[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 108 (Monday, June 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34263-34265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12014]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0176; OMB 3060-0667; OMB 3060-0996; FR ID 89727]


Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority

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, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or 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. The FCC 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 PRA comments should be submitted on or before August 5, 
2022. 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 Cathy Williams, FCC, via email to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7d2d2f3c3d1b1e1e531a120b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="98c8cad9d8fefbfbb6fff7ee">[email protected]</span></a> and to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0a496b7e6273245d636666636b67794a6c6969246d657c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="99daf8edf1e0b7cef0f5f5f0f8f4ead9fffafab7fef6ef">[email protected]</span></a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB Control Number: 3060-0176.
    Title: Section 73.1510, Experimental Authorizations.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business and other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 230 respondents; 230 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2.25-5.25 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 983 hours.
    Total Annual Costs: $231,250.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this collection of

[[Page 34264]]

information is contained in Section 154(i) of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirements contained 
in 47 CFR 73.1510 require that a licensee of an AM, FM, and TV 
broadcast station to file an informal application with the FCC to 
request an experimental authorization to conduct technical 
experimentation directed toward improvement of the technical phases of 
operation and service. This request shall describe the nature and 
purpose of experimentation to be conducted, the nature of the 
experimental signal transmission, and the proposed hours and duration 
of the experimentation. The data are used by FCC staff to maintain 
complete technical information about a broadcast station and to ensure 
that such experimentation does not cause interference to other 
broadcast stations.

    OMB Control Number: 3060-0667.
    Title: Section 76.630(a), Compatibility with Consumer Electronic 
Equipment.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 1 respondent, 50,001 
responses.
    Estimated Hours per Response: .017-3 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 853 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $1,550.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 
Section 4(i) and Section 632 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended.
    Needs and Uses: The information collection requirements contained 
in 47 CFR 76.630(a) state a cable system operator shall not scramble or 
otherwise encrypt signals carried on the basic service tier. Requests 
for waivers of this prohibition must demonstrate either a substantial 
problem with theft of basic tier service or a strong need to scramble 
basic signals for other reasons. As part of this showing, cable 
operators are required to notify subscribers by mail of waiver 
requests. The notice to subscribers must be mailed no later than thirty 
calendar days from the date the request waiver was filed with the 
Commission, and cable operators must inform the Commission in writing, 
as soon as possible, of that notification date. The notification to 
subscribers must state: On (date of waiver request was filed with the 
Commission), (cable operator's name) filed with the Federal 
Communications Commission a request for waiver of the rule prohibiting 
scrambling of channels on the basic tier of service. 47 CFR 76.630(a). 
The request for waiver states (a brief summary of the waiver request). 
A copy of the request for waiver is on file for public inspection at 
(the address of the cable operator's local place of business).
    Individuals who wish to comment on this request for waiver should 
mail comments to the Federal Communications Commission by no later than 
30 days from (the date the notification was mailed to subscribers). 
Those comments should be addressed to the: Federal Communications 
Commission, Media Bureau, Washington, DC 20554, and should include the 
name of the cable operator to whom the comments are applicable. 
Individuals should also send a copy of their comments to (the cable 
operator at its local place of business). Cable operators may file 
comments in reply no later than 7 days from the date subscriber 
comments must be filed.

