First Response Coalition

Chances Good For Broad Interoperability Legislation in Next Congress, Aides Say

There's a good chance that lawmakers will consider comprehensive public safety interoperability legislation in the next Congress, two congressional aides said today.

"I think that the prospects are probably good," Christine Kurth, deputy Republican staff director for the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said at a Washington panel discussion sponsored by the First Response Coalition. She noted that public safety issues tend to be bipartisan on Capitol Hill and that aides and lawmakers got experience in dealing with jurisdictional issues in securing passage of port security legislation (HR 4954) that included language establishing the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN), a national service that will enable wireless carriers to transmit alerts on a voluntary basis.

Robert Strayer, Republican counsel on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, echoed Ms. Kurth's assessment of comprehensive legislation. But both aides noted the difficulty of crafting a compromise in the House because more committees have jurisdiction over grants to first responders.

Steven Jones, executive director of the coalition, asked whether President Bush should establish a specific deadline for public safety interoperability, the way Congress set a deadline for the end of the digital TV transition.

"I think that's a good idea in concept," Ms. Kurth replied. But, she asked, "what would be the definition of interoperability?" Mr. Strayer agreed interoperability was difficult to define. But he praised Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for saying last week that his agency wants to ensure that public safety agencies in major cities are interoperable by the end of next year and all states have interoperability by the end of 2008.

However, Mr. Jones noted that DHS has yet to provide specifics on how the goal would be achieved and what level of interoperability DHS envisions. "The definition is a moving target," added Robert Crouch, assistant-commonwealth preparedness for Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D.)

This year, Congress approved several bills that will benefit the public safety community, the most prominent of which sets a firm 2009 deadline for the end of the digital TV transition, clearing the way for the return of 24 megahertz of 700 MHz band spectrum allocated for public safety use. But other initiatives - including some that are in a stalled telecom bill - didn't get through, and Ms. Kurth expressed hope that Congress will deal with them next year.

For example, she said lawmakers want to adopt provisions on how $1 billion in interoperability grants should be spent, including mandating that the Commerce Department make the funds available by a certain date. In addition, Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska), who will be the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee and also will sit on the Homeland Security panel, wants to complete the Federal Emergency Management Agency portion of the WARN Act, she said.

In addition, Mr. Strayer said he expects his committee to hold oversight hearings on the Department of Homeland Security's effectiveness at pushing open interoperability standards. As part of DHS's 2007 appropriations bill, Congress created an office to focus on emergency communications. The new office is tasked with preparing a national plan for emergency communications.

Mr. Jones criticized DHS for not completing a long-awaited baseline survey of nationwide interoperability. But Tony Frater, deputy director of DHS's Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, said the survey is expected to be released "very, very soon." He added, "We've got a wealth of data." He also said DHS planned to release by the end of this month criteria that states in drawing up statewide plans, which must be completed by the end of 2007. Regarding standards, Mr. Frater said DHS is working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on developing a self-certification process for manufacturers based on Project 25 interoperability standards.

David Furth, an associate chief of the FCC's new Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, said that there will be "new focus and new energy" on public safety issues in 2007, adding the bureau plans step up outreach to first responders and industry and focus on a myriad of policy issues, including considering recommendations of the agency's independent Hurricane Katrina panel.

On "911" issues, Jenny Hansen, project coordinator for the Next Generation 911 Project at the Department of Transportation, said the two-year contract for the initiative was awarded yesterday to Booz Allen Hamilton.

Looking toward 2007, panelists also agreed that (1) collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies, (2) identifying funding sources for local and state governments, and (3) securing enough spectrum will continue to be issues.- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

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