II 

Calendar No. 67 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 385 

[Report No. 110–30] 

To improve the interoperability of emergency communications equipment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2007 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. KERRY, Mr. SMITH, and Ms. 

SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

MARCH 5, 2007 

Reported by Mr. INOUYE, with amendments and an amendment to the title 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve the interoperability of emergency communications 

equipment. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interoperable Emer5 gency Communications Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. INTEROPERABLE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3006 of Public Law 109– 

3 171 (47 U.S.C. 309 note) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub5 section (a) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) may take such administrative action as is 

7 necessary to establish and implement a grant pro8 gram to assist public safety agencies— 

9 ‘‘(A) in conducting statewide or regional 

10 planning and coordination to improve the inter11 operability of emergency communications; 

12 ‘‘(B) in supporting the design and engi13 neering of interoperable emergency communica14 tions systems; 

15 ‘‘(C) in supporting the acquisition or de16 ployment of interoperable communications 

17 equipment or systems equipment, software, or 

18 systems that improve or advance the interoper19 ability with public safety communications sys20 tems; 

21 ‘‘(D) in obtaining technical assistance and 

22 conducting training exercises related to the use 

23 of interoperable emergency communications 

24 equipment and systems; and 

25 ‘‘(E) in establishing and implementing a 

26 strategic technology reserve to pre-position or 

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1 secure interoperable communications in advance 

2 for immediate deployment in an emergency or 

3 major disaster (as defined in section 102(2) of 

4 Public Law 93–288 (42 U.S.C. 5122)); and 

5 ‘‘(2) shall make payments of not to exceed 

6 $1,000,000,000, in the aggregate, through fiscal 

7 year 2010 from the Digital Television Transition 

8 and Public Safety Fund established under section 

9 309(j)(8)(E) of the Communications Act of 1934 

10 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(E)) to carry out the grant pro11 gram established under paragraph (1), of which not 

12 more than $100,000,000, in the aggregate, may be 

13 allocated for grants under paragraph (1)(E).’’; 

14 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

15 subsections (k) and (l), respectively, and inserting 

16 after subsection (a) the following: 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and (d) 

18 as subsections (l), (m), and (n), respectively, and in19 serting after subsection (a) the following: 

20 ‘‘(b) EXPEDITED IMPLEMENTATION.—Pursuant to 

21 section 4 of the Call Home Act of 2006, no less than 

22 $1,000,000,000 shall be awarded for grants under sub23 section (a) no later than September 30, 2007, subject to 

24 the receipt of qualified applications as determined by the 

25 Assistant Secretary. 

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1 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—In awarding grants 

2 under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection 

3 (a)(1), the Assistant Secretary shall ensure that grant 

4 awards— 

5 ‘‘(1) result in distributions to public safety enti6 ties among the several States that are consistent 

7 with section 1014(c)(3) of the USA PATRIOT ACT 

8 (42 U.S.C. 3714(c)(3)); and 

9 ‘‘(2) are prioritized based upon threat and risk 

10 factors that reflect an all-hazards approach to com11 munications preparedness. preparedness and that 

12 takes into account the risks associated with, and the 

13 likelihood of the occurrence of, terrorist attacks or 

14 natural catastrophes (including, but not limited to, 

15 hurricanes, tornados, storms, high water, winddriven 

16 water, tidal waves, tsunami, earthquakes, volcanic 

17 eruptions, landslides, mudslides, snow and ice storms, 

18 forest fires, or droughts) in a State. 

19 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for assistance 

20 under the grant program established under subsection (a), 

21 an applicant shall submit an application, at such time, in 

22 such form, and containing such information as the Assist23 ant Secretary may require, including— 

24 ‘‘(1) a detailed explanation of how assistance 

25 received under the program would be used to immstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 prove regional, State, or local communications inter2 operability and ensure interoperability with other ap3 propriate public safety agencies in an emergency or 

4 a major disaster; and 

5 ‘‘(2) assurance that the equipment and system 

6 would— 

7 ‘‘(A) be compatible with the communica8 tions architecture developed under section 

9 7303(a)(1)(E) of the Intelligence Reform and 

10 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 

11 194(a)(1)(E)); 

12 ‘‘(B) meet any voluntary consensus stand13 ards developed under section 7303(a)(1)(D) of 

14 that Act (6 U.S.C. 194(a)(1)(D)); (6 U.S.C. 

