HB 142: "An Act relating to enhanced 911 emergency reporting systems; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 142 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 an enhanced 911 05 telephone emergency system provides 06 (1) expansion of the benefits of the basic 911 emergency telephone number; 07 (2) faster response time, which minimizes the loss of life and property; 08 (3) automatic routing to the appropriate emergency response unit; 09 (4) immediate visual display of the location and telephone number of the 10 caller; and 11 (5) curtailment of abuses of the emergency system by documenting callers. 12 (b) It is the purpose of this legislation to establish methods for the payment of costs 13 associated with establishing and maintaining enhanced 911 emergency systems. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 42.30 is amended by adding new sections to read:
01 ARTICLE 6. ENHANCED 911 SYSTEMS. 02 Sec. 42.30.400. ENHANCED EMERGENCY REPORTING SYSTEMS. (a) 03 A municipality may purchase, lease, install, and maintain equipment to establish an 04 enhanced 911 system at public safety answering points. In a municipality in which the 05 local exchange telephone company has not provided for enhanced 911 system 06 capability in its network, the municipality may also develop network capability and 07 an enhanced 911 system database. 08 (b) If an enhanced 911 system is to be provided for an area that is included 09 in whole or in part in the jurisdiction of more than one municipality that is the primary 10 provider of emergency fire fighting, law enforcement, ambulance, medical, or other 11 emergency services, only those municipalities that enter into the agreement for the 12 necessary equipment are included in the system. Two or more municipalities may 13 enter into a contract to establish a separate legal entity to provide for the enhanced 911 14 system. 15 (c) A municipality that intends to implement an enhanced 911 system shall 16 promptly notify the commission, the department, and each local exchange telephone 17 company providing service in the area to be covered by the system of 18 (1) its election to participate in the enhanced 911 fund; 19 (2) the intended boundaries of the enhanced 911 service area; and 20 (3) the expected cost to the municipality of purchasing, leasing, 21 installing, and maintaining the equipment necessary to provide the enhanced services. 22 Sec. 42.30.410. 911 EMERGENCY SURCHARGE. (a) A 911 emergency 23 surcharge of 50 cents per month is imposed on local exchange access lines in 24 municipalities participating in the enhanced 911 fund. A municipality that receives 25 money from the fund may spend the money only on the enhanced 911 equipment costs 26 and associated installation and maintenance costs necessary to provide enhanced 911 27 services. The municipality shall separately account for money received from the fund. 28 (b) A local exchange telephone company providing service in a participating 29 municipality shall bill and collect the 911 emergency surcharge from its local exchange 30 service customers. 31 (c) A customer that has more than 100 local exchange access lines from a
01 local exchange telephone company in the state is liable for the surcharge only on 100 02 local exchange access lines. 03 (d) A local exchange telephone company that has collected the 911 emergency 04 surcharge shall remit the amounts collected to the department each month, no later 05 than 60 days after the end of the month in which the amount was collected. From 06 each remittance made in a timely manner under this subsection, the local exchange 07 telephone company is entitled to deduct and retain, as the cost of administration for 08 collecting the 911 emergency surcharge, the greater of one percent of the amount 09 collected or $50. 10 (e) The department shall administer and enforce collection of the 911 11 emergency surcharge. The department may, at its own expense, require an annual 12 audit of a local exchange telephone company's books and records concerning the 13 collection and remittance of the 911 emergency surcharge. 14 Sec. 42.30.420. LOCAL 911 SURCHARGE. (a) A municipality served by 15 a local exchange telephone company that has not provided for enhanced 911 system 16 capability in its network may, by resolution or ordinance, elect to provide an enhanced 17 911 emergency system and may impose a local 911 surcharge, in an amount to be 18 determined by the municipality but not to exceed 50 cents per month per local 19 exchange access line, on all local exchange access lines in the area to be served by the 20 system. The municipality may use the local 911 surcharge to pay the cost of providing 21 the network and database capability for enhanced 911 service. 22 (b) A local exchange telephone company providing service in a municipality 23 that has imposed a local 911 surcharge shall bill and collect the local 911 surcharge 24 from customers in the designated 911 service area. 25 (c) A customer that has more than 100 local exchange access lines from a 26 local exchange telephone company in the municipality is liable for the surcharge only 27 on 100 local exchange access lines. 28 (d) A local exchange telephone company that has collected the local 911 29 surcharge shall remit the amounts collected to the municipality each month, no later 30 than 60 days after the end of the month in which the amount was collected. From 31 each remittance made in a timely manner under this subsection, the local exchange
