33074 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Proposed Rules

information services, or in the provision

of parts or services to providers of

telecommunications services and

information services.’’ In implementing

Section 257, the Commission must

‘‘promote the policies and purposes of

this Act favoring diversity of media

voices, vigorous economic competition,

technological advancement, and

promotion of the public interest,

convenience and necessity.’’ Every three

years following the completion of the

market barriers proceeding, the

Commission must report to Congress on

regulations that have been issued to

eliminate barriers and any statutory

barriers that the Commission

recommends be eliminated. This Notice

of Inquiry commences our omnibus

Section 257 proceeding.

44. Objectives: The Commission seeks

to develop a full record of profile data

on the type and scope of market entry

barriers in the telecommunications

industry faced by small businesses. To

this end, the Commission solicits

specific information regarding financing

sources and terms, services provided,

markets served, geographic areas of

operation, and employee workforce. The

Commission also seeks information

concerning obstacles small

telecommunications businesses

encounter, as well as any unique

obstacles that such businesses owned by

women and minorities encounter. We

also will undertake specific initiatives

that further the objective of Section 257

to eliminate market entry barriers for

small businesses. The record developed

in connection with these initiatives also

will assist us in achieving our mandate

under Section 309(j) of the

Communications Act to disseminate

licenses for auctionable spectrum-based

services to small businesses, rural

telephone companies, and businesses

owned by women and minorities, as

well as in fulfilling our general

obligation to serve the public interest.

45. Legal Basis: The proposed action

is authorized under the

Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C.

257.

46. Reporting, Recordkeeping, and

Other Compliance Requirements: None

47. Description, Potential Impact and

Number of Small Entities Effected: None

48. Federal Rules Which Overlap,

Duplicate or Conflict With These Rules:

None

49. Significant Alternatives

Minimizing Impact on Small Entities

and Consistent with Stated Objectives:

This NOI solicits comment on a variety

of issues and recommendations that

impact small businesses. Any additional

significant issues or recommendations

related to small businesses in the

telecommunications industry presented

in the comments also will be

considered.

50. Paperwork Reduction Act: The

requirements proposed herein have

been analyzed with respect to the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and

found to impose no new or modified

information collection requirements.

VI. Procedural Matters

51. This proceeding is exempt from ex

parte restraints or disclosure

requirements, as provided in Section

1.1204(a)(4) of our rules.

52. Parties must file initial comments

on or before July 24, 1996 and reply

comments on or before August 23, 1996.

To file formally in this proceeding,

interested parties must file an original

and six copies of all comments. If

parties want each Commissioner to

receive a personal copy of their

comments, they must file an original

plus ten copies.

53. Parties should send comments to:

Office of the Secretary, Federal

Communications Commission,

Washington, D.C. 20554. Parties also

should send one copy of any documents

filed in this docket with the

Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Services,

Room 246, 1919 M Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20554. Comments will

be available for public inspection during

regular business hours in the FCC

Reference Center (Room 239) of the

Federal Communications Commission,

1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20554. For further information, contact

Linda L. Haller in the Office of General

Counsel at (202) 418–1720 or S. Jenell

Trigg in the Office of Communications

Business Opportunities at (202) 418–

0990.

54. We also ask parties to submit

comments and reply comments on

diskette in addition to and not as a

substitute for the formal filing

requirements stated above. Parties

submitting diskettes should submit

them to S. Jenell Trigg, Office of

Communications Business

Opportunities, Federal Communications

Commission, Suite 644, 1919 M Street,

N.W., Washington D.C. 20554.

Submissions should be on a 3.5 inch

diskette formatted in an IBM compatible

form using WordPerfect 5.1 for

Windows software. The diskette should

be submitted in ‘‘read only’’ mode. The

diskette should be accompanied by a

cover letter and clearly labelled with the

party’s name, proceeding, type of

pleading (comment or reply comment),

and the date of submission.

VII. Ordering Clause

55. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that,

pursuant to our authority under the

Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C.

4(i) and 403, an inquiry IS

COMMENCED to identify and eliminate

market entry barriers for small

businesses in the provision and

ownership of telecommunications and

information services in the

telecommunications market.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–16259 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

47 CFR Part 64

[CC Docket No. 96–128; DA 96–983]

Pay Telephone Reclassification and

Compensation Provisions of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of

time.

SUMMARY: In this Order, we are

extending the comments and reply

comments deadlines in order to grant to

the parties more time to address all

issues raised in the Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking. This Order is issued on the

Commission’s own motion because of

the relatively short time that was

accorded to the parties to comment on

the important issues.

DATES: Comments due: July 1, 1996;

Reply Comments due: July 15, 1996.

ADDRESSES: In addition to filing

comments with the Secretary, a copy of

any comments on the information

collections contained herein should be

submitted to Dorothy Conway, Federal

Communications Commission, Room

234, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington,

DC 20554, or via the Internet to

dconway@fcc.gov and to Timothy Fain,

OMB Desk Officer, 10236 NEOB, 725 -

17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC

20503 or via the Internet to

fainlt@al.eop.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Carowitz, Enforcement

Division, Common Carrier Bureau, (202)

418–0960. For additional information

concerning the information collections

contained in this Further Notice of

Proposed Rule Making contact Dorothy

Conway at 202–418–0217, or via the

Internet at dconway@fcc.gov.
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Proposed Rules 33075

1Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 96–254

(rel. Jun. 6, 1996); 61 FR 31481, June 20, 1996.

