S 725119th CongressIntroduced

Enhancing First Response Act

Introduced: Feb 25, 2025

InfrastructureTechnology & Innovation

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

Enhancing First Response Act would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue periodic reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) and to study and improve how network outages are reported, including the potential to include visual information in outage notifications to public safety answering points (PSAPs). It also directs the Office of Management and Budget to classify public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, and requires the FCC to publish a report on enforcement related to Kari’s Law Act of 2017 (which requires direct dial 911 access in multi-line telephone systems). Overall, the bill aims to enhance disaster-response communication, improve outage data and transparency, and elevate the professional status of 911 call-takers in federal statistics. Potential impact includes more robust, publicly available data on outages and emergency communications, improved guidance for resilience during disasters, and formal recognition of 911 telecommunicators in federal occupational statistics. The bill also imposes reporting requirements on the FCC and may influence industry practices around outage notifications and compliance with Kari’s Law.

Key Points

1Reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System:
2- The FCC must hold at least one public hearing each year (lasting at least 7 days) regarding events during the prior year when DIRS was activated, inviting a broad set of stakeholders (governmental, residents/consumers, providers, higher education, other federal agencies, electric utilities, communications infrastructure companies, first responders, emergency managers, and 911 directors).
3- Within 120 days after each hearing, the FCC must publish a report detailing outages across broadband, interconnected VoIP, commercial mobile service, and commercial mobile data service; estimates of affected users and infrastructure; outages affecting PSAPs’ ability to receive location/identification data or emergency calls; and recommendations to improve network resiliency.
4- The FCC may use data from DIRS and hearings to inform the report, and publicly publish the report on its website with protections for confidential or sensitive information.
5Improvements to network outage reporting:
6- Within one year, the FCC must publish a report on (a) the value of including visual information in outage notifications to enhance situational awareness for PSAPs, (b) the extent of 911 outages that may go unreported under current thresholds, (c) the balance between the benefits of including visual information and the burden on providers, and (d) recommended rule changes to address these issues.
7Reporting of public safety telecommunicators as protective service occupations:
8- The Director of the Office of Management and Budget must categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the SOC within 30 days after enactment.
9Report on implementation of Kari’s Law Act of 2017:
10- Within 180 days, the FCC must publish a report assessing enforcement of Kari’s Law (section 721 of the Communications Act), including provider compliance with multi-line telephone system requirements, obstacles to compliance, recommendations to improve FCC policy, and potential further congressional legislation.
11Clarification on authority:
12- The act includes a rule-of-construction provision stating it does not grant authority over broadband service providers beyond what the act expressly authorizes.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Public safety communications ecosystem: public safety answering points (PSAPs), 911 administrators, first responders, emergency managers, and telecommunicators.- Telecommunications providers and infrastructure companies that may be subject to outage reporting and potential new data requirements (including visual outage data).- Federal, state, and local governments involved in disaster response and emergency communications.Secondary group/area affected- Members of the public, including residents in areas affected by disasters, and consumer advocates, who may gain access to more detailed public reports on outages and service resiliency.- Occupations and workforce statistics organizations that rely on the SOC; the reclassification of telecommunicators affects how data are categorized and reported.- Institutions of higher education and other federal agencies that participate in public hearings and data collection.Additional impacts- Policy and regulatory implications: potential rule changes to outage reporting and to Kari’s Law enforcement, possible effects on provider compliance burden and cost.- Data transparency and privacy: reports will be published publicly, but with protections for confidential or sensitive information, ensuring company-specific data is not disclosed.- Emergency response resiliency: increased emphasis on situational awareness (including potential use of visual information in outage notices) could affect how outages are communicated to PSAPs and emergency responders.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 7, 2025