On December 12, 2013, the Commission
adopted a Report and Order amending section 4.9 of its rules to
require more specific 911 outage notifications to PSAPs within
specified time periods. Under the new rule, Covered 911 Service
Providers must notify PSAPs of outages that potentially affect a
911 special facility within thirty minutes of discovering the
outage and provide contact information such as a name, telephone
number, and e-mail for follow-up. Whenever additional material
information becomes available, but no later than two hours after
the initial contact, the Covered 911 Service Provider must
communicate additional detail to the PSAP, including the nature of
the outage, its best-known cause, the geographic scope of the
outage, and the estimated time for repairs. Notifications must be
transmitted by telephone and in writing via electronic means,
unless the PSAP and service provider have agreed in advance to an
alternative method. The Commission observed that these changes
"will provide more guidance on expectations for providers, and
increased compliance with the outage notification rules." The new
requirements apply only to entities defined as Covered 911 Service
Providers under FCC rules, and outage reporting obligations for
other entities remain unchanged. Accordingly, this Supporting
Statement focuses on the new information collection burden for
Covered 911 Service Providers rather than the existing burden for
communications outage reporting generally, which was approved by
OMB most recently in 2012. However, the Commission does include the
existing burden as a part of this collection when accounting for
the total burden hours covered by this information collection
because the requirements still remain a part of this collection and
remain unchanged since last approved by the OMB.
US Code:
47
USC 615c Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 615a-1 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 332 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 403 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 316 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 309(a) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 307 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 303(r) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 303(g) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 303(b) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 301 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 251(e)(3) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 218 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 151, 154(i)-(j) and (o) Name of Law: Communications Act
of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 201(b) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 214(d) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
This is a revision to the
existing information collection for the Commission's Part 4
communications outage reporting rules. The revision affects only
the obligation of Covered 911 Service Providers to notify PSAPs of
major disruptions in 911 service; it does not change the outage
reporting obligations of other entities. These revisions were
necessary because of untimely and inadequate 911 outage
notification to multiple PSAPs during the June 2012 derecho storm.
Under the revised information collection, PSAPs will receive more
specific information at specific times to assist in their response
to emergency calls. Therefore, there are program changes/increases
to this collection as a result of the notification requirements
adopted in FCC 13-158. These program changes are as follows: an
increase of 982 to the number of respondents and an increase in the
annual burden hours of 223 hours. There are no adjustments to this
collection.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
JUSTIFICATION FOR THE NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGE FOR 3060-0484 (2013).docx
Section 4.9, Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning Disruptions to Communications