Rule2021-11903
The Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund, Connect America Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 8, 2021
Effective
June 8, 2021
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection associated with the rules for the Connect America Fund contained in the Commission's Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, FCC 19-95. This document is consistent with the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of the new information collection requirements.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 108 (Tuesday, June 8, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 8, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30391-30393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11903]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 54
[WC Docket Nos. 18-143, 10-90, 14-58; FCC 19-95; FRS 30653]
The Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund, Connect
America Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection
associated with the rules for the Connect America Fund contained in the
Commission's Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order,
FCC 19-95. This document is consistent with the Uniendo a Puerto Rico
Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, which stated that the Commission
would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the
effective date of the new information collection requirements.
DATES: The amendments to Sec. 54.313(e) introductory text, (e)(2)
introductory text and paragraphs (n) and (o) published at 84 FR 59937,
November 7, 2019 are effective June 8, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Yelen, Wireline Competition
Bureau at (202) 418-7400 or TTY (202) 418-0484. For additional
information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act information
collection requirements contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991 or via
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ce80a7ada1a2abe081a0a9aba2ab8ea8adade0a9a1b8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b5fbdcd6dad9d09bfadbd2d0d9d0f5d3d6d69bd2dac3">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission submitted revised information
collection requirements for review and approval by OMB, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, on March 8, 2021, which were
approved by OMB on May 10, 2021. The information collection
requirements are contained in the Commission's Uniendo a Puerto Rico
Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, FCC 19-95 published at 84 FR 59937,
November 7, 2019. The OMB Control Number is 3060-0986. If you have any
comments on the burden estimates listed in the following, or how the
Commission can improve the collections and reduce any burdens caused
thereby, please contact Nicole Ongele, Federal Communications
Commission, 45 L Street NE,
[[Page 30392]]
Washington, DC 20554. Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0986,
in your correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments
via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e2b2b0a3a2848181cc858d94"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a6a687b7a5c5959145d554c">[email protected]</span></a>.
To request materials in accessible formats for people with
disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format),
send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#adcbcece989d99edcbcece83cac2db"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2c4a4f4f191c186c4a4f4f024b435a">[email protected]</span></a> or call the Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
Synopsis
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3507), the Commission is notifying the public that it received OMB
approval on May 10, 2021, for the information collection requirements
contained in 47 CFR 54.313(e) introductory text, (e)(2) introductory
text and paragraphs (n) and (o) published at 84 FR 59937, November 7,
2019. Under 5 CFR part 1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless it displays a current, valid OMB
Control Number.
No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply
with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB
Control Number is 3060-0986.
The foregoing notification is required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents
are as follows:
OMB Control Number: 3060-0986.
OMB Approval Date: May 10, 2021.
OMB Expiration Date: May 31, 2024.
Title: High-Cost Universal Service Support.
Form Number: FCC Form 481 and FCC Form 525.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit
institutions and State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,049 unique respondents;
14,358 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.1-15 hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion, quarterly and annual reporting
requirements, recordkeeping 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, 155, 201-206, 214, 218-220, 251, 252, 254, 256, 303(r),
332, 403, 405, 410, and 1302.
Total Annual Burden: 53,955 hours.
Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission notes that the
Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) must preserve the
confidentiality of all data obtained from respondents and contributors
to the universal service support program mechanism; must not use the
data except for purposes of administering the universal service
program; must not use the data except for purposes of administering the
universal support program; and must not disclose data in company-
specific form unless directed to do so by the Commission. Parties may
submit confidential information in relation to the Privately Held Rate-
of-Return Carrier Financial Information requirement pursuant to a
protective order. Also, respondents may request materials or
information submitted to the Commission or to the Administrator
believed confidential to be withheld from public inspection under 47
CFR 0.459 of the FCC's rules.
Needs and Uses: On November 18, 2011, the Commission adopted an
order reforming its high-cost universal service support mechanisms.
