Emergency Reporting Act

Bill: 118-hr-7043
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Matsui, Doris O. [D-CA-7]
Introduced: 2024-01-18
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Latest action: action_date: 2024-01-19
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-01-18
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Emergency Reporting Act</strong></p><p>This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publicly report on certain activations of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). DIRS is a reporting system, activated during severe weather and other events impacting communications service, through which communications providers report outages and other degradations to service.</p><p>If the system was activated for at least seven days, the FCC must issue a preliminary a report that includes (1) the number and duration of any service outages, (2) the approximate number of users or the amount of infrastructure potentially affected by a service outage, and (3) the number and duration of any outages at public safety answering points (PSAPs) that prevent the PSAPs from receiving and routing emergency calls. The FCC must also hold at least one public field hearing in the area affected by the event, and it must issue a final report that includes recommendations on how to improve the resiliency of affected networks.</p><p>Separately, the FCC must publish a general report on (1) the volume and nature of 9-1-1 outages that are not required to be reported under current outage notification rules, and (2) the value to public safety agencies of the inclusion of visual information in outage notifications from communications providers.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7043 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 18, 2024 Ms. Matsui (for herself and Mr. Bilirakis ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvements to network outage reporting, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Emergency Reporting Act . 2. Reports after activation of disaster information reporting system; improvements to network outage reporting (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Automatic location information; automatic number identification The terms Automatic Location Information and Automatic Number Identification have the meanings given those terms in section 9.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. (2) Broadband internet access service The term broadband internet access service has the meaning given the term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. (3) Commercial mobile service The term commercial mobile service has the meaning given the term in section 332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 332(d) ). (4) Commercial mobile data service The term commercial mobile data service has the meaning given the term in section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( 47 U.S.C. 1401 ). (5) Commission The term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission. (6) Indian tribal government; local government The terms Indian tribal government and local government have the meanings given those terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5122 ). (7) Interconnected VoIP service; State The terms interconnected VoIP service and State have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 153 ). (8) Outage The term outage has the meaning given the term in section 4.5 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation. (9) Public safety answering point The term public safety answering point has the meaning given the term in section 222(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 222(h) ). (10) System The term System means the Disaster Information Reporting System. (b) Reports after activation of disaster information reporting system (1) Preliminary report (A) In general Not later than 6 weeks after the deactivation of the System with respect to an event for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days, the Commission shall issue a preliminary report on, with respect to such event and to the extent known— (i) the number and duration of any outages of— (I) broadband internet access service; (II) interconnected VoIP service; (III) commercial mobile service; and (IV) commercial mobile data service; (ii) the approximate number of users or the amount of communications infrastructure potentially affected by an outage described in clause (i); (iii) the number and duration of any outages that prevent public safety answering points from receiving caller location or number information or receiving emergency calls and routing such calls to emergency service personnel; and (iv) any additional information determined appropriate by the Commission. (B) Development of report The Commission shall develop the report required by subparagraph (A) using information collected by the Commission, including information collected by the Commission through the System. (2) Public field hearings (A) Requirement Not later than 8 months after the deactivation of the System with respect to an event for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days, the Commission shall hold not less than 1 public field hearing in the area affected by such event. (B) Inclusion of certain individuals in hearings For each public field hearing held under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall consider including— (i) representatives of State government, local government, or Indian tribal governments in areas affected by such event; (ii) residents of the areas affected by such event, or consumer advocates; (iii) providers of communications services affected by such event; (iv) faculty of institutions of higher education; (v) representatives of other Federal agencies; (vi) electric utility providers; (vii) communications infrastructure companies; and (viii) first responders, emergency managers, or 9–1–1 directors in areas affected by such event. (3) Final report Not later than 12 months after the deactivation of the System with respect to an event for which the System was activated for not less than 7 days, the Commission shall issue a final report that includes, with respect to such event— (A) the information described in paragraph (1)(A); and (B) any recommendations of the Commission on how to improve the resiliency of affected communications or networks recovery efforts. (4) Development of reports In developing a report required under this subsection, the Commission shall consider information collected by the Commission, including information collected by the Commission through the System, and any public hearing described in paragraph (2) with respect to the applicable event. (5) Publication The Commission shall publish each report, excluding information that is otherwise exempt from public disclosure under the rules of the Commission, issued under this subsection on the website of the Commission upon the issuance of such report. (c) Improvements to network outage reporting Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall investigate and publish a report on— (1) the value to public safety agencies of originating service providers including visual information to improve situational awareness about outages in the notifications provided to public safety answering points, as required by rules issued by the Commission; (2) the volume and nature of 911 outages that may go unreported under the outage notification thresholds of the Commission; and (3) recommended changes to rules issued by the Commission to address paragraphs (1) and (2).