Commerce Stakes out Interoperability Bill
Guidance on spending $1 billion in interoperability funds set aside by the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act appears in a bill (S-385) introduced late Wed. by the Senate Commerce Committee. The bill would guide NTIA on awarding emergency communications grants to police, fire fighters and emergency medical crews. It keeps a Sept. 30 deadline for distributing the grants set in motion by last year’s Call Home Act.
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“The Congress must act quickly to give our first responders the tools they need to effectively do their jobs,” Commerce Committee Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said in a written statement. The bill would require grants to meet guidelines under the Safecom, an emergency communications program in the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) on interoperability.
The bill would allow up to $100 million to help emergency agencies ready communications equipment in state or regional facilities to face emergencies. The bill would order the govt. to rely more on “rapid deployment of equipment, supplies and systems rather than the warehousing or storage of equipment and supplies available” at the time reserves are set.
S-385 largely recasts elements of 2006’s failed telecom bill (HR-5252), whose reprise came as little surprise to safety lobbyists. The bill would clarify details on allocation and use of money, and order the Commerce Dept. to work with DOD and DHS, national safety groups, state and local govts. and equipment vendors to develop a reserve of emergency communications gear.
The bill would require the FCC in coordination with DHS to evaluate the “technical feasibility” of creating a backup emergency communications system complementing existing resources and factoring in next generation and advanced telecom technologies. This would be required a year after the bill becomes law, and is designed to provide a framework for development of a “resilient interoperable communications system for emergency responders.” The FCC would have to evaluate all options, including satellite, wireless and terrestrial-based communications systems.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee is moving on a separate track with legislation it expects to mark up next week, encapsulating 9/11 Commission recommendations that will include a dedicated grant program for interoperability. The House passed a bill (HR-1) that would set up such a program in DHS. That caused Commerce Committee members to grumble that the Homeland Security Committee may be wresting away control of the program.
The Senate will set the program’s financing, which could set its fate, lobbyists said. There’s no firm evidence of a turf battle, but staffers are wary, according to interviews on background. The safety community welcomed the Commerce bill, but hasn’t taken a formal position on it. “I don’t see any problem with it,” Yucel Ors, APCO legislative dir., said: “Our main goal is to ensure that money gets down to local agencies.”