00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 97(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to enhanced 911 emergency reporting systems; and providing for 02 an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature finds that 05 (1) the elderly, the young, and victims of crime are often at risk, unable to 06 assist themselves, and are frequently unable to explain directions to the location of an 07 emergency situation; 08 (2) the basic 911 telephone emergency number is currently available in some 09 communities in the state, but an enhanced 911 system is currently available to only a limited 10 number of Alaskans; 11 (3) an enhanced 911 telephone emergency system provides 12  (A) expansion of the benefits of the basic 911 emergency telephone 13 number; 14  (B) faster response time, which minimizes the loss of life and property; 01  (C) automatic routing to the appropriate emergency response unit; 02  (D) immediate visual display of the location and telephone number of 03 the caller; and 04  (E) curtailment of abuses of the emergency system by documenting 05 callers; 06 (4) more communities in the state could make efficient use of the enhanced 07 911 telephone emergency system if the communities had adequate funding available. 08 (b) It is the purpose of this legislation to 09 (1) establish broad protections for acquiring, establishing, operating, and 10 maintaining enhanced 911 systems; 11 (2) establish methods for the payment of costs associated with those activities; 12 and 13 (3) enable the development, installation, and operation of enhanced 911 14 emergency reporting systems to be operated under local governmental management and 15 control. 16 * Sec. 2. AS 09.65.070(d) is amended to read: 17  (d) No action for damages may be brought against a municipality or any of its 18 agents, officers, or employees if the claim 19  (1) is based on a failure of the municipality, or its agents, officers, or 20 employees, when the municipality is neither owner nor lessee of the property involved, 21  (A) to inspect property for a violation of any statute, regulation 22 or ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety; 23  (B) to discover a violation of any statute, regulation, or 24 ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety if an inspection of property is made; 25 or 26  (C) to abate a violation of any statute, regulation or ordinance, 27 or a hazard to health or safety discovered on property inspected; 28  (2) is based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise 29 or perform a discretionary function or duty by a municipality or its agents, officers, 30 or employees, whether or not the discretion involved is abused; 31  (3) is based upon the grant, issuance, refusal, suspension, delay or 01 denial of a license, permit, appeal, approval, exception, variance, or other entitlement, 02 or a rezoning; 03  (4) is based on the exercise or performance during the course of 04 gratuitous extension of municipal services on an extraterritorial basis; or 05  (5) is based upon the exercise or performance of a duty or function 06 upon the request of, or by the terms of an agreement or contract with, the state to meet 07 emergency public safety requirements; 08  (6) is based on the exercise or performance of a duty in connection 09 with an enhanced 911 emergency system. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 29.10.200 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 11  (51) AS 29.35.131 (enhanced 911 system). 12 * Sec. 4. AS 29.35 is amended by adding new sections to read: 13  Sec. 29.35.131. 911 SURCHARGE. (a) A municipality may, by resolution 14 or ordinance, elect to provide an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering 15 points, may purchase or lease the enhanced 911 equipment or service required to 16 establish or maintain an enhanced 911 system at public safety answering points from 17 a local exchange telephone company or other qualified vendor, and may impose a 911 18 surcharge, in an amount to be determined by the municipality, on all local exchange 19 access lines in the area to be served by the enhanced 911 system. For a municipality 20 with a population of 100,000 or more, the surcharge may not exceed 50 cents per 21 month per local exchange access line. For a municipality with fewer than 100,000 22 people, the surcharge may not exceed 75 cents per month per local exchange access 23 line. The area served by a system may be all of a city, all of a unified municipality, 24 or all or part of the area within a borough. The governing body of a municipality shall 25 review the 911 surcharge annually to determine whether the current level of the 26 surcharge is adequate, excessive, or insufficient to meet anticipated enhanced 911 27 system needs. The municipality may only use the surcharge for the enhanced 911 28 system. 29  (b) A local exchange telephone company providing service in a municipality 30 that has imposed a 911 surcharge shall bill and collect the surcharge from customers 31 in the designated 911 service area. A local exchange telephone customer may not be 01 subject to more than one 911 surcharge on a local exchange access line. A customer 02 that has more than 100 local exchange access lines from a local exchange telephone 03 company in the municipality is liable for the 911 surcharge only on 100 local exchange 04 access lines. 05  (c) A local exchange telephone company shall include the 911 surcharge, 06 stated separately and included in the total amount owed, in the bills delivered to its 07 customers. The Alaska Public Utilities Commission may not consider the 911 08 surcharge as revenue of the local exchange telephone company and has no jurisdiction 09 over an enhanced 911 system. A local exchange service customer is liable for 10 payment of the 911 surcharge in the amounts billed by the local exchange telephone 11 company until the amounts have been paid to the telephone company. 