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