Emergency Letter

Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
October 29, 2021
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
Ms. Sharon Block
Acting Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503
Dear Ms. Block:
The Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) requests Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval to submit the information collection described herein
under the “emergency processing” provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 5
CFR 1320.13. The Commission is requesting clearance for a new information collection entitled
[3060-XXXX], Request for a Medical Exception to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement,
FCC Form 5643. For the reasons explained below, We respectfully request OMB approval for
this new information collection at the earliest possible time.
Background
The information collection requirements to be reported under this new collection are the
result of requirements imposed by an Executive Order issued by President Biden regarding
mandatory COVID-19 vaccination among Federal employees.
On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14043 to protect the
health and safety of the Federal workforce and to promote the efficiency of the civil service.
Pursuant to the Executive Order and implementing guidance, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) informed its workforce that, other than in limited circumstances where a
reasonable accommodation is legally required, all employees need to be fully vaccinated against
COVID-19 by November 22, 2021, regardless of where they are working.
Among the limited exceptions to the vaccination requirement, FCC employees may
request reasonable accommodation to the requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19 due to
a documented medical necessity. Employees seeking consideration of such reasonable
accommodation requests must provide a release form to permit the FCC to seek relevant
information from their medical provider to support the employee’s request. As stated above, this
process must be completed by November 22, 2021.

1

Request for Emergency Processing
Accordingly, as provided under 5 CFR § 1320.13, Emergency Processing, the FCC is
requesting emergency processing for the new collection of information as specified in the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations. Specifically, the FCC
cannot reasonably comply with normal clearance procedures because the use of normal clearance
procedures is unlikely to be complete in time for the FCC to scrutinize requests for reasonable
accommodation, and is thus likely to disrupt the collection of information necessary to comply
with Executive Order 14043. Requiring the Commission to seek OMB’s approval for this new
collection under the regular PRA processing procedures would significantly delay the processing
of reasonable accommodation requests and, in turn, compliance with Executive Order 14043.
Moreover, if the Commission were to wait 120 days to formally notify the public and potential
interested parties of its intent to collect this information, then the Commission’s ability to
comply with this Government-wide mandate will be significantly hindered.
Due to the emergency nature of this request, the Commission is also requesting a waiver
of the requirement to publish notice in the Federal Register. In addition to the reason provided
above, absent a waiver of such notice requirements, public harm will result due to the potential
harm to the ability of the FCC to fulfill its mission should employees seeking such an
accommodation by prohibited from working after November 22 pursuant to the terms of
Executive Order 14043.
Upon OMB approval of its emergency clearance request, the FCC will begin to process
requests for reasonable accommodation from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement asserted by
FCC employees.
The Commission’s staff is ready to work with your PRA Desk Officer to immediately
provide any additional information needed to facilitate OMB’s approval of this emergency
request for this new information collection. Please have your PRA desk officer contact Nicole
Ongele at (202) 418-2991, or [email protected], if there are any questions or any additional
information that may be needed.
Sincerely,
Mark
Stephens

Digitally signed by
Mark Stephens
Date: 2021.11.01
12:56:53 -04'00'

Mark Stephens
Managing Director
Enclosure

2