View Information Collection Request (ICR) Package

OMB Control No: 3060-1167	ICR Reference No: 201612-3060-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201307-3060-009
Agency/Subagency: FCC	Agency Tracking No: CGB
Title: Accessible Telecommunications and Advanced Communications Services and Equipment
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 01/17/2017
	Date Received in OIRA: 12/05/2016
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	01/31/2020	36 Months From Approved	01/31/2017
Responses	54,064	0	119,817
Time Burden (Hours)	155,419	0	409,378
Cost Burden (Dollars)	17,510	0	291,488

Abstract: The Commission is submitting this revised information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to modify and extend the information collection requirements under OMB control number 3060-1167. Sections 255 and 251(a)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act) were added by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In adopting section 255 of the Act, Congress sought to ensure that all Americans, including the approximately 54 million Americans with disabilities, could benefit from advances in telecommunications services and equipment. Section 255 requires manufacturers of “telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment” (CPE) to ensure that such equipment is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable, and requires providers of a “telecommunications service” to ensure that the service is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. Where such access is not readily achievable, the manufacturer or service provider must ensure that the equipment or service is “compatible with” existing peripheral devices or specialized CPE commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, if such compatibility is readily achievable. Section 255(a) incorporates by reference the ADA definitions of the terms “disability” and “readily achievable.” Section 255(e) directs the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, “in conjunction with the Commission,” to develop “guidelines for accessibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment.” Finally, section 251(a)(2) of the Act, which appears among the general duties of telecommunications carriers, prohibits such carriers from installing “network features, functions, or capabilities that do not comply with the guidelines and standards established pursuant to section 255.” In the 2015 Open Internet Order, the Commission reclassified broadband Internet access service (BIAS) as a telecommunications service that is subject to the Commission’s regulatory authority under Title II of the Communications Act regardless of the technological platform over which the service is offered. Although the Commission exercised its forbearance authority broadly, it did not forbear from applying section 255 of the Communications Act and the Commission’s implementing rules to providers of BIAS and manufacturers of equipment used for BIAS.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 47 USC 255, 303(r), 403, 503, 716, Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47 USC 717, 718 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
3060-AK21	Final or interim final rulemaking	80 FR 19738	04/13/2015

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	81 FR 64460	09/20/2016
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	81 FR 87556	12/05/2016
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	54,064	119,817	-65,753
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	155,419	409,378	-253,959
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	17,510	291,488	-273,978

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Reduction Due to: Changing Regulations

Short Statement: This is a revised collection of information that includes a program change. As a result of the 2015 Open Internet Order reclassifying BIAS as a telecommunications service, the information collection requirements adopted in the Section 255 Report and Order were extended to providers of BIAS and manufacturers of equipment used for BIAS. However, the decreases in the various estimates of respondents, responses, and costs has resulted in a net decrease for this information collection. The net decreases subtracted from OMB’s inventory as a result of these revisions are as follows: (a) The Commission’s estimate for the number of respondents has decreased by -5,008, from 9,549 respondents to 4,541 respondents; (b) The Commission’s estimate for number of responses has decreased by -65,753, from 119,817 responses to 54,064 responses; (c) The Commission’s estimate for the total annual burden hours has decreased by -253,959, from 409,378 hours to 155,419 hours; and (d) The Commission’s estimate for the total annual costs has decreased by -$273,978, from $291,488 to $17,510.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $5,528

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Rosaline Crawford 202 418-2075

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion