Some reporting, record retention requirements still in limbo pending OMB approval
In December we reported on a new set of rigorous requirements for 911 system service providers. And as we reported last month, most – but not all – of the requirements were set to take effect on February 18, 2014. However, also as we reported last month, two of the new rule sections impose new “information collections”; before they can take effect, those two sections (Sections 12.4(c) and (d)(1)) must be run through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a process that generally takes several months.
What we did not report in January was the fact that two additional sections (Sections 12.4(d)(3) and 4.9(h)) also impose “information collections” and must, therefore, also be shipped over to OMB. (We didn’t report that in January because the FCC didn’t acknowledge that those two were in fact “information collections” until a corrective announcement in February.)
To recap, then, now that February 18 is here, all “Covered Service Providers” must take reasonable steps toward providing reliable 911 service by conducting network monitoring and circuit audits and insuring the availability of backup power at any central office that serves a public safety access point.
But until further notice from the FCC, “Covered Service Providers” are not required to submit their annual reliability certifications (Section 12.4(c)) or their initial reliability certifications (Section 12.4(d)(1)). They are also not required to comply with the record retention obligations of Section 12.4(d)(3) or to report on outages potentially affecting a special 911 facility (Section 4.9(h))..