12  (d) A local exchange telephone company that has collected the 911 surcharge 13 shall remit the amounts collected to the municipality no later than 60 days after the 14 end of the month in which the amount was collected. From each remittance made in 15 a timely manner under this subsection, the local exchange telephone company is 16 entitled to deduct and retain the greater of one percent of the collected amount or $150 17 as the cost of administration for collecting the 911 surcharge. 18  (e) A local exchange telephone company is not obligated to take legal action 19 to enforce collection of the 911 surcharge. However, if a local exchange telephone 20 company is attempting to collect an unpaid debt from a local exchange service 21 customer, the telephone company shall also attempt to collect any unpaid 911 22 surcharge that the customer owes. If a customer pays a portion of a bill that includes 23 a 911 surcharge, the amount paid shall be prorated between the telephone company and 24 the 911 surcharge. The company shall annually provide the municipality with a list 25 of the amounts due for the nonpayment of 911 emergency surcharges, together with 26 the names and addresses of those customers who carry a balance that can be 27 determined by the company to be for the nonpayment of the 911 emergency 28 surcharges. The local exchange telephone company is not liable for uncollected 29 amounts. 30  (f) The municipality may, at its own expense, require an annual audit of a 31 local exchange telephone company's books and records concerning the collection and 01 remittance of the 911 surcharge. 02  (g) A village, as defined in AS 09.65.070(e), or a public corporation 03 established by a municipality has the powers granted to a municipality under this 04 section. 05  (h) This section applies to home rule and general law municipalities. 06  Sec. 29.35.133. IMMUNITY. (a) The establishment, funding, use, operation, 07 or maintenance of enhanced 911 systems and all activities associated with those actions 08 are specifically found to be within the ambit of AS 09.50.250(1) and 09 AS 09.65.070(d)(6). Except for intentional acts of misconduct or gross negligence, a 10 service supplier, local exchange telephone company, or mobile telephone company, 11 including a cellular service company, and their employees and agents, are also immune 12 from liability that might otherwise be incurred in the course of installing, training, 13 maintaining, or providing enhanced 911 systems or transmitting or receiving calls on 14 the system. 15  (b) An individual, telephone company, or employee of a telephone company 16 who operates or maintains an emergency 911 service is not liable for civil damages 17 as a result of an act, omission, failure of service, or incorrect information done or 18 given in good faith. 19  (c) In this section, "service supplier" means a person that provides or offers 20 to provide telecommunications equipment or services necessary for the establishment, 21 maintenance, or operation of an enhanced 911 system. 22  Sec. 29.35.135. WAIVER OF PRIVACY BY LOCAL EXCHANGE 23 TELEPHONE COMPANY SUBSCRIBERS. Local exchange telephone company 24 subscribers waive the privacy afforded by unlisted or unpublished telephone numbers 25 to the extent that the name and address associated with the telephone number may be 26 furnished to the enhanced 911 system for call routing or for automatic retrieval of 27 location information in response to a call initiated to the system. 28  Sec. 29.35.137. DEFINITIONS. In AS 29.35.131 - 29.35.137, 29  (1) "911 service area" or "enhanced 911 service area" means the area 30 within a municipality's jurisdiction that has been designated to receive enhanced 911 31 service; the designation of an area to receive an enhanced 911 system under 01 AS 42.30.420(a) does not designate the area as a "service area" for purposes of art. X, 02 sec. 5, Constitution of the State of Alaska; 03  (2) "enhanced 911 equipment" means the equipment dedicated to the 04 operation of, or use in, the establishment, operation, or maintenance of an enhanced 05 911 system, including customer premises equipment, automatic number identification 06 or automatic location identification controllers and display units, printers, cathode ray 07 tubes, recorders, software, and other essential communication equipment required by 08 the system; 09  (3) "enhanced 911 system" or "system" means a telephone system 10 consisting of network, database, and enhanced 911 equipment that uses the single three 11 digit number, 911, for reporting a police, fire, medical, or other emergency situation, 12 and that enables the users of a public telephone system to reach a public safety 13 answering point to report emergencies by dialing 911; an enhanced 911 system 14 includes the personnel required to acquire, install, operate, and maintain the system; 15  (4) "local exchange access line" means a telephone line that connects 16 a local exchange service customer to the local exchange telephone company switching 17 office and has the capability of reaching local public safety agencies, but does not 18 include a line used by a carrier to provide interexchange services; 19  (5) "local exchange service" means the transmission of two-way 20 interactive switched voice communications furnished by a local exchange telephone 21 company within a local exchange area, including access to enhanced 911 systems; in 22 this paragraph, "local exchange area" means a geographic area encompassing one or 23 more political subdivisions as described in maps, tariffs, or rate schedules filed with 24 the Alaska Public Utilities Commission, where local exchange rates apply; 25  (6) "local exchange telephone company" means a telephone utility 26 certificated by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission to provide local exchange 27 service; 28  (7) "municipality" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800 and includes 29 a public corporation established by a municipality and a village as that term is defined 30 in AS 09.65.070(e); 31  (8) "public safety answering point" means a 24-hour local jurisdiction 01 communications facility that receives 911 service calls and directly dispatches 02 emergency response services or that relays calls to the appropriate public or private 03 safety agency. 04 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).