PHONE Act of 2021

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 678 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for a moratorium on number reassignment after a disaster declaration, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 678 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Home and 2 Office Numbers in Emergencies Act of 2021’’ or the 3 ‘‘PHONE Act of 2021’’. 4 SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON NUMBER REASSIGNMENT AFTER 5 DISASTER DECLARATION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(e) of the Commu- 7 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)) is amended by 8 adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(5) MORATORIUM ON NUMBER REASSIGNMENT 10 AFTER DISASTER DECLARATION.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a num- 12 ber assigned to a subscriber for the provision of 13 fixed wireline voice service at a location in a 14 designated area during a covered period— 15 ‘‘(i) the number may not be reas- 16 signed, except at the request of the sub- 17 scriber; and 18 ‘‘(ii) the assignment of the number 19 may not be rescinded or otherwise modi- 20 fied, except at the request of the sub- 21 scriber. 22 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION AT REQUEST OF SUB- 23 SCRIBER.—During the covered period, at the 24 request of a subscriber described in subpara- 25 graph (A), the prohibition in subparagraph (A) 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 678 RFS shall be extended for the number for 1 year 1 after the date on which the covered period ex- 2 pires. 3 ‘‘(C) SUBSCRIBER RIGHT TO CANCEL AND 4 RESUBSCRIBE.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 6 number described under subparagraph (A) 7 or (B), if the subscriber assigned to such 8 number demonstrates to the provider of 9 the service (or, under subclause (II), any 10 other provider of fixed wireline voice serv- 11 ice that serves the local area) that the resi- 12 dence where the number is located is inac- 13 cessible or uninhabitable— 14 ‘‘(I) the provider may not charge 15 the subscriber an early termination or 16 other fee in connection with the can- 17 cellation of such service, if cancelled 18 during the covered period or the ex- 19 tension of the period described in sub- 20 paragraph (B); and 21 ‘‘(II) if the subscriber cancels the 22 service during the covered period or 23 the extension of the period described 24 in subparagraph (B), the provider (or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 678 RFS any other provider of fixed wireline 1 voice service that serves the local 2 area)— 3 ‘‘(aa) shall permit the sub- 4 scriber to subscribe or resub- 5 scribe, as the case may be, to 6 fixed wireline voice service with 7 the number at the residence or at 8 a different residence (if such 9 number is available in the loca- 10 tion of such different residence); 11 and 12 ‘‘(bb) may not charge the 13 subscriber a connection fee or 14 any other fee relating to the initi- 15 ation of fixed wireline voice serv- 16 ice. 17 ‘‘(ii) CANCELLATION WITHOUT DEM- 18 ONSTRATION OF INACCESSIBILITY OR 19 UNINHABITABILITY.—If a subscriber can- 20 cels the provision of service assigned to a 21 number described in subparagraph (A) or 22 (B) and does not demonstrate to the pro- 23 vider of such service that the residence 24 where the number is located is inaccessible 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 678 RFS or uninhabitable as described under clause 1 (i), the number is no longer subject to the 2 prohibition under subparagraph (A) or 3 (B). 4 ‘‘(D) IDENTIFICATION ON COMMISSION 5 WEBSITE.—The Commission shall publicly iden- 6 tify on the website of the Commission each des- 7 ignated area that is in a covered period, not 8 later than 15 days after the submission of a 9 public designation by a State under subpara- 10 graph (E)(iii) with respect to such area. In 11 identifying a designated area under subpara- 12 graph (E)(iii), a State shall consult with pro- 13 viders of fixed wireline voice service that serve 14 such area and coordinate with the Federal 15 Emergency Management Agency to reasonably 16 limit the designated area to areas that have 17 sustained covered damage. 18 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 19 ‘‘(i) COVERED DAMAGE.—The term 20 ‘covered damage’ means, with respect to an 21 area— 22 ‘‘(I) damage that renders resi- 23 dences in such area inaccessible or un- 24 inhabitable; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 678 RFS ‘‘(II) damage that otherwise re- 1 sults in the displacement of sub- 2 scribers from or within such area. 3 ‘‘(ii) COVERED PERIOD.—The term 4 ‘covered period’ means a period that— 5 ‘‘(I) begins on the date of a dec- 6 laration by the President of a major 7 disaster under section 401 of the Rob- 8 ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 9 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 10 5170) with respect to a designated 11 area; and 12 ‘‘(II) ends on the date that is 1 13 year after such date. 14 ‘‘(iii) DESIGNATED AREA.—The term 15 ‘designated area’ means a geographic area 16 for which a State has submitted a public 17 designation to the Commission, within 15 18 days after a declaration by the President 19 of a major disaster under section 401 of 20 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 21 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 22 5170) with respect to such area, stipu- 23 lating that the State has determined 24 that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 678 RFS ‘‘(I) covered damage was sus- 1 tained in such area; and 2 ‘‘(II) the prohibitions described 3 in this paragraph are necessary and 4 in the public interest. 5 ‘‘(iv) VOICE SERVICE.—The term 6 ‘voice service’ has the meaning given the 7 term ‘voice service’ in section 227(e)(8).’’. 8 (b) AMENDMENT OF FCC RULES REQUIRED.—Not 9 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 10 this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall 11 amend its rules to reflect the requirements of paragraph 12 (5) of section 251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 13 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)), as added by subsection (a). 14 (c) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (5) of section 251(e) 15 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)), 16 as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to a 17 major disaster declared by the President under section 18 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 19 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) after the date that 20 is 180 days after the date on which the Commission an- 21 nounces that the Commission is capable of publicly identi- 22 fying a designated area on the website of the Commission 23 under subparagraph (D) of such paragraph (5). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 678 RFS (d) ORDER OF AMENDMENT EXECUTION.—If this 1 Act is enacted before October 17, 2021, section 3(a) of 2 the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 3 (Public Law 116–172) is amended, effective on the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, by striking ‘‘adding at the 5 end’’ and inserting ‘‘inserting after paragraph (3)’’, so 6 that the paragraph (4) that is to be added by such section 7 to section 251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 8 U.S.C. 251(e)) appears after paragraph (3) of such sec- 9 tion 251(e) and before the paragraph (5) added to such 10 section 251(e) by subsection (a) of this section. 11 Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS