H.R. 5918 — Introduced in House

I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5918 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 14, 2020Ms. Matsui (for herself, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Thompson of California, and Mr. Huffman) 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. 1. Reports after activation of Disaster Information Reporting System; improvements to network outage reporting (a) Reports after activation of Disaster Information Reporting System (1) Preliminary report (A) In general Not later than 6 weeks after the deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System with respect to an event for which the System was activated, the Commission shall issue a preliminary report on, with respect to such event— (i) the number and duration of any outages of— (I) broadband internet access service; (II) interconnected VoIP service; and (III) commercial mobile service; (ii) the approximate number of users affected by an outage described in clause (i); (iii) the number and duration of any outages at public safety answering points that prevent public safety answering points from receiving emergency calls and routing such calls to emergency service personnel; (iv) initial recovery efforts related to communications networks; and (v) any additional information determined appropriate by the Commission. (2) Public field hearings (A) Requirement Not later than 4 months after the deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System with respect to an event for which the System was activated, the Commission shall hold at least one public field hearing in communities 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 broadband internet access service; (iv) faculty of institutions of higher education; (v) representatives of other Federal agencies; (vi) electric utility providers; (vii) telecommunications 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 8 months after the deactivation of the Disaster Information Reporting System with respect to an event for which the System was activated, the Commission shall issue a final report that includes, with respect to such event— (A) the information described under 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 through the Disaster Information Reporting System and a public hearing described in paragraph (2) with respect to the applicable event. (5) Publication The Commission shall publish each report issued under this subsection on the website of the Commission upon the issuance of such report. (b) Improvements to network outage reporting Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking to— (1) determine the circumstances under which to require providers of commercial mobile service to provide alerts to public safety answering points regarding communications service disruptions of the commercial mobile service within the assigned territories of such public safety answering points that prevent— (A) the origination of 9–1–1 calls; (B) the delivery of Automatic Location Information; or (C) Automatic Number Identification; and (2) require such alerts to be made. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Automatic Location Information; Automatic Number Identification The terms Automatic Location Information and Automatic Number Identification have the meaning 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 such 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 such term in section 332(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)). (4) Commission The term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission. (5) Indian Tribal government; local government The terms Indian Tribal government and Indian Tribal Government have the meaning given those terms in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121). (6) Interconnected VoIP service The term interconnected VoIP service has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). (7) Public safety answering point The term public safety answering point has the meaning given such term in section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222). (8) State The term State has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).