House Communications Seen Eyeing March Public Safety Markup

The measures up for review Thursday address issues with bipartisan appeal, but House Commerce Committee leaders are negotiating with Republicans on which ones can be easily advanced, lobbyists said. HR-5926, led by House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., would require the FCC to do rulemakings on improving coordination among communications providers and with public safety answering points during emergencies. The measure would make the FCC do triennial reviews of the proposed rulemakings.

Also on the docket: the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (HR-451/S-2748), Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act (HR-1289), Wireless Infrastructure Resiliency during Emergencies and Disasters Act (HR-3836), National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (HR-4194), Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act (HR-4856), Emergency Reporting Act (HR-5918) and Fee Integrity and Responsibilities and To Regain Essential Spectrum for Public-safety Operators Needed to Deploy Equipment Reliably (First Responder) Act (HR-5928).

“It’s definitely going to be a big group of bills,” House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters. “Obviously, the fee diversion issue is one I feel pretty strongly about” and “I recognize we need to address the T-band issue.” He led HR-5928 and has been a proponent of addressing both matters in tandem (see 1912030054). “There are going to be other debates about the resiliency of networks and how you restore them after emergency events, but we have to look at [the proposals] and be thoughtful about how all of that would work,” Walden said. “There are all kinds of things people want to require; some of them work better than others.”

House Communications leaders are aiming to mark up public safety communications bills soon after the hearing, with leaders looking at a March 10 session, lobbyists said. Most measures would likely advance separately rather than as a combined bill. The subcommittee is examining the possibility of combining some, including marrying language from HR-3836 and HR-5918, lobbyists said. HR-3836 would authorize states to require wireless companies to deploy infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters. HR-5918 would in part direct the FCC to issue reports and do field hearings after activating the disaster information reporting system (DIRS).

Some lobbyists noted Republican interest in enacting the T-band mandate repeal and fee diversion restrictions as part of an anticipated compromise measure aimed at allocating the proceeds of a coming FCC auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 2002070044). House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., has resisted those issues being used as leverage in the C-band debate (see 2001090021).

Testimony

CTIA supports “the goals” of HR-5926, including that “communications providers, electric utilities, and public safety stakeholders need new tools to share information and work together,” says Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Matthew Gerst in written testimony. The bill “acknowledges the important role that reasonable roaming agreements play during times of emergency.” It “could create confusion by requiring providers to disclose the status of their networks while excluding areas where customers are roaming on another provider’s network.”

Gerst suggests House Communications “monitor” the FCC’s expected new proceeding on the scope of public safety stakeholders who can access DIRS before pursuing language currently in HR-5926 on enhanced information sharing. CTIA is concerned about HR-4194’s proposal to fund crisis centers solely from “state and local fees on America’s wireless bills” due to existing 911 fee diversion. The group supports HR-4856 and HR-5928. HR-4856 would in part eliminate the option to opt out of certain federal alerts on cellphones and require active White House and Federal Emergency Management Agency alerts be repeated.

Free Press Action supports HR-5926 because it “requires a comprehensive audit” of FCC response to widespread damage from hurricanes in 2017 (see 1710030057), says Senior Director-Strategy and Engagement Joseph Torres. The audit requirement “is a welcome step towards providing this much-needed investigation,” he says. FP Action backs HR-3836, HR-4856 and HR-5918.

Georgia Power Distribution Support Manager Allen Bell urges House Communications to postpone consideration of HR-5926 because there of “a number of voluntary cross-sector efforts to address resiliency.” The subcommittee “should take a bottom-up approach to emergency preparedness and response,” Bell says. “It is crucial to acknowledge that most disasters are local, state, or regional events. Therefore, coordination and response efforts must respect existing coordination and disaster recovery regime.”

Santa Rosa, California, Fire Chief Anthony Gossner backs HR-1289, HR-3836 and HR-5926. Santa Rosa believes the three bills would address emergency communications issues the city experienced during wildfires in 2017, Gossner says. HR-1289 would restrict the reassignment of phone numbers during a declared natural disaster except at a subscriber’s request. Behavioral Health Link CEO Sue Ann Atkerson backs HR-4194. “While the FCC has indicated an intent to designate 988 as the nation’s 3-digit dialing code for suicide prevention, congressional action is urgently needed to ensure the infrastructure and call centers that support 988 are adequately funded,” she says. The FCC is expected to draw big pushback from the mental health community to some telecom arguments for a longer phase-in of 988 (see 2002260052).

National Emergency Number Association Director-Government Affairs Dan Henry urges a solution to 911 fee diversion, funding for next-generation 911 upgrades and network resiliency. NENA members lobbied earlier this month (see 2002120051) on the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act (HR-1629/S-1015) and Next Generation 9-1-1 Act (HR-2760/S-1479).