SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON NUMBER REASSIGNMENT AFTER 
DISASTER DECLARATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(e) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) MORATORIUM ON NUMBER REASSIGNMENT 
AFTER DISASTER DECLARATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During a covered pe-
riod with respect to an area, a number assigned 
in such area may not be reassigned, and the as-
signment of such number may not be rescinded 
or otherwise modified, except at the request of 
the subscriber to which such number is as-
signed. 
‘‘(B) EXTENSION
AT
REQUEST
OF
SUB-
SCRIBER.—At the request of the subscriber, the 
prohibition in subparagraph (A) shall be ex-
tended with respect to the number assigned to 
such subscriber for 2 years beyond the end of 
the covered period. 
‘‘(C) SUBSCRIBER RIGHT TO CANCEL AND 
RESUBSCRIBE.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 
number that is assigned to a subscriber for 
the provision of wireline voice service at a 
residence that is located in an area that is 
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in a covered period (or in the case of such 
a number with respect to which the sub-
scriber requests an extension under sub-
paragraph (B)), if the major disaster in-
volved results in covered damage to such 
residence— 
‘‘(I) the provider of such service 
may not charge the subscriber any 
early termination or other fee in con-
nection with the cancellation of such 
service; and 
‘‘(II) if the subscriber cancels 
such service, such provider (or any 
other provider of wireline voice service 
that serves the location involved)— 
‘‘(aa) shall permit the sub-
scriber to subscribe or resub-
scribe, as the case may be, to 
wireline voice service with such 
number at such residence or at a 
different residence (if such num-
ber is available in the location of 
such different residence); and 
‘‘(bb) may not charge the 
subscriber any connection fee or 
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other fee relating to the initiation 
of such service. 
‘‘(ii) TIMING.—Clause (i) shall cease 
to apply with respect to the number at the 
end of the covered period or at the end of 
the extended period under subparagraph 
(B), as the case may be. 
‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—Except as pro-
vided in this subparagraph, the prohibition 
in subparagraph (A) and any extension of 
such prohibition under subparagraph (B) 
shall cease to apply with respect to a num-
ber when the subscriber cancels the service 
with respect to which the number is as-
signed. 
‘‘(D) IDENTIFICATION
ON
COMMISSION 
WEBSITE.—The Commission shall publicly iden-
tify on the website of the Commission each area 
that is in a covered period. 
‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) COVERED
DAMAGE.—The term 
‘covered damage’ means, with respect to a 
residence, damage— 
‘‘(I) that renders a residence in-
accessible or uninhabitable, or that re-
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sults in displacement from the resi-
dence; and 
‘‘(II) with respect to which the 
President determines that an indi-
vidual or household is eligible for 
housing assistance or other needs as-
sistance under the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 
‘‘(ii) COVERED
PERIOD.—The term 
‘covered period’ means, with respect to an 
area, any period that— 
‘‘(I) begins on the date of a dec-
laration by the President of a major 
disaster under section 401 of the Rob-
ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5170) with respect to such area; and 
‘‘(II) ends on the date that is 1 
year after the date on which such dec-
laration expires. 
‘‘(iii) WIRELINE
VOICE
SERVICE.— 
The term ‘wireline voice service’ has the 
meaning given the term ‘voice service’ in 
section 227(e)(8), except that the term 
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‘wireline voice service’ does not include 
commercial mobile service (as defined in 
section 332(d)).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (4) of section 
251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
251(e)), as added by subsection (a), shall apply with re-
spect to a major disaster declared by the President under 
section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) after the 
date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
(c) TRANSITIONAL RULE.—Clause (iii) of subpara-
graph (E) of paragraph (4) of section 251(e) of the Com-
munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)), as added by 
subsection (a), shall apply before the effective date of the 
amendment made to section 227(e)(8) of such Act (47 
U.S.C. 227(e)(8)) by subparagraph (C) of section 
503(a)(2) of division P of the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141) as if such amendment 
were already in effect. 
Æ 
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