1.This Act may be cited as the
Federal Interoperable Communications
and Safety Act of 2006
.
2.In this Act—
(1)the term Department means the
Department of Homeland Security;
(2)the term Emergency Communications
Preparedness Center or the Center means the center
established under section 8(a);
(3)the terms emergency response
providers, local government, and State have
the same meaning as in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
101);
(4)the term emergency response support
provider includes Federal, State, and local governmental and
nongovernmental utilities, public works, transportation, and public health and
related personnel, organizations, agencies, and authorities;
(5)the term interoperable emergency
communications system means the ability of emergency response providers
and relevant Federal, State, and local government agencies to communicate with
each other as necessary, through a dedicated public safety network utilizing
information technology systems and radio communications systems, and to
exchange voice, data, or video with one another on demand, in real time, as
necessary;
(6)the term National Emergency
Communications Strategy means the strategy established under section
4(a);
(7)the term Office of Emergency
Communications means the office established under section 3(a);
(8)the term Regional Emergency
Communications Coordination Working Group or RECC Working
Group means a working group established under section 7(a); and
(9)the term Secretary means the
Secretary of Homeland Security.
3.Office of Emergency
Communications
(a)There is established
in the Department an Office of Emergency Communications.
(b)The head of the
Office of Emergency Communications shall be the Under Secretary for Emergency
Communications who shall—
(1)be appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate; and
(2)report directly to the Secretary.
(c)The Under Secretary for Emergency
Communications shall—
(1)assist the Secretary in developing and
implementing the program described in section 7303(a)(1) of the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 194(a)(1));
(2)administer the Department’s
responsibilities and authorities relating to the SAFECOM Program;
(3)administer the Department’s
responsibilities and authorities relating to the Integrated Wireless Network
program;
(4)conduct extensive, nationwide outreach and
foster the development of interoperable emergency communications capabilities
by State, regional, and local governments and public safety agencies;
(5)provide technical assistance to State,
regional, and local government officials with respect to use of interoperable
emergency communications capabilities;
(6)promote the development of standard
operating procedures with respect to use of interoperable emergency
communications capabilities for incident response and facilitate the sharing of
information on best practices (including from governments abroad) for
achieving, maintaining, and enhancing interoperable emergency communications
capabilities for such response;
(7)coordinate the establishment of a national
response capability with initial and ongoing planning, implementation, and
training for the deployment of backup communications services in the event of a
catastrophic loss of local and regional emergency communications
services;
(8)assist the President, the National Security
Council, the Homeland Security Council, the Director of the Office of Science
and Technology Policy, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
in ensuring the operability of the telecommunications functions and
responsibilities of the Federal Government;
(9)establish requirements for total and
nonproprietary interoperable emergency communications capabilities for all
public safety radio and data communications systems and equipment;
(10)help to establish an integrated national
public alert and warning system that incorporates legacy systems; and
(11)review all interoperable emergency
communications plans of Federal, State, and local governments, including
Statewide and tactical interoperability plans.
(d)Performance of
Previously Transferred FunctionsThere is transferred to the Secretary the
authority to administer, through the Under Secretary for Emergency
Communications, the following:
(1)The SAFECOM Program.
(2)The responsibilities of the Chief
Information Officer related to the implementation of the Integrated Wireless
Network.
(3)The Interoperable Communications Technical
Assistance Program.
