COMMENT: OMB
files this comment in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11( c ). This OMB
action is not an approval to conduct or sponsor an information
collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This action
has no effect on any current approvals. If OMB has assigned this
ICR a new OMB Control Number, the OMB Control Number will not
appear in the active inventory. For future submissions of this
information collection, reference the OMB Control Number provided.
Resubmit when proposed rule is finalized.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
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0
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In 2012, the Commission replaced the
decades-old requirement that commercial and noncommercial
television stations maintain public files at their main studios
with a requirement to post most of the documents in those files to
a central, online public file hosted by the Commission. On December
17, 2014, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
("NPRM") in MB Docket No. 14-127, FCC 14-209, In the Matter of
Expansion of Online Public File Obligations to Cable and Satellite
TV Operators and Broadcast and Satellite Radio Licensees, proposing
to expand the requirement that public inspection files be posted to
the FCC- hosted online public file database to satellite TV (also
referred to as "Direct Broadcast Satellite" or "DBS") providers and
to satellite radio (also referred to as "satellite Digital Audio
Radio Services" or "SDARS") licensees, among other entities. The
Commission stated that its goal is to make information that these
entities are already required to make publicly available more
accessible while also reducing costs both for the government and
the public sector. The Commission proposed to take the same general
approach to transitioning these entities to the online file that it
took with television broadcasters in 2012, tailoring the
requirements as necessary to the different services. The Commission
also proposed to take similar measures to minimize the effort and
cost entities must undertake to move their public files online.
Specifically, the Commission proposed to require entities only to
upload to the online public file documents that are not already on
file with the Commission or that the Commission maintains in its
own database. The Commission also proposed to exempt existing
political file material from the online file requirement and to
require only that political file documents be uploaded on a
going-forward basis. The Commission first adopted a public
inspection file requirement for broadcasters more than 40 years
ago. The public file requirement grew out of Congress' 1960
amendment of Sections 309 and 311 of the Communications Act of
1934. Finding that Congress, in enacting these provisions, was
guarding "the right of the general public to be informed, not
merely the rights of those who have special interests," the
Commission adopted the public inspection file requirement to "make
information to which the public already has a right more readily
available, so that the public will be encouraged to play a more
active part in dialogue with broadcast licensees." The information
provided in the public file enables citizens to engage in an
informed dialog with their local operator or to file complaints
regarding provider operations. Satellite TV (also known as "Direct
Broadcast Satellite" or "DBS") providers and satellite radio (also
referred to as "Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services" or "SDARS")
licensees have public and political file requirements modeled, in
large part, on the longstanding broadcast requirements. With
respect to DBS providers, the Commission adopted public and
political inspection file requirements in 1998 in conjunction with
the imposition of certain public interest obligations, including
political broadcasting requirements, on those entities. DBS
providers were required to "abide by political file obligations
similar to those requirements placed on terrestrial broadcasters
and cable systems" and were also required to maintain a public file
with records relating to other DBS public interest obligations. The
Commission imposed equal employment opportunity and political
broadcast requirements on SDARS licensees in 1997, noting that the
rationale behind imposing these requirements on broadcasters also
applies to satellite radio.
If the proposed requirements
are adopted by the Commission in a final rulemaking, 3 respondents,
3 responses, 54 annual burden hours and $592 in annual costs.
$5,667
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Kim Matthews 202
418-2130
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Supporting Statement OMB 3060-xxxx (FCC 14-209) (2015).doc
Sections 25.701, Other DBS Public Interest Obligations, and 25.702, Other SDARS Public Interest Obligations