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<bill bill-stage="Introduced-in-Senate" dms-id="A1" public-private="public" slc-id="S1-BON23772-0P5-N9-D70"><metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
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<dc:title>118 S3556 IS: Enhancing First Response Act</dc:title>
<dc:publisher>U.S. Senate</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>2024-12-18</dc:date>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
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<distribution-code display="yes">II</distribution-code><congress>118th CONGRESS</congress><session>1st Session</session><legis-num>S. 3556</legis-num><current-chamber>IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES</current-chamber><action><action-date date="20241218">December 18, 2023</action-date><action-desc><sponsor name-id="S311">Ms. Klobuchar</sponsor> (for herself, <cosponsor name-id="S396">Mrs. Blackburn</cosponsor>, <cosponsor name-id="S359">Mr. Heinrich</cosponsor>, and <cosponsor name-id="S303">Mr. Thune</cosponsor>) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the <committee-name committee-id="SSCM00">Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation</committee-name></action-desc></action><legis-type>A BILL</legis-type><official-title>To direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvements to network outage reporting, to categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification system, and for other purposes.</official-title></form><legis-body><section id="S1" section-type="section-one"><enum>1.</enum><header>Short title</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">This Act may be cited as the <quote><short-title>Enhancing First Response Act</short-title></quote>.</text></section><section section-type="subsequent-section" id="H5A256EBB6717490BB485ACBC7253FBB3"><enum>2.</enum><header>Reports after activation of disaster information reporting system; improvements to network outage reporting</header><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="ide603a447ad624011ba30e7151e34fa8e"><enum>(a)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Definitions</header><text>In this section:</text><paragraph id="H2B1A1323B5EB4E2D815DD9061DC0C5AB"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Automatic location information; automatic number identification</header><text>The terms <term>Automatic Location Information</term> and <term>Automatic Number Identification</term> have the meanings given those terms in section 9.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H58094BD6AD2E418B85C7D62A2506C394"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Broadband internet access service</header><text>The term <term>broadband internet access service</term> has the meaning given the term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H0A8B5ABF40EE42E2B10108E0360C3148"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Commercial mobile service</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The term <term>commercial mobile service</term> has the meaning given the term in section 332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/47/332">47 U.S.C. 332(d)</external-xref>). </text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" id="HBEAF50AF6A2943DFA78F0FB366D37971"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Commercial mobile data service</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The term <term>commercial mobile data service</term> has the meaning given the term in section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/47/1401">47 U.S.C. 1401</external-xref>). </text></paragraph><paragraph id="H037E7DA341354896AF9413CF54219A76"><enum>(5)</enum><header>Commission</header><text>The term <term>Commission</term> means the Federal Communications Commission.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H115D90997B5F40D6988CB70C5D437A7E"><enum>(6)</enum><header>Indian tribal government; local government</header><text>The terms <term>Indian tribal government</term> and <term>local government</term> have the meanings given those terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/42/5122">42 U.S.C. 5122</external-xref>).</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H1A093F8EA40A4188AFAEDA29A58773A5"><enum>(7)</enum><header>Interconnected VoIP service; State</header><text>The terms <term>interconnected VoIP service</term> and <term>State</term> have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/47/153">47 U.S.C. 153</external-xref>).</text></paragraph><paragraph id="idce6158ad8dbc435db9efc6f4f4283fac"><enum>(8)</enum><header>Outage</header><text>The term <term>outage</term> has the meaning given the term in section 4.5 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="H686203B2B6C64F698F1D912AFCD0197A"><enum>(9)</enum><header>Public safety answering point</header><text>The term <term>public safety answering point</term> has the meaning given the term in section 222(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/47/222">47 U.S.C. 222(h)</external-xref>).</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id39a776ad5ade4b379543ac421b3216d2"><enum>(10)</enum><header>System</header><text>The term <term>System</term> means the Disaster Information Reporting System.