(e)The Under Secretary shall coordinate, as
appropriate, with the Director of the Office for Interoperability and
Compatibility to—
(1)assist the Under Secretary in developing
and implementing the science and technology aspects of the program described in
subparagraphs (D), (E), (F), and (G) of section 7303(a)(1) of the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 194(a)(1));
(2)support the creation of national voluntary
consensus standards for interoperable emergency communications;
(3)establish a comprehensive research,
development, testing, and evaluation program for improving interoperable
emergency communications;
(4)establish requirements for total and
nonproprietary interoperable emergency communications capabilities for all
public safety radio and data communications systems and equipment;
(5)evaluate and validate new technology
concepts in real-world environments to achieve interoperable emergency
communications capabilities;
(6)encourage more efficient use of existing
resources, including equipment and spectrum, to achieve interoperable emergency
communications capabilities;
(7)test and deploy public safety
communications systems that are less prone to failure, support new nonvoice
services, consume less spectrum, and cost less than existing systems;
(8)work with the private sector to develop
solutions to improve emergency communications capabilities and achieve
interoperable emergency communications capabilities; and
(9)coordinate with the Under Secretary for
Emergency Communications with respect to the SAFECOM program.
(f)
(1)The Secretary shall
provide the Office for Emergency Communications the resources and staff
necessary to carry out the responsibilities under this section.
(2)Not later than days 60 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on
the resources and staff necessary to carry out the responsibilities under this
Act.
(3)Comptroller
general review
(A)The Comptroller
General shall review the validity of the report submitted under paragraph
(2).
(B)Not later than 30 days after the date on
which the report is submitted under paragraph (2), the Comptroller General
shall submit to Congress a report containing the findings of the review under
subparagraph (A).
4.National Emergency
Communications Strategy
(a)Not later than 1 year
after the completion of the baseline assessment under section 5, the Secretary,
acting through the Under Secretary for Emergency Communications, and in
cooperation with State and local governments, Federal departments and agencies,
emergency response providers, emergency response support responders, and the
private sector, shall develop a National Emergency Communications Strategy to
achieve interoperable emergency communications.
(b)The National Emergency Communications
Strategy shall—
(1)include a national interoperable emergency
communication inventory that—
(A)identifies for each Federal department and
agency—
(i)the channels and frequencies used;
(ii)the nomenclature used to refer to each
channel or frequency used; and
(iii)the types of communications system and
equipment used;
(B)identifies the interoperable emergency
communication systems in use for public safety systems in the United States;
and
(C)provides a listing of public safety mutual
aid channels in operation and their ability to connect to an interoperable
communications system;
(2)include, in consultation with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, a process for expediting national
voluntary consensus-based emergency communications equipment standards for the
purchase and use by public safety agencies of interoperable emergency
communications equipment and technologies;
(3)identify the appropriate interoperable
emergency communications capabilities necessary for Federal, State, and local
governments to operate at all threat levels;
(4)address both short-term and long-term
solutions to achieving Federal, State, and local interoperable emergency
communications systems, including provision of existing and emerging
technologies that facilitate operability, interoperability, coordination, and
integration among existing emergency communications systems;
(5)identify how Federal Government departments
and agencies that respond to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other
emergencies can work effectively with State and local governments, in all
States, and with such other entities as are necessary to implement the
strategy;
(6)include measures to identify and overcome
all obstacles to achieving interoperable emergency communications; and
(7)set goals and establish timeframes for the
achievement of an emergency, command-level communication system based on
existing equipment across the United States and develop a timetable for a
nationwide interoperable emergency communications system.
5.
(a)Baseline
Operability and Interoperability AssessmentNot later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act and not less than every 5 years thereafter, the
Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Emergency Communications,
shall conduct an assessment of Federal, State, and local governments,
to—
(1)define the range of operable and
interoperable emergency communications capabilities needed for specific
events;
(2)assess the capabilities to meet such
communications needs; and
(3)identify the gap between such capabilities
and defined requirements.
