II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 800

To promote and enhance public safety through use of 9-1-1 as the universal

emergency assistance number, further deployment of wireless 9-1-1 service, support of States in upgrading 9-1-1 capabilities and related functions, encouragement of construction and operation of seamless, ubiquitous, and reliable networks for personal wireless services, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 14, 1999

Mr. BURNS (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. DORGAN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To promote and enhance public safety through use of 9-

1-1 as the universal emergency assistance number, further deployment of wireless 9-1-1 service, support of

States in upgrading 9-1-1 capabilities and related functions, encouragement of construction and operation of

seamless, ubiquitous, and reliable networks for personal

wireless services, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless Communica3 tions and Public Safety Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the establishment and maintenance of an

7 end-to-end communications infrastructure among

8 members of the public, emergency safety, fire service

9 and law enforcement officials, emergency dispatch

10 providers, transportation officials, and hospital

11 emergency and trauma care facilities will reduce re12 sponse times for the delivery of emergency care, as13 sist in delivering appropriate care, and thereby pre14 vent fatalities, substantially reduce the severity and

15 extent of injuries, reduce time lost from work, and

16 save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in

17 health care costs;

18 (2) the rapid, efficient deployment of emergency

19 telecommunications service requires statewide coordi20 nation of the efforts of local public safety, fire serv21 ice and law enforcement officials, emergency dis22 patch providers, and transportation officials; the es23 tablishment of sources of adequate funding for car24 rier and public safety, fire service and law enforce25 ment agency technology development and deploy26 ment; the coordination and integration of emergency
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1 communications with traffic control and manage2 ment systems and the designation of 9-1-1 as the

3 number to call in emergencies throughout the Na4 tion;

5 (3) emerging technologies can be a critical com6 ponent of the end-to-end communications infrastruc7 ture connecting the public with emergency medical

8 service providers and emergency dispatch providers,

9 public safety, fire service and law enforcement offi10 cials, and hospital emergency and trauma care facili11 ties, to reduce emergency response times and provide

12 appropriate care;

13 (4) improved public safety remains an impor14 tant public health objective of Federal, State, and

15 local governments and substantially facilitates inter16 state and foreign commerce;

17 (5) emergency care systems, particularly in

18 rural areas of the Nation, will improve with the ena19 bling of prompt notification of emergency services

20 when motor vehicle crashes occur; and

21 (6) the construction and operation of seamless.

22 ubiquitous, and reliable wireless telecommunications

23 systems promote public safety and provide imme24 diate and critical communications links among mem25 bers of the public; emergency medical service pro-
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1 viders and emergency dispatch providers; public

2 safety, fire service and law enforcement officials;

3 transportation officials, and hospital emergency and

4 trauma care facilities.

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour6 age and facilitate the prompt deployment throughout the

7 United States of a seamless, ubiquitous, and reliable end8 to-end infrastructure for communications, including wire9 less communications, to meet the Nation’s public safety

10 and other communications needs.

11 SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBER.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIVERSAL EMERGENCY

13 TELEPHONE NUMBER.—Section 251(e) of the Commu14 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by

15 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(3) UNIVERSAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE

17 NUMBER.—The Commission and any agency or enti18 ty to which the Commission has delegated authority

19 under this subsection shall designate 9-1-1 as the

20 universal emergency telephone number within the

21 United States for reporting an emergency to appro22 priate authorities and requesting assistance. The

23 designation shall apply to both wireline and wireless

24 telephone service. In making the designation, the

25 Commission (and any such agency or entity) shall
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1 provide appropriate transition periods for areas in

2 which 9-1-1 is not in use as an emergency telephone

3 number on the date of enactment of the Wireless

4 Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999.’’.