15 194(a)(1)(D)) to the extent that such standards 

16 exist for a given category of equipment; and 

17 ‘‘(C) be consistent with the common grant 

18 guidance established under section 

19 7303(a)(1)(H) of that Act (6 U.S.C. 

20 194(a)(1)(H)). 

21 ‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR CERTAIN GRANTS.—In awarding 

22 grants under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of sub23 section (a)(1), the Assistant Secretary shall ensure that 

24 all grants funded are consistent with Federal grant guidmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ance established by the SAFECOM Program within the 

2 Department of Homeland Security. 

3 ‘‘(f) CRITERIA FOR STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY RE4 SERVE GRANTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under 

6 subsection (a)(1)(E), the Assistant Secretary shall 

7 consider the continuing technological evolution of 

8 communications technologies and devices, with its 

9 implicit risk of obsolescence, and shall ensure, to the 

10 maximum extent feasible, that a substantial part of 

11 the reserve involves prenegotiated contracts and 

12 other arrangements for rapid deployment of equip13 ment, supplies, and systems (and communications 

14 service related to such equipment, supplies, and sys15 tems), rather than the warehousing or storage of 

16 equipment and supplies currently available at the 

17 time the reserve is established. 

18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS.— 

19 A reserve established under paragraph (1) shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) be capable of re-establishing commu21 nications when existing infrastructure is dam22 aged or destroyed in an emergency or a major 

23 disaster; 

24 ‘‘(B) include appropriate current, widely25 used equipment, such as Land Mobile Radio 

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1 Systems, cellular telephones and satellite equip2 ment, satellite-enabled equipment (and related 

3 communications service), Cells-On-Wheels, Cells4 On-Light-Trucks, or other self-contained mobile 

5 cell sites that can be towed, backup batteries, 

6 generators, fuel, and computers; 

7 ‘‘(C) include equipment on hand for the 

8 Governor of each State, key emergency response 

9 officials, and appropriate State or local per10 sonnel; 

11 ‘‘(D) include contracts (including 

12 prenegotiated contracts) for rapid delivery of 

13 the most current technology available from 

14 commercial sources; and 

15 ‘‘(E) include arrangements for training to 

16 ensure that personnel are familiar with the op17 eration of the equipment and devices to be de18 livered pursuant to such contracts. 

19 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.—Portions 

20 of the reserve may be virtual and may include items 

21 donated on an in-kind contribution basis. 

22 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—In developing the re23 serve, the Assistant Secretary shall seek advice from 

24 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

25 Homeland Security, as well as national public safety 

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1 organizations, emergency managers, State, local, and 

2 tribal governments, and commercial providers of 

3 such systems and equipment. 

4 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATION AND USE OF FUNDS.—The 

5 Assistant Secretary shall allocate— 

6 ‘‘(A) a portion of the reserve’s funds for 

7 block grants to States to enable each State to 

8 establish a strategic technology reserve within 

9 its borders in a secure location to allow imme10 diate deployment; and 

11 ‘‘(B) a portion of the reserve’s funds for 

12 regional Federal strategic technology reserves 

13 to facilitate any Federal response when nec14 essary, to be held in each of the Federal Emer15 gency Management Agency’s regional offices, 

16 including Boston, Massachusetts (Region 1), 

17 New York, New York (Region 2), Philadelphia, 

18 Pennsylvania (Region 3), Atlanta, Georgia (Re19 gion 4), Chicago, Illinois (Region 5), Denton, 

20 Texas (Region 6), Kansas City, Missouri (Re21 gion 7), Denver, Colorado (Region 8), Oakland, 

22 California (Region 9), Bothell, Washington (Re23 gion 10), and each of the noncontiguous States 

24 for immediate deployment. 

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1 ‘‘(g) VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS.—In car2 rying out this section, the Assistant Secretary, in coopera3 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security shall iden4 tify and, if necessary, encourage the development and im5 plementation of, voluntary consensus standards for inter6 operable communications systems to the greatest extent 

7 practicable. practicable, but shall not require any such 

8 standard. 

9 ‘‘(h) USE OF ECONOMY ACT.—In implementing the 

10 grant program established under subsection (a)(1), the 

11 Assistant Secretary may seek assistance from other Fed12 eral agencies in accordance with section 1535 of title 31, 

13 United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(i) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT.—Beginning with 

15 the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment 

16 of the Interoperable Emergency Communications Act, the 

17 Inspector General of the Department of Commerce shall 

18 conduct an annual assessment of the management of the 

19 grant program implemented under subsection (a)(1) and 

20 transmit a report containing the findings of that assess21 ment and any recommendations related thereto to the Sen22 ate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

23 and the House of Representatives Committee on Energy 

24 and Commerce. 

