Non-substantive Change Request Justification

August 10, 2017

Federal Communications Commission

OMB Control Number 3060-0636

Explanation of Non-Substantive Changes to OMB Control Number: 3060-0636:

Purpose of this Submission: The Commission is seeking a non-substantive change request for this information collection. On July 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) adopted “Amendment of Parts 0, 1, 2, 15 and 18 of the Commission’s Rules regarding Authorization of Radiofrequency Equipment” First Report and Order (1^st R&O) in ET Docket No. 15-170, FCC 17-93. This proceeding adopted a new procedure for equipment authorization—Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC)—that permits self-approval by the responsible party and combines the elements of two other self-approval procedures for equipment authorization—verification and Declaration of Conformity (DoC). The verification and DoC procedures will no longer be available after a transition period, and the use of a single self-approval procedure (SDoC) will simplify the authorization protocol for eligible devices under the Commission’s rules.

The Commission will permit parties to self-approve equipment under any of the three procedures during a one-year transition period which commences when the rules adopted in the Report and Order become effective. Specifically, during the transition period, devices now subject to verification could be self-approved instead under the new SDoC procedure, and devices now subject to DoC also could be self-approved under the new SDoC procedure (rule section 2.950(i)).

The SDoC procedure is essentially the same as the DoC procedure in many respects, and the Commission has modified the DoC rules to include changes for the SDoC procedure. The SDoC procedure differs from DoC in two significant ways. First, devices authorized under SDoC will continue to be tested for compliance with the Commission’s rules but, unlike the DoC procedure, SDoC does not require that the testing be conducted by an accredited laboratory (rule section 2.948). Second, devices approved under SDoC may include the FCC logo on a voluntary basis (rule section 2.1074(b)), which is required for devices approved under DoC. Both collection requirements are already covered by Control Number 3060-0636 (DoC), for which the Commission is now requesting non-substantive revisions to cover the modification of the rules for SDoC. The requested changes will not result in an increase in the number of respondents and responses (the total number of respondents should remain the same) nor in the total burden hours by permitting parties to choose either the DoC or SDoC self-approval procedures during the transition period.