3060-0065 April 2014
Applications for New or Modified Radio Station Authorization Under Part 5 of FCC Rules - Experimental Radio Service (Other than Broadband)
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
The Commission is requesting OMB approval for an extension (no change in the reporting and/or recordkeeping requirements) to obtain the full three year clearance. The Commission is reporting an adjustment in the burden estimates (see question 15).
Applicants applying for an FCC license to operate a new or modified experimental radio station are required to file FCC Form 442, under 47 CFR §§ 5.55(a)-(c), and 5.59 of the FCC Rules and Regulations.
Among the technical and applicant information that FCC Form 442 requires applicants to provide are:
Whether the application is an addition or modification/replacement of the parameters in the current authorization: frequency, emission, power, and location of their experimental radio station;
Particulars of operation: emission, modulating signal, and necessary bandwidth (KHz);
Proposed location of transmitter and transmitting antenna: fixed/base, mobile, or based and mobile;
Is a directional antenna (other than radar used)?
Will the authorization be used to fulfill a government contract requirement with a Federal agency?
Will the authorization be used exclusively to develop radio equipment for export for use under a foreign government’s jurisdiction?1
Is this authorization to provide essential communications in a research project?
Estimate the time needed to complete this project;
Would granting authorization to this project fall under 47 CFR § 1.1307 of FCC Rules and have a significant environmental impact?2
Provide the manufacturer, model number, and number of unites for the transmitting equipment, and indicate:
Is it experimental?
Is it capable of station identification?
(k) Will the antenna extend more than six meters above ground and/or be mounted on an existing structure or building?
Who is the applicant: an individual, association, partnership, corporation, or other?
Is the applicant a foreign government or a representative thereof?
(n) Has the applicant had an FCC license or permit previously revoked?
(o) Will the applicant own and operate the station?
The Commission has authority for this information collection pursuant to Secs. 4, 302, 303, 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 302, 303. Interpret or apply sec. 301, 48 Stat. 1081, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 301.
This information collection does not affect individuals or household; thus, there are no impacts under the Privacy Act.
The Commission’s information technician and engineering staff use the data supplied by this form:
(1) to determine if the applicant is eligible for an experimental license,
(2) to state the purpose of the experiment,
(3) to comply with the requirements of 47 CFR Part 5 of the FCC rules, and
(4) if the proposed operation will cause interference to existing operations.
The FCC could not grant an experimental license without the information contained on this form.
On August 23, 2003, the Commission released an Order “Amendment of Part 5 of the Commission’s rules to Require Electronic Filing of Applications for Experimental Radio Licenses and Authorizations,” FCC 03-207, 68 FR 59335, October 15, 2003.
(a) Mandatory electronic filing of applications for Experimental Radio licenses, including FCC Form 442 commenced on January 1, 2004. This change is reflected in the amendments to Part 5 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 5.1-5.125.
(b) The Commission will not accept the paper version of FCC Form 442 unless it is accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver of the electronic filing requirement.
The FCC is the only agency that issues licenses to non-government applicants. Therefore, no duplication exists.
The information collected is the minimum required by the FCC to make the determination to issue an experimental license. The same information is required regardless of the type of applicant. This information collection is only required for new or modified requests for a station license.
If the collection is not conducted, the information will not be available elsewhere in the Federal Government. Applicants applying for an FCC license to operate a new or modified experimental radio station are required to file FCC Form 442, under 47 CFR §§ 5.55(a)-(c), and 5.59 of the FCC Rules and Regulations. If the information is not collected the application cannot be granted and there will be no experimental radio stations.
This collection of information is consistent with the specified guidelines in 5 CFR § 1320.6.
The Commission published a notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 10145) soliciting comments on February 24, 2014. No comments were received as a result of the notice. A reference to the 60 day notice is included in ROCIS.
No payment or gift is provided to the respondents.
Applicants may request that any information supplied be withheld from public inspection, pursuant to 47 CFR § 0.459 of the FCC’s rules. This request must be justified pursuant to 47 CFR § 0.447.
