Federal

Next Generation 9–1–1 Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 5,102 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill amends federal law to create a grant program that helps states, tribes, and local governments build and maintain Next Generation 9-1-1 systems. Next Generation 9-1-1 is an internet-based emergency system that allows people to send voice calls, texts, pictures, and other data to emergency centers. The bill also establishes a cybersecurity center and advisory board to help coordinate these systems across the country.

Who It Affects

States, tribes, and local governments that operate emergency communications centers (also called 911 call centers). Emergency response providers like police, fire, and medical services. The general public that uses 911 services.

Key Provisions

* The Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration must provide grants to eligible entities to implement, maintain, and improve Next Generation 9-1-1 systems, including training, public education, and cybersecurity measures (Sec. 159(c)(1)). * Each state applying for grants must designate a single point of contact, coordinate with local emergency centers, and develop a comprehensive plan that ensures interoperability (the ability of different systems to work together) and includes cybersecurity protections (Sec. 159(c)(3)). * The Assistant Secretary must establish a nationwide cybersecurity center to coordinate sharing of cybersecurity information about Next Generation 9-1-1 threats and prevention strategies with state, local, and regional governments (Sec. 160). * An advisory board of 16 public safety professionals representing law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency medical services, and 911 professionals must provide recommendations on deploying and improving Next Generation 9-1-1 systems (Sec. 161(a)(2)). * Eligible entities must certify that 911 fees collected in their area have not been spent on non-911 purposes and must establish sustainable funding and cybersecurity resources within three years of receiving grant money (Sec. 159(c)(5)).

What Changes

States and local governments will be able to receive federal grant funding to upgrade their 911 systems to Next Generation 9-1-1 technology. These systems will enable emergency centers to receive and process text messages, photos, videos, and other data in addition to voice calls. States must coordinate their 911 upgrades within their borders and with neighboring states. A new federal cybersecurity center will help protect these systems from attacks. Grant recipients must prove they are using existing 911 fees properly and will maintain long-term funding for these upgraded systems.

