CSHB 461(CRA): "An Act relating to enhanced 911 surcharges and to 911 and emergency services dispatch systems."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 461(CRA) 01 "An Act relating to enhanced 911 surcharges and to 911 and emergency services 02 dispatch systems." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 09.65.070(d) is amended to read: 05 (d) An action for damages may not be brought against a municipality or any of 06 its agents, officers, or employees if the claim is based on 07 (1) [IS BASED ON] a failure of the municipality, or its agents, 08 officers, or employees, when the municipality is neither owner nor lessee of the 09 property involved, to 10 (A) [TO] inspect property for a violation of any statute, 11 regulation, or ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety; 12 (B) [TO] discover a violation of any statute, regulation, or 13 ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety if an inspection of property is made; 14 or
01 (C) [TO] abate a violation of any statute, regulation, or 02 ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety discovered on property inspected; 03 (2) [IS BASED UPON] the exercise or performance or the failure to 04 exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty by a municipality or its agents, 05 officers, or employees, whether or not the discretion involved is abused; 06 (3) [IS BASED UPON] the grant, issuance, refusal, suspension, delay, 07 or denial of a license, permit, appeal, approval, exception, variance, or other 08 entitlement, or a rezoning; 09 (4) [IS BASED ON] the exercise or performance during the course of 10 gratuitous extension of municipal services on an extraterritorial basis; 11 (5) [IS BASED UPON] the exercise or performance of a duty or 12 function upon the request of, or by the terms of an agreement or contract with, the 13 state to meet emergency public safety requirements; or 14 (6) [IS BASED ON] the exercise or performance of a duty in 15 connection with an emergency services dispatch system or enhanced 911 emergency 16 system and is not based on an intentional act of misconduct or on an act of gross 17 negligence. 18 * Sec. 2. AS 29.10.200(37) is amended to read: 19 (37) AS 29.35.131 (emergency services dispatch system and 20 enhanced 911 system); 21 * Sec. 3. AS 29.35.131(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) A municipality may, by resolution or ordinance, elect to provide an 23 emergency services dispatch system or an enhanced 911 system at public safety 24 answering points, may purchase or lease the enhanced 911 equipment or service 25 required to establish or maintain an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering 26 points from a local exchange telephone company or other qualified vendor, and may 27 impose an enhanced 911 surcharge, in an amount to be determined by the 28 municipality, on all local exchange access lines that provide telephone service to 29 wireline telephones in the area to be served by the enhanced 911 system. A 30 municipality that provides services under an enhanced 911 system may also by 31 resolution or ordinance impose an enhanced 911 surcharge on each wireless telephone
01 number that is billed to an address within the enhanced 911 service area. An [FOR A 02 MUNICIPALITY WITH A POPULATION OF 100,000 OR MORE, AN] enhanced 03 911 surcharge may not exceed $1 a [50 CENTS PER] month for each wireless 04 telephone billing statement [NUMBER] or $1 a [50 CENTS PER] month for each 05 local exchange billing address [ACCESS LINE] for wireline telephones. [FOR A 06 MUNICIPALITY WITH FEWER THAN 100,000 PEOPLE, AN ENHANCED 911 07 SURCHARGE MAY NOT EXCEED 75 CENTS PER MONTH FOR EACH 08 WIRELESS TELEPHONE NUMBER OR 75 CENTS PER MONTH FOR EACH 09 LOCAL EXCHANGE ACCESS LINE FOR WIRELINE TELEPHONES.] An 10 enhanced service area may be all of a city, all of a unified municipality, or all or part 11 of the area within a borough and may include the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a 12 municipality in accordance with AS 29.35.020. The governing body of a municipality 13 shall review an enhanced 911 surcharge annually to determine whether the current 14 level of the surcharge is adequate, excessive, or insufficient to meet anticipated 15 enhanced 911 system needs. The municipality may [ONLY] use the enhanced 911 16 surcharge for the enhanced 911 system and for the actual labor and equipment 17 used to provide emergency services dispatch, but not for costs of providing the 18 medical, police, fire, rescue, or other emergency service, or for any other 19 purpose. 20 * Sec. 4. AS 29.35.131(b) is amended to read: 21 (b) A local exchange telephone company providing service in a municipality 22 that has imposed an enhanced 911 surcharge shall bill each month and collect the 23 surcharge from customers in the enhanced 911 service area. A wireless telephone 24 company that provides telephone service to wireless telephone customers with billing 25 addresses within the enhanced 911 service area shall impose the [AN ENHANCED 26 911] surcharge each month and collect the surcharge from customers in the enhanced 27 911 service area. A local exchange telephone customer may not be subject to more 28 than one enhanced 911 surcharge on a local exchange billing address [ACCESS 29 LINE] for a wireline telephone. A wireless telephone customer may not be subject to 30 more than one enhanced 911 surcharge for each billing statement [FOR EACH 31 WIRELESS TELEPHONE NUMBER. A CUSTOMER THAT HAS MORE THAN
01 100 LOCAL EXCHANGE ACCESS LINES FROM A LOCAL EXCHANGE 02 TELEPHONE COMPANY IN THE MUNICIPALITY IS LIABLE FOR THE 03 ENHANCED 911 SURCHARGE ONLY ON 100 LOCAL EXCHANGE ACCESS 04 LINES]. 05 * Sec. 5. AS 29.35.131(c) is amended to read: 06 (c) A local exchange telephone company or wireless telephone company shall 07 include the appropriate enhanced 911 surcharge, stated separately and included in the 08 total amount owed, in the bills delivered to its customers. The Regulatory 09 Commission of Alaska may not consider the enhanced 911 surcharge as revenue of the 10 telephone company [AND HAS NO JURISDICTION OVER AN ENHANCED 911 11 SYSTEM]. A customer is liable for payment of the enhanced 911 surcharge in the 12 amounts billed by the telephone company until the amounts have been paid to the 13 telephone company. 14 * Sec. 6. AS 29.35.131 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 15 (i) A municipality may by ordinance elect to impose a point-of-purchase 911 16 surcharge from prepaid wireless telephone accounts not to exceed one percent of the 17 purchase value. The surcharge must apply to initial purchases and to subsequent 18 purchases of air time. The retailer of the wireless account is responsible for remitting 19 the surcharge to the municipality. 20 (j) To enable each municipality to qualify for grant funding, the governor is 21 responsible for certifying the collection and use of all 911 surcharges. 22 * Sec. 7. AS 29.35.133(a) is amended to read: 23 (a) The establishment, funding, use, operation, or maintenance of enhanced 24 911 or emergency services dispatch systems and all activities associated with those 25 actions are specifically found to be within the ambit of AS 09.50.250(1) and 26 AS 09.65.070(d)(6). Except for intentional acts of misconduct or gross negligence, a 27 service supplier, local exchange telephone company, or wireless telephone company 28 and their employees and agents are also immune from tort liability that might 29 otherwise be incurred in the course of installing, training, maintaining, or providing 30 enhanced 911 systems or transmitting or receiving calls on the system. 31 * Sec. 8. AS 42.05 is amended by adding a new section to read:
01 Sec. 42.05.295. Routing 911 calls. Notwithstanding AS 42.05.711, to ensure 02 statewide access by all residents to 911 wireline services, traditional or enhanced, for 03 areas where there is no local or regional public safety answering point, the state shall 04 provide a toll-free, statewide default public safety answering point to which each local 05 exchange telephone company must route all 911 calls originating from within its 06 customer service base.