5 (b) SUPPORT.—The Federal Communications Com6 mission shall encourage and support efforts by States to

7 deploy comprehensive end-to-end emergency communica8 tions infrastructure and programs, based on coordinated

9 statewide plans, including seamless, ubiquitous, reliable

10 wireless telecommunications networks and enhanced wire11 less 9-1-1 service. In encouraging and supporting that de12 ployment, the Commission shall consult and cooperate

13 with State and local officials responsible for emergency

14 services and public safety, the telecommunications indus15 try (specifically including the cellular and other wireless

16 telecommunications service providers), the motor vehicle

17 manufacturing industry, emergency medical service pro18 viders and emergency dispatch providers, transportation

19 officials, special 9-1-1 districts, public safety, fire service

20 and law enforcement officials, consumer groups, and hos21 pital emergency and trauma care personnel (including

22 emergency physicians, trauma surgeons, and nurses). The

23 Commission shall encourage each State to develop and im24 plement coordinated statewide deployment plans, through

25 an entity designated by the governor, and to include rep-
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1 resentatives of the foregoing organizations and entities in

2 development and implementation of such plans. Nothing

3 in this subsection shall be construed to authorize or re4 quire the Commission to impose obligations or costs on

5 any person.

6 SEC. 4. PARITY OF PROTECTION FOR PROVISION OR USE

7 OF WIRELESS 9-1-1 SERVICE.

8 (a) PROVIDER PARITY.—A wireless carrier, and its

9 officers, directors, employees, vendors, and agents, shall

10 have immunity or other protection from liability in a State

11 of a scope and extent that is not less than the scope and

12 extent of immunity or other protection from liability that

13 any local exchange company, and its officers, directors,

14 employees, vendors, or agents, have under Federal and

15 State law (whether through statute, judicial decision, tar16 iffs filed by such local exchange company, or otherwise)

17 applicable in such State, including in connection with an

18 act or omission involving—

19 (1) development, design, installation, operation,

20 maintenance, performance, or provision of tele21 communications service (including 9-1-1 service);

22 (2) transmission errors, failures, network out23 ages, or other technical difficulties that may arise in

24 the course of handling emergency calls or providing
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1 telecommunications services (including 9-1-1 serv2 ice); or

3 (3) release to a PSAP, emergency medical serv4 ice provider or emergency dispatch provider, public

5 safety, fire service or law enforcement official, or

6 hospital emergency or trauma care facility of sub7 scriber information related to emergency calls or

8 emergency services.

9 (b) USER PARITY.—A person using wireless 9-1-1

10 service shall have immunity or other protection from liabil11 ity of a scope and extent that is not less than the scope

12 and extent of immunity or other protection from liability

13 under applicable law in similar circumstances of a person

14 using 9-1-1 service that is not wireless.

15 (c) PSAP PARITY.—In matters related to wireless 9-

16 1-1 communications, a PSAP, and its employees, vendors,

17 agents, and authorizing government entity (if any) shall

18 have immunity or other protection from liability of a scope

19 and extent that is not less than the scope and extent of

20 immunity or other protection from liability under applica21 ble law accorded to such PSAP, employees, vendors,

22 agents, and authorizing government entity, respectively, in

23 matters related to 9-1-1 communications that are not

24 wireless.
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1 (d) BASIS FOR ENACTMENT.—This section is enacted

2 as an exercise of the enforcement power of the Congress

3 under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Con4 stitution and the power of the Congress to regulate com5 merce with foreign nations, among the several States, and

6 with Indian tribes.

7 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE CUSTOMER INFORMA8 TION.

9 Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

10 U.S.C. 222) is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (d)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para13 graph (2);

14 (B) by striking the period at the end of

15 paragraph (3) and inserting a semicolon; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(4) to provide call location information con18 cerning the user of a commercial mobile service (as

19 such term is defined in section 332(d))—

20 ‘‘(A) to a public safety answering point,

21 emergency medical service provider or emer22 gency dispatch provider, public safety, fire serv23 ice, or law enforcement official, or hospital

24 emergency or trauma care facility, in order to
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1 respond to the user’s call for emergency serv2 ices;

3 ‘‘(B) to inform the user’s legal guardian or

4 members of the user’s immediate family of the

5 user’s location in an emergency situation that

6 involves the risk of death or serious physical

7 harm; or

8 ‘‘(C) to providers of information or data9 base management services solely for purposes of

10 assisting in the delivery of emergency services

11 in response to an emergency.’’.

