A bill to provide funding for the deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1, and for other purposes.
Bill: S.2754 | Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
This bill provides funding that is available until September 30, 2030, for grants and other activities to support next generation 9-1-1 systems (i.e., interoperable, secure, Internet Protocol-based systems for receiving 9-1-1 requests for emergency assistance).
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) must award grants to state, tribal, and territorial organizations (or entities established by one or more of those organizations) for implementing next generation 9-1-1 systems. The Inspector General of the Department of Commerce must conduct oversight related to the grants.
The bill also establishes (1) a center to coordinate with state, local, and regional governments about cybersecurity threats to next generation 9-1-1 systems and strategies to detect and prevent such threats; and (2) an advisory board to provide the NTIA with recommendations about next generation 9-1-1 activities.

To provide funding for the deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. DEPLOYMENT OF NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1.

    (a) Appropriation.--
            (1) In general.--In addition to amounts otherwise 
        available, there is appropriated to the Assistant Secretary for 
        fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not 
        otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000,000, to remain available 
        until September 30, 2030, to make grants to eligible entities 
        for implementing Next Generation 9-1-1, operating and 
        maintaining Next Generation 9-1-1, training directly related to 
        implementing, maintaining, and operating Next Generation 9-1-1, 
        if the cost related to such training does not exceed 3 percent 
        of the total grant award, and planning and implementation 
        activities, if the cost related to such planning and 
        implementation does not exceed 1 percent of the total grant 
        award.
            (2) Administrative expenses.--Of the amount appropriated in 
        this subsection, the Assistant Secretary may use not more than 
        2 percent to implement and administer this section.
            (3) Rulemaking required.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 
        shall, after public notice and opportunity for comment, issue 
        rules to implement this section.
    (b) Eligibility.--
            (1) In general.--The Assistant Secretary shall not make a 
        grant under this section to any eligible entity unless such 
        entity certifies to the Assistant Secretary that--
                    (A) no portion of any 9-1-1 fee or charge imposed 
                by the eligible entity, or (in the case that the 
                eligible entity is not a covered State or Tribal 
                organization) any State or taxing jurisdiction within 
                which the eligible entity will carry out activities 
                using grant funds, will be obligated or expended for 
                any purpose or function other than a purpose or 
                function for which the obligation or expenditure of 
                such a fee or charge is acceptable (as determined by 
                the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the 
                rules issued under section 6(f)(3) of the Wireless 
                Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 
                615a-1(f)(3)), as such rules are in effect on the date 
                on which the eligible entity makes the certification) 
                during any period during which the funds from the grant 
                are available to the eligible entity;
                    (B) any funds received by the eligible entity will 
                be used to support the deployment of Next Generation 9-
                1-1 in a manner that ensures reliability, 
                interoperability, and requires the use of commonly 
                accepted standards;
                    (C) the eligible entity has established, or commits 
                to establish not later than 3 years after the date on 
                which the funds are distributed to the eligible entity, 
                a sustainable funding mechanism for Next Generation 9-
                1-1 and effective cybersecurity for Next Generation 9-
                1-1; and
                    (D) no funds received by the eligible entity will 
                be used to purchase, rent, lease, or otherwise obtain 
                covered communications equipment or services (as 
                defined in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted 
                Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608)).
            (2) Other requirements.--The Assistant Secretary shall not 
        make a grant under this section to an eligible entity unless 
        such entity certifies to the Assistant Secretary that--
                    (A) the eligible entity, and (in the case that the 
                eligible entity is not a covered State or Tribal 
                organization) any covered State within which the 
                eligible entity will carry out activities using grant 
                funds, has designated a single officer or governmental 
                body to serve as the point of contact to coordinate the 
                implementation of Next Generation 9-1-1 for such 
                covered State or Tribal organization; and
                    (B) the eligible entity has developed and submitted 
                a plan for the coordination and implementation of Next 
                Generation 9-1-1 consistent with the requirements of 
                the Assistant Secretary that, at a minimum--
                            (i) ensures interoperability, reliability, 
                        resiliency, and the use of commonly accepted 
                        standards;
                            (ii) enables emergency communications 
                        centers to process, analyze, and store 
                        multimedia, data, and other information;
                            (iii) incorporates cybersecurity tools, 
                        including intrusion detection and prevention 
                        measures;
                            (iv) includes strategies for coordinating 
                        cybersecurity information sharing between 
                        Federal, covered State, Tribal, and local 
                        government partners;
                            (v) includes a governance body or bodies, 
                        either by creation of a new body or bodies or 
                        use of an existing body or bodies, for the 
                        development and deployment of Next Generation 
                        9-1-1;
                            (vi) creates efficiencies related to Next 
                        Generation 9-1-1 functions, including the 
                        virtualization and sharing of infrastructure, 
                        equipment, and services; and
                            (vii) utilizes an effective, competitive 
                        approach to establishing authentication, 
                        credentialing, secure connections, and access 
                        in deploying Next Generation 9-1-1, including 
                        by--
                                    (I) requiring certificate 
                                authorities to be capable of cross-
                                certification with other authorities;
                                    (II) avoiding risk of a single 
                                point of failure or vulnerability; and
                                    (III) adhering to Federal agency 
                                best practices such as those 
                                promulgated by the National Institute 
                                of Standards and Technology.
            (3) Return of funding.--If, after making a grant award to 
        an eligible entity under subsection (a), the Assistant 
        Secretary determines that such eligible entity has acted in a 
        manner not in accordance with the certifications required under 
        this subsection, the Assistant Secretary shall, after affording 
        due process, rescind such grant award and recoup funds from 
        such eligible entity.
    (c) Oversight.--In addition to amounts otherwise available, there 
is appropriated to the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce 
for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, $10,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 
2030, to conduct oversight to combat waste, fraud, and abuse of grant 
awards made under this section.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1 CYBERSECURITY CENTER.

