[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2754 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2754
To provide funding for the deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 15, 2021
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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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