01 telephone company is entitled to deduct and retain one percent of the collected amount 02 as the cost of administration for collecting the local 911 surcharge. 03 (e) The municipality may, at its own expense, require an annual audit of a 04 local exchange telephone company's books and records concerning the collection and 05 remittance of the local 911 surcharge. 06 Sec. 42.30.430. COLLECTION AND ADMINISTRATION OF 911 07 SURCHARGES. (a) A local exchange telephone company shall include the 911 08 surcharges, stated separately and included in the total amount owed, in the bills 09 delivered to its customers. The 911 surcharges may not be considered as revenue of 10 the local exchange telephone company. 11 (b) A local exchange service customer is liable for payment of the 911 12 surcharges in the amounts billed by the local exchange telephone company until the 13 amounts have been paid to the telephone company. 14 (c) A local exchange telephone company is not obligated to take legal action 15 to enforce collection of the 911 surcharges. The company shall annually provide the 16 department with a list of the amounts due for the nonpayment of 911 emergency 17 surcharges, together with the names and addresses of those customers who carry a 18 balance that can be determined by the company to be for the nonpayment of the 911 19 emergency surcharges. In the case of local 911 surcharges imposed by a municipality 20 under AS 42.30.420, the company shall provide the information to the municipality. 21 The company is not liable for uncollected amounts. 22 Sec. 42.30.440. ENHANCED 911 FUND. (a) There is created in the general 23 fund the enhanced 911 fund, to be administered by the department. Subject to 24 appropriation by the legislature, the fund consists of money collected by the 25 department for the 911 emergency surcharge. 26 (b) The enhanced 911 fund shall reimburse municipalities that choose to 27 participate in the fund for the cost of purchasing or leasing equipment necessary to 28 provide enhanced 911 emergency services in a designated 911 service area. 29 (c) The department shall report to the legislature each year as to the status of 30 the fund and whether the current level of the 911 emergency surcharge is adequate, 31 excessive, or insufficient to meet anticipated needs.
01 Sec. 42.30.450. IMMUNITY. (a) 911 systems are within the governmental 02 powers and authority of the municipality or state agency. Except for intentional acts 03 or wilful or wanton negligence, the state, a municipality, an equipment supplier, local 04 exchange telephone company, or mobile telephone company, including a cellular 05 service company, and their employees and agents, are immune from liability that might 06 otherwise be incurred in the performance of installing, training, maintaining, or 07 providing 911 systems and transmitting 911 calls. 08 (b) In this section, "equipment supplier" means a person that provides or offers 09 to provide telecommunications equipment necessary for the establishment of enhanced 10 911 services. 11 Sec. 42.30.460. PRIVATE LISTING SUBSCRIBERS. Private listing 12 subscribers waive the privacy afforded by unlisted or unpublished telephone numbers 13 to the extent that the name and address associated with the telephone number may be 14 furnished to the enhanced 911 system for call routing or for automatic retrieval of 15 location information in response to a call initiated to 911. 16 Sec. 42.30.490. DEFINITIONS. In AS 42.30.400 - 42.30.490, 17 (1) "911 emergency surcharge" means a monthly, uniform charge 18 assessed on local exchange service customers under AS 42.30.410; 19 (2) "911 service area" or "enhanced 911 service area" means the area 20 within a municipality's jurisdiction that has been designed to receive enhanced 911 21 service; 22 (3) "911 surcharges" means the 911 emergency surcharge and the local 23 911 surcharge; 24 (4) "commission" means the Alaska Public Utilities Commission; 25 (5) "department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic 26 Development; 27 (6) "enhanced 911 system" means a telephone system consisting of 28 network, database, and on-premises equipment that uses the single three digit number, 29 911, for reporting a police, fire, medical, or other emergency situation, enabling the 30 users of a public telephone system to reach a public safety answering point to report 31 emergencies by dialing 911, and includes the capability to
01 (A) selectively route incoming 911 calls to the appropriate 02 public safety answering point operating in a 911 service area; and 03 (B) automatically display the name, address, and telephone 04 number of an incoming 911 call on a video monitor at the appropriate public safety 05 answering point; 06 (7) "enhanced 911 equipment" means the customer premises equipment 07 directly related to the operation of an enhanced 911 system, including automatic 08 number identification or automatic location identification controllers and display units, 09 printers, cathode ray tubes, and software associated with call detail recording; 10 (8) "fund" means the enhanced 911 fund created in AS 42.30.440; 11 (9) "local 911 surcharge" means the additional charge imposed by a 12 municipality served by a local exchange telephone company that has not otherwise 13 provided for enhanced 911 capability in its network in order to provide funding for the 14 municipality to pay for development of the network and database; 15 (10) "local exchange access line" means a telephone line that connects 16 a local exchange service customer to the local switching office and has the capability 17 of reaching local public safety agencies, but does not include a line used by a carrier 18 to provide interexchange services; 19 (11) "local exchange service" means the transmission of two-way 20 interactive switched voice communications furnished by a telecommunications 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 commission, where local exchange rates apply; 25 (12) "local exchange telephone company" means a telephone utility 26 certificated to provide local exchange service; 27 (13) "public safety answering point" means a 24-hour local jurisdiction 28 communications facility that receives 911 service calls and directly dispatches 29 emergency response services or that relays calls to the appropriate public or private 30 safety agency. 31 * Sec. 3. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).