2As a national trade association of independent

pay telephone companies, APCC claims that the

comment process will require coordination with

member companies and allied state associations.

APCC claims that this process cannot be completed

effectively in the time allotted.

3See 47 CFR § 1.46(a).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Order

Adopted: June 20, 1996; Released: June 20,

1996.

1. On June 14, 1996, the American

Public Communications Council

(‘‘APCC’’) filed a motion asking that we

extend the deadline for filing comments

in the above-captioned proceeding 1

from June 27, 1996, to July 1, 1996, a

period of four days. APCC also requests

a corresponding extension of the due

date for reply comments from July 8,

1996, to July 12, 1996. In support of its

motion, APCC states that virtually every

issue in the proceeding vitally affects its

members and that, as a result, additional

days are required to effectively prepare

comments.2 Also on June 14, 1996,

Southwestern Bell Telephone Company

(‘‘SWBT’’) filed a motion for an

extension of the deadline for reply

comments to July 12, 1996, although it

does not request a change in the

deadline for the initial comment cycle.

SWBT argues that due to the

forthcoming federal holiday, there will

not be a sufficient number of business

days for parties to respond adequately to

the initial comments.

2. It is the policy of the Commission

that extensions of time are not routinely

granted.3 However, in light of the

important issues presented in this

proceeding and the relatively short

period of time accorded to the parties to

comment on those issues, we believe

that the public interest would be served

by granting all parties a brief extension

of the deadlines for the comments and

reply comments. While we take this

action on our motion, we nevertheless

believe that this Order will grant relief

that is substantially similar to that

requested by APCC and SWBT.

3. Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant

to Sections 4(i), 4(j), and 5(c) of the

Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), and

155(c), and the authority delegated

thereunder pursuant to Sections 0.91

and 0.291 of the Commission’s rules, 47

CFR §§ 0.91 and 0.291, that the deadline

for filing comments in the abovecaptioned proceeding is extended to

July 1, 1996, and the deadline for filing

reply comments is extended to July 15,

1996. Because they concern issues that

are now moot, the motions of APCC and

SWBT for an extension of time are

dismissed.

Federal Communications Commission.

Robert W. Spangler

Deputy Chief (Policy), Enforcement Division,

Common Carrier Bureau.

[FR Doc. 96–16396 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

49 CFR Part 7

[Docket No. OST–96–1430; Notice 96–17]

RIN 2105–AC58

Public Availability of Information

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: Department of Transportation

proposes to revise regulations

implementing the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552.

This revision updates organizational

changes since the last revision and

streamlines the regulations in order to

make the regulations more useful.

DATES: Comments are due August 26,

1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

addressed to Documentary Services

Division, Attention: Docket Section,

Room PL401, Docket No. OST–96–1430,

Department of Transportation, C–55,

Washington, DC 20590. Any person

wishing acknowledgment that his/her

comments have been received should

include a self-addressed stamped

postcard. Comments received will be

available for public inspection and

copying in the Documentary Services

Division, Room PL401, Department of

Transportation Building, 400 Seventh

Street, SW, Washington, DC, from 10:00

AM to 5:00 PM ET Monday through

Friday except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dorothy A. Chambers, Chief, FOIA

Division, Office of the General Counsel,

C–12, Department of Transportation,

Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202)

366–4542, FAX (202) 366–7152.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

President instituted a Regulatory

Review initiative, for the reinvention of

regulations by eliminating duplicate,

redundant, or unnecessary language and

revising regulations to meet the needs of

users. In response to this initiative, we

have reviewed part 7 and are proposing

to revise this section to update and

streamline information on public

availability of information. We propose

to reorganize this part by combining in

subpart B sections that relate to

information that is publicly available

without a specific request. Similarly, we

have combined sections in subpart C

that address information that must be

requested under FOIA. We have

shortened the descriptions of FOIA

exemptions and propose to delete the

Appendices that set forth redundant

information concerning document

inspection facilities. We propose to

replace these appendices with

provisions in §§ 7.10 and 7.15, which

set forth necessary information

regarding public records available at

Department Docket locations and FOIA

contacts for records requested under the

FOIA.

Analysis of Regulatory Impacts

This amendment is not a ‘‘significant

regulatory action’’ within the meaning

of Executive Order 12866. It is also not

significant within the definition in

DOT’s Regulatory Policies and

Procedures, 49 FR 11034 (1979), in part

because it does not involve any change

in important Departmental policies.

Because the economic impact should be

minimal, further regulatory evaluation

is not necessary. Moreover, I certify that

this proposal will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities.

This proposal does not significantly

affect the environment, and therefore an

environmental impact statement is not

required under the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It has

also been reviewed under Executive

Order 12612, Federalism, and it has

been determined that it does not have

sufficient implications for federalism to

warrant preparation of a Federalism

Assessment.

Finally, the proposal does not contain

any collection of information

requirements, requiring review under

the Paperwork Reduction Act, as

amended.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 7

Freedom of information.

In accordance with the above, DOT

proposes to revise 49 CFR part 7 to read

as follows:

PART 7—PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF

INFORMATION

Subpart A—General Provisions

Sec.

7.1 General.

7.2 Definitions.

Subpart B—Information Required to be

Made Public by the Department

7.3 Publication in the Federal Register.

7.4 Publication Required.