    In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated 
to the Assistant Secretary for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $80,000,000, to remain 
available until September 30, 2030, to establish a Next Generation 9-1-
1 Cybersecurity Center to coordinate with covered State, local, and 
regional governments on the sharing of cybersecurity information about, 
the analysis of cybersecurity threats to, and guidelines for strategies 
to detect and prevent cybersecurity intrusions relating to Next 
Generation 9-1-1.

SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY NEXT GENERATION 9-1-1 ADVISORY BOARD.

    In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated 
to the Assistant Secretary for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $10,000,000, to remain 
available until September 30, 2030, to establish a 16-member Public 
Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Advisory Board (in this section referred 
to as the ``Board''), to be comprised of representatives of public 
safety organizations, to provide recommendations to the Assistant 
Secretary with respect to carrying out the duties and responsibilities 
of the Assistant Secretary related to Next Generation 9-1-1, including 
with respect to the grant program established pursuant to section 
31101.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) 9-1-1 fee or charge.--The term ``9-1-1 fee or charge'' 
        has the meaning given such term in section 6(f)(3)(D) of the 
        Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 
        U.S.C. 615a-1(f)(3)(D)).
            (2) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary'' 
        means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 
        and Information.
            (3) Commonly accepted standards.--The term ``commonly 
        accepted standards'' means the technical standards followed by 
        the communications industry for network, device, and Internet 
        Protocol connectivity that--
                    (A) enable interoperability; and
                    (B) are--
                            (i) developed and approved by a standards 
                        development organization that is accredited by 
                        a United States or international standards body 
                        in a process that--
                                    (I) is open to the public, 
                                including open for participation by any 
                                organization; and
                                    (II) provides for a conflict 
                                resolution process;
                            (ii) subject to an open comment and input 
                        process before being finalized by the standards 
                        development organization;
                            (iii) consensus-based; and
                            (iv) made publicly available once approved.
            (4) Cost related to planning and implementation.--The term 
        ``cost related to planning and implementation'' means any cost 
        incurred by an eligible entity related to planning for and 
        preparing an application and related materials as required 
        under this Act.
            (5) Covered state.--The term ``covered State'' means any 
        State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
        Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, 
        the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or 
        possession of the United States.
            (6) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity''--
                    (A) means a covered State or a Tribal organization; 
                and
                    (B) may be an entity, including a public authority, 
                board, or commission, established by one or more 
                entities described in subparagraph (A).
            (7) Emergency communications center.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``emergency 
                communications center''--
                            (i) means a facility that--
                                    (I) is designated to receive a 9-1-
                                1 request for emergency assistance; and
                                    (II) performs one or more of the 
                                functions described in subparagraph 
                                (B); and
                            (ii) may be a public safety answering 
                        point, as defined in section 222 of the 
                        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222).
                    (B) Functions described.--The functions described 
                in this subparagraph are the following:
                            (i) Process and analyze 9-1-1 requests for 
                        emergency assistance and information and data 
                        related to such requests.
                            (ii) Dispatch appropriate emergency 
                        response providers.
                            (iii) Transfer or exchange 9-1-1 requests 
                        for emergency assistance and information and 
                        data related to such requests with one or more 
                        facilities described under this paragraph and 
                        emergency response providers.
                            (iv) Analyze any communications received 
                        from emergency response providers.
                            (v) Support incident command functions.
            (8) Interoperable; interoperability.--The term 
        ``interoperable'' or ``interoperability'' means the capability 
        of emergency communications centers to receive 9-1-1 requests 
        for emergency assistance and information and data related to 
        such requests, such as location information and callback 
        numbers from a person initiating the request, and then process 
        and share the 9-1-1 requests for emergency assistance and 
        information and data related to such requests with other 
        emergency communications centers and emergency response 
        providers without the need for proprietary interfaces and 
        regardless of jurisdiction, equipment, device, software, 
        service provider, or other factors.
            (9) Next generation 9-1-1.--The term ``Next Generation 9-1-
        1'' means an interoperable, secure, Internet Protocol-based 
        system that--
                    (A) employs commonly accepted standards;
                    (B) enables emergency communications centers to 
                receive, process, and analyze all types of 9-1-1 
                requests for emergency assistance;
                    (C) acquires and integrates additional information 
                useful to handling 9-1-1 requests for emergency 
                assistance; and
                    (D) supports sharing information related to 9-1-1 
                requests for emergency assistance among emergency 
                communications centers and emergency response 
                providers.
            (10) Public safety organization.--The term ``public safety 
        organization'' means an organization that represents the 
        interests of personnel in--
                    (A) local law enforcement;
                    (B) fire and rescue;
                    (C) emergency medical service; or
                    (D) 9-1-1 services.
            (11) Reliability.--The term ``reliability'' means the 
        employment of sufficient measures to ensure the ongoing 
        operation of Next Generation 9-1-1, including through the use 
        of geo-diverse, device- and network-agnostic elements that 
        provide more than one physical route between end points with no 
        common points where a single failure at that point would cause 
        the operation of Next Generation 9-1-1 to fail.
            (12) State or taxing jurisdiction.--The term ``State or 
        taxing jurisdiction'' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 6(f)(3)(D) of the Wireless Communications and Public 
        Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615a-1(f)(3)(D)).
            (13) Sustainable funding mechanism.--The term ``sustainable 
        funding mechanism'' means a funding mechanism that provides 
        adequate revenues to cover ongoing expenses, including 
        operations, maintenance, and upgrades.
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