Non-substantive Change Request

OMB Control No. 3060-1308

Reporting On Foreign Ownership of International Section 214 Authorization Holders

August 2023

On June 6, 2023, OMB approved Control No. 3060-1308, Reporting On Foreign Ownership of International Section 214 Authorization Holders. This one-time information collection was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) in Review of International Section 214 Authorizations to Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks, IB Docket No. 23-119; Amendment of the Schedule of Application Fees Set Forth in Sections 1.1102 through 1.1109 of the Commission’s Rules, MD Docket No. 23-134, Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Evolving Risks Order and Notice).¹ The Commission is requesting approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the questions and instructions for this one-time information collection. We request that OMB treat this as a non-substantive change to Control No. 3060-1308.

The responses to this one-time information collection will be submitted electronically through a machine-readable format in an online system and the information collected will be added into the appropriate application files in the International Communications Filing System (ICFS), the existing system for filing applications involving international section 214 authorizations. The questions and the filing instructions are attached.

The Commission has determined to exempt certain international section 214 authorization holders (Authorization Holders) from having to provide detailed information about their foreign ownership. See Review of International Section 214 Authorizations to Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks, IB Docket No. 23-119; Amendment of the Schedule of Application Fees Set Forth in Sections 1.1102 through 1.1109 of the Commission’s Rules, MD Docket No. 23-134, Order.² If an Authorization Holder qualifies for this exemption, it will only need to provide information regarding the citizenship(s) or place(s) of organization of the individuals and/or entities that directly and/or indirectly hold 10% or greater equity and/or voting interests, or a controlling interest, in the Authorization Holder (Foreign Interest Holder), rather than providing specific information about each individual and/or entity (name, percentage of interests held, etc.). In order to qualify for this exemption:

(1) The Authorization Holder must have filed an application for an initial International Section 214 Authorization, modification, or substantial (not a pro forma filing) assignment or transfer of control of the authorization that was reviewed by the Executive Branch agencies and was granted by the Commission after XXXX xx, 2020 [[add date 3 years before the date of the filing deadline]]; and

(2) There are no reportable Foreign Interest Holders of the Authorization Holder other than those disclosed in the application (including any amendment), and there are no changes to the reportable Foreign Interest Holders disclosed in the application (including any amendment) as of XXXX xx, 2023 [[add date thirty (30) days prior to the date of the filing deadline for this One-Time Information Collection]].

Authorization Holders that qualify for this exemption will have a reduced burden since they will only be required to (1) identify the ICFS file number of the application that fulfills all of these requirements, and (2) identify, on an aggregated basis, all of the citizenship(s) or place(s) of organization of their reportable foreign interest holders, instead of submitting detailed ownership information for each reportable foreign interest holder. We estimate that 105 filers will qualify for this exemption and the reduced burden.

In addition, the Commission is requesting approval from OMB for revisions to the Supporting Statement for Control Number 3060-1308. We request that OMB treat this as a non-substantive change to Control No. 3060-1308. This submission seeks to revise the response to Question 16 of the Supporting Statement, to state, “Responses to the One-Time Information Collection will be made publicly available in IB Docket No. 23-119 and associated with the Authorization Holder’s International Section 214 Authorization(s) in the International Communications Filing System (ICFS), except to the extent that any material or information is afforded confidential treatment.” In addition, this submission corrects the statutory authority identified in the response to Question 2 of the Supporting Statement. This submission makes minor typographical corrections to the responses to Questions 4, 8, 12, and 15 of the Supporting Statement, and includes the Control Number for the one-time information collection. A clean version of the revised Supporting Statement is provided in the attached document.

1 Review of International Section 214 Authorizations to Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks, IB Docket No. 23-119; Amendment of the Schedule of Application Fees Set Forth in Sections 1.1102 through 1.1109 of the Commission’s Rules, MD Docket No. 23-134, Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 23-28 (rel. Apr. 25, 2023).

2 Review of International Section 214 Authorizations to Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks; Amendment of the Schedule of Application Fees Set Forth in Sections 1.1102 through 1.1109 of the Commission’s Rules, IB Docket No. 23-119, MD Docket No. 23-134, Order, DA 23-745 (OIA Aug. 22, 2023); The Office of International Affairs Denies Request to Extend the Evolving Risks NPRM’s Comment Cycle; Exempts Qualifying International Section 214 Authorization Holders from Disclosing Certain Details of Reportable Foreign Ownership in the One-Time Information Collection; and Reminds International Section 214 Authorization Holders of the FCC Registration Number (FRN) Requirement, IB Docket No. 23-119, MD Docket No. 23-134, Public Notice, DA 23-746 (OIA Aug. 22, 2023).

1