[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5430-5431]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01733]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[OMB 3060-0804; FRS 16432]
Information Collection 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 of 1995 (PRA), the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on the following information collections. 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 Office of Management and Budget
(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 March 30,
2020. 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
[email protected] and to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the
information collection, contact Nicole Ongele, (202) 418-2991.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 3060-0804.
Title: Universal Service--Rural Health Care Program.
Form Numbers: FCC Forms 460, 461, 462, 463, 465, 466, and 467.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit
institutions; Federal Government; and State, Local, or Tribal
governments.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 10,494 unique respondents;
93,687 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.30-17 hours.
Frequency of Response: On occasion, One-time, Annual, Quarterly,
and Monthly reporting requirements.
Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in
sections 1-4, 201-205, 214, 254, 303(r), and 403 of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151-154, 201-205, 214, 254, 303(r),
and 403, unless otherwise noted.
Total Annual Burden: 382,741 hours.
Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
Privacy Impact Assessment: No Impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no assurance of
confidentiality provided to respondents concerning this information
collection. Information submitted on FCC Forms for the RHC Program is
subject to public inspection and is used by USAC to update and expand
the RHC Program dataset as part of its Open Data Platform. However,
respondents may request materials or information submitted to the
Commission or to USAC be withheld from public inspection under 47 CFR
0.459 of the FCC's rules.
Needs and Uses: The Commission seeks OMB approval of revisions
(change in reporting and recordkeeping requirements) to this
information collection as a result of the 2019 Promoting Telehealth
Report and Order (WC Docket No. 17-310; FCC 19-78; 84 FR 54952, October
11, 2019). This collection is utilized for the RHC support mechanism of
the Commission's universal service fund (USF). The collection of this
information is necessary so that the Commission and the Universal
Service Administrative Company (USAC) will have sufficient information
to determine if entities are eligible for funding pursuant to the RHC
universal service support mechanism, to determine if entities are
complying with the Commission's rules, and to prevent waste, fraud, and
abuse. This information is also necessary in order to allow the
Commission to evaluate the extent to which the RHC Program is meeting
the statutory objectives specified in section 254(h) of the 1996 Act,
and the Commission's performance goals for the RHC Program.
This information collection is being revised to: (1) Extend some of
the existing information collection requirements for the Healthcare
Connect Fund and Telecommunications (Telecom) Programs; (2) revise some
of the information collection requirements for the Healthcare Connect
Fund and Telecom Programs and (3) add some new information collection
requirements applicable to both the Healthcare Connect Fund Program and
the Telecom Program as a result of the 2019 Promoting Telehealth Report
and Order. As part of this information collection, the Commission is
also revising the FCC Form templates for both programs, reformatting
and revising the Telecommunications Program Invoice Template, and
creating a new Post-Commitment Request Form consistent with the changes
adopted in the 2019 Promoting Telehealth Report and Order and to
promote transparency into the RHC Program procedures and requirements.
The Healthcare Connect Fund Program currently includes FCC Forms
460, 461, 462, and 463 and the Telecom Program currently includes FCC
Forms 465, 466, and 467. The revisions to these FCC Form templates,
where applicable, are intended to make the RHC Program information
requests consistent between the programs, to the extent possible, and
help to ensure and verify that RHC Program participants are not
engaging in fraudulent conduct or otherwise violating the Commission's
rules. Some of the changes to the FCC Form templates have different
effective dates. Therefore, for administrative ease, we have indicated
the applicable funding year of the FCC Form template, and where a
specific form includes changes applicable to funding year 2020 and
others to funding year 2021, we have provided separate forms applicable
to each funding year. In the 2019 Promoting Telehealth Report and
Order, the Commission directed USAC to streamline the data collection
requirements and consolidate the program forms to the extent possible.
Such streamlining and consolidation will not affect the underlying
information collected as part of this
[[Page 5431]]
information collection, but may change the format in which it may be
collected. The information on the FCC Form templates is a
representative description of the information to be collected via an
online portal and is not intended to be a visual representation of what
each applicant or service provider will see, the order in which they
will see information, or the exact wording or directions used to
collect the information. Where possible, information already provided
by applicants from previous filing years or that was pre-filed in the
system portal will be carried forward and auto-generated into the form
to simplify the information collection for applicants. Additionally, in
the 2019 Promoting Telehealth Report and Order, the Commission adopted
rules to reflect the changes in the Report and Order. The new and
revised rules impacted by this collection are listed and described
within the collection.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-01733 Filed 1-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P