Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to the Office of Management and Budget
| Published date | 20 February 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 5080 |
| Record Number | 2019-02776 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Federal Communications Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5080-5082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02776]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[OMB 3060-1151]
Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to
the Office of Management and Budget
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens,
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the Commission) invites the
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on the following information collection. Comments are requested
concerning: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission,
including whether the information shall have practical utility; the
accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on the
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology; and ways to further reduce the
information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer
than 25 employees.
The Commission may not conduct or sponsor a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) control number. No person shall be subject to any
penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject
to the PRA that does not display a valid OMB control number.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before March 22,
2019. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find
it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice,
you should advise the contacts listed below as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB, via
email Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov; and to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via
email PRA@fcc.gov and to Nicole.Ongele@fcc.gov. Include in the comments
the OMB control number as shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies
of the information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991.
To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) submitted
to OMB: (1) Go to the web page http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, (2) look for the section of the web page called ``Currently
Under Review,'' (3) click on the downward-pointing arrow in the
``Select Agency'' box below the ``Currently Under Review'' heading, (4)
select ``Federal Communications Commission'' from the list of agencies
presented in the ``Select Agency'' box, (5) click the ``Submit'' button
to the right of the ``Select Agency'' box, (6) when the list of FCC
ICRs currently under review appears, look for the OMB control number of
this ICR and then click on the ICR Reference Number. A copy of the FCC
submission to OMB will be displayed.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC or the Commission) invites the general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following
information collection.
Comments are requested concerning: Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the Commission, including whether the information shall have
practical utility; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate;
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
collected; ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information
on the respondents, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology; and ways to
further reduce the information collection burden on small business
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
OMB Control Number: 3060-1151.
Title: Sections 1.1411, 1.1412, 1.1413, and 1.1415 Pole Attachment
Access Requirements.
Form Number: N/A.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently-approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 1,142 respondents; 145,538 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 0.5-6 hours.
Frequency of Response: On-occasion reporting requirement,
recordkeeping requirement, and third-party disclosure requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. Statutory authority for this
information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 224.
Total Annual Burden: 554,410 hours.
Total Annual Cost: $6,750,000.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: No questions of a
confidential nature are asked.
Needs and Uses: The Commission is requesting Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approval for revisions to, and a three-year extension
of, this information collection. In Accelerating Wireline Broadband
Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment, WC Docket
No. 17-84, WT Docket No. 17-70, Third Report and Order and Declaratory
Ruling, FCC 18-111 (2018) (Order), the Commission
[[Page 5081]]
adopted rules that implement the pole attachment requirements in
section 224 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. The Order
substantially revised 47 CFR 1.1411, 1.1412, and 1.1413. It also added
new 47 CFR 1.1415.
Section 1.1411. In the Order, the Commission adopted a new one-
touch, make-ready (OTMR) process for when a telecommunications carrier
or cable television system (new attacher) elects to do the work itself
to prepare a utility pole for a simple wireline attachment in the
communications space. As part of the OTMR process, the new attacher
typically first conducts a survey of the affected poles, giving the
utility and existing attachers a chance to be present for the survey.
New attachers must elect the OTMR process in their pole attachment
application and must demonstrate to the utility that the planned work
qualifies for OTMR. The utility then must determine whether the pole
attachment application is complete and whether the work qualifies for
OTMR, and then must either grant or deny pole access and explain its
decision in writing. The utility also can object to the new attacher's
determination that the work qualifies for OTMR, and that objection is
final and determinative so long as it is specific and in writing,
includes all relevant evidence and information supporting its decision,
made in good faith, and explains how such evidence and information
relates to a determination that the make-ready is not simple. If the
new attacher's OTMR application is approved, then it can proceed with
OTMR work by giving advance notice to the utility and existing
attachers and allowing them an opportunity to be present when OTMR work
is being done. New attachers must provide immediate notice to affected
utilities and existing attachers if outages or equipment damage is
caused by their OTMR work. Finally, new attachers must provide notice
to affected utilities and existing attachers after OTMR work is
completed, allowing them to inspect the work and request remediation,
if necessary.
The Commission also adopted changes to its existing pole attachment
timeline, which still will be used for complex work, work above the
communications space on a utility pole, and in situations where new
attachers do not want to elect OTMR. The Commission largely kept the
existing pole attachment timeline intact, except for the following
changes: (1) Revising the definition of a complete pole attachment
application and establishing a timeline for a utility's determination
whether an application is complete; (2) requiring utilities to provide
at least three business days' advance notice of any surveys to
attachers; (3) establishing a 30-day deadline for completion of all
make-ready work in the communications space; (4) eliminating the 15-day
utility make-ready period for communications space attachments; (5)
streamlining the utility's notice requirements; (6) enhancing the new
attacher's self-help remedy by making the remedy available for surveys
and make-ready work for all attachments anywhere on the pole in the
event that the utility or the existing attachers fail to meet the
required deadlines; (7) providing notice requirements when new
attachers elect self-help, such notices to be given when new attachers
perform self-help surveys and make-ready work, when outages or
equipment damage results from self-help work, and upon completion of
self-help work to allow for inspection; (8) allowing utilities to meet
the survey requirement by electing to use surveys previously prepared
on the affected poles by new attachers, and (9) requiring utilities to
provide detailed make-ready cost estimates and final invoices on a
pole-by-pole basis if requested by new attachers. Both utilities and
existing attachers can deviate from the existing pole attachment make-
ready timeline for reasons of safety or service interruption by giving
written notice to the affected parties that includes a detailed
explanation of the need for the deviation and a new completion date.
The deviation shall be for a period no longer than necessary to
complete make-ready on the affected poles, and the deviating party
shall resume make-ready without discrimination when it returns to
routine operations.
Section 1.1412. The Commission required utilities to make
available, and keep up-to-date, a reasonably sufficient list of
contractors that they authorize to perform surveys and make-ready work
that are complex or involve self-help work above the communications
space of a utility pole. Attachers can request to add to the list any
contractor that meets certain minimum qualifications, subject to the
utility's ability to reasonably object. For simple work, a utility may,
but is not required, to keep an up-to-date, reasonably sufficient list
of contractors that they authorize to perform surveys and simple make-
ready work. For any utility-supplied contractor list, the utility must
ensure that the contractors meet certain minimum requirements.
Attachers can request to add to the list any contractor that meets the
minimum qualifications, subject to the utility's ability to reasonably
object. If the utility does not provide a list of approved contractors
for surveys or simple make-ready, or no utility-approved contractor is
available within a reasonable time period, then the new attacher may
choose its own qualified contractor that meets the minimum
requirements, subject to notice and the utility's ability to disqualify
the chosen contractor for reasonable safety or reliability concerns.
Section 1.1413. The Commission established a presumption that in a
complaint proceeding challenging a utility's rates, terms, or
conditions of pole attachment, an incumbent local exchange carrier
(LEC) is similarly situated to an attacher that is a telecommunications
carrier or a cable television system providing telecommunications
services for purposes of obtaining comparable pole attachment rates,
terms, or conditions. To rebut the presumption, the utility must
demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the incumbent LEC
receives benefits under its pole attachment agreement with a utility
that materially advantages the incumbent LEC over other
telecommunications carriers or cable television systems providing
telecommunications service on the same poles. Such a presumption
applies only to pole attachment agreements entered into, or renewed
after, the effective date of the Order, The Commission addressed the
paperwork burdens for changes to Section 1.1413 in a separate
collection--OMB Control No. 3060-0392, 47 CFR part 1 Subpart J--Pole
Attachment Complaint Procedures.
Section 1.1415. The Commission adopted a new rule codifying its
policy that utilities may not require an attacher to obtain prior
approval for overlashing on an attacher's existing wires or for third-
party overlashing of an existing attachment when such overlashing is
conducted with the permission of the existing attacher. In addition,
the Commission adopted a rule that allows utilities to establish
reasonable advance notice requirements for overlashing (up to 15 days'
advance notice). If a utility requires advance notice for overlashing,
then the utility must provide existing attachers with advance written
notice of the notice requirement or include the notice requirement in
the attachment agreement with the existing attacher. If, after
receiving advance notice, the utility determines that an overlash would
create a capacity, safety, reliability, or engineering issue, then it
must provide specific documentation of the issue to the party seeking
to overlash within the 15-day advance notice period, and the party
seeking to
[[Page 5082]]
overlash must address any identified issues before continuing with the
overlash either by modifying its proposal or by explaining why, in the
party's view, a modification is unnecessary. An overlashing party must
notify the affected utility within 15 days of completion of the
overlash and provide the affected utility at least 90 days to inspect
the overlash. If damage or code violations are discovered by the
utility during the inspection, then it must notify the overlashing
party, provide adequate documentation of the problem, and elect to
either fix the problem itself at the overlashing party's expense or
require remediation by the overlashing party.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-02776 Filed 2-19-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
