47 CFR § 9.20 - 911 Reliability certifications; interoperability reporting; cessation notifications.
(a) 911 reliability filings—(1) Attestation.
(i) Within six months of a Public Notice announcing a compliance date for this paragraph (a)(1) and filing guidelines, any covered 911 service provider that has not previously filed a reliability certification shall submit to the Commission an attestation identifying itself as a covered 911 service provider. Attestations will not be deemed confidential.
(ii) Any new covered 911 service provider that begins service for the first time after the date in paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section shall submit an attestation when it begins service.
(2) Certification—(i) Initial certification. Within 18 months of a Public Notice announcing a compliance date for this paragraph (a)(2) and filing guidelines, a certifying official of each covered 911 service provider shall submit a certification to the Commission that addresses the elements of reliability listed in § 9.19(c)(1) through (3).
(ii) Updates covering material changes. A covered 911 service provider must exercise reasonable judgement in determining whether there is a material change to its ownership structure, networks, facilities, operations, or reliability practices that renders its previous certification no longer accurate and file an updated certification within 90 days of discovery of such a material change, unless:
(A) The cause of the change is remedied within the applicable update period;
(B) The change reflects incremental conformance with the reliability elements in § 9.19(c)(1) through (3), rather than reliance on alternative measures, for less than 50 percent of its covered 911 services, circuits, and paths; or
(C) The change to a covered 911 service provider's ownership structure is pro forma in nature.
(iii) Non-conforming facilities and services. If a covered 911 service provider does not conform with the elements of reliability listed in § 9.19(c)(1) through (3), it must include in its certification with respect to each of its non-conforming covered 911 circuits or paths and covered 911 services whether:
(A) The covered 911 service provider has taken alternative measures to mitigate the risks of lack of physical diversity, operational integrity, or network monitoring; or
(B) The physical diversity, operational integrity, or network monitoring benchmark is not applicable to the covered 911 service provider.
(iv) Covered 911 service providers are required to answer additional questions about covered 911 circuits and paths and covered 911 services as directed by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.
(b) 911 interoperability reports.
(1) Each NGCS and ESInet covered 911 service provider defined in § 9.19(a)(4)(i)(C) or (D) shall submit a one-time report to the Commission describing its specific actions and plans to enable NG911 interoperability consistent with § 9.19(a)(19) within 18 months of a Public Notice announcing a compliance date for this paragraph and filing guidelines.
(2) NGCS and ESInet covered 911 service providers defined in § 9.19(a)(4)(i)(C) or (D) are required to answer additional questions about covered 911 circuits and paths and covered 911 services as directed by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.
(c) Confidential treatment of certifications and reports.
(1) The fact of filing or not filing 911 reliability certifications and 911 interoperability reports shall not be treated as confidential.
(2) Information submitted with such certifications and reports shall be presumed confidential to the extent that it consists of non-public descriptions of networks or facilities, compliance plans, or additional information requested by the Bureau with respect to a certification.
(d) 911 Authority access to certifications and reports.
(1) Following the compliance date for initial certifications and reports, a statewide, territorial, or tribal 911 Authority may request that covered 911 service providers produce copies of their 911 reliability certifications and interoperability reports to the extent they pertain to covered 911 services or covered 911 circuits and paths located within or providing services to the 911 Authority's jurisdiction.
(2) Covered 911 service providers must provide the requested certifications or reports within 14 days of a request. Covered 911 service providers may omit or redact information relating to portions of their networks or facilities that are not located within and do not provide service to the requesting 911 Authority's jurisdiction. Covered 911 service providers may condition the granting of such requests on the 911 Authority's execution of a confidentiality agreement under terms not more restrictive than those set forth in § 4.2 of this chapter and in related guidance, instructions, and forms published by the Commission.
(3) To the extent the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau provides statewide, territorial, or tribal 911 Authorities with, or grants them access to, 911 reliability certifications and interoperability reports, it shall do so in accordance with relevant confidentiality terms and conditions pursuant to which it provides access to NORS data under § 4.2 of this chapter and related guidance, instructions, and forms published by the Commission.
(e) Record retention. A covered 911 service provider shall retain records supporting its responses in 911 reliability certifications and interoperability reports for two years from the date of filing, and shall make such records available to the Commission upon request. To the extent that a covered 911 service provider maintains records in electronic format, records supporting such a certification or report shall be maintained and supplied in an electronic format. Such records shall include, at a minimum, any audit records, internal reports concerning reliability and interoperability compliance, records of action to achieve reliability and interoperability compliance, and testing and maintenance of reliability and interoperability measures and technology.
(f) Covered service cessation notices. Covered 911 service providers that cease covered operations under § 9.19 must notify the Commission by filing a notification under penalty of perjury no later than 60 days after the cessation of service.
(g) Remedial action orders and procedures. When acting pursuant to authority delegated under § 0.392(j) of this chapter to order remedial actions, the Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau Chief) will carry out restricted non-public proceedings with parties regulated under this subpart as follows:
(1) Notice. If certifications or other information available to the Commission indicate that a covered 911 service provider may not be taking reasonable measures to provide reliable 911 service, the Bureau Chief may issue and electronically serve upon the covered 911 service provider a notice that describes any apparent deficiencies and proposes remedial actions. The notice may include requests for relevant documents and information.
(2) Response. A covered 911 service provider may submit a written response to a notice within 30 days of service of such notice and shall provide any requested documents and information by such date. Service shall be made as directed by the Bureau.
(3) Order. At any time after the 30th day following service of a notice, the Bureau Chief may issue and serve upon the covered 911 service provider an order setting forth its findings as to such deficiencies and specifying the actions that the covered 911 service provider is required to take to mitigate the deficiencies. The order may specify deadlines by which the covered 911 service provider must complete the required actions and may identify information that the provider must submit to demonstrate its compliance with the order.
(4) Notice to 911 Authorities. The covered 911 service provider shall deliver a copy of the order promptly to the 911 Authority for each jurisdiction in which its actions have been found deficient or in which it has been directed to take remediating actions.
(h) Compliance date. This section may contain information collection and recordkeeping requirements that require review by the Office of Management and Budget. Compliance with new information collection and recordkeeping requirements will not be required until this paragraph (h) is removed or contains a compliance date.