(b)Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Emergency Communications,
shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the Department in
implementing and achieving the goals of this Act, including—
(1)a description of the findings of the most
recent baseline assessment conducted under subsection (a);
(2)a determination of the degree to which
interoperable emergency communications has been achieved to date and ascertain
the needs that remain for interoperability to be achieved;
(3)an assessment of the ability of communities
to provide and maintain interoperable emergency communications—
(A)among emergency managers, emergency
response providers, emergency response support providers, and government
officials in the event of acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other
emergencies, including Incidents of National Significance declared by the
Secretary under the National Response Plan; and
(B)in the event of substantial damage to
ordinary communications infrastructure or sustained loss of electricity;
(4)a list of best practices among communities
for providing and maintaining interoperable emergency communications in the
event of acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies; and
(5)an evaluation of the feasibility and
desirability of the Department developing, on its own or in conjunction with
the Department of Defense, a mobile communications capability, modeled on the
Army Signal Corps, that could be deployed to support emergency communications
at the site of acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other
emergencies.
6.Coordination of
Federal Emergency Communications grant programs
(a)Assessment of
Grants and Standards ProgramsThe Secretary, acting through the Under
Secretary for Emergency Communications, shall assess Federal grants and
standards programs managed by other Federal departments and agencies to—
(1)integrate and coordinate Federal grant
guidelines for the use of Federal homeland security assistance relating to
interoperable emergency communications;
(2)assess and make recommendations to ensure
that such guidelines are consistent with the mission of the Office of Emergency
Communications; and
(3)assess and make recommendations to ensure
conformity with the goals and objectives identified in the National Emergency
Communications Strategy.
(b)Denial of
Eligibility for Grants
(1)The Secretary, acting
through the Under Secretary for Emergency Communications, may prohibit any
State or local government from using Federal homeland security assistance
administered by the Department to achieve, maintain, or enhance interoperable
emergency communications capabilities, if—
(A)such government has not complied with the
requirement to submit a Statewide Interoperable Communications Plans under
section 7303(f) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
(6 U.S.C. 194(f)); and
(B)not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, national voluntary consensus standards for interoperable
emergency communications capabilities have not been developed and
promulgated.
(2)If the standards described in paragraph
(1)(B) have not been developed and promulgated on the date that is 3 years
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with
other Federal departments and agencies with responsibility for standards shall
develop, promulgate, and revise national voluntary consensus standards on
interoperable emergency communications not later than 4 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(c)Not later than 60
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall transfer to
the Under Secretary for Emergency Communications the functions authorized by
section 3006 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–71; 120 Stat.
24), including the authority to borrow under 3006(b) of that Act.
7.Regional Emergency
Communications coordination
(a)Not later than 180
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the
Under Secretary for Emergency Communications, shall submit a plan to Congress
to establish Regional Emergency Communications Working Groups in critical
regions throughout the Nation.
(b)Each RECC Working
Group shall consist of the following:
(1)Organizations representing the interests of
the following:
(A)State officials.
(B)Local government officials.
(C)State police departments.
(D)Local police departments.
(E)Local fire departments.
(F)Public safety answering points (9–1–1
services).
(G)Communications equipment vendors (including
broadband data service providers).
(H)Hospitals.
(I)Public utility services.
(J)Local exchange carriers.
(K)Local broadcast media.
(L)Wireless carriers.
(M)Satellite communications services.
(N)Emergency evacuation transit
services.
(O)Ambulance services.
(P)HAM and amateur radio operators.
(Q)State emergency managers, homeland security
directors, or representatives of State Administrative Agencies.
(R)Local emergency managers or homeland
security directors.
(S)Other emergency response providers or
emergency support providers as deemed appropriate.
(2)Representatives from the Department and
other Federal departments and agencies (including the E–911 Implementation
Coordination Office of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
established under section 158 of the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 942)) with
responsibility for coordinating interoperable emergency communications with or
providing emergency support services to State and local governments.
(c)The duties of each RECC Working Group shall
include—
(1)assessing the survivability,
sustainability, and interoperability of local emergency communications systems
to meet the goals of the National Emergency Communications Strategy;
(2)reporting annually to the Under Secretary
for Emergency Communications on the status of its region in building a robust
and sustainable interoperable voice and data emergency communications network
and on the progress of the region in meeting the goals of the National
Emergency Communications Strategy;
(3)coordinating the establishment of an
effective multijurisdictional, multi-agency emergency communications network
for use during acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies
through the expanded use of emergency management and public safety
communications mutual aid agreements; and
(4)coordinating the establishment of Federal,
State, and local support services and networks designed to address the
immediate and critical human needs in responding to acts of terrorism, natural
disasters, and other emergencies.
