Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 2, 2024 / Notices 80237 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22581 Filed 10–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[OMB 3060–0819; FR ID 248471] 

Information Collection Being Reviewed 

by the Federal Communications 

Commission 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork burdens, and as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC or 

the Commission) invites the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

take this opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection. 

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 December 2, 

2024. 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. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to 

Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email PRA@

fcc.gov and to nicole.ongele@fcc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information about the 

information collection, contact Nicole 

Ongele, (202) 418–2991. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FCC 

may not conduct or sponsor a collection 

of information unless it displays a 

currently valid 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 Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) control 

number. 

OMB Control Number: 3060–0819. 

Title: Bridging the Digital Divide for 

Low-Income Consumers, Lifeline and 

Link Up Reform and Modernization, 

Telecommunications Carriers Eligible 

for Universal Service Support. 

Form No.: FCC Forms 481, 497, 555, 

5629, 5630, and 5631. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents: Individuals or 

households, businesses or other forprofit institutions, and not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Number of Respondents and 

Responses: 25,111,368 respondents; 

26,878,712 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: 

0.0167–125 hours. 

Frequency of Response: Annual, 

biennial, monthly, daily and on 

occasion reporting requirements, 

recordkeeping requirement and thirdparty disclosure requirement. 

Obligation to Respond: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits and Voluntary. 

Statutory authority is contained in 

Sections 1, 4(i), 5, 201, 205, 214, 219, 

220, 254, 303(r), and 403 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, and section 706 of the 

Communications Act of 1996, as 

amended; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 

201, 205, 214, 219, 220, 254, 303(r), 403, 

and 1302. 

Total Annual Burden: 6,534,599 

hours. 

Total Annual Cost: $937,500. 

Needs and Uses: On November 15, 

2023, the Commission adopted the 

Supporting Survivors of Domestic and 

Sexual Violence et al., WC Docket Nos. 

22–238, 11–42, 21–450, Report and 

Order, FCC 23–96 (2023) (Safe 

Connections Act Order). The Safe 

Connections Act Order, among other 

things, adopted rules to address the 

emergency communications portions of 

the Safe Connections Act. The Order 

also required that surveys be developed 

and sent to stakeholder groups working 

directly with survivors in order to 

conduct a program evaluation, 

including examining the impact and 

effectiveness of the support offered to 

survivors. The Commission is 

requesting the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) approval for this 

revised information collection to 

implement the new requirements 

captured in the Safe Connections Act 

Survey in the Safe Connections Act 

Order, FCC 23–96. The revision requires 

that surveys be developed and sent to 

stakeholder groups working directly 

with survivors in order to conduct a 

program evaluation, including 

examining the impact and effectiveness 

of the support offered to survivors. 

The Commission first adopted rules 

for the Lifeline program in 1997. On 

May 8, 1997, the Commission adopted 

rules establishing, among other things, 

that eligible telecommunications 

carriers (ETCs) offering Lifeline and 

Link Up to qualifying low-income 

customers would receive reimbursement 

from the federal Universal Service Fund 

(USF or Fund) for low-income support. 

On April 2, 2004, in its Report and 

Order and Further Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (Lifeline Order), the 

Commission directed ETCs to certify 

their Lifeline/Link Up subscribers’ 

eligibility for the program and to verify 

a portion of their subscribers’ eligibility 

on an annual basis. States that operated 

their own Lifeline/Link Up programs 

were allowed to develop their own 

certification procedures (referred to as 

non-federal default states). The Lifeline 

Order also required ETCs to submit to 

the Universal Service Administrative 

Company (USAC or Administrator) 

proof that they certified that their 

Lifeline subscribers are eligible for 

Lifeline, and proof that they verified a 

portion of their subscribers’ continued 

eligibility for Lifeline. 

On September 23, 2011, the 

Commission issued an Inquiry into 

Disbursement Process for the Universal 

Service Fund Low Income Program 

seeking comment on a proposal for 

disbursing USF low-income support to 

ETCs based upon claims for 

reimbursement of actual support 

payments made, instead of projected 

claims for support. On February 6, 2012, 

the Commission issued its Report and 

Order and Further Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (2012 Lifeline Order). In the 

2012 Lifeline Order, the Commission 

adopted the proposal to file the FCC 

Form 497 monthly and changed the 

low-income disbursement process from 

payments based on projected subscriber 

counts to payments based on actual 

subscriber counts. After the 2012 

Lifeline Order, ETCs were required to 

recertify the eligibility of their entire 

subscriber base annually. Starting in 

2013, ETCs could elect to have USAC 

conduct the annual recertification 

process on their behalf. 

On June 22, 2015, the Commission 

released a Second Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, Order on 

Reconsideration, Second Report and 

Order, and Memorandum Opinion and 

Order (2015 Lifeline Order). The 

Commission adopted several rules in 

the 2015 Lifeline Order to: strengthen 

the document retention requirements; 


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80238 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 2, 2024 / Notices 

ensure that only ETCs directly serving 

low-income customers receive 

reimbursement under the Lifeline 

program; and require ETCs to use a 

uniform snapshot date to request 

reimbursement from USAC for the 

provision of Lifeline support. 

On April 27, 2016, the Commission 

adopted the Lifeline and Link Up 

Reform and Modernization et al., WC 

Docket Nos. 11–42, 09–197, 10–90, 

Third Report and Order, Further Report 

and Order, and Order on 

Reconsideration, FCC 16–38 (2016) 

(2016 Lifeline Order) The 2016 Lifeline 

Order changes included requiring ETCs 

to certify compliance with the new 

minimum service requirements, moving 

to rolling annual subscriber 

recertification, streamlining the firstyear ETC audit requirements, and 

eliminating the temporary address 

requirements. 

The Commission’s decision to 

transition to a centralized National 

Verifier was outlined in detail in the 

2016 Lifeline Order. The National 

Verifier was established to make 

eligibility determinations and perform a 

variety of other functions necessary to 

enroll subscribers into the Lifeline 

program. The National Verifier verifies 

Lifeline subscriber eligibility, checks for 

duplicate Lifeline subscribers, conducts 

recertification of subscribers, and 

calculates support payments to ETCs. 

ETCs maintain ultimate responsibility 

for the accuracy of information 

submitted to the National Verifier and 

complying with the Lifeline program’s 

rules. The National Verifier was 

launched over a period of several years 

from late 2017 through December 2020, 

serving all states, territories, and the 

District of Columbia. 

On October 30, 2019, the Commission 

adopted the Bridging the Digital Divide 

for Low-Income Consumers, WC Docket 

Nos. 17–287, 11–42, 09–197, Fifth 

Report and Order, Memorandum 

Opinion and Order and Order on 

Reconsideration, and Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 19–111 

(2019) (2019 Lifeline Order). The 2019 

Lifeline Order restored the states’ lawful 

role in designating eligible 

telecommunications carriers and 

eliminated the Lifeline Broadband 

Provider designation category and its 

associated designation procedures. The 

Order also implemented a number of 

administrative changes to improve the 

integrity of the Lifeline eligibility 

verification, enrollment, and 

recertification processes. 

On October 20, 2023, the Commission 

adopted the Connect America Fund et 

al., WC Docket No. 10–90 et al. WT 

Docket No. 10–208, Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking and Report and Order, FCC 

23–87 (Oct. 20, 2023) (Administrative 

Order). In the Administrative Order, the 

Commission modified, in relevant part, 

section 205 of the Commission’s rules, 

to require an ETC that intends to 

relinquish its ETC designation to 

provide: (1) advance notice to the state 

commission and to the Commission of 

such intention to relinquish, and (2) 

notice to the Commission of the state 

authority’s decision to permit or deny 

such relinquishment, within 10 days of 

its decision. These filings must be 

submitted regardless of whether the ETC 

is currently receiving federal support. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22716 Filed 10–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[OMB 3060–1086; FR ID 248413] 

Information Collection Being 

Submitted for Review and Approval to 

Office of Management and Budget 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: 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 Commission) invites the general 

public and other Federal Agencies to 

take this opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection. 

Pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the FCC 

seeks specific comment on how it might 

‘‘further reduce the information 

collection burden for small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 

employees.’’ 

DATES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted on or before November 1, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Find this particular information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

30-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the search 

function. Your comment must be 

submitted into www.reginfo.gov per the 

above instructions for it to be 

considered. In addition to submitting in 

www.reginfo.gov also send a copy of 

your comment on the proposed 

information collection to Cathy 

Williams, FCC, via email to PRA@

fcc.gov and to Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov. 

Include in the comments the OMB 

control number as shown in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information or copies of the 

information collection, contact Cathy 

Williams at (202) 418–2918. To view a 

copy of this information collection 

request (ICR) submitted to OMB: (1) go 

to the web page http://www.reginfo.gov/ 

public/do/PRAMain, (2) look for the 

section of the web page called 

‘‘Currently Under Review,’’ (3) click on 

the downward-pointing arrow in the 

‘‘Select Agency’’ box below the 

‘‘Currently Under Review’’ heading, (4) 

select ‘‘Federal Communications 

Commission’’ from the list of agencies 

presented in the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box, 

(5) click the ‘‘Submit’’ button to the 

right of the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box, (6) 

when the list of FCC ICRs currently 

under review appears, look for the Title 

of this ICR and then click on the ICR 

Reference Number. A copy of the FCC 

submission to OMB will be displayed. 

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 


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