ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 728
(By Senator Chafin)
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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 27, 2006.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-1-3cc of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §24-6-2, §24-6-5
and §24-6-6b of said code, all relating to redefining "in-
state subscriber" to include voice over internet protocol
subscribers; authorizing Public Service Commission to issue
and enforce orders dealing with matters concerning imposition
of fees on voice over internet protocol service subscribers;
amending definition of "commercial mobile radio service
provider" to include prepaid and post-paid services; requiring
directors of emergency dispatch centers to undergo background
checks; precluding convicted felons from serving as emergency
directors of emergency dispatch centers; effective date;
authorizing Public Service Commission to enhanced 911 service
fees from in-state two-way subscribers; authorizing Public
Service Commission to define in-state two-way subscriber; enhanced emergency telephone system requirements; requiring an
investigation on character and criminal background to be
conducted by and at the expense of the State Police on certain
persons to be employed in an emergency dispatch center;
prohibiting persons with felony convictions from holding
certain positions; and assignment of a portion of the wireless
enhanced 911 fee money received by Public Service Commission
to Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-1-3cc of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §24-6-2, §24-6-5 and §24-6-6b of
said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-3cc. Authority of county commissions to establish enhanced
emergency telephone systems, technical and
operational standards for emergency communications
centers and standards for education and training of
emergency communications systems personnel; standards
for alarm systems; fee upon consumers of telephone
service for the systems and for roadway conversion
systems; authority to contract with the telephone
companies for billing of fee.
(a) In addition to possessing the authority to establish an
emergency telephone system pursuant to section four, article six,
chapter twenty-four of this code, a county commission or the county commissions of two or more counties may, instead, establish an
enhanced emergency telephone system or convert an existing system
to an enhanced emergency system. The establishment of such a
system shall be subject to the provisions of article six of said
chapter. The county commission may adopt rules after receiving
recommendations from the West Virginia Enhanced 911 Council
concerning the operation of all county emergency communications
centers or emergency telephone systems centers in the state,
including, but not limited to, recommendations for:
(1) Minimum standards for emergency telephone systems and
emergency communications centers;
(2) Minimum standards for equipment used in any center
receiving telephone calls of an emergency nature and dispatching
emergency service providers in response to that call and which
receives 911 moneys or has basic 911 service funded through its
county commission; and
(3) Minimum standards for education and training of all
personnel in emergency communications centers.
(b) A county commission may impose a fee upon consumers of
local exchange service within that county for an enhanced emergency
telephone system and associated electronic equipment and for the
conversion of all rural routes to city-type addressing as provided
in section three of this article. The fee
revenues may only be
used is to be used solely and directly for the capital,
installation, administration, operation and maintenance costs of
the enhanced emergency telephone system and of the conversion to city-type addressing and including the reasonable costs associated
with establishing, equipping, furnishing, operating or maintaining
a county answering point.
Effective on the first day of July, two
thousand six, all county enhanced emergency telephone system fees
that are in effect as of the first day of July, two thousand six,
and as such may later be modified by action of a county commission,
shall be imposed upon in-state subscribers to voice over internet
protocol (VoIP) service, as VoIP service is defined by the Federal
Communications Commission of the United States. A nonbusiness VoIP
service subscriber shall be considered in-state if the primary
residence of the subscriber is located within West Virginia. A
business subscriber shall be considered in-state if the site at
which the service is primarily used is located within West
Virginia. The Public Service Commission may, as it deems
appropriate and in accordance with the requirements of due process,
issue and enforce orders, as well as adopt and enforce rules,
dealing with matters concerning the imposition of county enhanced
emergency telephone system fees upon VoIP service subscribers.
(c) A county commission may contract with the telephone
company or companies providing local exchange service within the
county for the telephone company or companies to act as the billing
agent or agents of the county commission for the billing of the fee
imposed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. The cost for
the billing agent services may be included as a recurring
maintenance cost of the enhanced emergency telephone system.
Where a county commission has contracted with a telephone company to act as its billing agent for enhanced emergency
telephone system fees, all competing local exchange telephone
companies with customers in that county shall bill the enhanced
emergency telephone system fees to its respective customers located
in that county and shall remit the fee. It may deduct its
respective costs for billing in the same manner as the acting
billing agent for the enhanced emergency telephone system fee.
(d) A county commission of any county with an emergency
communications center or emergency telephone system may establish
standards for alarm systems, including security, fire and medical
alarms.
(e) The books and records of all county answering points that
benefit from the imposition of the local exchange service fees
shall be subject to annual examination by the state auditor's
office.
