[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 63667-63669] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 95-30374] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Parts 64 and 68 [CC Docket No. 87-124; FCC 95-474] Access to Telecommunications Equipment and Services by Persons With Disabilities (Hearing Aid Compatibility) AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: On November 28, 1995, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding hearing aid compatibility of wireline telephones. Rules proposed in the NPRM would require that all wireline telephones in the workplace, confined settings (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes) and hotels and motels eventually would be hearing aid compatible and have volume control. This NPRM contains proposed or modified information collections subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). It has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Section 3507(d) of the PRA. OMB, the general public, and other Federal agencies are invited to comment on the proposed or modified information collections contained in this proceeding. DATES: Written comments by the public on the NPRM and on the proposed and/or modified information collections are due on or before January 12, 1996, and reply comments are due on or before February 16, 1996. Written comments must be submitted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the proposed and/or modified information collections on or before February 12, 1996. ADDRESSES: Office of the Secretary, Room 222, Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20554. 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 [email protected], and to Timothy Fain, OMB Desk Officer, 10236 NEOB, 725--17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20503 or via the Internet to [email protected]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Lipscomb, Attorney, 202/418-2340, Fax 202/418-2345, TTY 202/418-0484, [email protected], Network Services [[Page 63668]] Division, Common Carrier Bureau. For additional information concerning the information collections contained in this NPRM contact Dorothy Conway at 202-418-0217, or via the Internet at [email protected]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This summarizes the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the matter of Access to Telecommunications Equipment and Services by Persons With Disabilities, (CC Docket 87-124, adopted November 28, 1995, and released November 28, 1995). The file is available for inspection and copying during the weekday hour of 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Commission's Reference Center, Room 239, 1919 M Street, N.W., or copies may be purchased from the Commission's duplicating contractor, ITS, Inc., 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140, Washington D.C. 20037, phone 202/857-3800. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 This NPRM contains either a proposed or modified information collection. The Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to comment on the information collections contained in this NPRM, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-13. Public and agency comments are due at the same time as other comments on this NPRM; OMB comments are due 60 days from date of publication of this NPRM in the Federal Register. Comments should address: (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 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. OMB Approval Number: NA. Title: Access to Telecommunications Equipment and Services by Persons With Disabilities, CC Docket No. 87-124. Form No.: NA. Type of Review: New Collection. Respondents: Businesses or other for profit. Number of Respondents: 806,100. Estimated Time per Response: 2 hours. Total Annual Burden: 1,635,000 hours. Needs and Uses: The manufacturing date stamp on telephone equipment is needed for, and will be used for, determining whether a particular telephone is hearing aid compatible. The designation of emergency use hearing aid compatible telephones is needed to provide access to workplace emergency telephones for persons with hearing disabilities until workplaces are required to provide that all workplace telephones are hearing aid compatible. The equipment packaging and instructions information is needed to alert consumers in cases where a packaged telephone is not hearing aid compatible. Analysis of Proceeding: In 1992, the Commission adopted rules implementing the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988, 47 U.S.C. Sec. 610 (HAC Act). In 1993, the Commission suspended portions of the 1992 rules because petitions filed by establishments affected by the regulations stated that the establishments were encountering serious difficulties in their attempts to comply. On March 27, 1995, the Commission announced that an advisory committee, the Hearing Aid Compatibility Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee), would consider whether the rule suspension should be lifted and whether new rules should be proposed. (See 59 FR 60343 (Nov. 23, 1994); 58 FR 1539 (March 27, 1995); and 60 FR 27945 (May 26, 1995). The Committee represented the views and interests of all interested parties, including those of the Commission, telephone equipment manufacturers, employers, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, and persons with disabilities. The Committee's recommendations, adopted by unanimous consent, were filed with the Commission in the Committee's Final Report of August, 1995. The NPRM reflects the recommendations of the Committee. The NPRM seeks comment first, on the Committee's proposal to require hearing aid-compatible telephones in: (1) The non-common areas of the workplace; (2) the patient and residential rooms of confined settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes; and (3) the guest rooms of hotels and motels. Second, the NPRM seeks comment on a proposal that all replacement telephones and all newly purchased telephones should be equipped with volume control, in addition to having electro-magnetic coil hearing aid-compatibility. The NPRM also seeks comment on a proposed rule that would require that all telephones manufactured or imported for use in the United States have a volume control feature, and includes a proposed technical specification for volume control. Third, the NPRM seeks comment on a proposal to modify our rules governing telephone equipment labelling requirements. Fourth, the