The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has not yet seen any impacts to cargo or inspections as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said, according to an update from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America sent March 23. “At the current time we have not experienced any impacts to cargo related to changes in CBP or USDA APHIS activities,” APHIS said. As for inspections, the agency is also seeing no delays. “We have moved to mostly digital imaging to enable continued pest identification services. Plant Inspection Stations and Ports are operational. The majority of our policy office staff are in telework status and still accessible by phone and email as normal,” APHIS said. The agency has informed CBP that “USDA will accept scanned versions of phytosanitary certificates uploaded into DIS while the emergency lasts,” it said. “We understand that many brokers are having difficulty accessing offices or getting required documents from the country of origin. We will be sending this information out shortly,” APHIS said, according to the NCBFAA.
The FCC is unlikely to take additional actions soon mandating tougher rules for the vertical location accuracy of wireless calls to 911, said industry and public safety officials. Replies are posted through Monday in docket 07-114. In November, commissioners approved rules requiring carriers provide height above ellipsoid data from wireless calls to 911, within 3 meters accuracy for 80 percent of calls, starting in the largest markets in April 2021. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel voted no (see 1911220034).
Negotiations dragged on Monday on a third economic stimulus bill addressing the effects of COVID-19, with congressional lawmakers having yet to reach a bipartisan deal. A second bid for the Senate to invoke cloture on the legislative vehicle for the hoped-for compromise measure (HR-748) failed on a 49-46 vote amid continued Democratic objections to the current contours of a legislative proposal that has GOP buy-in. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was circulating her Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act counterproposal, which includes pandemic-specific Lifeline and distance learning funding.
The Public Safety Bureau has granted a request from Hudson County, New Jersey for special temporary authority to operate its traveler’s information station at ten times it’s allowed power rate “during the national- and state-level emergencies associated with the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic,” said an order Friday. In 2014, the bureau denied the county’s request to permanently operate the 10-watt station at 100 watts, but said then it could allow it temporarily during an emergency. The county TIS station “is its only means of communicating with all of its residents and transients during this national emergency, and the station has only limited reach within the County at its licensed power,” the order said. The order requires the TIS to cease operating at increased power either after 90 days or when the national emergency ends, whichever is sooner. The station also has to filter audio bandwidths above 3 kHz, notify a nearby broadcaster when it increases power, and reduce power if it receives an interference complaint.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau granted a request from Hudson County, New Jersey, for special temporary authority to operate its travelers information station at 10 times its allowed power rate “during the national- and state-level emergencies associated with the Novel Coronavirus,” said an order released Friday. In 2014, the bureau denied the county’s request to permanently operate the 10-watt station at 100 watts but said then it could allow it temporarily during an emergency. The county TIS station “is its only means of communicating with all of its residents and transients during this national emergency, and the station has only limited reach within the County at its licensed power,” the order said. The order requires the TIS to cease operating at increased power either after 90 days or when the national emergency ends, whichever is sooner. The station also has to filter audio bandwidths above 3 kHz, notify a nearby broadcaster when it increases power, and reduce power if it receives an interference complaint.
The California Public Utilities Commission suspended renewal requirements for the state LifeLine program for 90 days “to ensure continued access to affordable communications services during the COVID-19 outbreak,” ruled assigned Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma Thursday in docket R.20-02-008. Shiroma asked for comments by April 3 on how long the suspension should continue and if the CPUC should adopt other LifeLine measures... The Vermont Department of Public Service said it's collecting information on telecom and internet availability during the emergency... The Regulatory Commission of Alaska closed doors to visitors Friday because of "confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska and in abundance of caution"... NARUC and the National Regulatory Research Institute launched a state commission COVID-19 response tracker.
States are scrambling to enact price gouging laws in response to online sellers taking advantage of COVID-19 demands. Maryland passed an emergency measure Wednesday, and plans are evolving in Minnesota. Arkansas passed an emergency measure earlier this month.
The California Public Utilities Commission suspended renewal requirements for the state LifeLine program for 90 days “to ensure continued access to affordable communications services during the COVID-19 outbreak,” ruled assigned Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma Thursday in docket R.20-02-008. Shiroma asked for comments by April 3 on how long the suspension should continue and if the CPUC should adopt other LifeLine measures... The Vermont Department of Public Service said it's collecting information on telecom and internet availability during the emergency... The Regulatory Commission of Alaska closed doors to visitors Friday because of "confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska and in abundance of caution"... NARUC and the National Regulatory Research Institute launched a state commission COVID-19 response tracker.
Passing 5G and other state telecom bills may be less likely as lawmakers respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, local and industry officials told us last week. One seeming casualty is an industry-backed section in the New York budget to streamline small-cells deployment by pre-empting local governments. Alabama’s small-cells bill is close to the finish line and may pass this spring, said Alabama League of Municipalities Deputy Director Greg Cochran.
European governments are skeptical about the use of U.S. export controls to restrict transfers of sensitive technologies even as the U.S. ramps up attempts to convince them to adopt similar measures, according to a March 18 report from the Mercator Institute for China Studies. As the U.S. has taken an increasingly aggressive approach to restricting emerging technology sales to China, Europe increasingly sees export controls as a “blunt instrument” for tackling technology risks, the report said, viewing them instead as a U.S.-driven effort to contain China's rise.