

office is equipped. Moreover, the

Commission stated, in the Independent

Telephone Company Equal Access

Report and Order, that where generic

software is available, the telephone

company should endeavor to make the

necessary conversions in less than three

years. The Second FNPRM notes that

the responses to inquiries by

Commission staff indicate that the fourdigit CIC software generally is included

in equal access software packages

developed since 1995. The Commission

indicated that commenters that oppose

the tentative conclusion should discuss

why a twelve year period of time in

which to convert to provide equal

access has been insufficient and should

propose specific alternatives to the

Commission’s proposal.

Ordering Clauses

2. It is further ordered, pursuant to

Sections 1, 4(i) and (j), 201–205, 218

and 251(e)(1) of the Communications

Act as amended, 47 U.S.C. Sections 151,

154(i), 154(j), 201–205, 218 and

251(e)(1), that the Second Further

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is

hereby ADOPTED.

3. It is further ordered that the

Commission’s Office of Managing

Director shall send a copy of the Second

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,

including the Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Part 52

Local exchange carrier, Numbering,

Telecommunications.

47 CFR Part 64

Communications common carriers,

Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–28678 Filed 10–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs

Administration

49 CFR Part 195

[Docket No. RSPA–97–2362; Notice 1]

RIN 2137—AD05

Pipeline Safety: Incorporation by

Reference of Industry Standard on

Leak Detection

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs

Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This notice proposes to adopt

as a referenced document an industry

publication for pipeline leak detection,

API 1130, ‘‘Computational Pipeline

Monitoring,’’ published by the

American Petroleum Institute (API).

This proposal would require that an

operator of a hazardous liquid pipeline

use API 1130 in conjunction with other

information, in designing, evaluating,

operating, maintaining, and testing its

software-based leak detection system.

The use of this document will

significantly advance the acceptance of

leak detection technology on hazardous

liquid pipelines. However, RSPA is not

proposing to require operators to install

such systems.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments in duplicate

by December 29, 1997. Late-filed

comments will be considered to the

extent practicable. Interested persons

should submit as part of their written

comments all the material that is

relevant to any statement of fact or

argument.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

the Docket Facility, U.S. Department of

Transportation, Plaza 401, 400 Seventh

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590–

0001. Comments should identify the

docket number (RSPA–97–2362) and the

RSPA Rulemaking Number (2137–

AD05). Commenters should submit an

original and one copy. Commenters

wishing to receive confirmation of

receipt of their comments must include

a stamped, self-addressed postcard with

their comments. The docket clerk will

date stamp the postcard and return it to

the commenter. Comments will be

available for inspection at the Docket

Facility, located on the plaza level of the

Nassif Building in Room 401. The

Docket Facility is open from 10 a.m. to

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except

on Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lloyd W. Ulrich, telephone:(202) 366–

4556, FAX: (202) 366–4566, e-mail: