WIRELESSLEGISLATION FOR THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
STATE OFCONNECTICUT
REGULATION OF
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
CONCERNING
SUBJECT MATTER OF REGULATIONS
CONNECTICUT
ENHANCED 911 TELECOMMUNICATIONS FUND REGULATIONS
Section 1. The regulations ofConnecticut State Agencies are amended by adding Sections 28-24-1to 28-24-11, inclusive, as follows:
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-1 Definitions
(a) Those definitions set forth inSections 28-25 and 28-30 of the Connecticut General Statutesshall govern the provisions of these regulations, in addition todefinitions set forth in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) As used in Sections 26-24-1 to28-24-11, inclusive:
(1) “Regional emergencytelecommunications center” means an entity, authorized bythe Department of Public Safety as the public safety answeringpoint, responsible for the receipt and processing of 911 callsfor at least three municipalities.
(2) “Public safety answeringpoint” means a facility, operated on a twenty-four hourbasis, assigned the responsibility of receiving 911 calls and, asappropriate, directly dispatching emergency response services, ortransferring or relaying emergency 911 calls to other publicsafety agencies. A public safety answering point is the firstpoint of reception by a public safety agency of a 9-1-1 call andserves the jurisdictions in which it is located or otherparticipating jurisdictions.
(3) “Private safety answeringpoint” means a facility within a private company,corporation or institution, operated on a twenty-four hour basis,and assigned the responsibility of receiving 9-1-1 calls routedby a private branch exchange and, directly dispatching in-houseemergency response services, or transferring or relayingemergency 9-1-1 calls to other public or private safety agencies.
(4) “Municipality” meansany town, city, borough, consolidated town and city orconsolidated town and borough.
(5) “Public safetyagency” means a functional division of a municipality or thestate which provides fire fighting, law enforcement, or emergencymedical services.
(6) “Secondary answeringpoint” means a facility to which a Public Safety AnsweringPoint transfers a 9-1-1 call.
(7) “Enhanced 9-1-1network” means the arrangement of channels, loops, trunks,paths, and associated switching devices, nodes, interconnections,data management equipment and station equipment designed tohandle enhanced 9-1-1 calls.
(8) “Subscriberassessment” means the monthly telephone subscriberassessment as determined by the Department of Public UtilityControl. This assessment is collected from subscribers oftelephone service by local telephone services and commercialmobile radio services, pursuant to Section 16-256g of theConnecticut General Statutes, and deposited into the Enhanced9-1-1 Telecommunications Fund.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-2 PublicSafety Answering Point Terminal Equipment
Public Safety Answering Pointswith enhanced 9-1-1 plans approved by and on file with the Officeof State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications, in accordance withthe provisions of Sections 28-27a of the Connecticut GeneralStatutes, are eligible for 9-1-1 terminal equipment pursuant tothese regulations. Public safety answering points which receivenew 9-1-1 terminal equipment and subsequently join regionalemergency telecommunications centers shall return 9-1-1 terminalequipment received in accordance with this provision to theOffice of State Wide Emergency Telecommunications. Secondaryanswering points shall not be equipped under the provisions ofthis regulation.
Sec. 28-24-3 Subsidization ofRegional Public Safety Emergency Telecommunications Centers andEligible Municipalities
Regional EmergencyTelecommunications and eligible municipalities requestingsubsidies must submit to the Department of Public Safety evidenceof the following order to be eligible for receipt of funding:
(a) Regional emergencytelecommunications centers must provide representative boardswith voting by members.
(b) Regional emergencytelecommunications centers and eligible municipalities shallprovide annual reports to the Department of Public Safety, Officeof State Wide Emergency Telecommunications, no later than January31st of each year. The report shall set forth, in a formprescribed by the Office of State Wide EmergencyTelecommunications, a detailed statement of:
(1) The proposed annual operatingbudget for the fiscal year starting the following July 1st;
(2) Expenditures of state fundsprovided under these regulations during the previous fiscal yearending June 30th;
(3) Documentation of any 9-1-1failures during the previous fiscal year; and
(4) Documentation of the totalnumber of requests for emergency assistance received by thepublic safety answering point during the previous fiscal year bythe 9-1-1 system.
(3) Each regional emergencytelecommunications center shall have a chief administrativeofficer and a chief financial officer. The chief financialofficer shall give a surety bond in the amount of five hundredthousand dollars.
(d) All public safety answeringpoints shall submit an updated enhanced 9-1-1 plan in accordancewith the provisions of Section 28-27a of the Connecticut GeneralStatutes prior to July 1, 1997.
(e) Payment of subsidies shall bedisbursed in equal quarterly payments, no later than thirty daysprior to the start of the quarter. Payments shall be based uponcalculation of the funding formula as defined in subsection (j)of Section 28-24-3 of these regulations. No later than sixty daysafter the end of each quarter, the regional emergencytelecommunications center or eligible municipality shall submit afinancial report of the expenses of the previous quarter to theDepartment of Public Safety, Office of State-Wide EmergencyTelecommunications.
(f) Any funds issued at thebeginning of a quarter, and not expended by a regional emergencytelecommunications center or eligible municipality during thatquarter, shall be applied toward future allocations.
(g) Monies provided to regionalemergency telecommunications centers or eligible municipalitiesshall be used exclusively for the purpose of providing emergencytelecommunications services. Monies shall not be used for thefollowing purposes.
(1) Capital project expendituresincluding the purchase or construction of buildings orstructures.
(2) Purchase or leasing of realestate or vehicles; and
(3) Operational expenditures notrelated to public safety emergency telecommunications.
(h) In no case shall the stateprovide funding in excess of one hundred per cent of theoperational requirements of a regional emergencytelecommunications center or an eligible municipality. Anysubsidy in excess of one hundred per cent of operationalrequirements, provided in any given fiscal year, shall berefunded to the State of Connecticut, Office of the StateTreasurer, for deposit into the Enhanced 9-1-1 TelecommunicationsFund.
(I) Any entity provided withsubsidy or grant funds shall be audited in accordance with theprovisions of Sections 4-230 through 4-236 of the ConnecticutGeneral Statutes.
(j) The formula for thecalculation of the subsidies to regional emergency communicationscenters and municipalities with populations greater than seventythousand is based upon the following variables:
(1) Aggregate population (variablep) of the municipalities served based upon the most recentpopulation figures from the Department of Public Health.
(2) The calculation of variable nis based upon the percent above the state median number of 9-1-1calls received. Variable n shall not be less than 1. In the eventthat the calculated number is less than 1 the number utilizedshall be 1. The number of 9-1-1 calls received by the regionalcommunications center or eligible municipality shall be providedon an annual basis. For the purposes of calculation, data for theprevious calendar year of the total count of actual 9-1-1 calls ,as recorded by each telephone or telecommunications companyproviding local telephone service and each provider of commercialmobile radio service, shall be utilized. The number of inquiriesto the Automatic Location Identification (ALI) data base for eachpublic safety answering point is not to be utilized as the countof 9-1-1 calls.
(3) (a) The emergencytelecommunications service count (variable c1,) isbased upon the sum of the emergency telecommunications servicecounts for the municipality or municipalities served. For eachmunicipality served the factors of .025 for one emergency servicedispatched, .05 for two services dispatched, and .1 for threeservices dispatched shall be utilized. For each municipality thevariable c1, shall not exceed .1.
(b) The emergencytelecommunications service count shall be increased for regionalemergency telecommunications centers by a factor of .02 eachyear, starting with the second year, until a maximum of .2 isachieved.
(c) Those municipalities served bythe Connecticut State Police for law enforcement purposes andparticipating in a regional emergency telecommunications centershall be credited with one additional dispatch service in thecalculation of the service count variable c1.
(4) The number of full servicedispatch centers (variable c2,) shall not exceed thevalue of 1.0. Municipalities with populations greater thanseventy thousand and funded under the subsidy program thatcontinue to utilize secondary answering points for emergencytelecommunications purposes, shall be subject to a reduction inthe value of 1.0 by .25 for each year of continued utilization ofsecondary public safety answering points, starting in the secondyear.
(5) The funding base variable(variable b) is one dollar in year one. In subsequent years, thefunding base variable shall be one dollar plus the average growthrate of the Consumer Price Index, as recorded by the UnitedStates Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, over theprevious three calendar years. The calculation of the basevariable shall be performed prior to January 31st of each year.
(6) The funding formula shall beas follows: subsidy payment t equals variable p times variable nthe sum of variable c1, and variable c2,times variable b. Therefore, t = ((p*n)*(å c1, c2))*b.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-4 Subsidizationof Municipalities with Populations in excess of 70,000.
(a) The formula detailed insubsection (j) of Section 28-24-3 of these regulations shall beused for calculation of the subsidy for municipalities withpopulations in excess of seventy thousand.
(b) The subsidy for municipalitiesutilizing secondary dispatch operations for emergencytelecommunications services shall be reduced annually, ascalculated in variable c2, which is defined in subsection (j) (4)of Section 28-24-3 of these regulations. In the event that amunicipality with a reduced subsidy reorganizes its emergencycommunications operations in a manner which eliminates thesecondary operation, the funding level of that municipality shallbe restored to the level calculated under the formula for a fullservice emergency communications center.
(c) Subsidies to municipalitieswith populations in excess of seventy thousand shall be giveneither as an eligible municipality or as regional emergencytelecommunications center but not for both.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-5 Implementationof a Transition Grant Program
(a) On or after July 1, 1997,municipalities may apply for regional emergencytelecommunications center transition grants for the purpose ofreimbursing such municipalities? expenses related to thetransition of existing emergency telecommunications services toan approved multi-jurisdictional regional emergencytelecommunications center. Such reimbursable expenses shall belimited to costs associated with the relocation of existingemergency telecommunications systems, and non-recurring costsassociated with providing for additional functional capacity atthe regional emergency telecommunications center. Transitiongrants are limited by the availability of funds and subject tothe approval of the Department of Public Safety, Office ofState-Wide Emergency Telecommunications. Reimbursable expensesinclude the following:
(1) Moving telephone lines relatedto emergency telecommunication radio systems;
(2) Changes to existing radiosystems of the affected parties that are required by the move;
(3) Emergency telecommunicationsequipment required by the regional communications center tofacilitate the incorporation of another municipality; and
(4) Analysis, design or planningof a new regional emergency telecommunications center.Municipalities are eligible for analysis, design and planningcosts, allocated on a one time basis, for new regional centers ata rate of twenty thousand dollars for the first three membermunicipalities plus an additional five thousand dollars for eachadditional member municipality.
(b) Any entity provided withtransition grant funds shall be audited in accordance with theprovisions of Section 4-230 through 4-236 of the ConnecticutGeneral Statutes.
(c) Transition grant requests mustcontain the following information and documentation.
(1) Detailed description of thecurrent emergency telecommunications services offered by theparticipating municipalities which will be relocated to theregional center;
(2) Detailed listing of theexpenses related to transition of the existing center to theregional center;
(3) Certification, by thelegislative body having jurisdiction over the existing municipalemergency communications center, that the move to the regionalcenter is authorized, including the date of the effective change;and
(4) Certification by the regionalemergency telecommunications center regarding the participationof an additional member municipality.
(d) Transition grant requests mustbe submitted to the Department of Public Safety, Office ofState-Wide Emergency Telecommunications, not less than six monthsprior to the effective date of the move.
The Department of Public Safety,Office of State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications shall act ontransition grant requests no later than ninety days after itsreceipt of the grant application.
(e) Municipalities receivingtransition grants for reimbursable expenses under the provisionsof this section shall not be eligible for transition grants for aperiod of five years from the date of the award of the originaltransition grant.
(f) A municipality or group ofmunicipalities which has received a transition grant andrelocates to a stand-alone operation or another regionalemergency telecommunications center within two years of receiptof a transition grant shall refund said grant monies to the Stateof Connecticut, Office of the State Treasurer.
Section 26-24-6 ApplicationProcedures
Applications for public safetytransition grants shall be made on forms furnished by, and filedwith the Office of State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications, P.O.Box 2794, 1111 Country Club Road, Middletown, CT 06457-9294.
(NEW) Sec. 26-24-7 Implementationof a Regional Emergency Telecommunications Service Credit
(a) Every municipality shall beeligible for a regional emergency telecommunications servicecredit for coordinated medical emergency direction (CMED)services. This service credit shall be based upon the factor oftwenty-five cents per capita, utilizing most recent Department ofPublic Health population data. This credit shall be reduced byfive cents each year until the credit value of zero is achieved.COED credit recipients shall only be entities authorized by theDepartment of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services, underapproved plans for communications systems developed by emergencymedical services councils under the provisions of Section 19a-182of the Connecticut General Statutes. Municipalities shalldesignate the recipient of their CMED credit and notify theDepartment of Public Safety, Office of State-Wide EmergencyTelecommunications, prior to July 1st of each year, of saiddesignation.
(b) The regional emergencytelecommunications service credit is calculated with the formulaof variable r (service credit value) equals variable p(population) times .25.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-8 Training ofPublic Safety Telecommunications.
Funds from the Enhanced 9-1-1Telecommunications Fund shall be utilized for the presentation oftelecommunicator training programs and expenses related to thedevelopment of training pursuant to Sections 28-30-1 through28-30-11 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-9 RecurringExpenses and Capital Cost of the 9-1-1 Network
(a) By February 1st each year,each enhanced 9-1-1 network provider shall present evidence tothe Department of Public Utility Control and the Department ofPublic Safety, Office of State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications,regarding the amount of the projected recurring and capital costsof the enhanced 9-1-1 network.
(b) Enhanced 9-1-1 networkproviders shall adhere to the following network diversitystandards:
(1) All transport facilities shallbe either geographically diverse or have automatic reroutecapabilities. Within each circuit group, fifty percent of thecircuits shall travel a different route and utilize differentequipment from the other portion of the group or the entire groupshall be assigned to automatic reroute capabilities:
(2) There shall be diversity oftrunk groups from each central office to the enhanced
9-1-1 tandem switch; from theenhanced 9-1-1 tandem switch to the public safety answering pointserving central office; from the public safety answering pointserving central office to the concentrator nodes; and from theconcentrator nodes to the Automatic Location Identification (ALI)database. Automatic reroute capability shall be provided from theserving central office to the public safety answering point up tothe point where the alternative routes are available. There shallbe at least two paths from the serving central office to thepublic safety answering point to receive 9-1-1 calls. If twocables are routed in the same conduit, it shall be considered tobe one path, except where two cables are routed in two separatetubes within the conduit, which shall be considered two separatepaths; and
(3) All central office facilitiesincluding carrier systems, digital channels, digital interfacesand power equipment shall be diverse. Within each group, fiftypercent of the circuits shall utilize one set of carriers,digital channels, digital interfaces and power equipment, withthe remaining fifty percent utilizing a different set ofcarriers, digital channels, digital interfaces and powerequipment.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-10 Administrationof Enhanced 9-1-1 Program
(a) On or after June 1, 1997, eachtelephone or telecommunications company providing local telephoneservice and each provider of commercial mobile radio service, asdefined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Part 20,S20.3, shall assess against each subscriber a fee determined bythe Department of Public Utility Control. The annual fee shall bedetermined at a hearing, conducted by the Department of PublicUtility Control, on or before June 1st of each year, based upon abudget developed by the Commissioner of Public Safety on orbefore April 1st of each year.
