Application to Participate in a Reverse Incentive Auction, FCC Form 177

Forms and Documents

Forms and supporting documents for this ICR

Document	Type	Status	Availability
Form FCC Form 177 Application to Participate in a Reverse Auction	Form	New	Repair queued
Supporting Statement for 3060-XXXX_New FCC Form 177_10292015 (FINAL TO OMB)(1).docx	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2015-10-30	Available
DA-15-1183A1.docx	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2015-10-29	Available
FCC-14-191A1.docx	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2015-10-29	Available
Emergency Justification Letter for WTB Auction (October 2015).pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2015-10-30	Available

IC Document Collections

Information collection document groups

IC ID	Collection	Type	Status	Form
218778	Application to Participate in a Reverse Auction		New
218777	Application to Participate in a Reverse Auction	Form	New

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 3060-1213	ICR Reference No: 201510-3060-013
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No:
Agency/Subagency: FCC	Agency Tracking No: WTB/Auctions
Title: Application to Participate in a Reverse Incentive Auction, FCC Form 177
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 11/18/2015
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 11/19/2015
	Date Received in OIRA: 10/30/2015
Terms of Clearance:

table that charts list comparision

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	05/31/2016	6 Months From Approved
Responses	600	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	900	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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Abstract: On February 22, 2012, the President signed the Spectrum Act, which, among other things, authorized the Commission to conduct incentive auctions, and directed that the Commission use this innovative tool for an incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum to help meet the Nation’s growing spectrum needs. See Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-96, sections 6402, 6403, 125 Stat. 156 (2012) (Spectrum Act). The Commission’s broadcast incentive auction (BIA) will have three main components: (1) a reverse auction in which broadcast television licensees will submit bids to voluntarily relinquish their spectrum usage rights in exchange for defined shares of proceeds from the forward auction; (2) a repacking of the broadcast television bands; and (3) a forward auction of initial licenses for flexible use of the newly available spectrum. The information collection requirements reported under this new collection are the result of various Commission actions in which the Commission adopted general rules to govern the auction—including various application disclosures and certifications that must be made by broadcast television licensees to establish their eligibility to participate in the reverse auction—in order to implement the new and novel incentive auction approach for use in the BIA. Under this information collection, the Commission will collect information that will be used to determine whether an applicant is legally qualified to participate in a reverse incentive auction. To aid in collecting this information, the Commission has created FCC Form 177, which the public will use to participate in reverse incentive auctions, including the Commission’s upcoming broadcast incentive reverse auction. The Commission’s auction rules and related requirements are designed to ensure that the competitive bidding process is limited to serious qualified applicants, deter possible abuse of the bidding and licensing process, and enhance the use of competitive bidding to assign Commission licenses and permits in furtherance of the public interest. The information collected on FCC Form 177 will be used by the Commission to determine if an applicant is legally qualified to participate in the reverse auction. Commission staff will review the information collected on FCC Form 177 as part of the pre-auction process, prior to the start of the reverse auction. Staff will determine whether each applicant satisfies the Commission’s requirements to participate in the reverse auction. Without the information collected on FCC Form 177, the Commission will not be able to determine if an applicant is legally qualified to participate in the reverse auction and has complied with the various applicable regulatory and statutory auction requirements for such participation.

Emergency Justfication: On February 22, 2012, the President signed the Spectrum Act, which, among other things, authorized the Commission to conduct incentive auctions, and directed that the Commission use this innovative tool for an incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum to help meet the Nation’s growing spectrum needs. The information collection requirements reported under this new collection are the result of various Commission actions—the latest of which was released on October 15, 2015— to implement this new and novel approach for use in the Commission’s broadcast incentive auction (BIA). On June 2, 2014, the Commission released a Report and Order, Expanding the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions, GN Docket No. 12-268, FCC 14-50, 29 FCC Rcd 6567 (2014) (Incentive Auction R&O), in which it adopted general rules to govern the broadcast incentive auction (BIA), including the framework for various application disclosure and certification requirements that must be made by applicants seeking to participate in reverse and forward components of the BIA. Since the Incentive Auction R&O was released, the Commission has worked to determine final auction procedures, develop the electronic FCC Form 177 reverse auction application, and begin integrating FCC Form 177 into the Commission’s Auction System. Over a series of subsequent orders and public notices—most recently on October 15, 2015—the Commission modified some of the previously-adopted information collection requirements for applicants to participate in the reverse and forward auctions, and adopted additional information collection requirements for each auction, which required modifications and refinements to the FCC Form 177. The information requested as part of this new collection will be used by the Commission in its review of an applicant’s legal qualifications to participate in the reverse auction. If the Commission were to wait 120 days to formally notify the public and potential interested parties of its intent to collect this information on FCC Form 177, the Commission’s ability to begin accepting applications to participate in the reverse component of the BIA would be substantially delayed, and would in turn substantially delay both the start of the reverse auction and the Commission’s ability to meet its statutory directive to conduct the BIA. Further, due to the emergency nature of this request, the Commission is requesting a waiver of the requirement to publish a 60-day notice in the Federal Register. However, on October 30, 2015, the Commission published a 14-day notice in the Federal Register concerning the new information collection under the emergency processing procedures to give the public an opportunity to comment on this emergency submission. The Commission will conduct all the necessary regular submission requirements under the PRA after approval of this emergency request.

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 47 USC 154(i) and 309(j)(5) Name of Law: Communications Act , as amended
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: US Code: 47 USC 154(i) and 309(j)(5) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
3060-AJ82	Final or interim final rulemaking	79 FR 48442	08/15/2014

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	80 FR 66900	10/30/2015
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	80 FR 66900	10/30/2015
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

table that charts list of burden

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Application to Participate in a Reverse Auction	None, None, FCC Form 177	Application to Participate in a Reverse Incentive Auction ,   Channel Sharer Certifications for Full Power Station Sharer ,   Channel Sharer Certifications for Class A Station Sharer
Application to Participate in a Reverse Auction

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ICR Summary of Burden

table that charts list of burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	600	0	0	600	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	900	0	0	900	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

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

Burden Increase Due to: Changing Regulations

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

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: This is a new information collection resulting in a program change increases of 600 respondents, 600 annual responses and 900 total estimated annual burden hours.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $17,484

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

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Common Form ICR:  No

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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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 10/30/2015

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