3060-0918 February 2011
CORES Registration Form, FCC Form 161
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A. Justification:
1. FCC Form 161, “CORES Update/Change Form,” is part of the Commission’s Registration System (CORES). This form maybe found at: www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form161/161.pdf.
(a) Applicants (respondents) use FCC Form 161 to update/change their name, address, contact representative, telephone, e-mail address, fax number, etc., which was previously entered into the CORES database.
Respondents may include individuals,1 private sector entities, i.e., corporations, joint ventures, universities, partnerships, attorneys, etc., Federal, state, and local government agencies, and/or foreign entities.
The Commission uses FCC Form 161 to allow applicants and licensees doing business with the FCC to keep their account information current.
The Commission will also use FCC Form 161 to update/change information in the Commission’s database.
For businesses and individuals2, the FCC Registration Number (FRN) is its Federal Communications Commission-issued FCC FRN. The FRN is a unique account number that is used for identification purposes only.
FCC From 161 has a “personal security question” and a “custom personal security question.”
(g) Finally, the FCC has incorporated a “certification statement” and “signature line.”3
On December 7, 2010, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), MD Docket Number 10-234, FCC 10-192. Among other things, in this NPRM the FCC proposes to:
(1) eliminate some of our exceptions to the requirement that entities and individuals provide their Taxpayer Identification Number (“TIN”) at the time of registration;
(2) require FRN holders to provide their e-mail addresses;
(3) give FRN holders the option to identify multiple points of contact; and
(4) require FRN holders to indicate their tax-exempt status and notify the Commission of pending bankruptcy proceedings.
All other remaining existing information collection requirements would stay as they are.
The various burden estimates will also remain the same.
This information collection contains personally identifiable information on individuals (PII).
(a) The FCC maintains a system of records notice (SORN), FCC/OMD-9, “Commission Registration System (CORES),” to cover the collection, purposes(s), storage, safeguards, and disposal of the PII that individual respondents may submit on FCC Form 161.
(b) The FCC published this SORN last on April 5, 2006 (71 FR 17234, 17253).
(c) If the FCC makes substantive changes to CORES, the Commission will conduct a full Privacy Impact Assessment of FCC/OMD-9 SORN and post it on the FCC webpage, as required by OMB Memorandum, M-03-22 (September 22, 2003).
Statutory authority for this collection of information is the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, Public Law 104-134, Chapter 10, § 31001.
2. The Commission uses the information that applicants provide on FCC Form 161 to update and/or to change their CORES information.4
(a) This is necessary to ensure that the Commission has accurate information to identify the applicant filer and to ensure proper crediting of the transaction and money, if applicable.
(b) Applicants (respondents) may update/change their data via the FCC Internet webpage: www.fcc.gov/frnreg.
3. Respondents may provide the information on FCC Form 161 electronically via the FCC’s webpage: www.fcc.gov/frnreg, or respondents may continue to file the paper version of FCC Form 161.
4. There is no similar information already available. The Commission is required to obtain this information from any applicants and/or licensees doing business with the Commission.
5. In conformance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Commission is making an effort to minimize the burden on all respondents, regardless of size.
(a) The collection will have minimal impact on all respondents.
(b) The Commission has limited its collection of information to only the extent needed to identify a person or business interacting with the Government.
6. The FRN is used each time a person or entity does business with the Commission. Although this unique number is stored in the Commission’s CORES database, it is an integral part of each filing or service/benefit request. It also serves to identify the filer so as to ensure proper crediting of the transaction and money, if applicable.
7. This information is only collected to update/change data in the CORES system.
8. The Commission published the Notice for this NPRM in the Federal Register on February 1, 2011 (76 FR 5652), which initiated a 60-day comment period.
9. Respondents will not receive any payments or gifts.
10. Consistent with the provisions of the Privacy Act, the Taxpayer Information Number, i.e., Social Security Number and/or the Employee Identification Number, will not be made available to the public. A privacy act statement is included on FCC Form 161 so that applicants (respondents) are informed of the need to obtain the information.5
(a)The Commission maintains a SORN, FCC/OMD-9, “Commission Registration System (CORES)” to cover the collection, purpose(s), storage, safeguards, and disposal of the PII that individual respondents may submit on FCC Form 161.
(b) FCC Form 161 includes a privacy statement to inform applicants (respondents) of the Commission’s need to obtain the information and the protections that the FCC has in place to protect the PII.
