BILL NUMBER: AB 911 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 10, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 29, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 8, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Section 53121 to the Government Code, relating to
telephone systems.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 911, as amended, Bloom. Telephone systems: 911.
The Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act requires every local
public agency to establish and operate a telephone system that
automatically connects a person dialing "911" to an established
public safety answering point through normal telephone service
facilities. Existing law prohibits the Public Safety Communications
Division in the Department of Technology from delaying the
implementation of the enhanced "911" emergency telephone system, as
provided.
This bill would , commencing January 1,
2019, 2016, would establish various
requirements regarding 911 emergency call technology that would be
applicable to operators of multiline telephone systems (MLTS). The
bill would require an MLTS operator, as defined, to maintain
program, maintain, and operate the MLTS, as
specified, to ensure that each emergency call placed from any
telephone station on the MLTS is routed to the
appropriate public safety answering point or private emergency
answering point and provides either automatic location
information or information, automation number
identification , or emergency response location to the
911 network that connects to the public safety
answering point or private emergency answering point . The
bill would provide an exemption for a multiline telephone system
serving a building or structure with less than 7,000 square feet of
workspace. The bill would authorize the assessment of civil
penalties by the division against an MLTS operator or an entity that
sells or leases an MLTS system in violation of these requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Public safety is threatened when 911 calls placed to public
safety dispatchers from telephone systems serving multiple stations
in large buildings or complexes do not identify the precise location
of the caller.
(b) The enhanced 911 system widely deployed today enables a caller'
s telephone number and service address to be displayed to the public
safety dispatcher who receives the 911 call. Public safety agencies
increasingly rely on this enhanced 911 system to provide dependable
and precise information about a caller's location and a reliable
number to call back in order to reach the person who called for
emergency assistance.
(c) Even with the enhanced 911 system, however, emergency calls
may not provide precise caller location when made from one station of
a multiline telephone system commonly used in large hospitals,
public schools, government offices, assisted living facilities,
businesses, and chain stores. This lack of precise location
information can be life threatening if the person making the
emergency call cannot supply the correct location to the dispatcher.
(d) Emergency calls from a large building or campus with a
multiline telephone system also can be routed to the wrong public
safety dispatch office, sometimes in a different city or region.
(e) These limitations of multiline telephone systems not only
delay emergency response time, but also cause limited public safety
resources to be dispatched where they are not needed and disrupt
business operations as response units attempt to locate the caller.
(f) This act will enhance public safety through requirements to
ensure that 911 emergency calls made from individual stations of
multiline telephone systems provide specific location information of
the caller.
SEC. 2. Section 53121 is added to the Government Code, to read:
53121. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Automatic location identification (ALI)" means the automatic
display at the PSAP of a caller's telephone number, address, or
location of the telephone, and supplementary emergency services
information.
(2) "Automatic number identification (ANI)" means the automatic
display at the PSAP of the telephone number associated with the
access line from which a 911 call originates.
(3) "Centrex" means a business telephone service offered by some
local exchange carriers that provides PBX-type features over access
lines.
(4) "Emergency location identification number (ELIN)" means a
valid North American numbering plan format telephone number (assigned
to the MLTS operator by the appropriate authority), that is used to
route the call to a PSAP and used to retrieve the ALI for the PSAP.
The ELIN may be the same number as the ANI. In some cases, the number
may not be a dialable number.
(5)
(4) "Emergency response location (ERL)" means a
location that provides a minimum of the building and floor location
of the caller to which a 911 emergency response team may be
dispatched.
(6)
(5) "Master street address guide (MSAG)" means a
database of street names and house number ranges within their
associated communities defining emergency service zones and their
associated emergency service numbers to enable proper routing of 911
calls.
(7)
(6) "Multiline telephone system (MLTS)" means a system
comprised of a common control unit or units, telephone sets, and
control hardware and software. This includes, but is not limited to,
network and premises based network- and
premises-based systems, such as Centrex and PBX,
Hybrid, and Key Centrex, VoIP, PBX, and Hybrid
Telephone Systems.
(8)
(7) "MLTS operator" means the entity that purchases,
leases, or otherwise contracts for the entity's use of the MLTS and
therefore is responsible for ensuring that a 911 emergency call
placed from an MLTS is transmitted in accordance with this section,
regardless of the type of MLTS technology used to generate the call.
"MLTS operator" does not include an entity that only provides
connection to a PTN.
(9)
(8) "Private emergency answering point (PEAP)" means an
answering point operated by nonpublic safety entities with
alternative and adequate means of signaling and directing a response
to emergencies.
(10)
(9) "Private branch exchange (PBX)" means a private
telephone switch that is connected to the public switched telephone
network or successor network.
(11)
(10) "Public switched telephone
network (PSTN)" (PTN)" means the
public switched telephone network of equipment, lines,
and controls assembled to establish communication paths between
calling and called parties in North America and any
successor network that provides the ability to route or transmit a
911 call to a PSAP .