8.Emergency
Communications Preparedness Center
(a)There is established the Emergency
Communications Preparedness Center.
(b)
(1)The Secretary, the
Chairman of the Federal Communication Commission, the Secretary of Defense, the
Secretary of Commerce, the Attorney General, and the heads of other Federal
departments and agencies (including the E–911 Implementation Coordination
Office of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and
the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration established section
158 of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 942)) or their designees shall jointly operate the
Center in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding entitled,
Emergency Communications Preparedness Center (ECPC)
Charter
.
(2)The Secretary shall be the Chair of the
Center.
(c)The Center shall—
(1)serve as the focal point for interagency
efforts to address operable and interoperable communications;
(2)serve as a clearinghouse for all relevant
information regarding intergovernmental efforts to achieve nationwide
interoperable emergency communications capabilities;
(3)ensure cooperation among the relevant
Federal Government departments and agencies to improve effectiveness in the
communication and implementation of the goals of the National Emergency
Communications Strategy, including specifically by working to avoid
duplication, hindrances, and counteractive efforts among the participating
Federal departments and agencies;
(4)prepare and submit to Congress, on an
annual basis, a strategic assessment regarding the efforts of Federal
departments and agencies to implement the National Emergency Communications
Strategy; and
(5)perform such other functions as the
President may assign.
(d)Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Congress a report
regarding the implementation of this section, including a description of the
staffing and resource needs of the Center.
9.Integrated national
alert and warning System
(a)The Secretary, acting
through the Under Secretary for Emergency Communications, and in coordination
with the head of any Federal department or agency that possesses or acquires
alert and warning capabilities, including the Departments of Commerce and
Defense and the Federal Communications Commission, shall develop, manage,
operate, and coordinate an integrated national public alert and warning system
that incorporates legacy systems.
(b)
(1)The system developed
under subsection (a) shall—
(A)be operational within 3 years of the date
of enactment of this Act;
(B)ensure effective collaboration with State
and local governments;
(C)complement and provide interoperability
with public alert and warning systems of State and local governments;
(D)ensure the interoperability of commercially
available equipment for radio and data communications systems;
(E)carry alert and warning messages for acts
of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies; and
(F)incorporate, to the maximum extent
possible, technologies and systems that warn and support the unique needs faced
by persons with disabilities or language barriers.
(2)In developing,
managing, operating, and coordinating the system under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall—
(A)conduct regular internal training and
exercises on generating and disseminating public alert and warning
messages;
(B)support public education and outreach to
increase community awareness of the integrated national alert and warning
system;
(C)develop public–private partnerships
to—
(i)leverage government and industry needs,
capabilities, and resources necessary to delivery effective disaster
warnings;
(ii)facilitate the development, promulgation,
and regular updating of national voluntary consensus standards for public alert
and warning technologies;
(iii)identify, in consultation with the
Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection and the Assistant Secretary
for Cybersecurity and Telecommunications, critical infrastructure and key
resources necessary to provide accurate, survivable, and sustainable public
alerts and warnings;
(iv)incorporate private sector threat
information sharing into alert and warning systems of Federal, State, and local
governments; and
(v)ensure continuity of operations plans are
in place to minimize the disruption to communications infrastructure used for
the dissemination of public alerts and warnings;
(D)promulgate standard operating procedures
and protocols for the integrated national public alert and warning system;
and
(E)identify and incorporate existing, new, and
emerging technologies, including the utilization of both satellite and ground
based alert and warning distribution networks to provide redundant, timely, and
accurate public alerts and warnings.
(c)Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the
Under Secretary for Emergency Communications, shall develop an implementation
plan for this section.