8714 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

of the United States. EPA will submit a 

report containing this document and 

other required information to the U.S. 

Senate, the U.S. House of 

Representatives, and the Comptroller 

General of the United States prior to 

publication in the Federal Register. A 

major rule cannot take effect until 60 

days after it is published in the Federal 

Register. This action is not a ‘‘major 

rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). This 

final action will be effective February 9, 

2021. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 271 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Confidential business information, 

Hazardous waste, Hazardous waste 

transportation, Indian lands, 

Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Authority: This action is issued under the 

authority of sections 2002(a), 3006, and 

7004(b) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act as 

amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6926, and 

6974(b). 

Cheryl Newton, 

Acting Regional Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02427 Filed 2–8–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 9 

[PS Docket No. 07–114; FCC 21–11, FRS 

17452] 

Wireless E911 Location Accuracy 

Requirements 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the 

Commission adopted an Order on 

Reconsideration that dismisses two 

petitions for reconsideration filed by 

CTIA and the Association of PublicSafety Communications OfficialsInternational, Inc. (APCO) with respect 

to the Sixth Report and Order. As an 

alternative and independent ground for 

resolving the issues raised, the 

Commission denies the petitions on the 

merits. 

DATES: Effective Date: March 11, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rachel Wehr, Law Clerk, Policy and 

Licensing Division, Public Safety and 

Homeland Security Bureau, (202) 418– 

1138 or via email at Rachel.Wehr@

fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Order on 

Reconsideration, FCC 21–11, adopted 

and released on January 11, 2021. The 

complete text of this document is 

available for public inspection on the 

Commission’s website at https://

docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC21-11A1.pdf. To request materials in 

accessible formats for people with 

disabilities (braille, large print, 

electronic files, audio format), send an 

email to FCC504@fcc.gov or call the 

Consumer & Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at (202) 418–0530 (voice), (202) 

418–0432 (TTY). 

Synopsis 

1. The Order on Reconsideration 

dismisses two petitions for 

reconsideration of the Sixth Report and 

Order, 85 FR 53234 (Aug. 28, 2020), 

filed by CTIA and APCO, 85 FR 66333 

(Oct. 19, 2020), as procedurally 

defective and, in the alternative, denies 

these petitions on their merits. In the 

Fifth Report and Order, 85 FR 2660 (Jan. 

16, 2020), the Commission adopted a zaxis (vertical) location accuracy metric 

of plus or minus 3 meters for 80 percent 

of indoor wireless Enhanced 911 (E911) 

calls for z-axis capable handsets. The 

Commission also required nationwide 

commercial mobile radio service 

(CMRS) providers to deploy 

dispatchable location or z-axis 

technology that meets this metric in the 

top 25 markets by April 3, 2021 and in 

the top 50 markets by April 3, 2023. In 

a companion Fifth Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, 85 FR 2683 (Jan. 

16, 2020), the Commission proposed 

rules to improve E911 wireless location 

accuracy. Among other things, the 

Commission sought comment on 

alternative methods for carriers to 

demonstrate z-axis technology 

deployment and expanding 

dispatchable location solutions. In the 

Sixth Report and Order, the 

Commission rejected arguments to 

extend the deployment timeline and 

added a requirement for nationwide 

CMRS providers to deploy z-axis 

location technology nationwide by April 

2025. In addition, the Commission 

required CMRS providers, as of January 

6, 2022, to provide dispatchable 

location for wireless 911 calls if it is 

technically feasible and cost-effective to 

do so. The Commission also allowed 

providers to provide dispatchable 

location by means other than the 

National Emergency Address Database 

(NEAD), which ceased operations 

subsequent to the release of the Fifth 

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 

2. CTIA and APCO filed their 

petitions on September 28 and 

September 23, 2020, respectively. In its 

petition, CTIA argued that the COVID– 

19 pandemic has stalled any ability to 

validate whether z-axis location 

solutions can meet the Commission’s 

vertical location accuracy requirements. 

CTIA also asserted that the compliance 

timeline adopted by the Commission 

was premised on vendor promises that 

‘‘have not panned out’’ and that time is 

running out for meeting the April 2021 

deadline. According to CTIA, 

reconsideration of the Sixth Report and 

Order would provide an opportunity for 

the Commission to adopt a framework 

based on the use of mobile OS-based 

solutions. CTIA asserted that this would 

provide a ‘‘viable path’’ to achieving 

‘‘accurate 9-1-1 vertical location 

information nationwide.’’ In its 

reconsideration petition, APCO asked 

the Commission to require CMRS 

providers to deliver dispatchable 

location for a minimum percentage of 

911 calls—an alternative that APCO had 

previously proposed and the 

Commission rejected—rather than tie 

the dispatchable location benchmark to 

the number of address reference points 

in a location database. In addition, 

APCO sought reconsideration of the 

requirement that CMRS providers 

supply dispatchable location if it is 

technically feasible and cost effective to 

do so. APCO took issue with the 

Commission’s prior decision not to 

adopt its proposal to require 

dispatchable location for a minimum 

percentage of calls and disputed the 

conclusion that a minimum percentage 

threshold would go beyond what is 

technically feasible and cost effective. 

3. The Commission determined that 

CTIA’s petition for reconsideration of 

the longstanding timelines for 

implementing the z-axis was repetitive, 

untimely, and failed to offer sufficient 

factual details that would support grant 

of a waiver to a particular provider. The 

Commission determined that CTIA’s 

petition was procedurally improper 

because it repeated arguments raised by 

other commenters that the Commission 

fully addressed in the Sixth Report and 

Order. While the Commission noted in 

the Sixth Report and Order that the 

pandemic had created challenges, the 

Commission declined to change the 

long-established 2021 deadline. The 

Commission also stated in the Sixth 

Report and Order that parties able to 

show good cause due to pandemicrelated hardship could seek a waiver in 

accordance with the Commission’s 

rules. CTIA failed to offer sufficient 

factual details about any of its 

individual member service providers 

that would support grant of a waiver to 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 25 / Tuesday, February 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 8715 

any particular provider. The 

Commission also determined that 

CTIA’s petition to revise the 2021 and 

2023 deadlines was untimely, as these 

deadlines were established in the 2015 

Fourth Report and Order. In response to 

CTIA’s argument that postponement of 

Stage Zb testing created an 

insurmountable obstacle for meeting the 

Commission’s timelines, the 

Commission found that it had already 

determined in the Sixth Report and 

Order and Fifth Report and Order that 

compliance was feasible, and the 

deployment of mobile OS-based 

technologies had no bearing on that 

feasibility. In response to CTIA’s 

argument that indoor location accuracy 

benchmarks are a mandate that 

providers use barometric sensor-based 

solutions, the Commission noted that 

the Sixth Report and Order does not 

require providers to use any particular 

technology. The Commission also 

disagreed with CTIA’s claim that the 

Sixth Report and Order improperly 

relied on vendors’ claims, as the Sixth 

Report and Order underscored the 

active role that CMRS providers would 

need to play in the deployment of z-axis 

solutions. In addition, the Commission 

found that, contrary to CTIA’s 

assertions, it had adequately considered 

the benefits of the nationwide providers’ 

proposed solution in the Sixth Report 

and Order, and the decision was 

consistent with Commission precedent. 

Further, the Commission found that it 

had reasonably relied on confidence and 

uncertainty standards in the rules. 

