Enhancing First Response Act
Enhancing First Response Act would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to produce annual and event-specific reports related to the Disaster Information Reporting System, and to improve how network outages are reported, especially when they affect emergency services. It would also require Congress and federal agencies to treat public safety telecommunicators (the operators who handle emergency calls) as a protective service occupation in the Standard Occupational Classification system. Additionally, the bill would mandate a report on Kari’s Law Act of 2017 implementation focused on 9-1-1 call handling and multi-line telephone systems. The overall aim is to improve disaster and outage transparency, boost resiliency of communications during emergencies, and elevate recognition of public safety telecommunicators. If enacted, the FCC would publicly report outage data (by category and impact) and hold stakeholder-inclusive hearings after major events to inform improvements, while safeguards would limit disclosure of sensitive, company-specific information. The reclassification of telecommunicators could affect workforce statistics, funding, and policy consideration.
Key Points
- 1Public hearings and annual reporting after Disaster Information Reporting System activations
- 2- The FCC must hold at least one public hearing each year for events when the System was activated, lasting at least 7 days.
- 3- Hearings should include broad representation (state/local/tribal governments, residents/consumer advocates, providers, academia, other federal agencies, electric utilities, infrastructure companies, and 911/public safety officials).
- 4- Within 120 days of each hearing, the FCC must publish a report with data on outages across broadband, VoIP, and mobile services, estimated user/infrastructure impact, outages affecting PSAPs’ ability to receive location/number information or emergency calls, and recommendations to improve resilience and recovery.
- 5- Reports must be published on the FCC website with appropriate redactions for confidential or exempt information.
- 6Improvements to network outage reporting
- 7- Within one year, the FCC must publish a report on (a) the value of including visual information in outage notifications to public safety, (b) 911 outages that may go unreported under existing thresholds, (c) the trade-offs and burdens on providers to include visual data, and (d) recommended rule changes.
- 8Reclassification of public safety telecommunicators
- 9- The Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget must categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification system within 30 days of enactment.
- 10Kari’s Law Act of 2017 implementation reporting
- 11- Within 180 days, the FCC must report on enforcement of Kari’s Law’s section regarding 9-1-1 calls and multi-line telephone systems (MLTS), including compliance by manufacturers/vendors, obstacles to compliance, and recommendations for policy or legislation to address any issues.
- 12Rule of construction
- 13- The Act does not grant broader authority over broadband providers beyond what is specifically authorized in the Act.