    OMB Control Number: 3060-0996.
    Title: AM Auction Section 307(b) Submissions.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Not-for-profit 
entities; State, local or Tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 210 respondents; 210 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.5-6 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for the information collection requirements is 
contained in Sections 154(i), 307(b) and 309 of the Communications Act 
of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 1,029 hours.
    Total Annual Costs: $2,126,100.
    Needs and Uses: On January 28, 2010, the Commission adopted a First 
Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``First 
R&O'') in MB Docket No. 09-52, FCC 10-24. The First R&O adopted changes 
to certain procedures associated with the award of broadcast radio 
construction permits by competitive bidding, including modifications to 
the manner in which it awards preferences to applicants under the 
provisions of Section 307(b). In the First R&O, the Commission added a 
new Section 307(b) priority that would apply only to Native American 
and Alaska Native Tribes, Tribal consortia, and majority Tribal-owned 
entities proposing to serve Tribal lands. As adopted in the First R&O, 
the priority is only available when all of the following conditions are 
met: (1) The applicant is either a Federally recognized Tribe or Tribal 
consortium, or an entity that is 51 percent or more owned or controlled 
by a Tribe or Tribes; (2) at least 50 percent of the area within the 
proposed station's daytime principal community contour is over that 
Tribe's Tribal lands, in addition to meeting all other Commission 
technical standards; (3) the specified community of license is located 
on Tribal lands; and (4) in the commercial AM service, the applicant 
must propose first or second aural reception service or first local 
commercial Tribal-owned transmission service to the proposed community 
of license, which must be located on Tribal lands. Applicants claiming 
Section 307(b) preferences using these factors will submit information 
to substantiate their claims.
    On March 3, 2011, the Commission adopted a Second Report and Order 
(``Second R&O''), First Order on Reconsideration, and Second Further 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making in MB Docket No. 09-52, FCC 11-28. The 
First Order on Reconsideration modified the initially adopted Tribal 
Priority coverage requirement, by creating an alternate coverage 
standard under criterion (2), enabling Tribes to qualify for the Tribal 
Priority even when their Tribal lands are too small or irregularly 
shaped to comprise 50 percent of a station's signal. In such 
circumstances, Tribes may claim the priority (i) if the proposed 
principal community contour encompasses 50 percent or more of that 
Tribe's Tribal lands, but does not cover more than 50 percent of the 
Tribal lands of a non-applicant Tribe; (ii) serves at least 2,000 
people living on Tribal lands, and (iii) the total population on Tribal 
lands residing within the station's service contour constitutes at 
*53723 least 50 percent of the total covered population, with provision 
for waivers as necessary to effectuate the goals of the Tribal 
Priority. This modification will now enable Tribes with small or 
irregularly shaped lands to qualify for the Tribal Priority.
    The modifications to the Commission's allotment and assignment 
policies adopted in the Second R&O included a rebuttable ``Urbanized 
Area service presumption'' under Priority (3), whereby an application 
to locate or relocate a station as the first local transmission service 
at a community located within an Urbanized Area, that

[[Page 34265]]

would place a daytime principal community signal over 50 percent or 
more of an Urbanized Area, or that could be modified to provide such 
coverage, will be presumed to be a proposal to serve the Urbanized Area 
rather than the proposed community. In the case of an AM station, the 
determination of whether a proposed facility ``could be modified'' to 
cover 50 percent or more of an Urbanized Area will be made based on the 
applicant's certification in the Section 307(b) showing that there 
could be no rule-compliant minor modifications to the proposal, based 
on the antenna configuration or site, and spectrum availability as of 
the filing date, that could cause the station to place a principal 
community contour over 50 percent or more of an Urbanized Area. To the 
extent the applicant wishes to rebut the Urbanized Area service 
presumption, the Section 307(b) showing must include a compelling 
showing (a) that the proposed community is truly independent from the 
Urbanized Area; (b) of the community's specific need for an outlet of 
local expression separate from the Urbanized Area; and (c) the ability 
of the proposed station to provide that outlet.
    In the case of applicants for new AM stations making a showing 
under Priority (4), other public interest matters, an applicant that 
can demonstrate that its proposed station would provide third, fourth, 
or fifth reception service to at least 25 percent of the population in 
the proposed primary service area, where the proposed community of 
license has two or fewer transmission services, may receive a 
dispositive Section 307(b) preference under Priority (4). An applicant 
for a new AM station that cannot demonstrate that it would provide the 
third, fourth, or fifth reception service to the required population at 
a community with two or fewer transmission services may also, under 
Priority (4), calculate a ``service value index'' as set forth in the 
case of Greenup, Kentucky and Athens, Ohio, Report and Order, 2 FCC Rcd 
4319 (MMB 1987). If the applicant can demonstrate a 30 percent or 
greater difference in service value index between its proposal and the 
next highest ranking proposal, it can receive a dispositive Section 
307(b) preference under Priority (4). Except under these circumstances, 
dispositive Section 307(b) preferences will not be granted under 
Priority (4) to applicants for new AM stations. The Commission 
specifically stated that these modified allotment and assignment 
procedures will not apply to pending applications for new AM stations 
and major modifications to AM facilities filed during the 2004 a.m. 
Auction 84 filing window.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-12014 Filed 6-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P


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