4. Similarly, the Commission 

determined that APCO’s petition for 

reconsideration of certain requirements 

was repetitive, untimely, and 

misconstrued the record of this 

proceeding, which affirms that a diverse 

array of technological approaches could 

be used to provide dispatchable 

location. The Commission determined 

that APCO’s petition for reconsideration 

was repetitive, as the Commission had 

already considered and rejected in the 

Sixth Report and Order APCO’s 

suggestion that the Commission revise 

its rules to require CMRS providers to 

provide dispatchable location for a 

minimum percentage of 911 calls. The 

Commission also determined that 

APCO’s argument that notice was 

insufficient for the Commission’s 

decision to convert the NEAD 

benchmark to an ‘‘any database’’ 

benchmark misconstrued the record, as 

the Commission anticipated the 

possibility of the NEAD’s failure in the 

Fifth Further Notice and proposed 

allowing CMRS providers to use other 

databases to support dispatchable 

location. In addition, the Commission 

determined that APCO’s argument 

asking the Commission to substitute a 

dispatchable location requirement based 

on a minimum percentage of calls was 

untimely, as the deployment and 

reference point requirements were 

adopted in the 2015 Fourth Report and 

Order. The Commission further found, 

contrary to APCO’s arguments, that the 

existing reference point benchmark was 

reasonable and that the demise of the 

NEAD does not require changing it; in 

amending the rules to allow alternatives 

to the NEAD, the Commission made 

clear that any carrier using a non-NEAD 

database to support dispatchable 

location must meet the same technical 

and functional requirements that would 

have applied to the NEAD. The 

Commission affirmed its requirement 

adopted in the Sixth Report and Order 

that CMRS carriers provide dispatchable 

location with wireless E911 calls when 

it is technically feasible and cost 

effective to do so. The Commission also 

found that APCO’s proposed 

percentage-of-calls approach was 

arbitrary and lacked any showing of 

technical feasibility or costeffectiveness. 

I. Procedural Matters 

5. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis. 

This Order on Reconsideration does not 

contain any new or modified 

information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995, Public Law 104–13. Thus, it 

does not contain any new or modified 

information collection burden for small 

business concerns with fewer than 25 

employees, pursuant to the Small 

Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, 

Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(4). 

6. Congressional Review Act. The 

Commission will not send a copy of this 

Order on Reconsideration to Congress 

and the Government Accountability 

Office pursuant to the Congressional 

Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), 

because no rule was adopted or 

amended. 

7. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis. 

In the Sixth Report and Order, the 

Commission provided a Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis pursuant 

to the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980, as amended (RFA). We received 

no petitions for reconsideration of that 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. In 

this present Order on Reconsideration, 

the Commission promulgates no 

additional final rules. Our present 

action is, therefore, not an RFA matter. 

II. Ordering Clauses 

8. Accordingly, it is ordered that the 

Petition for Reconsideration filed on 

September 28, 2020, by CTIA is 

dismissed and, alternatively and 

independently, is denied. 

9. It is further ordered that the 

Petition for Reconsideration filed on 

September 23, 2020, by the Association 

of Public-Safety Communications 

Officials-International, Inc. is dismissed 

and, alternatively and independently, is 

denied. 

10. It is further ordered that this Order 

on Reconsideration shall be effective 

thirty days after publication in the 

Federal Register. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02678 Filed 2–5–21; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 10 

[Docket No. FWS–HQ–MB–2018–0090; 

FF09M22000–201–FXMB1231090BPP0] 

RIN 1018–BD76 

Regulations Governing Take of 

Migratory Birds; Delay of Effective 

Date 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective 

date and request for public comments. 

SUMMARY: On January 7, 2021, we, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

published a final rule (‘‘MBTA rule’’) 

defining the scope of the Migratory Bird 

Treaty Act (MBTA) as it applies to 

conduct resulting in the injury or death 

of migratory birds protected by the 

MBTA. We are delaying the MBTA 

rule’s effective date until March 8, 2021, 

in conformity with the Congressional 

Review Act (CRA). We request public 

comments to inform our review of this 

final rule and to determine whether the 

further extension of the effective date is 

necessary. 

DATES: 

Effective Date: As of February 5, 2021, 

the effective date of the rule that 

published on January 7, 2021, at 86 FR 

1134, is delayed until March 8, 2021. 

Written Comments: We request public 

comments on issues of fact, law, and 

policy raised by the MBTA rule 

published on January 7, 2021 (86 FR 

1134), and on whether that rule should 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES