BILL NUMBER: AB 424 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torres
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to add Section 22761 to the Business and Professions Code,
and to add Section 53115.4 to the Government Code,
relating to telephones. all services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 424, as amended, Torres. Telephone sales:
Mobile radio service: 911 services: disclosures.
Existing
(1) Existing law makes it
unlawful to sell any cordless telephone manufactured after January 1,
1992, that does not provide increased protection from unintentional
line seizure and dialing, and protection from unintentional ringing.
Existing law also requires sellers of specified telephone equipment
to disclose whether the equipment employs pulse, tone, pulse-or-tone,
or other signaling methods, and to provide a general description of
the services it can or cannot access.
This bill would require sellers of wireless telephone handsets
within the state to disclose, orally and in writing, whether the
handsets provide Enhanced 911 requirements, as specified by the
Federal Communications Commission.
This bill would require any person providing commercial mobile
radio service to disclose, orally and in writing, whether the service
includes Phase I enhanced 911 service and Phase II enhanced 911
service as specified by the Federal Communications Commission. The
bill would also require any person providing handsets not capable of
providing these services, to undertake a public education campaign
regarding the limitation of these handsets, as specified.
(2) Under existing law, the State 911 Advisory Board advises the
Telecommunications Division of the Department of General Services on
various subjects, including, but not limited to, policies, practices,
and procedures for the California 911 Emergency Communications
Office and training standards for county coordinators and Public
Safety Answering Point managers.
This bill would require the State 911 Advisory Board to assist the
Telecommunications Division in developing a public education
campaign to instruct the public on appropriate and inappropriate uses
of the 911 system, and to recommend to the Telecommunications
Division how to incorporate the campaign into specified plans and
funds.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 22761 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
22761. (a) Any person selling a wireless telephone
handset providing commercial mobile radio service
within this state shall prominently disclose whether the
handset provides E911, including specifically whether the
handset provides automatic location identification for an emergency
call and a dialable callback number for an emergency response, as
provided by the Federal Communications Commission in the Third Report
and Order in Docket 94-102, FCC 99-245, September 15, 1999.
service includes Phase I enhanced 911 service and
Phase II enhanced 911 service as specified by the Federal
Communications Commission in Section 20.18 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, including any disclaimers with respect to these
services contained in the provider's service or sales agreement.
The disclosure shall be made both orally and in writing as part
of the sales communication, and in the same language as the sales
communication.
(b) As used in this section, "E911" means the Enhanced 911
requirements as established by the Federal Communications Commission
in Docket 94-102 and subsequent dockets. E911 specifically includes
the capability to provide automatic location identification to the
public safety answering point, as established by Phase II of that
docket, and the provision of a dialable callback number, as
established by Phase I of that docket.
(b) Any person that provides a nonservice initialized handset or a
911-only handset as defined in Section 20.18(k)(3) of Title 47 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, where the handset is not capable of
providing Phase I or Phase II enhanced 911 service, shall undertake a
public education campaign regarding the limitation of these
handsets, in the same language as the sales communication.
(c) The purpose and form of the public education campaign shall be
to assist the users of commercial mobile radio service to make
effective use of 911 by supplying information about the capability of
the phone service they are receiving.
SEC. 2. Section 53115.4 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
53115.4. The State 911 Advisory Board shall assist the
Telecommunications Division of the Department of General Services in
developing a public education campaign to instruct the public on
appropriate and inappropriate uses of the 911 system, and the
advisory board shall recommend to the Telecommunications Division how
to incorporate the campaign into the plans which the division
approves pursuant to Section 53115 or how to incorporate the campaign
into the funds described in Sections 41030 and 41136 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code. The public education campaign may include:
(a) Education programs useful for helping members of the public to
distinguish emergencies which require a call to 911 from
nonemergencies that can be handled through other types of requests
for information or response.
(b) Education programs for members of the public who are 911
callers about information they can provide to assist the 911 relay
operator or dispatcher, including, but not limited to, a calling
number, caller location, or a brief description of the emergency.
(c) Education programs aimed specifically at informing schoolage
children about appropriate and inappropriate uses of 911.
(d) Education and information protocols for first responders who
receive calls relayed by the 91l dispatchers to enable them to
respond appropriately to 911 calls.
(e) Any other matters that the advisory board recommends.