Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for Review

February 21, 1997.

The Federal Communications Commission has submitted the following

information collection requirement to OMB for review and clearance

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Section 3507.

Persons wishing to comment on this information collection should

contact Timothy Fain, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10236,

NEOB, Washington, D.C. 20503, (202) 395-0651. For further information,

contact Dorothy Conway, Federal Communications Commission, (202) 418-

0217.

Please note: The Commission has requested emergency review of this

collection by February 28, 1997, under the provisions of 5 CFR Section

1320.13.

Federal Communications Commission.

OMB Control No.: 3060-0536.

Title: Rules and Requirements for Telecommunications Relay Services

(TRS) Interstate Cost Recovery.

Form No.: FCC Form 431.

Action: Revised Collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Estimated Annual Burden: 5000 respondents; 3.1 hours per response

(avg.); 15593 hours total annual burden.

Needs and Uses: Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of

1990 (ADA) requires the Commission to ensure that telecommunications

relay services are available, to the extent possible, to individuals

with hearing and speech disabilities in the United States. To fulfill

this mandate, the Commission adopted rules that require the provision

of TRS service beginning July 26, 1993. The Commission set minimum

standards for TRS providers and established a shared-funding mechanism

(TRS Fund) for recovering the costs of providing interstate TRS. The

Commission also appointed the National Exchange Carrier Association

(NECA) the TRS Fund administrator, and directed NECA to establish a

non-paid, voluntary advisory committee to monitor cost recovery

matters.

The Commission's rules require all carriers providing interstate

telecommunications services to contribute to the TRS Fund. The amount

contributed is the product of the carrier's gross interstate revenues

for the previous year and a contribution factor determined annually by

the Commission. Contributions are calculated in accordance with a TRS

Fund Worksheet which is prepared each year by the Commission and

published in the Federal Register. Payments from the fund are made to

eligible TRS providers and are designed to cover the reasonable costs

incurred in providing interstate TRS service. The TRS Fund

administrator files a proposed payment formula and estimated fund

requirements with the Commission each year, and this payment formula is

subject to Commission approval. See 47 CFR Sec. 64.601-64.608 for rules

and requirements governing telecommunications relay services. On

December 17, 1996, the Commission's Common Carrier Bureau released an

order approving the contribution factor for the April 1997 through

March 1998 contribution period and the 1997 TRS Fund Worksheet (FCC

Form 431) and also making several revisions to the form.

The foregoing estimates include the time for reviewing

instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and

maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the burden

estimates or any other aspect of the collection of information

including suggestions for reducing the burden to the Federal

Communications Commission, Records Management Division, Paperwork

Reduction Project, Washington, DC 20554.

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-4910 Filed 2-26-97; 8:45 am]

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