Connect America Fund; A National Broadband Plan for Our Future;
Establish Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange Carriers; High-
Cost Universal Service Support; Developing a Unified Intercarrier
Compensation Regime; Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service;
Lifeline and Link-Up; Universal Service Reform--Mobility Fund, WC
Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, 03-109; GN Docket No. 09-51; CC
Docket Nos. 01-92, 96-45; WT Docket No. 10-208, Order and Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 26 FCC Rcd 17663 (2011) (USF/ICC
Transformation Order), and the Commission and Wireline Competition
Bureau have since adopted a number of orders that implement the USF/ICC
Transformation Order; see also Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket
No. 10-90 et al., Third Order on Reconsideration, 27 FCC Rcd 5622
(2012); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Order,
27 FCC Rcd 605 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2012); Connect America Fund et al.,
WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Fifth Order on Reconsideration, 27 FCC Rcd
14549 (2012); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al.,
Order, 28 FCC Rcd 2051 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America Fund
et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Order, 28 FCC Rcd 7227 (Wireline
Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Report and
Order, 28 FCC Rcd 7766 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America
Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd 7211 (Wireline
Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Report and
Order, 28 FCC Rcd 10488 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2013); Connect America
Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Report and Order, Order and
Order on Reconsideration and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 31
FCC Rcd 3087 (2016); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket Nos. 10-90,
16-271; WT Docket No. 10-208, Report and Order and Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 10139 (2016); Connect America Fund; ETC
Annual Reports and Certifications, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-58, Order,
32 FCC Rcd 968 (2017); Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90
et al., Report and Order, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and
Order on Reconsideration, 33 FCC Rcd 11893 (2018); Connect America
Fund; ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-
58, Report and Order, 32 FCC Rcd 5944 (2017). The Commission has
received OMB approval for most of the information collections required
by these orders. At a later date, the Commission plans to submit
additional revisions for OMB review to address other reforms adopted in
the orders.
More recently, the Commission adopted the Uniendo a Puerto Rico
Fund and Connect USVI Fund Order, which allocated nearly a billion
additional dollars to United States territories that had suffered
extensive infrastructure damage due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The
Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund, et al., WC Docket
No. 18-143, et al., Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 34
FCC Rcd 9109 (2019) (Puerto Rico and USVI Stage 2 Order). The
Commission adopted similar accountability measures for recipients of
this support as required of other high-cost support recipients to
ensure that providers receive support ``only for the provision,
maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the
support is intended.'' Puerto Rico and USVI Stage 2 Order, 34 FCC Rcd
at 9149, para. 72.
In the 2019 Supply Chain Order, the Commission also adopted a rule
prohibiting the use of USF support to purchase or obtain any equipment
or services produced or provided by a covered company posing a national
security threat to the integrity of
[[Page 30393]]
communications networks or the communications supply chain. Protecting
Against National Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain
Through FCC Programs, WC Docket No. 18-89, Report and Order, Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Order, 34 FCC Rcd 11423, 11433,
para. 26. See also 47 CFR 54.9. In June 2020, the Public Safety and
Homeland Security Bureau issued final designations of Huawei
Technologies Company (Huawei) and ZTE Corp. (ZTE) as covered companies
for the purposes of this rule. Protecting Against National Security
Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC Programs--Huawei
Designation, WC Docket No. 19-351, Order, 35 FCC Rcd 6604 (PSHSB June
30, 2020) (Huawei Designation Order); Protecting Against National
Security Threats to the Communications Supply Chain Through FCC
Programs--ZTE Designation, WC Docket No. 19-352, Order, 35 FCC Rcd 6633
(PSHSB June 30, 2020) (ZTE Designation Order). Accordingly, USF
recipients may not use USF funds to purchase, obtain, maintain,
improve, modify, manage, or otherwise support Huawei or ZTE equipment
or services in any way, including upgrades to existing Huawei or ZTE
equipment and services. Huawei Designation Order, 35 FCC Rcd at 6608,
para. 10; ZTE Designation Order, 35 FCC Rcd at 6637, para. 10.
Moreover, USF recipients must certify that they are in compliance with
this rule. 2019 Supply Chain Order, 34 FCC Rcd at 11454, para. 79; see
also 47 CFR 54.9.
Lastly, in the CAF Phase II Auction Order, in addition to rules
requiring Connect America Phase II auction support recipients to report
regarding support used for capital expenditures, certify regarding
available funds, and certify that the Phase II-funded network meets
performance requirements, the Commission also adopted rules requiring
that Phase II auction support recipients must report information on
served community anchor institutions and certify regarding bidding on
FCC Form 470 postings for eligible schools and libraries in census
blocks where the carrier receives auction support. Connect America
Fund, et al., WC Docket No. 10-90, et al., Report and Order and Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 5949 (2016) (CAF Phase II
Auction Order). Recipients of Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect
USVI Fund Stage 2 support must also observe these requirements in
addition to the general requirements for high-cost support recipients
and requirements specific to the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect
USVI Fund programs. See Puerto Rico and USVI Stage 2 Order, 34 FCC Rcd
at 9150, para. 74.
The Commission therefore revises this information collection, as
well as Form 481 and its accompanying instructions, to reflect these
new and revised requirements. We also eliminated one requirement that
is associated with obligations no longer in effect for certain
carriers. Any increased burdens for reporting requirements account for
the additional carriers that will be subject to those requirements as a
condition for receiving high-cost support.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-11903 Filed 6-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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