The Commission’s Incentive Auction
Order adopted rules for holding an Incentive Auction, as required
by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012
(Spectrum Act). The Spectrum Act directs the Commission to hold a
“reverse auction” in which broadcasters can voluntarily return some
or all of their broadcast spectrum usage rights in exchange for
incentive payments. The Spectrum Act also requires the Commission
to reorganize the broadcast television band, which will be
accomplished by repacking stations, or moving broadcast stations to
different channels. The Spectrum Act directs the Commission to hold
a forward auction of the ultra-high frequency (UHF) spectrum
obtained as a result of the reverse auction and channel repacking.
This UHF spectrum will be auctioned as flexible-use licenses
suitable for providing mobile broadband service. The Spectrum Act
establishes a TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund (Fund) to reimburse
reassigned broadcasters and multichannel video programming
distributors (MVPDs) that incur expenses associated with continuing
to carry relocated stations, for their reasonable expenses
resulting from the post-auction channel reassignment. The rules
governing these processes are codified at 47 C.F.R. Parts 0, 1, 27,
73 and 74. The Commission delegated to the Media Bureau the
authority to develop a form for use by each full power and Class A
broadcast licensee reassigned to a new channel following the
Incentive Auction to claim reimbursement from the Fund (FCC Form
2100, Schedule 399, TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund Reimbursement
Form). The Commission also delegated to the Media Bureau the
authority to adopt the necessary policies and procedures relating
to allocations, draw downs, payments, obligations, and expenditures
of money from the Fund in order to protect against waste, fraud and
abuse and in the event of bankruptcy.
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.