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H03A08B5755E74E578E833ADAB3328EED"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Reports after activation of disaster information reporting system</header><paragraph id="HB7914EC31ED040608D42095D404DB8E2"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Preliminary report</header><subparagraph id="H356196E387C345199A9F3E465628E040"><enum>(A)</enum><header>In general</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Not later than 6 weeks after the deactivation of the System with respect to an event for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days, the Commission shall issue a preliminary report on, with respect to such event and to the extent known—</text><clause id="H589A1453E5E9421296078A275F3B07B6"><enum>(i)</enum><text>the number and duration of any outages of—</text><subclause id="HA4FE6E2A1BB049E69BCB4F639B658CE0"><enum>(I)</enum><text>broadband internet access service;</text></subclause><subclause id="H60871CA2450349BCA1F9054C51B1A3D7"><enum>(II)</enum><text>interconnected VoIP service; </text></subclause><subclause id="HF2D2EDE1F8A643809B6977B20950EC09"><enum>(III)</enum><text>commercial mobile service; and</text></subclause><subclause id="H3468C655E7FD4C1891388ABAD9FD4A02"><enum>(IV)</enum><text>commercial mobile data service; </text></subclause></clause><clause id="HC264B94337C04A538A9807428E4EA356"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>the approximate number of users or the amount of communications infrastructure potentially affected by an outage described in clause (i);</text></clause><clause id="HCD5C15BA15B449BDAE814B5D30F01735"><enum>(iii)</enum><text>the number and duration of any outages that prevent public safety answering points from receiving caller location or number information or receiving emergency calls and routing such calls to emergency service personnel; and</text></clause><clause id="H1E9BE57FB58F4EB49343CC73E8CC882E"><enum>(iv)</enum><text>any additional information determined appropriate by the Commission.</text></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph commented="no" id="H810D1BE66B5044E29103186653F5511E"><enum>(B)</enum><header>Development of report</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Commission shall develop the report required by subparagraph (A) using information collected by the Commission, including information collected by the Commission through the System. </text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H82A64A65D6494EE48081399CA3B23A4C"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Public field hearings</header><subparagraph id="H9158B520125A42ED8EBF1DA4644E4AC9"><enum>(A)</enum><header>Requirement</header><text>Not later than 8 months after the deactivation of the System with respect to an event for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days, the Commission shall hold not less than 1 public field hearing in the area affected by such event.</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H3572C118A1A44CD89086D83CAFEA95E0"><enum>(B)</enum><header>Inclusion of certain individuals in hearings</header><text>For each public field hearing held under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall consider including—</text><clause id="H08853165FCF14A1884671FF443301FF8"><enum>(i)</enum><text>representatives of State government, local government, or Indian tribal governments in areas affected by such event;</text></clause><clause id="HEFCD0119CAFC403BA16E6BF70C2A2FD7"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>residents of the areas affected by such event, or consumer advocates;</text></clause><clause id="H4A3D3FFDA8134D4EA1752887FF3CE50B"><enum>(iii)</enum><text>providers of communications services affected by such event;</text></clause><clause id="H7E9929B954CE425689CD78DAFE388C89"><enum>(iv)</enum><text>faculty of institutions of higher education;</text></clause><clause id="H6577FD6E28F1406CB1B00909D95145B8"><enum>(v)</enum><text>representatives of other Federal agencies;</text></clause><clause id="H3A6B70290AD04B74A9B0E56E60B3B445"><enum>(vi)</enum><text>electric utility providers;</text></clause><clause id="H2238A78D6D54442A920D59BF30420DEF"><enum>(vii)</enum><text>communications infrastructure companies; and</text></clause><clause id="H69FFE6D7624B4B4A8B1D151AD488D1E5"><enum>(viii)</enum><text>first responders, emergency managers, or 9–1–1 directors in areas affected by such event.</text></clause></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H3D4118C56E80492FAF71549A5CD47E14"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Final report</header><text>Not later than 12 months after the deactivation of the System with respect to an event for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days, the Commission shall issue a final report that includes, with respect to such event—</text><subparagraph id="H8B15112ADFF346E991AD1176ED9E4669"><enum>(A)</enum><text>the information described in paragraph (1)(A); and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="H07CA1A8F70D84BF69F11B92EF3AF86CD"><enum>(B)</enum><text>any recommendations of the Commission on how to improve the resiliency of affected communications or networks recovery efforts.</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="HBFBF4704E72145BDBB37484B1C4C7E54"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Development of reports</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">In developing a report required under this subsection, the Commission shall consider information collected by the Commission, including information collected by the Commission through the System, and any public hearing described in paragraph (2) with respect to the applicable event.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HA52D971C0F194A34A0EB1FA8EDE913CD"><enum>(5)</enum><header>Publication</header><text>The Commission shall publish each report, excluding information that is otherwise exempt from public disclosure under the rules of the Commission, issued under this subsection on the website of the Commission upon the issuance of such report.