On August 3, 2017, the Commission
released the WRS Reform Second Report and Order in which it
consolidated the hodgepodge of service-specific renewal and
permanent discontinuance rules into consolidated Part 1 rules,
1.949 and 1.953, respectively (See Amendment of Parts 1, 22, 24,
27, 74, 80, 90, 95, and 101 To Establish Uniform License Renewal,
Discontinuance of Operation, and Geographic Partitioning and
Spectrum Disaggregation Rules and Policies for Certain Wireless
Radio Services, Second Report and Order and Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 17-105 (WRS Reform Second Report and
Order)) . Of relevance to the information collection at issue here,
the Commission established a consistent standard for renewing
wireless licenses and set forth safe harbors providing expedited
renewal for licensees that meet their initial term construction
requirement and remain operating at or above that level. In
addition, the Commission adopted consistent service continuity
rules, which provide for automatic termination of any license on
which a licensee permanently discontinues service or operation. The
Commission now seeks approval for revisions to its currently
approved collection of information under OMB Control Number
3060-0798 to permit (1) the collection of renewal-related
information for Wireless Radio Service (WRS) licenses, and (2) the
filing of requests to extend a permanent discontinuance period for
good cause. Regarding renewal of WRS licenses, § 1.949(d) of the
Commission's rules requires an applicant for renewal of certain WRS
licenses to meet the Renewal Standard, i.e., the applicant must
demonstrate that over the course of the license term, the licensee
provided and continues to provide service to the public, or
operated and continues to operate the license to meet the
licensee(s)' private, internal communications needs. A renewal
applicant can meet the Renewal Standard by certifying compliance
with one of the safe harbors enumerated in § 1.949(e) of the
Commission's rules, or, if the applicant cannot satisfy the
requirements of one of the safe harbors, the applicant must make a
Renewal Showing consistent with § 1.949(f). In addition, a renewal
applicant must make a Regulatory Compliance Certification
certifying that it has substantially complied with all applicable
FCC rules, policies, and the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended. If an applicant is unable to make this substantial
compliance certification, it will need to provide an explanation of
the circumstances preventing such a certification and why renewal
of the subject license should still be granted. In addition, on
August 10, 2015, the Commission released a Report and Order in
Amendment of Sections 90.20(d) and 90.265 of the Commission’s Rules
to Facilitate the Use of Vehicular Repeater Units, FCC 15-103, in
which it decided to adopt certain changes to the rules governing
six remote control and telemetry channels in the VHF band. The
Commission decided to allow the licensing and operation of
vehicular repeater systems (VRS) and other mobile repeaters on
these channels. In addition, the Commission revises and updated the
technical rules for these channels to allow greater use of VRS
systems while providing protection for incumbent telemetry users
who rely on these frequencies for control of critical
infrastructure systems. Of significance for this collection, the
Commission also decided that the only way to accommodate both
telemetry and VRS on these frequencies is through frequency
coordination to both ensure geographic separation as well as
minimizing the risk of commingling voice and data operations. In
particular, the Commission adopted new section 90.175(b)(4), which
prescribes the obligations of frequency coordinators and the
ability of applicants to submit written concurrences from
potentially affected incumbent licensees as part of the Form 601
filing.
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.