[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58776-58777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23268]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3502-3520), the FCC 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 estimates; 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 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 October
30, 2014. If you anticipate that you will be submitting PRA comments,
but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by
this notice, you should advise the FCC contact listed below as soon as
possible.
ADDRESSES: Submit your PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), via fax at 202-395-5167, or via the
Internet at [email protected] and to
Leslie F. Smith, Office of Managing Director (OMD), Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), via the Internet at
[email protected]. To submit your PRA comments by email, please send
them to: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leslie F. Smith, Office of Managing
Director (OMD), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), at 202-418-
0217, or via the Internet at: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 3060-0411.
Title: Procedures for Formal Complaints.
Form Number: FCC Form 485.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently-approved collection.
Respondents: Individuals or households, business or other for-
profit entities, not-for-profit institutions, federal government, and
state, local, or tribal governments.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 20 respondents; 301 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 1-60 hours.
Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement, on-occasion
reporting requirement, and third party disclosure requirement.
Obligation To Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47
U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 206, 207, 208, 209, 301, 303, 304, 309,
316, 332, and 1302.
Total Annual Burden: 1,349 hours.
Total Annual Cost: $1,847,900.
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: 47 CFR Section 1.731 provides
for confidential treatment of materials disclosed or exchanged during
the course of formal complaint proceedings when the disclosing party
has identified the materials as proprietary or confidential. In the
rare case in which a producing party believes that section 1.731 will
not provide adequate protection for its assorted confidential material,
it may request either that the opposing party consent to greater
protection, or that the staff supervising the proceeding order greater
protection.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: The information collection
requirements may affect individuals or households. As required by the
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and OMB regulations, M-
03-22 (September 22, 2003), the FCC has completed both a system of
records, FCC/EB-5, ``Enforcement Bureau Activity Tracking System,'' and
a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), to cover the collection,
maintenance, use, and disposal of all personally identifiable
information (PII) that may be submitted as part of a formal complaint
filed against a common carrier:
(a) The system of records notice (SORN), FCC/EB-5, ``Enforcement
Bureau Activity Tracking System (EBATS),'' was published in the Federal
Register on December 14, 2010 (75 FR 77872) and became effective on
January 24, 2011. It is posted on the FCC's Privacy Act Web page at:
http://www.fcc.gov/omd/privacyact/records-systems.html.
(b) The initial Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was completed on
May 22, 2009. However, with the approval of the FCC/EB-5, ``EBATS,'' on
January 24, 2011 and supplementation expected in Fall 2014, the
Commission is now updating the PIA to include the information that is
contained in this SORN. Statutory authority for this information
collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 206, 207,
208, 209, 301, 303, 304, 309, 316, 332, and 1302.
Needs and Uses: Sections 206-209 of the Communications Act of 1934,
as amended (the ``Act''), provide the statutory framework for
adjudicating formal complaints against common carriers. To resolve
complaints between providers regarding compliance with data roaming
obligations, Commission Rule 20.12(e) adopts by reference the
procedures already in place for
[[Page 58777]]
resolving Section 208 formal complaints against common carriers, except
that the remedy of damages, is not available for complaints against
commercial mobile data service providers.
Section 208(a) authorizes complaints by any person ``complaining of
anything done or omitted to be done by any common carrier'' subject to
the provisions of the Act.
Section 208(a) states that if a carrier does not satisfy a
complaint or there appears to be any reasonable ground for
investigating the complaint, the Commission shall ``investigate the
matters complained of in such manner and by such means as it shall deem
proper.'' Certain categories of complaints are subject to a statutory
deadline for resolution. See, e.g., 47 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) (imposing a
five-month deadline for complaints challenging the ``lawfulness of a
charge, classification, regulation, or practice''); 47 U.S.C. 271(d)(6)
(imposing a 90-day deadline for complaints alleging that a Bell
Operating Company has ceased to meet conditions imposed in connection
with approval to provide in-region interLATA services). Formal
complaint proceedings before the Commission are similar to civil
litigation in federal district court. In fact, under section 207 of the
Act, a party claiming to be damaged by a common carrier may file its
complaint with the Commission or in any district court of the United
States, ``but such person shall not have the right to pursue both such
remedies'' (47 U.S.C. 207). The Commission has promulgated rules
(Formal Complaint Rules) to govern its formal complaint proceedings
that are similar in many respects to the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure. See 47 CFR Sections 1.720-1.736. These rules require the
submission of information from the parties necessary to create a record
on which the Commission can decide complex legal and factual issues. As
described in section 1.720 of the rules, the Commission resolves formal
complaint proceedings on a written record consisting of a complaint,
answer or response, and joint statement of stipulated facts, disputed
facts and key legal issues, along with all associated affidavits,
exhibits and other attachments.
This collection of information includes the process for submitting
a formal complaint against a common carrier. The Commission uses this
information to determine the sufficiency of complaints and to resolve
the merits of disputes between the parties. The Commission bases its
orders in formal complaint proceedings upon evidence and argument
produced by the parties in accordance with the Formal Complaint Rules.
If the information were not collected, the Commission would not be able
to resolve common carrier-related complaint proceedings, as required by
section 208 of the Act.
In addition, the Commission has adopted most of this formal
complaint process to govern data roaming complaints. Specifically, the
Commission has extended, as applicable, the procedural rules in the
Commission's Part I, Subpart E rules, 47 CFR Sections 1.716-1.718,
1.720, 1.721, and 1.723-1.735, to disputes arising out of the data
roaming rule contained in 47 CFR Section 20.12(e). Therefore, in
addition to being necessary to resolve common carrier-related complaint
proceedings, this collection of information is also necessary to
resolve data roaming-related complaint proceedings.
Federal Communications Commission.
Gloria J. Miles,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary, Office of
the Managing Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-23268 Filed 9-29-14; 8:45 am]
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