(12)
(11) "Public safety answering point (PSAP)" means a
facility equipped and staffed to receive 911 calls.
(13)
(12) "Workspace" means the physical building area where
work is normally performed. This is a net square footage measurement
that includes hallways, conference rooms, restrooms, and breakrooms,
but does not include wall thickness, shafts, heating, ventilating,
or air-conditioning equipment spaces, mechanical electrical spaces,
or similar areas where employees do not normally perform work
activities.
(b) (1) A multiline telephone system (MLTS)
operator shall maintain program, maintain,
and operate the MLTS in such a manner that a telephone call
made by dialing the digits "911" and, if applicable, any additional
digit that must be dialed in order to permit the user to access the
PSTN PTN from any telephone on the MLTS
is routed to the appropriate PSAP and provides ALI or ANI
to the 911 network that connects to the PSAP. PSAP or
PEAP and provides ANI, and either ALI or ERL, to the PSAP or PEAP.
(2) MLTS operators serving hotels, motels, or residential
customers in noncommercial buildings, such as apartments and
condominiums, shall ensure that the MLTS is connected to the PTN, so
that calls to 911 result in one distinctive ANI and one distinctive
ALI for each residential or living unit.
(3) MLTS operators serving shared business services to a business
or public entity shall ensure that the MLTS connects to the PTN so
that calls to 911 from a telephone result in one ALI for each ERL of
each entity sharing service.
(c) An MLTS operator shall program the MLTS equipment to transmit
with any 911 call the ELIN and emergency response location of the
caller either directly to the PSAP or PEAP.
(d)
(c) (1) An entity that is the seller or lessor of an
MLTS system shall provide, at the time of sale or
lease, to the purchaser or lessee either a demonstration of, or
written instructions as to, how to place an emergency call from a
telephone station.
(2) An MLTS operator shall provide each new user of the MLTS with
either a demonstration of, or written instructions at each station as
to, how to place an emergency call from a telephone station.
(e)
(d) (1) An MLTS operator shall arrange to update the
ALI database , or a functionally equivalent database, with
appropriate MSAG or an appropriate equivalent valid address and
callback information for each MLTS telephone, such that the location
information specifies the emergency response location of the caller.
These updates shall be downloaded or made available to the automatic
location information database provider as soon as practicable for a
new MLTS installation, or within one business day of the record of
completion of the actual changes for previously installed systems.
The information is subject to all applicable federal and
state privacy and confidentiality laws.
(2) The MLTS operator shall review and verify the accuracy of the
number and location information provided by the MLTS at least once
annually.
(f) Applicable Federal Communications Commission rules and orders
regarding enhanced 911 systems shall take precedence over any
provision contained in this section.
(e) To the extent that any provision of this section conflicts
with the requirements of federal law, the requirements of federal law
shall prevail.
(g)
(f) The MLTS operator that provides voice
communication MLTS services to temporary
structures or facilities, regardless of the size of the
temporary structure or facility , shall ensure that the MLTS is
connected to the PSTN PTN . Where
automatic location information records are not provided for each
individual station, the MLTS operator of the temporary structure or
facility shall provide specific location information of the caller to
the PSAP.
(h)
(g) (1) An MLTS operator, service provider, its
employees, or its agents shall not be liable to any person for
damages incurred as the result of any act or omission by it, except
for gross negligence or intentional, willful, or wanton misconduct,
in connection with maintaining or operating the MLTS in a manner
required by this section. This section does not affect or modify
the existing limitation of liability set forth in Section 1714.55 of
the Civil Code.
(2) A voice local exchange carrier, VoIP
service provider, or IP service provider, or its affiliates,
directors, officers, employees, or agents shall not be liable to any
person for damages incurred as the result of the release of
information not in the public record, including, but not limited to,
unpublished or unlisted telephone numbers, to a PSAP, its employees
or agents, or to emergency responders, made in connection with an
emergency call.
(i) (1)
(h) This section shall not apply to an MLTS serving a
building or multiple buildings or structures with a combined total
workspace of 7,000 square feet or less .
less. In the event of a dispute, the State Fire Marshal shall
determine the square footage of a workspace.
(2) This exemption does not apply to temporary structures or
facilities with MLTS.
(j) An MLTS operator or an entity that is a seller or lessor of an
MLTS system in violation of this section after January 1, 2019, may
be assessed a civil fine from five hundred dollars ($500) to five
thousand dollars ($5,000) per system sold or leased. The division
shall be responsible for the enforcement of this subdivision.
(k)
(i) The provisions of this section shall become
operative on January 1, 2019 2016 . In
areas where enhanced 911 service first becomes available after
January 1, 2019 2016 , MLTS providers
shall have 12 months from the date enhanced 911 service became
available to comply with these provisions.