(b) Any enhanced 9-1-1Telecommunications Fund surplus shall be carried forward tosuccessive fiscal years and used for the sole purpose ofadministering the Enhanced 9-1-1 program.
(c) For the purpose of assessmentof customer accounts with multiple lines, the monthly 9-1-1assessment shall be determined in accordance with the progressivewire line inclusion schedule as follows:
(1) If the number of access wirelines equals one, then the assessment factor shall be 1.0;
(2) If the number of access wirelines equals two, then the assessment factor shall be. .75;
(3) If the number of access wirelines equals three, then the assessment factor shall be .67;
(4) If the number of access wirelines equals four or five, then the assessment factor shall be.6;
(5) If the number of access wirelines is six, seven, eight, nine or ten, then the assessmentfactor shall be .5;
(6) If the number of access wirelines is equal to or greater than eleven but less than 26, thenthe assessment factor shall be .4;
(7) If the number of access wirelines is equal to or greater than 26, but less than 51, then theassessment factor shall be .39;
(8) If the number of access wirelines is equal to or greater than 51, but less than 100, then theassessment factor shall be .25; and
(9) If the number of access wirelines is equal to or greater than 100, then the assessment factorshall be .2
(d) Subscriber access lineassessments shall commence in June, 1997. All access lineassessments collected each month by telephone ortelecommunications companies providing local telephone serviceand providers of commercial mobile radio service shall beremitted to the Office of the State Treasurer for deposit intothe Enhanced 9-1-1 Telecommunications Fund no later than fifteendays after the close of each month.
(e) No later than February 1st ofeach year each, telephone or telecommunications company providinglocal telephone service and each provider of commercial mobileradio service shall submit to the Department of Public Safety thenumber of Connecticut subscribers on record as of January 1st ofeach year.
(f) The monthly subscriber feeshall not exceed fifty cents per month.
(g) Prior to April 1st of eachyear, the Department of Public Safety, Office of State WideEmergency Telecommunications, shall calculate the amount offunding required to implement the provisions of theseregulations. This amount shall be adjusted annually to reflectthe projected amount needed to implement the provisions of theseregulations.
(h) An annual operating budget forthe Office of State Wide Emergency Telecommunications shall beprepared, detailing projected expenditures. This budget shall besubmitted to the Department of Public Utility Control as part ofthe proceeding to determine the monthly fee to be assessedagainst each subscriber of local telephone service and eachsubscriber of commercial mobile radio service.
(NEW) Sec. 28-24-11 Administrationof the Office of State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications.
Funds from the Enhanced 9-1-1Telecommunications Fund shall be used to pay for personnel andoperating expenditures of the Department of Public Safety, Officeof State-Wide Emergency Telecommunications.
To ensure compliance with theprovisions of these regulations, the Commissioner of PublicSafety or his designee is authorized to enter upon and inspectpublic or private safety answering points receiving funding fromthe Enhanced 9-1-1 Telecommunications Fund.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
These regulations shall providefor the collection and disbursement of funds collected anddeposited into the Enhanced 9-1-1 Telecommunications Fundpursuant to Public Act 96-150. Those funds are intended toprovide funding for the following: the purchase and maintenanceof new public safety answering point 9-1-1 terminal equipment;the implementation of a subsidy program for regionalcommunications centers; the implementation of a regionalcommunications service credit to subsidize coordinated medicalemergency direction (CMED) operations; the recurring and capitalcosts associated with the state-wide enhanced 9-1-1 network; thetraining of public and private safety telecommunicators; theoperating expenditures of the Office of State Wide EmergencyTelecommunications; and the implementation of a transition grantprogram for new members of regional dispatch centers.