BILL NUMBER: AB 424 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
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,
all services. An act to add Section 53114.5 to the
Government Code, relating to the 911 emergency response system.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 424, as amended, Torres. Mobile radio service: 911
services: disclosures. Warren-911-Emergency Assistance
Act: public education campaign.
The Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act requires every local
public agency to establish and operate, or to be a part of, an
emergency telephone system using the digits "911," and creates the
State 911 Advisory Board to assist in facilitating the purpose of the
act to establish the number 911 as the primary emergency telephone
number statewide.
This bill would require the office of the State Chief Information
Officer to develop and implement a public education campaign to
instruct the public on the appropriate and inappropriate uses of the
911 emergency response system.
(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 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: 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) Calling 911 is the primary way of initiating communication
between the public and public safety and law enforcement responders.
(b) The 911 emergency response system in California is facing
multiple challenges in meeting the needs of the public, including
rapidly evolving communications technologies, under-staffing of
public safety answering points, budget constraints, and technical
limitations of the current systems. Due to these challenges, the
state's 911 emergency response system is failing to meet minimum
standards for response in some areas, and jeopardizing the health and
safety of Californians.
(c) The public can participate in addressing some of these
challenges by increasing their knowledge of appropriate and
inappropriate uses of the 911 emergency response system, and the
characteristics of the communication systems they use to access the
911 emergency response system.
(d) The responsible state entities should undertake a public
education campaign to increase the public's knowledge and assist the
public in making effective use of the 911 emergency response system,
thereby improving the performance of the entire 911 emergency
response system.
SEC. 2. Section 53114.5 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
53114.5. (a) The office of the State Chief Information Officer
shall develop and implement a public education campaign to instruct
the public on appropriate and inappropriate uses of the 911 emergency
response system. The public education campaign may include any of
the following:
(1) Education programs designed to help members of the public
distinguish emergencies that require a 911 call from nonemergencies
that can be handled through other types of requests for information
and response.
(2) Education programs about alternative systems, such as 211 and
311, that can provide nonemergency assistance to the public.
(3) Education programs designed to help members of the public
understand what information they can provide when calling 911 to
assist the 911 relay operator or dispatcher, including, but not
limited to, the caller's phone number, the caller's location, and a
brief description of the emergency.
(4) Any other matters that the office deems appropriate or that
the advisory board recommends and the office approves.
(b) The costs to develop and implement the public education
campaign shall be costs of administration within the meaning of
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 41136 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code, so long as these costs directly relate to the 911
emergency telephone number system, and shall be funded upon an
appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose.
SECTION 1. Section 22761 is added to the
Business and Professions Code, to read:
22761. (a) Any person providing commercial mobile radio service
within this state shall prominently disclose whether the handset
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) 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.