CHAPTER 24. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
ARTICLE 6. LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
§24-6-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless the context clearly requires
a different meaning:
(1) "Commercial mobile radio service provider" or "CARS
provider" means cellular licensees, broadband personal
communications services (PCS) licensees and specialized mobile
radio (SAR) providers, as those terms are defined by the Federal
Communications Commission, which offer on a post-paid or prepaid
basis or via a combination of those two methods, real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public
switched network and includes resellers of any commercial mobile
radio service.
(2) "County answering point" means a facility to which
enhanced emergency telephone system calls for a county are
initially routed for response and where county personnel respond to
specific requests for emergency service by directly dispatching the
appropriate emergency service provider, relaying a message to the
appropriate provider or transferring the call to the appropriate
provider.
(3) "Emergency services organization" means the organization
established under article five, chapter fifteen of this code.
(4) "Emergency service provider" means any emergency services
organization or public safety unit.
(5) "Emergency telephone system" means a telephone system
which through normal telephone service facilities automatically
connects a person dialing the primary emergency telephone number to
an established public agency answering point, but does not include
an enhanced emergency telephone system.
(6) "Enhanced emergency telephone system" means a telephone
system which automatically connects the person dialing the primary
emergency number to the county answering point and in which the
telephone network system automatically provides to personnel
receiving the call, immediately on answering the call, information
on the location and the telephone number from which the call is
being made and, upon direction from the personnel receiving the call, routes or dispatches the call by telephone, radio or any
other appropriate means of communication to emergency service
providers that serve the location from which the call is made.
(7) "Public agency" means the state and any municipality,
county, public district or public authority which provides or has
authority to provide fire-fighting, police, ambulance, medical,
rescue or other emergency services.
(8) "Public safety unit" means a functional division of a
public agency which provides fire-fighting, police, medical, rescue
or other emergency services.
(9) "Telephone company" means any public utility and any CARS
provider which is engaged in the provision of telephone service
whether primarily by means of wire or wireless facilities.
(10) "Comprehensive plan" means a plan pertaining to the
installing, modifying or replacing of telephone switching
equipment; a telephone utility's response in a timely manner to
requests for emergency telephone service by a public agency; a
telephone utility's responsibility to report to the public service
commission; charges and tariffs for the services and facilities
provided by a telephone utility; and access to an emergency
telephone system by emergency service organizations.
(11) "Technical and operational standards" means those
standards of telephone equipment and processes necessary for the
implementation of the comprehensive plan as defined in subdivision
(10) of this subsection.
§24-6-5. Enhanced emergency telephone system requirements.
(a) An enhanced emergency telephone system, at a minimum,
shall provide that:
(1) All the territory in the county, including every municipal
corporation in the county, which is served by telephone company
central office equipment that will permit such a system to be
established shall be included in the system: Provided, That if a
portion of the county or a portion of a municipal corporation
within the county is already being served by an enhanced emergency
telephone system, that portion of the county or municipality may be
excluded from the county enhanced emergency telephone system;
(2) Every emergency service provider that provides emergency
service within the territory of a county participate in the system;
(3) Each county answering point be operated constantly;
(4) Each emergency service provider participating in the
system maintain a telephone number in addition to the one provided
for in the system; and
(5) If the county answering point personnel reasonably
determine that a call is not an emergency, the personnel provide
the caller with the number of the appropriate emergency service
provider.
(b) To the extent possible, enhanced emergency telephone
systems shall be centralized.
(c) In developing an enhanced emergency telephone system, the
county commission or the West Virginia State Police shall seek the
advice of both the telephone companies providing local exchange
service within the county and the local emergency providers.
(d) As a condition of employment, any person employed to act
as the director of an emergency dispatch center who dispatches
emergency calls or supervises the dispatching of emergency call
takers shall be subject to an investigation of their character and
background. This investigation shall include, at a minimum, a
criminal background check conducted by the State Police at its
expense. A felony conviction shall preclude such person from
holding any of these positions. This requirement applies
prospectively. The requirement takes effect on the first day of
July, two thousand six.
(d)(e) As a condition of continued employment, persons
employed to dispatch emergency calls shall successfully complete a
forty-hour nationally recognized training course for dispatchers
within one year of the date of their employment; except that
persons employed to dispatch emergency calls prior to the effective
date of this subsection, as a condition of continuing employment,
shall successfully complete such a course not later than the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
(e)(f) Each county or municipality shall appoint for each
answering point an enhanced emergency telephone system advisory
board consisting of at least six members to monitor the operation
of the system. The board shall be appointed by the county or
municipality and shall include at least one member from affected
fire service providers, law-enforcement providers, emergency
medical providers and emergency services providers participating in
the system and at least one member from the county or municipality. The board may make recommendations to the county or municipality
concerning the operation of the system.
In addition, the director of the county or municipal enhanced
telephone system shall serve as an ex officio member of the
advisory board. The initial advisory board shall serve staggered
terms of one, two and three years. The initial terms of these
appointees shall commence on the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-four. All future appointments shall be for
terms of three years, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy
shall be for the unexpired term. All members shall serve without
compensation. The board shall adopt such policies, rules and
regulations as are necessary for its own guidance. The board shall
meet monthly on the day of each month which the board may
designate. The board may make recommendations to the county or
municipality concerning the operation of the system.
(f) (g) Any advisory board established prior to the first day
of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, shall have three
years to meet the criteria of subsection (e) of this section.
(g)(h) Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit
or discourage in any way the establishment of multijurisdictional
or regional systems, or multijurisdictional or regional agreements
for the establishment of enhanced emergency telephone systems, and
any system established pursuant to this article may include the
territory of more than one public agency, or may include only a
portion of the territory of a public agency.
§24-6-6b. Wireless enhanced 911 fee.
(a) Beginning on the first day of January July, one two
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight six, all CARS providers as
defined in section two of this article shall, on a monthly basis or
otherwise for good cause and as directed by order of the Public
Service Commission, collect from each of their in-state two-way
service subscribers a wireless enhanced 911 fee. As used in this
section "in-state two-way service subscriber" shall have the same
meaning as that set forth in the rules of the Public Service
Commission. No later than the first day of August June, one two
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight six, the Public Service
Commission shall, after the receipt of comments and the
consideration of evidence presented at a hearing, issue an updated
order which directs the CARS providers regarding all relevant
details of wireless enhanced 911 fee collection, including the
determination of who is considered an in-state two-way service
subscriber and which shall specify how the CARS providers shall
deal with fee collection shortfalls caused by uncollectible
accounts. The Public Service Commission shall solicit the views of
the wireless telecommunications utilities prior to issuing the
order.
(b) The wireless enhanced 911 fee is three dollars per month
for each valid retail commercial mobile radio service subscription,
as that term is defined by the Public Service Commission in its
order issued under subsection (a) of this section: Provided, That
beginning on the first day of July, two thousand five, the wireless
enhanced 911 fee shall include ten cents to be distributed to the West Virginia State Police to be used for equipment upgrades for
improving and integrating their communication efforts with those of
the enhanced 911 systems: Provided, however, That for the fiscal
year beginning on the first day of July, two thousand five, and for
every fiscal year thereafter, one million dollars of the wireless
enhanced 911 fee shall be distributed by the Public Service
Commission to subsidize the construction of towers. The moneys
shall be deposited in a fund administered by the West Virginia
Public Service Commission, entitled Enhanced 911 Wireless Tower
Access Assistance Fund, and shall be expended in accordance with an
enhanced 911 wireless tower access matching grant order adopted by
the Public Service Commission. The commission order shall contain
terms and conditions designed to provide financial assistance loans
or grants to state agencies, political subdivisions of the state
and wireless telephone carriers for the acquisition, equipping and
construction of new wireless towers, which would provide enhanced
911 service coverage and which would not be available otherwise due
to marginal financial viability of the applicable tower coverage
area: Provided further, That the grants shall be allocated among
potential sites based on application from county commissions
demonstrating the need for enhanced 911 wireless coverage in
specific areas of this state. Any tower constructed with
assistance from the fund created by this subdivision shall be
available for use by emergency services, fire departments and law-
enforcement agencies communication equipment, so long as that use
does not interfere with the carrier's wireless signal: And provided further, That the Public Service Commission shall
promulgate rules in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code to effectuate the provisions of this
subsection. The Public Service Commission is specifically
authorized to promulgate emergency rules: And provided further,
That for the fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand six, and for every fiscal year thereafter, five percent of
the wireless enhanced 911 fee money received by the Public Service
Commission shall be deposited in a special fund established by the
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to be used
solely for the construction, maintenance and upgrades of the West
Virginia Interoperable Radio Project and any other costs associated
with establishing and maintaining the infrastructure of the system.
Any funds remaining in this fund at the end of the fiscal year
shall automatically be reappropriated for the following year.
