Next round of Paperwork Reduction Act review of the “open Internet” information collection requirements starts at OMB.

We have progress to report on the net neutrality front!  Well, sort of.

The Commission has shipped two “information collection” aspects of the “open Internet” rules over to the Office of Management and Budget for its review. Yes, we know that we expected the Commission was going to take care of this chore a couple of months ago – but let’s get past that. The fact is: OMB review of net neutrality has begun, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).

(If you’re confused about the whole OMB review process and how it fits into the plan to effectuate the net neutrality rules, check out our earlier post addressing such things.)

Interested parties may submit their comments on either the net neutrality formal complaint process and/or the mandatory disclosure of network management practices, performance and commercial terms of access. You can find directions on how to do so in the notices (linked in the preceding sentence) published in the Federal Register. This round of comments will go to OMB, rather than the Commission (which fielded the last round of such comments starting back in February). You’ve got until August 8, 2011 to fill the OMB in on your views.

When the PRA review process started back in February, we observed that the information the FCC had made available up to that point provided less than clear guidance about just what the various new net neutrality requirements will entail. The latest notices announcing OMB review don’t add anything – which means that would-be commenters are still flying at least somewhat blind.

Note that the Federal Register notices announcing this next step in the PRA process do NOT mean either that the net neutrality rules are now effective, or that they are now subject to judicial review. Before anybody will be able to appeal the new rules, those rules will have to be published in toto in the Federal Register. 

And before the new rules can be effective, they not only will have to have been published, they will also have to have been approved by OMB. That won’t happen before August 8 for sure – but it could happen very soon after that date, if OMB has no problem with the rules. We’ll keep you posted.