No sensitive information is required for this collection.
There are approximately 400 respondents per year, averaging 1.4 responses per respondent, per year:
(a) We estimate that it will take an applicant (respondent) approximately three hours to read the directions, to perform any necessary calculations, to answer the questions regarding significant environmental impact, to describe the program of experimentation, and to read the instructions for the fee processing data.
(b) The estimated time to type information into FCC Form 442 on the FCC Internet Web page www.fcc.gov is 1 hour. The Electronic Filing System (ELS) automatically generates the date/data when the application is created by the applicant known as the “Date Entered” and another date known as “Receipt Date” when it is submitted by the applicant for processing.
(c) Therefore, the average estimated time required to complete the form is 4 hours:
3 hours/reading & reviewing form +1 hour/entering data into the system = 4 hours/FCC Form 442
Total Number of Respondents: 400 applicants
Total Number of Responses Annually:
400 applicants (respondents) x 1.4 responses/applicant = 560 responses/year
Since some applicants may file more than one FCC Form 442 annually, the Commission has estimated the number of FCC Form 442s file annually as an average of 1.4 forms/applicant.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 400 applicants x 1.4 applications x 4 hours = 2,240 hours.
(a) Total annualized capital/startup costs: None
(b) Total annual costs (O&M): $32,400.00
Each application must include a $60.00 application fee. There is a $120.00 fee per application if the applicant requests confidentiality.
Applicants file 500 FCC Form 442 applications annually x $60.00 filing fee(s) per application; 7.5% or 40 of those applications will request confidentiality, and the fee for confidentiality is $120.00 filing fee per application:
460 applications x $60.00 = $27,600.00
40 applications x $120.00 = $4,800.00
$27,000.00 + $4,800.00 = $32,400.00
Total annualized cost: $32,400.00
We make the following estimates for the total annual cost to the Federal Government:
The Commission will use a Supervisory Electronics Engineer (GS-15, Step 5: $67.88/hour), 4 FCC staff Engineers (GS 14, Step 5: $57.70/hour) an FCC Staff Information Technician (GS 7, Step 7: $24.51/hour).
These FCC staff will spend approximately one-quarter of their annual work time or 2,080 x 0.25 = 520 hours. Thus, the annual cost is estimated as follows:
Sup. Electronics Engineer at $67.88/hr. $67.88 x 520 = $35,297.60
Engineer at $57.70/hr. $57.70 x 520 = $30,004.00
Engineer at $57.70/hr. $57.70 x 520 = $30,004.00
Engineer at $57.70/hr. $57.70 x 520 = $30,004.00
Engineer at $57.70/hr. $57.70 x 520 = $30,004.00
Information Technician at $24.51/hr. $24.51 x 520 = $12,745.20
$168,058.80
30% Overhead $50,417.64
Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $218,476.44
15. The Commission is reporting an adjustment which increases the burden estimates to this information collection. The adjustment increases the number of respondents from 200 to 400 (increase of 200), and the annual hours are increased from 1,120 to 2,240 hours (increase of 1,120). This increase is based on the average number of filings for the past 3 years.
16. The information collection will not be published.
17. The Commission is requesting a waiver from displaying the OMB expiration date on FCC Form 442. Granting this waiver will prevent the Commission from destroying the existing stock of forms or update the on-line application, upon OMB approval of this information collection.
18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.
Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods:
This collection of information does not employ statistical methods.
1 In accordance with 47 CFR § 5.3(b), applicants may request an experimental license exclusively to develop radio equipment for export. If the frequencies requested are allocated for Federal Government use, then those frequencies are coordinated with the National Telecommunications and Information Agency at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
2 In accordance with 47 CFR § 5.53(c), an environmental assessment as defined in § 1.1311 must be submitted with the application if installation and/or operation may significantly impact the environment as described under § 1.1307.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | 3060-0065 |
| Author | nwalls |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-28 |