(c) Beginning in the year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, and every two years thereafter, the Public Service
Commission shall conduct an audit of the wireless enhanced 911 fee
and shall recalculate the fee so that it is the weighted average
rounded to the nearest penny, as of the first day of March of the
respecification year, of all of the enhanced 911 fees imposed by
the counties which have adopted an enhanced 911 ordinance:
Provided, That the wireless enhanced 911 fee may never be increased
by more than twenty-five percent of its value at the beginning of
the respecification year: Provided, however, That the fee may
never be less than the amount set in subsection (b) of this section: Provided further, That beginning on the first day of
July, two thousand five, the wireless enhanced 911 fee shall
include ten cents to be distributed to the West Virginia State
Police to be used for equipment upgrades for improving and
integrating their communication efforts with those of the enhanced
911 systems: And provided further, That beginning on the first day
of July, two thousand five, one million dollars of the wireless
enhanced 911 fee shall be distributed by the Public Service
Commission to subsidize the construction of wireless towers as
specified in subsection (b) of this section.
(d) The CARS providers shall, after retaining a three-percent
billing fee, send the wireless enhanced 911 fee moneys collected,
on a monthly basis, to the Public Service Commission. The Public
Service Commission shall, on a quarterly and approximately evenly
staggered basis, disburse the fee revenue in the following manner:
(1) Each county that does not have a 911 ordinance in effect
as of the original effective date of this section in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-seven or has enacted a 911 ordinance
within the five years prior to the original effective date of this
section in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven shall
receive eight and one half tenths of one percent of the fee
revenues received by the Public Service Commission: Provided, That
after the effective date of this section, in the year two thousand
five, when two or more counties consolidate into one county to
provide government services, the consolidated county shall receive
one percent of the fee revenues received by the Public Service Commission for itself and for each county merged into the
consolidated county. Each county shall receive eight and one half
tenths of one percent of the remainder of the fee revenues received
by the Public Service Commission: Provided, however, That after
the effective date of this section, in the year two thousand five,
when two or more counties consolidate into one county to provide
government services, the consolidated county shall receive one
percent of the fee revenues received by the Public Service
Commission for itself and for each county merged into the
consolidated county. Then, from any moneys remaining, each county
shall receive a pro rata portion of that remainder based on that
county's population as determined in the most recent decennial
census as a percentage of the state total population. The Public
Service Commission shall recalculate the county disbursement
percentages on a yearly basis, with the changes effective on the
first day of July, and using data as of the preceding first day of
March. The public utilities which normally provide local exchange
telecommunications service by means of lines, wires, cables,
optical fibers or by other means extended to subscriber premises
shall supply the data to the Public Service Commission on a county
specific basis no later than the first day of June of each year;
(2) Counties which have an enhanced 911 ordinance in effect
shall receive their share of the wireless enhanced 911 fee revenue
for use in the same manner as the enhanced 911 fee revenues
received by those counties pursuant to their enhanced 911
ordinances;
(3) The Public Service Commission shall deposit the wireless
enhanced 911 fee revenue for each county which does not have an
enhanced 911 ordinance in effect into an escrow account which it
has established for that county. Any county with an escrow account
may, immediately upon adopting an enhanced 911 ordinance, receive
the moneys which have accumulated in the escrow account for use as
specified in subdivision (2), subsection (d) of this section:
Provided, That a county that adopts a 911 ordinance after the
original effective date of this section in the year one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven or has adopted a 911 ordinance within
five years of the original effective date of this section in the
year one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven shall continue to
receive one percent of the total 911 fee revenue for a period of
five years following the adoption of the ordinance. Thereafter,
each county shall receive that county's eight and one half tenths
of one percent of the remaining fee revenue, plus that county's
additional pro rata portion of the fee revenues then remaining,
based on that county's population as determined in the most recent
decennial census as a percentage of the state total population:
Provided, however, That every five years from the year one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven, all fee revenue residing in escrow
accounts shall be disbursed on the pro rata basis specified in
subdivision (1) of this subsection, except that data for counties
without enhanced 911 ordinances in effect shall be omitted from the
calculation and all escrow accounts shall begin again with a zero
balance.
(e) CARS providers have the same rights and responsibilities
as other telephone service suppliers in dealing with the failure by
a subscriber of a CARS provider to timely pay the wireless enhanced
911 fee.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one-a of this
article, for the purposes of this section, the term "county" means
one of the counties provided in section one, article one, chapter
one of this code.
(g) From any funds distributed to a county pursuant to this
section, a total of three percent shall be set aside in a special
fund to be used exclusively for the purchase of equipment that will
provide information regarding the x and y coordinates of persons
who call an emergency telephone system through a commercial mobile
radio service: Provided, That upon purchase of the necessary
equipment, the special fund shall be dissolved and any surplus
shall be used for general operation of the emergency telephone
system as may otherwise be provided by law.
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