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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 100491-100492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29222]

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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0174; FR ID 267432]

Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to 
Office of Management and Budget

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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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 January 13, 
2025.

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 [email protected] and to [email protected]. 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

[[Page 100492]]

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 reduce the information 
collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees.''
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0174.
    Title: Sections 73.1212, 76.1615, and 76.1715, Sponsorship 
Identification.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities and Individuals 
or households.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 52,760 respondents, 1,939,422 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.0011 hour-2.166 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; Third party 
disclosure requirement; On occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 154(j), 303(r), 307, 317, and 325(c) of the 
Communications Act, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 347,851 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $2,010,723.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission, in the Second Report and Order, FCC 
24-61, takes steps to ensure clear and reasonable foreign sponsorship 
identification rules. Section 73.1212(j) of the Commission's rules, 47 
CFR 73.1212(j), requires radio and television broadcast stations to 
disclose to their audiences, at the time of broadcast, when material 
aired pursuant to the lease of time on the station has been sponsored, 
paid for, or furnished by a foreign governmental entity. Section 
73.1212(k) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 73.1212(k), imposes 
corresponding obligations on stations with section 325(c) permits. The 
Commission's authority to impose these regulations stems from section 
317 of the Communications Act, which requires broadcast licensees to 
inform their audiences when the station has been paid to air a 
particular program, in furtherance of the longstanding broadcasting 
tenet that the public has a right to know the identity of those that 
solicit its support.
    The foreign sponsorship identification rules require broadcast 
licensees, at the time of entering or renewing a lease agreement 
(unless a once-a-year exception applies), to exercise reasonable 
diligence to ascertain whether a programming disclosure is required. To 
ensure that licensees are complying with their reasonable diligence and 
disclosure obligations, the foreign sponsorship identification rules 
require licensees to memorialize their required inquiries of lessees 
and to maintain records of their programming disclosures and their 
reasonable diligence efforts.
    In the Second Report and Order, the Commission modified the rule's 
information collection requirements by adopting an approach that 
provides licensees with two options for demonstrating that they have 
met their duty of inquiry in seeking to obtain the information needed 
to determine whether the programming provided by a lessee is sponsored 
by a foreign governmental entity. The Commission designed this approach 
to provide licensees with as much flexibility as possible and to 
minimize their paperwork costs and burdens while still ensuring 
compliance with the reasonable diligence requirements.
    One option available to licensees is the use of certifications, 
where both the licensee and the lessee complete a certification 
reflecting the communications and inquiries required under the existing 
rules. Licensees and lessees have the option either to use sample 
certification language set forth in simple, one-page, ``check-box'' 
templates appended to the Second Report and Order or to use language of 
the parties' own choosing. Most licensee and lessee employees should be 
able to complete the forms quickly and readily, based upon their 
existing knowledge and understanding. It is highly unlikely that either 
the licensee or the lessee would need to engage in any type of research 
to respond to the queries contained in the certifications. Notably, 
these are the same inquiries the Commission adopted in the First Report 
and Order, only formatted now as a certification. If licensees and 
lessees prefer not to use the Commission's templates, they may use 
their own certification language, provided that language addresses the 
points listed in Sec.  73.1212(j)(3)(i) through (iii) of the rules, 
which were adopted in the First Report and Order. The Commission 
granted this flexibility to alleviate or minimize costs for licensees 
that already had developed their own certifications based on the 
existing foreign sponsorship identification rules. A lessee's 
certification should convey the information needed to determine whether 
a disclosure is required and the information needed for a broadcast 
disclosure if one is required.
    As an alternative to the certification option, licensees may choose 
to ask their lessees for screenshots of lessees' search results of two 
federal government websites (the Department of Justice's FARA database 
and the Commission's U.S.-based foreign media outlet report). Licensees 
choosing this option must still comply with all other aspects of the 
current rules, as they have been required to do since the compliance 
date of the First Report and Order. Licensees are encouraged to include 
in their lease agreements a requirement for lessees to provide notice 
of any change in status so as to trigger the need for a foreign 
sponsorship disclosure.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-29222 Filed 12-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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