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1 ‘‘(j) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM

2 RULES.—Within 90 days after the date of enactment of 

3 the Interoperable Emergency Communications Act, the 

4 Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security and the Federal Communications 

6 Commission, shall promulgate final program rules for the 

7 implementation of this section.’’; and section. 

8 ‘‘(k) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec9 tion shall be construed or interpreted to preclude the use 

10 of funds under this section by any public safety agency for 

11 interim or long-term Internet Protocol-based interoperable 

12 solutions, notwithstanding compliance with the Project 25 

13 standard.’’; and 

14 (3) by striking paragraph (3) of subsection (l), 

15 (n), as redesignated. 

16 (b) FCC REPORT ON EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

17 BACK-UP SYSTEM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Com20 munications Commission, in coordination with the 

21 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 

22 and Information and the Secretary of Homeland Se23 curity, shall evaluate the technical feasibility of cre24 ating a back-up emergency communications system 

25 that complements existing communications resources 

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1 and takes into account next generation and ad2 vanced telecommunications technologies. The over3 riding objective for the evaluation shall be providing 

4 a framework for the development of a resilient inter5 operable communications system for emergency re6 sponders in an emergency. The Commission shall 

7 evaluate all reasonable options, including satellites, 

8 wireless, and terrestrial-based communications sys9 tems and other alternative transport mechanisms 

10 that can be used in tandem with existing tech11 nologies. 

12 (2) FACTORS TO BE EVALUATED.—The evalua13 tion under paragraph (1) shall include— 

14 (A) a survey of all Federal agencies that 

15 use terrestrial or satellite technology for com16 munications security and an evaluation of the 

17 feasibility of using existing systems for the pur18 pose of creating such an emergency back-up 

19 public safety communications system; 

20 (B) the feasibility of using private satellite, 

21 wireless, or terrestrial networks for emergency 

22 communications; 

23 (C) the technical options, cost, and deploy24 ment methods of software, equipment, handsets 

25 or desktop communications devices for public 

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1 safety entities in major urban areas, and na2 tionwide; and 

3 (D) the feasibility and cost of necessary 

4 changes to the network operations center of ter5 restrial-based or satellite systems to enable the 

6 centers to serve as emergency back-up commu7 nications systems. 

8 (3) REPORT.—Upon the completion of the eval9 uation under subsection (a), the Commission shall 

10 submit a report to Congress that details the findings 

11 of the evaluation, including a full inventory of exist12 ing public and private resources most efficiently ca13 pable of providing emergency communications. 

14 (c) JOINT ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS

15 CAPABILITIES OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE FACILI16 TIES.— 

17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Secretary 

18 of Commerce for Communications and Information 

19 and the Chairman of Federal Communications Com20 mission, in consultation with the Secretary of Home21 land Security and the Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services, shall establish a joint advisory com23 mittee to examine the communications capabilities 

24 and needs of emergency medical care facilities. The 

25 joint advisory committee shall be composed of indimstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 viduals with expertise in communications technologies 

2 and emergency medical care, including representa3 tives of Federal, State and local governments, indus4 try and non-profit health organizations, and aca5 demia and educational institutions. 

6 (2) DUTIES.—The joint advisory committee 

7 shall— 

8 (A) assess specific communications capabili9 ties and needs of emergency medical care facili10 ties, including the including improvement of 

11 basic voice, data, and broadband capabilities; 

12 (B) assess options to accommodate growth of 

13 basic and emerging communications services 

14 used by emergency medical care facilities; 

15 (C) assess options to improve integration of 

16 communications systems used by emergency med17 ical care facilities with existing or future emer18 gency communications networks; and 

19 (D) report its findings to the Senate Com20 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor21 tation and the House of Representatives Com22 mittee on Energy and Commerce, within 6 

23 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL COM25 MUNICATIONS PILOT PROJECTS. 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary of 

2 Commerce for Communications and Information may 

3 establish not more than 10 geographically dispersed 

4 project grants to emergency medical care facilities to 

5 improve the capabilities of emergency communica6 tions systems in emergency medical care facilities. 