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HEBCE1806B1B646D2B4BA5E3F2A8A8507"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Improvements to network outage reporting</header><text>Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall investigate and publish a report on—</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id08d25525fc2d4089abe4c26d8ce49ab5"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">the value to public safety agencies of originating service providers including visual information to improve situational awareness about outages in the notifications provided to public safety answering points, as required by rules issued by the Commission;</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id2f83fc8351e548f3a38df4361c38622e"><enum>(2)</enum><text>the volume and nature of 911 outages that may go unreported under the outage notification thresholds of the Commission; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="idd28c0b785d3646ef88fb14fb7217ced5" commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline"><enum>(3)</enum><text>recommended changes to rules issued by the Commission to address paragraphs (1) and (2).</text></paragraph></subsection></section><section id="id161C76A22AA64FE890FB554E8B79691C" commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>3.</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Reporting of public safety telecommunicators as protective service occupations</header><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="iddb5734fdc04d45e6b0245521610f5ab8"><enum>(a)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Findings</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Congress finds the following: </text><paragraph id="H4D95C5CA9BA14107B489476B2B5E5AA2"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Public safety telecommunicators play a critical role in emergency response, providing medical instruction, gathering lifesaving information, and protecting civilians and first responders.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HEB178CDC3E8F455DADF230AE78195528"><enum>(2)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Standard Occupational Classification system is designed and maintained solely for statistical purposes, and is used by Federal statistical agencies to classify workers and jobs into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, analyzing, or disseminating data.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HB7F4067C4479403F81CC4FD17C6AF69E"><enum>(3)</enum><text>Occupations in the Standard Occupational Classification are classified based on work performed and, in some cases, on the skills, education, or training needed to perform the work.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="HB0D4EE8A399A4220A0E1A1D972671723"><enum>(4)</enum><text>Classifying public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation would correct an inaccurate representation in the Standard Occupational Classification, recognize these professionals for the lifesaving work they perform, and better align the Standard Occupational Classification with related classification systems.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="H20F255754E8743DFBC164FC15053E802" commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Standard Occupational Classification system</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification system.</text></subsection></section><section id="idb00e75d2c80b4283bb450000a6ccda95"><enum>4.</enum><header>Report on implementation of the Kari’s Law Act of 2017</header><subsection id="id610df60cc4874e8eae85308012044a42"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Definitions</header><text>In this section:</text><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id9c8cbb5c5d2d42ceac8c3c0abc4e7b35"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Commission</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The term <term>Commission</term> means the Federal Communications Commission.</text></paragraph><paragraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id96600399dac1415696a34bc848f151fb"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Multi-line telephone system</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The term <term>multi-line telephone system</term> has the meaning given the term in section 721(f) of the Communications Act of 1934 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/47/623">47 U.S.C. 623(f)</external-xref>).</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="id3194e7d4b55549d19400d42573e2bd44"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Report required</header><text>Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Commission shall publish a report regarding the enforcement by the Commission of section 721 of the Communications Act of 1934 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/47/623">47 U.S.C. 623</external-xref>), which shall include—</text><paragraph id="id602d5be5d8694bb39fd307218bf327f0"><enum>(1)</enum><text>a summary of the extent to which multi-line telephone system manufacturers and vendors have complied with that section;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="idc9defcb6733e4e99b2e52d1bab6654b5"><enum>(2)</enum><text>potential difficulties and obstacles in complying with that section;</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id6732069ecc6545b1ba80718917b2a0b2"><enum>(3)</enum><text>recommendations to the Commission, if necessary, on ways to improve the policies of the Commission to better enforce that section; and</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id82a99305ac3943eca28a6897680ff8d9"><enum>(4)</enum><text>recommendations to Congress, if necessary, on further legislation that could mitigate problems like those that are addressed by that section. </text></paragraph></subsection></section></legis-body></bill> 

