[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 126 (Monday, July 19, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3642-H3644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERGENCY REPORTING ACT
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1250) 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.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1250
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Reporting Act''.
SEC. 2. REPORTS AFTER ACTIVATION OF DISASTER INFORMATION
REPORTING SYSTEM; IMPROVEMENTS TO NETWORK
OUTAGE REPORTING.
(a) Reports After Activation of Disaster Information
Reporting System.--
(1) Preliminary report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 6 weeks after the
deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System
with respect to an event for which the System was activated
for at least 7 days, the Commission shall issue a preliminary
report on, with respect to such event and to the extent
known--
(i) the number and duration of any outages of--
(I) broadband internet access service;
(II) interconnected VoIP service;
(III) commercial mobile service; and
(IV) commercial mobile data service;
(ii) the approximate number of users or the amount of
communications infrastructure potentially affected by an
outage described in clause (i);
(iii) the number and duration of any outages at public
safety answering points that prevent public safety answering
points from receiving emergency calls and routing such calls
to emergency service personnel; and
(iv) any additional information determined appropriate by
the Commission.
(B) Development of report.--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.
(2) Public field hearings.--
(A) Requirement.--Not later than 8 months after the
deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System
with respect to an event for which the System was activated
for at least 7 days, the Commission shall hold at least 1
public field hearing in the area affected by such event.
(B) Inclusion of certain individuals in hearings.--For each
public field hearing held under subparagraph (A), the
Commission shall consider including--
(i) representatives of State government, local government,
or Indian Tribal governments in areas affected by such event;
(ii) residents of the areas affected by such event, or
consumer advocates;
(iii) providers of communications services affected by such
event;
(iv) faculty of institutions of higher education;
(v) representatives of other Federal agencies;
(vi) electric utility providers;
(vii) communications infrastructure companies; and
(viii) first responders, emergency managers, or 9-1-1
directors in areas affected by such event.
(3) Final report.--Not later than 12 months after the
deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System
with respect to an event for which the System was activated
for at least 7 days, the Commission shall issue a final
report that includes, with respect to such event--
(A) the information described under paragraph (1)(A); and
(B) any recommendations of the Commission on how to improve
the resiliency of affected communications or networks
recovery efforts.
(4) Development of reports.--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.
(5) Publication.--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.
(b) Improvements to Network Outage Reporting.--Not later
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall conduct a proceeding and, after public
notice and an opportunity for comment, adopt rules to--
(1) determine the circumstances under which to require
service providers subject to the 9-1-1 regulations
established under part 9 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, to submit a timely notification, (in an easily
accessible format that facilities situational awareness) to
public safety answering points regarding communications
service disruptions within the assigned territories of such
public safety answering points that prevent--
(A) the origination of 9-1-1 calls;
(B) the delivery of Automatic Location Information; or
(C) Automatic Number Identification;
(2) require such notifications to be made; and
(3) specify the appropriate timing of such notification.
[[Page H3643]]
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Automatic location information; automatic number
identification.--The terms ``Automatic Location Information''
and ``Automatic Number Identification'' have the meaning
given those terms in section 9.3 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor regulation.
(2) Broadband internet access service.--The term
``broadband internet access service'' has the meaning given
such term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor regulation.
(3) Commercial mobile service.--The term ``commercial
mobile service'' has the meaning given such term in section
332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)).
(4) Commercial mobile data service.--The term ``commercial
mobile data service'' has the meaning given such term in
section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation
Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401).
(5) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(6) Indian tribal government; local government.--The terms
``Indian Tribal government'' and ``Indian Tribal Government''
have the meaning given those terms in section 102 of the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 5121).
(7) Interconnected voip service.--The term ``interconnected
VoIP service'' has the meaning given such term in section 3
of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).
(8) Public safety answering point.--The term ``public
safety answering point'' has the meaning given such term in
section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
222).
(9) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given such
term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 153).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 1250.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1250, the Emergency
Reporting Act. This is an important and timely piece of legislation as
many of our Western States are currently experiencing devastating
wildfires, and as we enter another Atlantic hurricane season,
obviously, it is important in my area as well.
We rely on our communication devices every day, but it is critical
that we have a signal or a connection during an emergency. In our world
today, connectivity isn't a luxury; it is essential to ensuring our
collective safety. Often, it can be the difference between life and
death.
It is the responsibility of the Federal Communications Commission to
ensure that Americans stay connected when it matters most and that
communication providers are prepared for whatever disasters might come
their way. So if we want to improve the reliability of the
communication networks, we must begin with better data.
The Disaster Information Reporting Systems, or DIRS, was launched by
the FCC in 2007 so that the communication providers could report the
status of communications systems during disasters.
In some cases, DIRS is activated in advance of a potential storm as a
precautionary measure. In more extreme cases, DIRS is activated in the
lead-up to a disaster and stays active for days on end. That is because
networks can go on- and offline even after a storm's end.
Under this bill, the FCC would be required to conduct an analysis of
any disaster or event for which DIRS is activated by the FCC and stays
active for a minimum of 7 days.
First, the FCC would be required to issue a preliminary report within
6 weeks after the date DIRS is deactivated, and this report would
include detailed information about the number of outages, whether
communications infrastructure was affected, and how many 911 centers
were affected by service outages.
The bill would then require the FCC to hold a field hearing not later
than 8 months after the Commission deactivates DIRS. By making sure the
FCC gets out of Washington and sees and hears real stories from the
impacted areas, the FCC will get the opportunity to examine these
events, the outages they cause, and how we can prevent them from
happening in the future.
I commend Representative Matsui, a senior leader of our committee,
for her leadership on this bill and her passion for improving
communications resiliency and reliability.
I also thank my Republican colleagues for working with us to move
this bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee and out of the full
House last Congress. This is a good bill that will help us make our
communication systems more resilient in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the measure and look
forward to its consideration by the Senate and the President, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1250, the Emergency
Reporting Act, that was introduced by Representatives Matsui,
Bilirakis, Eshoo, Thompson, and Huffman.
Today's legislation will allow 911 centers across the country to have
access to confidential information on potential 911 outages, subject to
appropriate safeguards.
In times of disaster, 911 public safety answering points do not
always know that 911 calls may not be going through. The Federal
Communications Commission, the FCC, currently collects information on
the status of communications infrastructure and communications network
outage information. They make that information available to the
Department of Homeland Security to coordinate overall emergency
response efforts within a State between State and local first
responders.
Given the sensitive nature of this data to both national security and
commercial competitiveness, this information is confidential. However,
as first responders work to ensure the 911 system can seamlessly get
back online and route calls to the neighboring call centers, access to
this confidential information is important.
This bill would help make timely outage information available to help
first responders on the ground restore service as quickly as possible.
The bill also requires the FCC to hold a field hearing in areas in
which the Commission's Disaster Information Reporting System, DIRS, is
activated for more than 7 days and to provide an initial and final
report on the status of communication networks.
The FCC only activates the DIRS system for significant natural
disasters, such as major hurricanes or wildfires, and the bill limits
these types of reports to only areas where damage was significant and
sustained.
This is an important bill to the resiliency of public safety
networks, and I urge my colleagues to support the measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. I have no speakers, so the gentleman from Ohio may
proceed.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is, again, a very important piece of
legislation that has come out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. It
is important to make sure that we do have that resiliency out there for
our 911 system, which is so important to that person picking up that
phone call but also who is receiving it on the other end.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to pass the legislation, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues on both sides of
the aisle to support this important legislation, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1250.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
[[Page H3644]]
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion
are postponed.
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