11. This collection does not address any private matters of a sensitive nature. In addition:
(a) The Commission assigns each applicant that registers in CORES a FCC Registration Number (FRN), as explained above.
(b) Furthermore, the Commission will redact any sensitive information before it makes FCC forms and other documents available for public inspection.
12. The Commission estimates that:
(a) The respondents who are required to file FCC Form 161 including:
(1) Businesses and other for-profit entities, including individuals in their “entrepreneurial capacity” (“businesses”) (66%)
(2) Institutions and other non-profits (“institutions”) (24%)
(3) State, local, or tribal governments (“governments”) (10%)
(b) The average burden on respondents is approximately ten minutes (0.167 hours) based on FCC staff's knowledge and familiarity with the availability of the data that respondents are required to have to file FCC Form 161, “CORES Update/Change Form.”
Businesses x 0.66 x 57,600 applicants = 38,016 respondents
Institutions x 0.24 x 57,600 applicants = 13,824 respondents
Governments x 0.10 x 57,600 applicants = 5,760 respondents
Total Number of Respondents: 57,600 (respondents)
Total Number of Responses: 57,600 responses
The number of responses is calculated as one response per applicant and a one time reporting requirement to register with the FCC.
(1) 38,016 business responses x 0.167 hours (10 mins)/FCC Form 161 = 6,462.72 hrs/yr
(2) 13,824 institutional responses x 0.167 hours (10 mins)/FCC Form 161 = 2,350.08 hrs/yr
(3) 5,760 government responses x 0.167 hours (10 mins)/FCC Form 161 = 979.20 hrs/yr
Total Annual Hourly Burden: 6,462.72 hrs + 2,350.08 hrs + 979.20 hrs = 9,792.0 hours
The Commission estimates that respondents will use the equivalent of a senior staff person at the GS-13/Step 5 ($48.51 per hour) to complete and file FCC Form 161:
(1) businesses: 6,462.72Businesses hours x $48.51/hour = $313,516.49
(2) institutions: 2,350.08 hours x $48.51/hour = $114,006.00
(3) governments: 5,760 hours x $48.51/hour = $47,502.50
Total “In House” Costs: $313,516.49 + $114,006.00 + $47,502.50 = $475,024.98
13. The Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden estimates:
(a) Total annualized capital/startup costs: $.00
(b) Total annual costs (O&M): $0.00
(c) Total annualized cost requested: $0.00
14. There are no costs to the Federal Government:
(a) Congress requires the FCC to collect section 9 regulatory fees, which provide the major funding source for the FCC’s operating budget; and
(b) The FCC considers the costs to administer the regulatory fee program, including processing FCC Form 161, as part of its regular operations.
15. As noted in Question 1, the Commission believes that the burden estimates will not change as a result of the release of this NPRM.
16. The data will not be published for statistical use.
17. We are seeking continued OMB approval to not display the expiration date of OMB approval of the information collection.
(a) Once the form is printed, by waiving the OMB expiration date, it allows the Commission to maintain paper stocks of forms rather than destroying them away because of an outdated OMB expiration date or change to our electronic forms that are available on the Internet or Right Fax system.
(b) The Commission will use an edition date in lieu of an OMB expiration date.
(c) Additionally, the Commission published all OMB-approved information collections in 47 CFR § 0.408.
18. There are no exceptions to item 19 of the OMB 83-I “Certification Statement.”
B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods:
This information collection does not employ any statistical methods.
1 The Commission has determined that there are few if any “individuals” as such filing FCC Form 160, since most of these people are acting in their “entrepreneurial capacity” as “businesses.”
2 The FCC has determined, upon closer examination, that most of the “individuals” who are filing FCC Form 161 are doing so in their “entrepreneurial capacity” as business owners, which exempts most of the information that they provide from personally identifiable information (PII) covered by the Privacy Act. Nonetheless, there is a system of records notice, FCC/OMD-9, “Commission Registration System (CORES)” to cover any PII data that they may provide.
3 These two additions were incorporated from FCC Form 162 when this collection was previously submitted to OMB in 2007. Upon issuance of the Notice of Action (NOA) for 3060-0918 on March 26, 2007, the Commission then cancelled FCC Form 162 (3060-0919).
4 CORES provides applicants (respondents) with a CORES registration number, which the Commission uses to identify applicants and their business account information with the FCC. This number is used solely for identification purposes.
5 Ibid.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Modified | 2011-02-01 |
| File Created | 2011-02-01 |