Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 126 /Wednesday, July 1, 1998 / Proposed Rules 35901

1See 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, see 5 U.S.C. 601 et

seq., has been amended by the Contract with

America Advancement Act of 1996 Public Law No.

104–121, 110 Stat. 847 (1996) (CWAAA). Title II of

the CWAAA is ‘‘The Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996’’ (SBREFA).

2See 5 U.S.C. 604.

3 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3).

4 Id.; 5 U.S.C. 601(6).

5 5 U.S.C. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the

definition of ‘‘small business concern’’ in 15 U.S.C.

632). Pursuant to the RFA, the statutory definition

of a small business applies ‘‘unless an agency, after

consultation with the Office of Advocacy of the

Small Business Administration and after

opportunity for public comment, establishes one or

more definitions of such terms which are

appropriate to the activities of the agency and

publishes such definition(s) in the Federal Register.

5 U.S.C. 601(3).

6Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632 (1996).

shall be accompanied by remittance of

a $177 filing fee.

* * * * *

By the Commission.

Joseph C. Polking,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–17451 Filed 6–30–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6730–01–M

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 2

[CI Docket No. 98–69; FCC 98–97]

Importation of Radio Frequency

Devices Capable of Causing Harmful

Interference

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The Commission has issued

an Order and Notice of Proposed Rule

Making. The Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes that

entities submit FCC Form 740 directly

to the U.S. Customs Service (Customs)

rather than be required to file duplicate

declarations with the FCC and Customs

and to modify the marketing rules

affecting devices imported solely for

export. Under the first proposal, only

the few remaining entities that do not

file the Form 740 electronically with

Customs will be affected. These entities

will be required to file Form 740 with

Customs only. Eliminating the

requirement to file duplicative

information with the FCC reduces the

administrative burden on filers,

particularly small businesses, and

eliminates an FCC record process that is

no longer necessary. The modification

under the second proposal will improve

our ability to enforce the equipment

authorization rules by eliminating a

loophole that has resulted in the

marketing and selling of devices that

could not be authorized in the U.S.

DATES: Comments are due July 31, 1998,

reply comments are due August 17,

1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan

Emrick of the Compliance and

Information Bureau at (202) 418–1175.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Notice of

Proposed Rule Making, CI Docket No.

98–69, FCC 98–97, adopted May 18,

1998, and released June 5, 1998. The

full text of this Order and Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking is available for

inspection and copying during normal

business hours in the FCC Reference

Center (Room 239) 1919 M Street, NW,

Washington, DC. The complete text may

be purchased from the Commission’s

copy contractor, International

Transcription Services, 2100 M Street

NW, Washington, DC 20037, telephone

(202) 857–3800 (phone), (202) 857–3805

(facsimile), 1231 20th St., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20036.

Summary of Proposed Rule Making

1. In this Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, we seek comment on two

proposals involving the importation of

radio frequency devices. First, we

propose that entities submit FCC Form

740 directly to the U.S. Customs Service

(Customs) rather than be required to file

duplicate declarations with the FCC and

Customs. Under this proposal, only the

few remaining entities that do not file

the Form 740 electronically with

Customs will be affected. These entities

will be required to file Form 740 with

Customs only. Any compliance

information needed by the FCC is

infrequently needed on a case by case

basis and would be readily available

from Customs. Eliminating the

requirement to file duplicative

information with the FCC reduces the

administrative burden on filers,

particularly small businesses, and

eliminates an FCC record process that is

no longer necessary.

2. Next, we seek comment on our

proposal to modify the marketing rules

affecting devices imported solely for

export. This modification will improve

our ability to enforce the equipment

authorization rules by eliminating a

loophole that has resulted in the

marketing and selling of devices that

could not be authorized in the U.S.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

3. As required by the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA),1 the Commission

has prepared an Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) of the

expected economic impact on small

entities by the policies and rules

proposed in this Order and Notice of

Proposed Rule Making (Notice). Written

public comments are requested on the

IRFA. Comments must be identified as

responses to the IRFA and must be filed

by the deadlines for comments in the

Notice. The Office of Public Affairs,

Reference Operations Division will send

a copy of this Notice, including the

IRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy

of the Small Business Administration.2

I. Need For and Purpose of This Action

4. This Notice reexamines the rules

specifying procedures for importation of

radio frequency devices. It seeks

information that will assist the

Commission in determining whether

current rules can be simplified and

made more easy to enforce. It will also

reduce the administrative burden on

both the Commission and the public.

II. Description and Estimate of Number

of Small Businesses to Which Rules

Will Apply

5. The RFA directs agencies to

provide a description of, and, where

feasible, an estimate of the number of

small entities that may be affected by

the proposed rules, if adopted.3 The

RFA generally defines the term ‘‘small

entity’’ as having the same meaning as

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small

organizations,’’ and ‘‘small

governmental jurisdiction’’.4 In

addition, the term ‘‘small business’’ has

the same meaning as the term ‘‘small

business concern’’ under the Small

Business Act.5 A small business concern

is one which: (1) Is independently

owned and operated; (2) is not

dominant in its field of operation; and

(3) satisfies any additional criteria

established by the Small Business

Administration (SBA).6 The

Commission will need to receive more

data regarding the brokers who

currently file Forms 740 with the

Commission, rather than filing them

electronically through the U.S. Customs

Service (Customs). We estimate that 800

of these forms are filed per month,

presumably by smaller firms that do not

subscribe to the Customs electronic

filing system due to the relatively small

number of FCC declarations that they

handle. While there is no readily

apparent link between the number of

paper filings per month and the number

of entities submitting the declarations,

we presume most of the entities

involved are small businesses or

individuals. These entities will continue

to be subject to the requirement to

submit FCC Form 740 documents, but

only to one government agency, not two.

They will address and mail only one
35902 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 126 /Wednesday, July 1, 1998 / Proposed Rules

form per declaration, not two, thereby

reducing at least their mailing cost by

half. Other administrative costs, such as

staff time required to complete the form,

will also be significantly reduced.

IV. Description of Projected Reporting,

Recordkeeping and Other Compliance

Requirements

6. There will be no new requirements.

The Notice proposes to eliminate the

requirement to file a copy of Form 740

with the Commission for entities that do

not use the Customs electronic filing

procedures. Those entities will provide

an original Form 740 to Customs with

the shipment, but will not be required

to file a second copy with the FCC.

V. Significant Alternatives and Steps

Taken by Agency To Minimize

Significant Economic Impact on a

Substantial Number of Small Entities

Consistent With Stated Objectives

7. The impact of this Notice will be,

by its nature, a reduction of the burden

on small entities. For example,

eliminating the duplicative filing of the

Form 740 should reduce administrative

overhead, such as processing and

mailing costs for small businesses.

VI. Commission’s Outreach Efforts To

Learn of and Respond to the Views of

Small Entities Pursuant to SBREFA 5

U.S.C. 609

Report to Congress

The Commission will send a copy of

this Order and Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, including this Final

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to

Congress pursuant to the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1996, 5

U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). A summary of the

Order and Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking and this FRFA will also be

published in the Federal Register

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 604(b), and it will

also be sent to the Chief Counsel for

Advocacy of the Small Business

Administration.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 2

Imports.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–17491 Filed 6–30–98; 8:45 am]

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