7 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Assistant Secretary 

8 may not provide more than $2,000,000 in Federal as9 sistance under the pilot program to any applicant. 

10 (3) COST SHARING.—The Assistant Secretary 

11 may not provide more than 50 percent of the cost, in12 curred during the period of the grant, of any project 

13 under the pilot program. 

14 (4) MAXIMUM PERIOD OF GRANTS.—The Assist15 ant Secretary may not fund any applicant under the 

16 pilot program for more than 3 years. 

17 (5) DEPLOYMENT AND DISTRIBUTION.—The As18 sistant Secretary shall seek to the maximum extent 

19 practicable to ensure a broad geographic distribution 

20 of project sites. 

21 (6) TRANSFER OF INFORMATION AND KNOWL22 EDGE.—The Assistant Secretary shall establish mech23 anisms to ensure that the information and knowledge 

24 gained by participants in the pilot program are 

25 transferred among the pilot program participants 

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1 and to other interested parties, including other appli2 cants that submitted applications. 

3 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Post-Katrina 

5 emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (Public Law 

6 109–295) is amended by adding at the end thereof the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 699A. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

9 ‘‘Nothing in this title, including the amendments 

10 made by this title, may be construed to reduce or other11 wise limit the authority of the Department of Commerce 

12 or the Federal Communications Commission.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 this section shall take effect as though enacted as part 

15 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations 

16 Act, 2007. 

17 SEC. 4. CROSS BORDER INTEROPERABILITY REPORTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications 

20 Commission, in conjunction with the Department of Home21 land Security, the Office of Management of Budget, and the 

22 Department of State shall report to the Senate Committee 

23 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House 

24 of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce 

25 on— 

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1 (1) the status of the mechanism established by 

2 the President under section 7303(c) of the Intelligence 

3 Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 

4 U.S.C. 194(c)) for coordinating cross border inter5 operability issues between— 

6 (A) the United States and Canada; and 

7 (B) the United States and Mexico; 

8 (2) the status of treaty negotiations with Canada 

9 and Mexico regarding the coordination of the re-band10 ing of 800 megahertz radios, as required under the 

11 final rule of the Federal Communication Commission 

12 in the ‘‘Private Land Mobile Services; 800 MHz Pub13 lic Safety Interface Proceeding’’ (WT Docket No. 02– 

14 55; ET Docket No. 00–258; ET Docket No. 95–18, 

15 RM–9498; RM–10024; FCC 04–168), including the 

16 status of any outstanding issues in the negotiations 

17 between— 

18 (A) the United States and Canada; and 

19 (B) the United States and Mexico; 

20 (3) communications between the Commission 

21 and the Department of State over possible amend22 ments to the bilateral legal agreements and protocols 

23 that govern the coordination process for license appli24 cations seeking to use channels and frequencies above 

25 Line A; 

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1 (4) the annual rejection rate for the last 5 years 

2 by the United States of applications for new channels 

3 and frequencies by Canadian private and public enti4 ties; and 

5 (5) any additional procedures and mechanisms 

6 that can be taken by the Commission to decrease the 

7 rejection rate for applications by United States pri8 vate and public entities seeking licenses to use chan9 nels and frequencies above Line A. 

10 (b) UPDATED REPORTS TO BE FILED ON THE STATUS

11 OF TREATY OF NEGOTIATIONS.—The Federal Communica12 tions Commission, in conjunction with the Department of 

13 Homeland Security, the Office of Management of Budget, 

14 and the Department of State shall continually provide up15 dated reports to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

16 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy 

17 and Commerce of the House of Representatives on the status 

18 of treaty negotiations under subsection (a)(2) until the ap19 propriate United States treaty has been revised with each 

20 of— 

21 (1) Canada; and 

22 (2) Mexico. 

23 SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF SHORT QUORUM. 

24 Notwithstanding section 4(d) of the Consumer Product 

25 Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2053(d)), 2 members of the Consumer 

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1 Product Safety Commission, if they are not affiliated with 

2 the same political party, shall constitute a quorum for the 

3 6-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

4 Act. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A Bill to improve the 

interoperability of emergency communications equipment 

and systems.’’. 

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Calendar No. 67 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 385 

[Report No. 110

–30] 

A BILL 

To improve the interoperability of emergency 

communications equipment. 

MARCH 5, 2007 

Reported with amendments and an amendment to the 

title 

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