PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary, using the Assistant Director for Emergency Communications and working with the Department of National Communications System when needed, must create and keep updated a National Emergency Communications Plan. The Secretary must do this with State, local, and tribal governments, federal agencies, emergency responders, and private companies. The plan must be completed no later than 180 days after the baseline assessment under section 573 is finished. The Emergency Communications Preparedness Center must coordinate the federal parts of the plan. The plan must give recommendations on how to keep responders and officials talking during natural disasters, terrorism, or other man-made disasters and how to make communications systems able to work together nationwide (interoperable). It must include proposals—made with input from the FCC and NIST—for fast-tracking voluntary national equipment standards; a list of needed capabilities; short- and long-term fixes for responders and for nationwide deployment using current and new technologies; ways federal agencies can work with State, local, and tribal governments; barriers and fixes including cross-jurisdiction coordination; goals, timelines, and a deployment timetable; measures to keep government communications running in disasters; and a target date with interim benchmarks for reaching a baseline level of national interoperable communications as defined in section 194(g)(1).

Title 6, §572

Domestic Security, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Director for Emergency Communications, and in cooperation with the Department of National Communications System (as appropriate), shall, in cooperation with State, local, and tribal governments, Federal departments and agencies, emergency response providers, and the private sector, develop not later than 180 days after the completion of the baseline assessment under section 573 of this title, and periodically update, a National Emergency Communications Plan to provide recommendations regarding how the United States should—

(1)support and promote the ability of emergency response providers and relevant government officials to continue to communicate in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters; and

(2)ensure, accelerate, and attain interoperable emergency communications nationwide.

(b)Coordination

The Emergency Communications Preparedness Center under section 576 of this title shall coordinate the development of the Federal aspects of the National Emergency Communications Plan.

(c)Contents

The National Emergency Communications Plan shall—

(1)include recommendations developed in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission and the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a process for expediting national voluntary consensus standards for emergency communications equipment for the purchase and use by public safety agencies of interoperable emergency communications equipment and technologies;

(2)identify the appropriate capabilities necessary for emergency response providers and relevant government officials to continue to communicate in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters;

(3)identify the appropriate interoperable emergency communications capabilities necessary for Federal, State, local, and tribal governments in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters;

(4)recommend both short-term and long-term solutions for ensuring that emergency response providers and relevant government officials can continue to communicate in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters;

(5)recommend both short-term and long-term solutions for deploying interoperable emergency communications systems for Federal, State, local, and tribal governments throughout the Nation, including through the provision of existing and emerging technologies;

(6)identify how Federal departments and agencies that respond to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters can work effectively with State, local, and tribal governments, in all States, and with other entities;

(7)identify obstacles to deploying interoperable emergency communications capabilities nationwide and recommend short-term and long-term measures to overcome those obstacles, including recommendations for multijurisdictional coordination among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments;

(8)recommend goals and timeframes for the deployment of emergency, command-level communications systems based on new and existing equipment across the United States and develop a timetable for the deployment of interoperable emergency communications systems nationwide;

(9)recommend appropriate measures that emergency response providers should employ to ensure the continued operation of relevant governmental communications infrastructure in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made disasters; and

(10)set a date, including interim benchmarks, as appropriate, by which State, local, and tribal governments, Federal departments and agencies, and emergency response providers expect to achieve a baseline level of national interoperable communications, as that term is defined under section 194(g)(1) of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Another section 1802 of Pub. L. 107–296 was renumbered section 1902 and is classified to section 592 of this title.

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–278 substituted “Assistant Director for Emergency Communications” for “Director for Emergency Communications” in introductory provisions. 2007—Subsec. (c)(10). Pub. L. 110–53 added par. (10).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Reference to the Assistant Director for Emergency Communications deemed to be a reference to the Executive Assistant Director for Emergency Communications, see section 571(g) of this title, enacted Jan. 1, 2021.

§572 National Emergency Communications Plan