NPRM seeks comment on proposals to implement additional recommendations of the Committee regarding consumer education. Finally, the NPRM seeks comment on proposed amendments to existing hearing aid compatibility rules for the purpose of clarification. The proposed rules provide, in general, that all wireline telephones in the workplace, in confined settings, and in hotels and motels eventually would be hearing aid compatible, as defined at 47 C.F.R. Section 68.316 (electro-magnetic coil compatibility). The proposed rules would require no testing or retrofitting of existing workplace telephones. Instead, the proposed rules set deadlines that are beyond the normal life-cycle times for the telephones in these establishments to be replaced. The proposed rules also would require volume control for newly acquired and replacement telephones in these establishments, once the Commission's technical standards and implementation rules for volume control are in place. Replacement or retrofitting for volume control also would not be required, and existing inventories of telephones would not be affected by the volume control requirement. The NPRM states that the volume control feature could assist many telephone users, whether they have hearing disabilities, and whether they rely on telephones that are hearing aid compatible. The rules are necessary to implement the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988. If adopted, the proposed rules would increase access by persons with hearing disabilities to telephones provided for emergency use. Under the proposed rules, most workplace telephones would be required to be hearing aid compatible by January 1, 2000. In harmony with the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, establishments with fewer than fifteen employees would be exempt from these requirements. After the applicable date for having hearing aid compatible telephones, employers could presume that their telephones were hearing aid compatible. Any person legitimately on the premises could challenge this presumption with a good faith request for a hearing aid compatible telephone. Upon receipt of such a request, the employer would have fifteen working days to replace any particular telephone [[Page 63669]] that turns out not to be hearing aid compatible. For confined settings, the proposed rules would require that establishments with fifty or more beds make their telephones hearing aid compatible within one year of the Commission's implementing Order, while those with fewer than fifty beds would have to comply within two years. Telephones in all confined setting establishments would be exempt if alternate signalling devices were available, monitored and working, or if a resident brought in and maintained his or her own telephone equipment. The proposed rules would require that hotels and motels with eighty or more guest rooms be required to provide hearing aid compatible telephones within two years of the Commission's implementing Order, while those with fewer than eighty guest rooms would have three years to do so. Upon the effective date of these proposed rules, generally twenty percent of guest rooms must have telephones that are hearing aid compatible. The proposed rules do not address wireless telephone hearing aid compatible issues, because those are being addressed by the Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis As required by Section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., the Commission has prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``IRFA'') of the expected impact on small entities of the proposals suggested in this document. The IRFA is set forth in Appendix C of the NPRM. Written public comments are requested in the IRFA. These comments must be filed in accordance with the same filing procedures as other comments in this proceeding, but they also must have a separate and distinct heading designating them as responses to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. Reason for Action: The NPRM responds to the recommendations of the Hearing Aid Compatibility Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. Pursuant to the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, the Commission is obligated to initiate this rulemaking proceeding. Objectives: The objective of this proposal is to provide greater access to the telephone network by persons with hearing disabilities, while at the same time balancing the needs of establishments that must provide hearing aid-compatible telephones. Legal Basis: The proposed action is authorized under Sections 1, 201-205, and 218 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. Sections 151, 154, 201-205, and 218. Reporting, Record Keeping and Other Compliance Requirements: The proposed rules would require manufacturers and importers of telephones for use in the United States to provide volume control with their equipment after a certain date. Such telephone equipment manufacturers and importers also would be required to display on their equipment the date of manufacture. In addition, workplaces with fifteen or more employees, confined setting establishments and hotels and motels would have to provide hearing aid-compatible telephones after certain dates. Federal Rules Which Overlap, Duplicate, or Conflict with These Rules: None. Description, Potential Impact and Number of Small Entities Involved: The proposals set forth in this Notice may have an economic impact on workplaces with fifteen or more employees, confined setting establishments and hotels and motels. These establishments eventually may be required to replace some or all of their existing telephones with telephones that are hearing aid-compatible, including telephones that have volume control. These proposals also may make it easier for these establishments to acquire employees and generate business. Any Significant Alternatives Minimizing the Impact on Small Entities, Consistent with Stated Objectives: None. List of Subjects 47 CFR Part 64 Communications common carriers, Handicapped, Telephone, Hearing aid compatibility. 47 CFR Part 68 Administrative practice and procedure, Communications common carriers, Communications equipment, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Telephone, Hearing aid compatibility, Volume control. Federal Communications Commission. William F. Caton, Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. 95-30374 Filed 12-11-95; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6712-01-P