Important Definitions

* **Next Generation 9-1-1**: An internet-based system that allows emergency centers to receive voice calls, texts, pictures, and other data and share this information securely with emergency responders. * **Emergency Communications Center**: A facility that receives 911 requests for emergency help and dispatches emergency response providers. * **Interoperability**: The ability of emergency centers to receive and share 911 information with other emergency centers and responders, regardless of what equipment or software each one uses. * **Commonly Accepted Standards**: Technical rules for network and internet connections that are developed through an open public process and allow different systems to work together. * **Sustainable Funding Mechanism**: A way to collect enough money to pay for ongoing operations, maintenance, and upgrades of Next Generation 9-1-1 systems. * **Tribe**: An American Indian tribe as defined in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. * **Reliability**: Using multiple backup routes and systems so that if one part fails, the 911 system keeps working.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1784 To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to provide for further deployment and coordination of Next Generation 9–1–1, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 24, 2023 Mr. HUDSON (for himself and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to provide for further deployment and coordination of Next Generation 9–1– 1, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Next Generation 9– 4 1–1 Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1784 IH SEC. 2. FURTHER DEPLOYMENT AND COORDINATION OF 1 NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1. 2 Part C of the National Telecommunications and In- 3 formation Administration Organization Act is amended by 4 adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 159. COORDINATION OF NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1 IM- 6 PLEMENTATION. 7 ‘‘(a) DUTIES OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY WITH RE- 8 SPECT TO NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary, 10 after consulting with the Administrator, shall— 11 ‘‘(A) take actions, in coordination with 12 State points of contact described under sub- 13 section (c)(3)(A)(ii) as applicable, to improve 14 coordination and communication with respect to 15 the implementation of Next Generation 9–1–1; 16 ‘‘(B) develop, collect, and disseminate in- 17 formation concerning the practices, procedures, 18 and technology used in the implementation of 19 Next Generation 9–1–1; 20 ‘‘(C) advise and assist eligible entities in 21 the preparation of implementation plans re- 22 quired under subsection (c)(3)(A)(iii); 23 ‘‘(D) provide technical assistance to eligible 24 entities provided a grant under subsection (c) in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1784 IH support of efforts to explore efficiencies related 1 to Next Generation 9–1–1; 2 ‘‘(E) review and approve or disapprove ap- 3 plications for grants under subsection (c); and 4 ‘‘(F) oversee the use of funds provided by 5 such grants in fulfilling such implementation 6 plans. 7 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than Octo- 8 ber 1, 2024, and each year thereafter until funds 9 made available to make grants under subsection (c) 10 are no longer available to be expended, the Assistant 11 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 12 activities conducted by the Assistant Secretary under 13 paragraph (1) in the year preceding the submission 14 of the report. 15 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE.—The Assistant Secretary 16 may seek the assistance of the Administrator in car- 17 rying out the duties described in subparagraphs (A) 18 through (D) of paragraph (1) as the Assistant Sec- 19 retary determines necessary. 20 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.— 21 ‘‘(1) MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 22 ‘‘(A) DEVELOPMENT.—The Assistant Sec- 23 retary, after consulting with the Administrator, 24 shall develop a management plan for the grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1784 IH program established under this section, includ- 1 ing by developing— 2 ‘‘(i) plans related to the organiza- 3 tional structure of such program; and 4 ‘‘(ii) funding profiles for each fiscal 5 year of the duration of such program. 6 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not 7 later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this section, the Assistant Secretary 9 shall— 10 ‘‘(i) submit the management plan de- 11 veloped under subparagraph (A) to— 12 ‘‘(I) the Committees on Energy 13 and Commerce and Appropriations of 14 the House of Representatives; and 15 ‘‘(II) the Committees on Com- 16 merce, Science, and Transportation 17 and Appropriations of the Senate; 18 ‘‘(ii) publish the management plan on 19 the website of the National Telecommuni- 20 cations and Information Administration; 21 and 22 ‘‘(iii) provide the management plan to 23 the Administrator for the purpose of pub- 24 lishing the management plan on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1784 IH website of the National Highway Traffic 1 Safety Administration. 2 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION OF PLAN.— 3 ‘‘(A) MODIFICATION.—The Assistant Sec- 4 retary, after consulting with the Administrator, 5 may modify the management plan developed 6 under paragraph (1)(A). 7 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 90 8 days after the plan is modified under subpara- 9 graph (A), the Assistant Secretary shall— 10 ‘‘(i) submit the modified plan to— 11 ‘‘(I) the Committees on Energy 12 and Commerce and Appropriations of 13 the House of Representatives; and 14 ‘‘(II) the Committees on Com- 15 merce, Science, and Transportation 16 and Appropriations of the Senate; 17 ‘‘(ii) publish the modified plan on the 18 website of the National Telecommuni- 19 cations and Information Administration; 20 and 21 ‘‘(iii) provide the modified plan to the 22 Administrator for the purpose of pub- 23 lishing the modified plan on the website of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1784 IH the National Highway Traffic and Safety 1 Administration. 2 ‘‘(c) NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1 IMPLEMENTATION 3 GRANTS.— 4 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Assistant Secretary shall 5 provide grants to eligible entities for— 6 ‘‘(A) implementing Next Generation 9–1– 7 1; 8 ‘‘(B) maintaining Next Generation 9–1–1; 9 ‘‘(C) training directly related to imple- 10 menting, maintaining, and operating Next Gen- 11 eration 9–1–1 if the cost related to the training 12 does not exceed— 13 ‘‘(i) 3 percent of the total grant 14 award for eligible entities that are not 15 Tribes; and 16 ‘‘(ii) 5 percent of the total grant 17 award for eligible entities that are Tribes; 18 ‘‘(D) public outreach and education on how 19 the public can best use Next Generation 9–1– 20 1 and the capabilities and usefulness of Next 21 Generation 9–1–1; 22 ‘‘(E) administrative costs associated with 23 planning of Next Generation 9–1–1, including 24 any cost related to planning for and preparing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1784 IH an application and related materials as required 1 by this subsection, if— 2 ‘‘(i) the cost is fully documented in 3 materials submitted to the Assistant Sec- 4 retary; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the cost is reasonable, necessary, 6 and does not exceed— 7 ‘‘(I) 1 percent of the total grant 8 award for eligible entities that are not 9 Tribes; and 10 ‘‘(II) 2 percent of the total grant 11 award for eligible entities that are 12 Tribes; and 13 ‘‘(F) costs associated with implementing 14 cybersecurity measures at emergency commu- 15 nications centers or with respect to Next Gen- 16 eration 9–1–1. 17 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—In providing grants under 18 paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary, after con- 19 sulting with the Administrator, shall require an eligi- 20 ble entity to submit to the Assistant Secretary an 21 application, at the time and in the manner deter- 22 mined by the Assistant Secretary, and containing 23 the certification required by paragraph (3). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1784 IH ‘‘(3) COORDINATION REQUIRED.—Each eligible 1 entity shall include in the application required by 2 paragraph (2) a certification that— 3 ‘‘(A) in the case of an eligible entity that 4 is a State, the entity— 5 ‘‘(i) has coordinated the application 6 with the emergency communications cen- 7 ters located within the jurisdiction of the 8 entity; 9 ‘‘(ii) has designated a single officer or 10 governmental body to serve as the State 11 point of contact to coordinate the imple- 12 mentation of Next Generation 9–1–1 for 13 that State, except that such designation 14 need not vest such officer or governmental 15 body with direct legal authority to imple- 16 ment Next Generation 9–1–1 or to manage 17 emergency communications operations; and 18 ‘‘(iii) has developed and submitted a 19 plan for the coordination and implementa- 20 tion of Next Generation 9–1–1 that— 21 ‘‘(I) ensures interoperability by 22 requiring the use of commonly accept- 23 ed standards; 24 ‘‘(II) ensures reliability; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1784 IH ‘‘(III) enables emergency commu- 1 nications centers to process, analyze, 2 and store multimedia, data, and other 3 information; 4 ‘‘(IV) incorporates cybersecurity 5 tools, including intrusion detection 6 and prevention measures; 7 ‘‘(V) includes strategies for co- 8 ordinating cybersecurity information 9 sharing between Federal, State, Trib- 10 al, and local government partners; 11 ‘‘(VI) uses open and competitive 12 request for proposal processes, includ- 13 ing through shared government pro- 14 curement vehicles, for deployment of 15 Next Generation 9–1–1; 16 ‘‘(VII) documents how input was 17 received and accounted for from rel- 18 evant rural and urban emergency 19 communications centers, regional au- 20 thorities, local authorities, and Tribal 21 authorities; 22 ‘‘(VIII) includes a governance 23 body or bodies, either by creation of 24 new, or use of existing, body or bod- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1784 IH ies, for the development and deploy- 1 ment of Next Generation 9–1–1 2 that— 3 ‘‘(aa) ensures full notice and 4 opportunity for participation by 5 relevant stakeholders; and 6 ‘‘(bb) consults and coordi- 7 nates with the State point of con- 8 tact required by clause (ii); 9 ‘‘(IX) creates efficiencies related 10 to Next Generation 9–1–1 functions, 11 including cybersecurity and the 12 virtualization and sharing of infra- 13 structure, equipment, and services; 14 and 15 ‘‘(X) utilizes an effective, com- 16 petitive approach to establishing au- 17 thentication, credentialing, secure con- 18 nections, and access in deploying Next 19 Generation 9–1–1, including by— 20 ‘‘(aa) requiring certificate 21 authorities to be capable of cross- 22 certification with other authori- 23 ties; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1784 IH ‘‘(bb) avoiding risk of a sin- 1 gle point of failure or vulner- 2 ability; and 3 ‘‘(cc) adhering to Federal 4 agency best practices such as 5 those promulgated by the Na- 6 tional Institute of Standards and 7 Technology; and 8 ‘‘(B) in the case of an eligible entity that 9 is a Tribe, the Tribe has complied with clauses 10 (i) and (iii) of subparagraph (A). 11 ‘‘(4) CRITERIA.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 13 after the date of the enactment of this section, 14 the Assistant Secretary, after consulting with 15 the Administrator, shall issue rules, after pro- 16 viding the public with notice and an opportunity 17 to comment, prescribing the criteria for select- 18 ing eligible entities for grants under this sub- 19 section. 20 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The criteria 21 shall— 22 ‘‘(i) include performance requirements 23 and a schedule for completion of any 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1784 IH project to be financed by a grant under 1 this subsection; and 2 ‘‘(ii) specifically permit regional or 3 multi-State applications for funds. 4 ‘‘(C) UPDATES.—The Assistant Secretary 5 shall update such rules as necessary. 6 ‘‘(5) GRANT CERTIFICATIONS.—Each eligible 7 entity shall certify to the Assistant Secretary at the 8 time of application for a grant under this subsection, 9 and each eligible entity that receives such a grant 10 shall certify to the Assistant Secretary annually 11 thereafter during any period of time the funds from 12 the grant are available to the eligible entity, that— 13 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date that is 180 14 days before the date on which the application is 15 filed, no portion of any 9–1–1 fee or charge im- 16 posed by the eligible entity (or in the case that 17 the eligible entity is not a State or Tribe, any 18 State or taxing jurisdiction within which the eli- 19 gible entity will carry out, or is carrying out, 20 activities using grant funds) are obligated or 21 expended for a purpose or function not des- 22 ignated under the rules issued pursuant to sec- 23 tion 6(f)(3) of the Wireless Communications 24 and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1784.IH H1784 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1784 IH 615a–1(f)(3)) (as such rules are in effect on the 1 date on which the eligible entity makes the cer- 2 tification) as acceptable; 3 ‘‘(B) any funds received by the eligible en- 4 tity will be used, consistent with paragraph (1), 5 to support the deployment of Next Generation 6 9–1–1 that ensures reliability and interoper- 7 ability, by requiring the use of commonly ac- 8 cepted standards; 9 ‘‘(C) the eligible entity (or in the case that 10 the eligible entity is not a State or Tribe, any 11 State or taxing jurisdiction within which the eli- 12 gible entity will carry out or is carrying out ac- 13 tivities using grant funds) has established, or 14 has committed to establish not later than 3 15 years following the date on which the grant 16 funds are distributed to the eligible entity— 17 ‘‘(i) a sustainable funding mechanism 18 for Next Generation 9–1–1; and 19 ‘‘(ii) effective cybersecurity resources 20 for Next Generation 9–1–1; 21 ‘‘(D) the eligible entity will promote inter- 22 operability between emergency communications 23 centers deploying Next Generation 9–1–1 and 24 emergency response providers, including users 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:19 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 03 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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