12 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub13 section (h) and by inserting the following after sub14 section (e):

15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO USE WIRELESS LOCATION IN16 FORMATION.—For purposes of subsection (c)(1), without

17 the express prior authorization of the customer, a cus18 tomer shall not be considered to have approved the use

19 or disclosure of or access to—

20 ‘‘(1) call location information concerning the

21 user of a commercial mobile service (as such term is

22 defined in section 332(d)), other than in accordance

23 with subsection (d)(4); or
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1 ‘‘(2) automatic crash notification information to

2 any person other than for use in the operation of an

3 automatic crash notification system.

4 ‘‘(g) SUBSCRIBER LISTED AND UNLISTED INFORMA5 TION FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES.—Notwithstanding sub6 sections (b), (c), and (d), a telecommunications carrier

7 that provides telephone exchange service shall provide in8 formation described in subsection (h)(3)(A) (including in9 formation pertaining to subscribers whose information is

10 unlisted or unpublished) that is in its possession or control

11 (including information pertaining to subscribers of other

12 carriers) on a timely and unbundled basis, under non13 discriminatory and reasonable rates, terms, and conditions

14 to providers of emergency services, and providers of emer15 gency support services, solely for purposes of delivering

16 or assisting in the delivery of emergency services.

17 (3) by inserting ‘‘location,’’ after ‘‘destination,’’

18 in subsection (h)(1)(A) (as redesignated by para19 graph (2)); and

20 (4) by adding at the end of subsection (h) (as

21 redesignated), the following:

22 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT.—The

23 term ‘public safety answering point’ means a facility

24 that has been designated to receive emergency calls

25 and route them to emergency service personnel.
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1 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY SERVICES.—The term ‘emer2 gency services’ means 9-1-1 emergency services and

3 emergency notification services.

4 ‘‘(6) EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SERVICES.—

5 The term ‘emergency notification services’ means

6 services that notify the public of an emergency.

7 ‘‘(7) EMERGENCY SUPPORT SERVICES.—The

8 term ‘emergency support services’ means informa9 tion or data base management services used in sup10 port of emergency services.’’.

11 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

12 As used in this Act:

13 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

14 the Secretary of Transportation.

15 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of

16 the several States, the District of Columbia, or any

17 territory or possession of the United States.

18 (3) PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT;

19 PSAP.—The term ‘‘public safety answering point’’ or

20 ‘‘PSAP’’ means a facility that has been designated

21 to receive 9-1-1 calls and route them to emergency

22 service personnel.

23 (4) WIRELESS CARRIER.—The term ‘‘wireless

24 carrier’’ means a provider of commercial mobile

25 services or any other radio communications service
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1 that the Federal Communications Commission re2 quires to provide wireless 9-1-1 service.

3 (5) ENHANCED WIRELESS 9-1-1 SERVICE.—The

4 term ‘‘enhanced wireless 9-1-1 service’’ means any

5 enhanced 9-1-1 service so designated by the Federal

6 Communications Commission in the proceeding enti7 tled ‘‘Revision of the Commission’s Rules to Ensure

8 Compatibility with Enhanced 9-1-1 Emergency Call9 ing Systems’’ (CC Docket No. 94–102; RM–8143),

10 or any successor proceeding.

11 (6) WIRELESS 9-1-1 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘wire12 less 9-1-1 service’’ means any 9-1-1 service provided

13 by a wireless carrier, including enhanced wireless 9-

14 1-1 service.

15 (7) EMERGENCY DISPATCH PROVIDERS.—The

16 term ‘‘emergency dispatch providers’’ shall include

17 governmental and non-governmental providers of

18 emergency dispatch services.

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