37328 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 133 / Thursday, July 15, 2021 / Notices 

committee) and private interests and 

activities, or the appearance of a loss of 

impartiality, as defined by federal 

regulation. The form may be viewed and 

downloaded through the ‘‘Ethics 

Requirements for Advisors’’ link on the 

SAB website at http://www.epa.gov/sab. 

This form should not be submitted as 

part of a nomination. 

The approved policy under which the 

EPA SAB Office selects members for 

subcommittees and review panels is 

described in the following document: 

Overview of the Panel Formation 

Process at the Environmental Protection 

Agency Science Advisory Board (EPA– 

SAB–EC–02–010), which is posted on 

the SAB website at http://www.epa.gov/ 

sab. 

V. Khanna Johnston, 

Deputy Director, Science Advisory Board Staff 

Office. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15013 Filed 7–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[DA 21–778; FR ID 37559] 

Announcement of Next Meeting of the 

Consumer Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

next meeting date, time, and agenda of 

the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee 

(Committee), a federal advisory 

committee established under the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA). 

DATES: September 10, 2021, from 

10:30AM to 2:30PM EST. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

remotely using an internet 

videoconferencing platform and 

publicly available for viewing via a live 

stream on the Commission’s website. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Marshall, Designated Federal 

Officer, FCC Consumer Advisory 

Committee, Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, 45 L 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20554; 

phone: 202–418–2809 (voice or Relay); 

email: scott.marshall@fcc.gov; or 

Gregory V. Haledjian, Deputy 

Designated Federal Officer, FCC 

Consumer Advisory Committee, 

Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

Bureau, Federal Communications 

Commission, 45 L Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20554; phone: 202– 

418–7440; email: gregory.haledjian@

fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Public 

Notice, DA 21–778, released June 30, 

2021, announcing the date, time, and 

agenda of the Committee’s September 

10, 2021 meeting. At this meeting, the 

Committee will receive presentations 

regarding recent Commission activities 

affecting consumers and will discuss 

upcoming developments of interest to 

consumers. 

The meeting is open to members of 

the public and available via live stream 

at www.fcc.gov/live. The public also 

may follow a summary of the meeting 

on Twitter@fcc or via the Commission’s 

Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ 

fcc. Members of the public may submit 

questions that arise during the meeting 

to livequestions@fcc.gov. 

Open captioning will be provided for 

the live stream. Other reasonable 

accommodations for people with 

disabilities are available upon request. 

To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(Braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an email to 

FCC504@fcc.gov or call the FCC’s 

Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice). 

Consult the Committee’s web page at 

www.fcc.gov/consumer-advisorycommittee for further Committee 

information. 

Comments to the Committee may be 

submitted through the Designated 

Federal Officer or the Deputy 

Designated Federal Officer at the above 

email addresses. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Gregory Haledjian, 

Legal Advisor, Consumer and Governmental 

Affairs Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15067 Filed 7–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[CG Docket Nos. 03–123 and 13–24; DA 21– 

753; FR ID 36290] 

Comment Sought on Request for 

Freeze of IP CTS Compensation Level 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the 

Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

Bureau (Bureau) of the Federal 

Communications Commission 

(Commission) seeks comment on a 

request by six of the seven currently 

certified providers of internet Protocol 

(IP) Captioned Telephone Service (IP 

CTS) to defer the reduction in the per 

minute level of Telecommunications 

Relay Service (TRS) Fund support for IP 

CTS previously ordered by the 

Commission. 

DATES: Comments are due July 30, 2021 

and replies are due August 9, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments and replies may 

be filed, identified by CG Docket Nos. 

03–123 and 13–24, using the 

Commission’s Electronic Comment 

Filing System (ECFS). 

• Electronic Filers: Comments may be 

filed electronically using the internet by 

accessing the ECFS: https://

www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings. 

• Paper Filers: Parties who choose to 

file by paper must file an original and 

one copy of each filing. If more than one 

docket or rulemaking number appears in 

the caption of this proceeding, filers 

must submit two additional copies for 

each additional docket or rulemaking 

number. 

Æ Filings can be sent by hand or 

messenger delivery, by commercial 

overnight courier, or by first-class or 

overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All 

filings must be addressed to the 

Commission’s Secretary, Office of the 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

Æ Currently, the Commission does not 

accept any hand delivered or messenger 

delivered filings as a temporary measure 

taken to help protect the health and 

safety of individuals, and to mitigate the 

transmission of COVID–19. In the event 

that the Commission announces the 

lifting of COVID–19 restrictions, a filing 

window will be opened at the 

Commission’s office located at 9050 

Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, 

Maryland 20701. 

Æ Commercial overnight mail (other 

than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail 

and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 

Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 

20701. 

Æ U.S. Postal Service first-class, 

Express, and Priority mail must be 

addressed to 45 L Street NE, 

Washington DC 20554. 

Æ During the time the Commission’s 

building is closed to the general public 

and until further notice, if more than 

one docket or rulemaking number 

appears in the caption of a proceeding, 

paper filers need not submit two 

additional copies for each additional 

docket or rulemaking number; an 

original and one copy are sufficient. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Wallace, Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at: (202) 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 133 / Thursday, July 15, 2021 / Notices 37329 

418–2716; email: William.Wallace@

fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Public 

Notice, DA 21–753, in CG Docket Nos. 

