Notice2022-07630
Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission
Primary source
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Published
April 11, 2022
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the 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 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 69 (Monday, April 11, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21120-21122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07630]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[OMB 3060-0484, OMB 3060-1003; FR ID 80736]
Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal
Communications Commission
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 (PRA) of 1995, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the 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 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.
DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before June 10,
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 Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#28787a69684e4b4b064f475e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cd9d9f8c8dabaeaee3aaa2bb">[email protected]</span></a> and to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fc92959f939099d293929b999099bc9a9f9fd29b938a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ff1f6fcf0f3fab1f0f1f8faf3fadff9fcfcb1f8f0e9">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the
information collection, contact Nicole Ongele, (202) 418-2991.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 3060-0484.
Title: Amendments to Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning
Disruptions to Communications.
Form Number: N/A.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,065 respondents; 27,395
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour-2 hours (average per response).
Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting
requirements and recordkeeping requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Mandatory and Voluntary. Statutory authority
for this collection is contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 4(o),
251(e)(3), 254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 307, 309(a), 309(j), 316,
332, and 403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and section
706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i)-(j) &
(o), 251(e)(3), 254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 332, 403, and 1302.
Total Annual Burden: 54,215 hours.
Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: In accordance with 47 CFR
4.2, reports and information contained in the underlying NORS filings
are presumed confidential. The filings are shared with the Department
of Homeland Security through password-protected real time access to
NORS. Other persons seeking disclosure must follow the procedure
delineated in 47 CFR 0.457 and 0.459 of the Commission's Rules for
requests for and disclosure of information. The modified collection
proposed here will allow ``need to know'' agencies acting on behalf of
the federal government, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Tribal
Nations, and the U.S. territories access to confidential information
derived from NORS filings based on events occurring within an agency's
jurisdiction, provided those agencies maintain the confidentiality of
the information and report any breach of that confidentiality.
The Commission has adopted procedures allowing state, federal,
local,
[[Page 21121]]
and Tribal agencies with a demonstrated ``need to know'' to apply for
``read-only'' access to NORS reports impacting locations where the
agency has jurisdiction. To protect the confidentiality of the NORS and
DIRS information disclosed to these Participating Agencies, the
Commission limited the access to only those agencies who complete the
registration process and then limits by geographic area the reports
available to each Participating Agency. The Commission also adopted
safeguards to protect the data accessed by Participating Agencies from
manipulation and from distribution to unauthorized recipients.
Needs and Uses: The general purpose of the Commission's Part 4
rules is to gather sufficient information regarding disruptions to
telecommunications to facilitate FCC monitoring, analysis, and
investigation of the reliability and security of voice, paging, and
interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (interconnected VoIP)
communications services, and to identify and act on potential threats
to our Nation's telecommunications infrastructure. The Commission uses
this information collection to identify the duration, magnitude, root
causes, and contributing factors with respect to significant outages,
and to identify outage trends; support service restoration efforts; and
help coordinate with public safety officials during times of crisis.
The Commission also maintains an ongoing dialogue with reporting
entities, as well as with the communications industry at large,
generally regarding lessons learned from the information collection in
order to foster a better understanding of the root causes of
significant outages and to explore preventive measures in the future so
as to mitigate the potential scale and impact of such outages.
In a Second Report and Order adopted on March 18, 2021, as FCC 21-
34, the Commission adopted rules allowing certain federal, state, and
Tribal Nation agencies 10 (Participating Agencies) to access to certain
geographically relevant outage reports filed in the Commission's
Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). The information collections and
record keeping provisions adopted will allow federal, state and Tribal
Nation agencies (Participating Agencies) to apply for, and receive
access to, NORS report in the areas where they have jurisdiction. The
collection will further enable these Participating Agencies, at their
election, to share NORS reports with qualified local agencies whose
jurisdiction is affected by an outage, while still maintaining the
confidentiality of the substantive data. The changes to the data
collections fields in the NORS filings made by service providers will
further facilitate the ability of Participating Agencies to access
those reports relevant to their specific geographies. Finally, the
changes to the information collection and associated recordkeeping
requirements, including retention by participating agencies of
qualification forms submitted by local agency seeking access to NORS
data, as well as a list of which local agencies receive information
from the Participating Agency, training materials setting clear
parameters for the use of NORS data, and a list of those persons
granted NORS account access, will enable auditing functions to ensure
accountability in the use of NORS information and immediate reporting
of breaches of access or confidentiality protocols.
OMB Control Number: 3060-1003.
Title: Communications Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).
Form Number: N/A.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 400 respondents; 104,000
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour-1.5 hours (average per
response).
Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting
requirements and recordkeeping requirements.
Obligation to Respond: Voluntary. Statutory authority for this
collection is contained in sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 4(o), 251(e)(3),
254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 307, 309(a), 309(j), 316, 332, and
403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and section 706 of
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i)-(j) & (o),
251(e)(3), 254, 301, 303(b), 303(g), 303(r), 332, 403, and 1302.
Total Annual Burden: 16,320 hours.
Total Annual Costs: No Cost.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission provides
respondents with assurances that their collected filings reports will
be treated with a presumption of confidentiality. As noted in the DIRS
User Manual, ``[b]ecause the information that communications companies
input to [their collected filings] is sensitive for national security
and/or commercial reasons, [the collected filings] shall be treated as
presumptively confidential upon filing.''
In accordance with 47 CFR 4.2, reports and information contained in
the underlying DIRS filings are presumed confidential. The filings are
shared with the Department of Homeland Security through password-
protected real time access to NORS. Other persons seeking disclosure
must follow the procedure delineated in 47 CFR 0.457 and 0.459 of the
Commission's Rules for requests for and disclosure of information. The
modified collection proposed here will allow ``need to know'' agencies
acting on behalf of the federal government, the 50 states, the District
of Columbia, Tribal Nations, and the U.S. territories access to
confidential information derived from DIRS filings based on events
occurring within an agency's jurisdiction, provided those agencies
maintain the confidentiality of the information and report any breach
of that confidentiality.
The Commission has adopted procedures allowing state, federal,
local, and Tribal agencies with a demonstrated ``need to know'' to
apply for ``read-only'' access to DIRS reports impacting locations
where the agency has jurisdiction. To protect the confidentiality of
the NORS and DIRS information disclosed to these Participating
Agencies, the Commission limited the access to only those agencies who
complete the registration process and then limits by geographic area
the reports available to each Participating Agency. The Commission also
adopted safeguards to protect the data accessed by Participating
Agencies from manipulation and from distribution to unauthorized
recipients.
Needs and Uses: The Commission launched the Disaster Information
Reporting System (DIRS) in 2007 pursuant to its mandate to promote the
safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio
communication as required by the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended. DIRS is a voluntary, efficient, and web-based system that
communications companies may use to report their infrastructure status
during times of crisis (e.g., related to a disaster). DIRS uses a
number of template forms tailored to different communications sectors
(i.e., wireless, wireline, broadcast, and cable) to facilitate the
entry of this information. To use DIRS, a company first inputs its
emergency contact information. After this, they submit information
using the template form appropriate for their communications sector. In
a Second Report and Order adopted on March 18, 2021, as FCC 21-34, the
Commission adopted rules allowing certain federal, state, and Tribal
Nation agencies (Participating Agencies) to access to
[[Page 21122]]
certain geographically relevant reports filed in the Commission's
Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). The information
collections and record keeping provisions adopted will allow
Participating Agencies to apply for, and receive access to, DIRS report
in the areas where they have jurisdiction. The collection will further
enable these Participating Agencies, at their election, to share DIRS
reports with qualified local agencies whose jurisdiction is affected by
a disaster, while still maintaining the confidentiality of the
substantive data. The changes to the data collections fields in the
DIRS filings made by service providers will further facilitate the
ability of Participating Agencies to access those reports relevant to
their specific geographies. Finally, the changes to the information
collection and associated recordkeeping requirements, including
retention by participating agencies of qualification forms submitted by
local agency seeking access to DIRS data, as well as a list of which
local agencies receive information from the Participating Agency,
training materials setting clear parameters for the use of DIRS data,
and a list of those persons granted DIRS account access, will enable
auditing functions to ensure accountability in the use of DIRS
information and immediate reporting of breaches of access or
confidentiality protocols.
The Commission notes that the information sharing framework
established in the Second Report and Order allows for access to be
granted not only for DIRS, but also to the Commission's Network Outage
Reporting System (NORS). We note that the process and requirements for
Participating Agencies under this framework is identical, regardless of
whether they seek access to NORS, DIRS, or both. Because the Commission
anticipates that NORS and DIRS access will be requested together in
most cases, it believes that the estimated burden hours and costs for
Participating Agencies associated with DIRS access are fully included
in the estimates that it has separately submitted as part of its
collection on Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning Disruptions
to Communications, OMB Control No. 3060-0484. To avoid double-counting
the estimated burden hours and costs associated with both collections,
the Commission estimates the marginal cost of the Participating Agency
aspect of this collection to be zero.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-07630 Filed 4-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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