Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission for Extension Under Delegated Authority, Comments Requested

SUMMARY:

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. An agency may not collect or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. Comments are requested concerning (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) 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.

DATES:

Persons wishing to comment on this information collection should submit comments on or before March 1, 2010. 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 contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), via fax at (202) 395-5167, or via the Internet at Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov and to Leslie F. Smith, Federal Communications Commission, at Leslie.Smith@fcc.gov. To submit your comments by e-mail, send them to PRA@fcc.gov. Include in the e-mail the OMB Control Number of the collection or, if there is no OMB control number, the Title shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. If you are unable to submit your comments by e-mail, contact the person listed below to make alternate arrangements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information about the information collection(s) or to obtain a copy of the collection, send an e-mail to PRA@fcc.gov and include the collection's OMB control number as shown in the Supplementary Information section below, or call Leslie F. Smith at (202) 418-0217.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control No.: 3060-0411.

Title: Procedures for Formal Complaints Filed Against Common Carriers.

Form Number: FCC 485.

Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.

Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit, Not-for-profit institutions, Federal Government, and State, Local or Tribal Government.

Number of Respondents: 26; 26 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 0.5-12 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping, On occasion reporting requirements; and Third party disclosure.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

Total Annual Burden: 1,001 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $1,409,600.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impacts.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: 47 CFR 1.731 provides for confidential treatment of materials disclosed or exchanged during the course of formal complaint proceedings when those materials have been identified by the disclosing party as proprietary or confidential. In the rare case in which a producing party believes that Section 1.731 will not provide adequate protection for its asserted confidential material, it may request either that the opposing party consent to greater protection, or that the staff supervising the proceeding order greater protection.

Needs and Uses: Sections 206-209 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Act”), provide the statutory framework for the Commission's rules for resolving formal complaints against common carriers. Section 208(a) authorizes complaints by any person “complaining of anything done or omitted to be done by any common carrier” subject to the provisions of the Act. Section 208(a) states that if a carrier does not satisfy a complaint or there appears to be any reasonable ground for investigating the complaint, the Commission shall “investigate the matters complained of in such manner and by such means as it shall deem proper.” Certain categories of complaints are subject to a statutory deadline for resolution. See, e.g., 47 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) (imposing a five-month deadline for complaints challenging the “lawfulness of a charge, classification, regulation, or practice”); 47 U.S.C. 271(d)(6) (imposing a 90-day deadline for complaints alleging that a Bell operating company (BOC) has ceased to meet conditions imposed in connection with approval to provide in-region interLATA services).

Formal complaint proceedings before the Commission are similar to civil litigation in federal district court. In fact, under section 207 of the Act, a party claiming to be damaged by a common carrier, may file its complaint with the Commission or in any district court of the United States, “but such person shall not have the right to pursue both such remedies” (47 U.S.C. 207). The Commission has promulgated rules (the “Formal Complaint Rules”) to govern its formal complaint proceedings that are similar in many respects to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See 47 CFR 1.720-1.736. These rules require the submission of information from the parties necessary to create a record on which the Commission can decide complex legal and factual issues. As described in Section 1.720 of the Commission's rules, formal complaint proceedings are resolved on a written record consisting of a complaint, answer or response, and joint statement of stipulated facts, disputed facts and key legal issues, along with all associated affidavits, exhibits and other attachments.

This collection of information includes the process for submitting a formal complaint. The Commission uses this information to determine the sufficiency of complaints and to resolve the merits of disputes between the parties. Orders issued by the Commission in formal complaint proceedings are based upon evidence and argument produced by the parties in accordance with the Formal Complaint Rules. If the information were not collected, the Commission would not be able to resolve common carrier-related complaint proceedings, as required by Section 208 of the Act.