03–123 and 13–24, released on June 25, 

2021. To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(Braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an email to fcc504@

fcc.gov or call the Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 

418–0530. 

Synopsis 

1. On September 30, 2020, the 

Commission adopted Misuse of Internet 

Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone 

Service; Telecommunications Relay 

Services and Speech-to-Speech Services 

for Individuals with Hearing and Speech 

Disabilities, Report and Order, Order on 

Reconsideration, and Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, published at 85 

FR 64971, October 14, 2020, and 86 FR 

7681, February 1, 2021. Pursuant to the 

Report and Order, TRS Fund 

compensation for the provision of IP 

CTS is to be reduced from the current 

level of $1.42 per minute to $1.30 per 

minute, effective July 1, 2021. 

2. The Joint Providers contend that 

deferring the scheduled compensation 

reduction would better enable the 

Commission to consider the impact on 

compensation rates before adopting 

changes in applicable service-quality 

standards, as proposed in the Further 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The 

Joint Providers point out that the 

currently scheduled compensation 

adjustment follows a series of previous 

adjustments ordered by the Commission 

over a three-year period, with the goal 

of bringing TRS Fund compensation 

into line with reasonable cost, and that 

these prior adjustments reduced perminute IP CTS compensation from 

$1.9467 (in the 2017–18 Fund Year) to 

the current $1.42 level. 

3. The Joint Providers also assert that 

‘‘significant uncertainty as to future 

costs and demand’’ has resulted from 

the ‘‘protracted impact of the [COVID– 

19] pandemic’’ and the consequent 

adjustments made by IP CTS providers 

‘‘to ensure high quality access for 

users.’’ As a result, the Joint Providers 

argue, ‘‘a prudent approach is to halt 

further rate reductions, determine the 

appropriate standards that will be 

adopted for IP CTS, determine the 

impact of those standards on 

normalized costs (i.e., not impacted by 

a worldwide pandemic), and determine 

a long-term rate methodology that 

ensures continued functional 

equivalence, innovation, and consumer 

choice for IP CTS users.’’ 

4. The Bureau seeks comment on the 

Joint Providers’ request. In particular, 

because there is insufficient information 

in the record to evaluate some of the 

assertions in the request, and because 

the Commission’s analysis of the issues 

raised should be data driven, the Bureau 

seeks additional information on the 

following: 

• Current estimates are that $1.30 is 

substantially higher than the average 

per-minute IP CTS cost projected for 

2021–22. The $1.30 per-minute 

compensation rate was adopted based 

on pre-COVID–19 estimates of average 

per-minute cost. To date, the impact of 

the COVID–19 pandemic has been to 

reduce average per-minute IP CTS costs 

substantially below the $1.30 cost-based 

rate adopted by the Commission. Based 

on providers’ cost and demand 

projections submitted in March 2021, 

the TRS Fund administrator estimates a 

weighted average cost for IP CTS 

(including a 10% operating margin) of 

$1.1169 per minute—approximately 

14% lower than the scheduled $1.30 

compensation. Have providers revised 

their projections of 2021–22 costs and 

demand? If so, the Bureau seeks detailed 

information about such revised 

projections and the basis on which they 

were revised, to enable a determination 

of the likelihood that average perminute costs (plus operating margin) for 

the 2021–22 Fund Year will exceed the 

$1.30 level. Is there other reliable data 

supporting a compensation freeze at the 

$1.42 level? 

• The $1.30 per-minute rate that is 

scheduled to become effective July 1 

will expire at the end of the 2021–22 

Fund Year. Is freezing the rate at a 

higher level necessary at this time, or 

could the Commission effectively 

address the impact of possible changes 

in service-quality standards when 

setting compensation for the subsequent 

rate period? 

• While the Commission has 

proposed that metric standards be 

developed for IP CTS caption delay and 

accuracy, no such standards have been 

adopted to date. Nonetheless, the 

Bureau seeks information about any 

investments in quality and technology 

improvements currently being 

considered by providers. To what extent 

could such investments be expected to 

cause a net increase in a provider’s perminute service costs during the 2021–22 

Fund Year? 

• Given the industry’s recent 

innovation, development, and 

investment in automatic speech 

recognition, to what extent could such 

investment in quality and technology 

improvements result in a decrease in 

per-minute costs? 

• If the Commission were to ‘‘freeze’’ 

IP CTS compensation at the current 

$1.42 level, what increase would be 

needed in the proposed TRS funding 

requirement and the contribution factor 

for support of IP CTS? If such action 

were to be taken after the $1.30 

compensation level becomes effective, 

should the Commission ‘‘true up’’ 

compensation retroactively to July 1? 

How should such a true-up be handled? 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Gregory Haledjian, 

Legal Advisor, Consumer and Governmental 

Affairs Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15008 Filed 7–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[OMB 3060–0874; FR ID 37712] 

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.’’ 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. 

DATES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be 

submitted on or before August 16, 2021. 

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 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES