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FCC 64.6060
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 | 2016
  § 64.6060   Annual reporting and certification requirement.

   (a) All Providers must submit a report to the Commission, by April 1st of
   each year, regarding their interstate and intrastate Inmate Calling Services
   for the prior calendar year. The report shall contain:

   (1) The following information broken out by correctional institution; by
   jurisdictional  nature  to the extent that there are differences among
   interstate, intrastate, and local calls; and by the nature of the billing
   arrangement to the extent there are differences among Collect Calling, Debit
   Calling, Prepaid Calling, Prepaid Collect Calling, or any other type of
   billing arrangement:

   (i) Rates for Inmate Calling Services, reporting separately per-minute rates
   and per-call or per-connection charges;

   (ii) Ancillary charges;

   (iii) Minutes of use;

   (iv) The average duration of calls;

   (v) The percentage of calls disconnected by the Provider for reasons other
   than expiration of time;

   (vi) The number of calls disconnected by the Provider for reasons other than
   expiration of time;

   (2) A certification that the Provider was in compliance during the entire
   prior calendar year with the rates for Telecommunications Relay Service as
   required by § 64.6040;

   (3) A certification that the Provider was in compliance during the entire
   prior calendar year with the requirement that all rates and charges be
   cost-based as required by § 64.6010, including Ancillary Charges.

   (b) An officer or director from each Provider must certify that the reported
   information and data are accurate and complete to the best of his or her
   knowledge, information, and belief.

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Appendix A to Part 64—Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) System for
National Security Emergency Preparedness (NSEP)

1. Purpose and Authority

   a.  This  appendix  establishes  policies  and  procedures and assigns
   responsibilities for the National Security Emergency Preparedness (NSEP)
   Telecommunications  Service Priority (TSP) System. The NSEP TSP System
   authorizes  priority  treatment to certain domestic telecommunications
   services  (including  portions of U.S. international telecommunication
   services  provided  by U.S. service vendors) for which provisioning or
   restoration priority (RP) levels are requested, assigned, and approved in
   accordance with this appendix.

   b. This appendix is issued pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 201 through 205 and
   303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i),
   201  through  205  and  303(r).  These  sections  grant to the Federal
   Communications  Commission (FCC) the authority over the assignment and
   approval  of  priorities  for  provisioning  and restoration of common
   carrier-provided telecommunications services. Under section 706 of the
   Communications  Act, this authority may be superseded, and expanded to
   include non-common carrier telecommunication services, by the war emergency
   powers of the President of the United States. This appendix provides the
   Commission's Order to telecommunication service vendors and users to comply
   with policies and procedures establishing the NSEP TSP System, until such
   policies and procedures are superseded by the President's war emergency
   powers. This appendix is intended to be read in conjunction with regulations
   and procedures that the Executive Office of the President issues (1) to
   implement responsibilities assigned in section 6(b) of this appendix, or (2)
   for use in the event this appendix is superseded by the President's war
   emergency powers.

   c. Together, this appendix and the regulations and procedures issued by the
   Executive Office of the President establish one uniform system of priorities
   for provisioning and restoration of NSEP telecommunication services both
   before and after invocation of the President's war emergency powers. In
   order that government and industry resources may be used effectively under
   all  conditions, a single set of rules, regulations, and procedures is
   necessary,  and they must be applied on a day-to-day basis to all NSEP
   services so that the priorities they establish can be implemented at once
   when the need arises.

   *In sections 2(a)(2) and 2(b)(2) of Executive Order No. 12472, “Assignment
   of  National  Security  and  Emergency Preparedness Telecommunications
   Functions” April 3, 1984 ( 49 FR 13471  (1984)), the President assigned to the
   Director,  Office  of  Science  and  Technology  Policy,  certain NSEP
   telecommunication resource management responsibilities. The term “Executive
   Office of the President” as used in this appendix refers to the official or
   organization designated by the President to act on his behalf.

2. Applicability and Revocation

   a. This appendix applies to NSEP telecommunications services:

   (1) For which initial or revised priority level assignments are requested
   pursuant to section 8 of this appendix.

   (2) Which were assigned restoration priorities under the provision of FCC
   Order 80-581; 81 FCC 2d 441 (1980); 47 CFR part 64, appendix A, “Priority
   System for the Restoration of Common Carrier Provided Intercity Private Line
   Services”; and are being resubmitted for priority level assignments pursuant
   to  section  10  of this appendix. (Such services will retain assigned
   restoration  priorities  until  a resubmission for a TSP assignment is
   completed or until the existing RP rules are terminated.)

   b. FCC Order 80-581 will continue to apply to all other intercity, private
   line circuits assigned restoration priorities thereunder until the fully
   operating capability date of this appendix, 30 months after the initial
   operating capability date referred to in subsection d of this section.

   c. In addition, FCC Order, “Precedence System for Public Correspondence
   Services  Provided by the Communications Common Carriers” ( 34 FR 17292 
   (1969)); (47 CFR part 64, appendix B), is revoked as of the effective date
   of this appendix.

   d. The initial operating capability (IOC) date for NSEP TSP will be nine
   months after release in the Federal Register of the FCC's order following
   review of procedures submitted by the Executive Office of the President. On
   this IOC date requests for priority assignments generally will be accepted
   only by the Executive Office of the President.

3. Definitions

   As used in this part:

   a. Assignment means the designation of priority level(s) for a defined NSEP
   telecommunications service for a specified time period.

   b.  Audit  means  a quality assurance review in response to identified
   problems.

   c.  Government refers to the Federal government or any foreign, state,
   county, municipal or other local government agency or organization. Specific
   qualifications will be supplied whenever reference to a particular level of
   government is intended (e.g., “Federal government”, “state government”).
   “Foreign  government”  means  any sovereign empire, kingdom, state, or
   independent political community, including foreign diplomatic and consular
   establishments and coalitions or associations of governments (e.g., North
   Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Southeast Asian Treaty Organization
   (SEATO), Organization of American States (OAS), and government agencies or
   organization (e.g., Pan American Union, International Postal Union, and
   International Monetary Fund)).

   d.  National  Communications  System (NCS) refers to that organization
   established by the President in Executive Order No. 12472, “Assignment of
   National   Security   and  Emergency  Preparedness  Telecommunications
   Functions,” April 3, 1984,  49 FR 13471  (1984).

   e. National Coordinating Center (NCC) refers to the joint telecommunications
   industry-Federal  government  operation  established  by  the National
   Communications  System  to  assist  in  the  initiation, coordination,
   restoration,  and reconstitution of NSEP telecommunication services or
   facilities.

   f.  National Security Emergency Preparedness (NSEP) telecommunications
   services, or “NSEP services,” means telecommunication services which are
   used to maintain a state of readiness or to respond to and manage any event
   or crisis (local, national, or international), which causes or could cause
   injury or harm to the population, damage to or loss of property, or degrades
   or threatens the NSEP posture of the United States. These services fall into
   two specific categories, Emergency NSEP and Essential NSEP, and are assigned
   priority levels pursuant to section 9 of this appendix.

   g. NSEP treatment refers to the provisioning of a telecommunication service
   before others based on the provisioning priority level assigned by the
   Executive Office of the President.

   h. Priority action means assignment, revision, revocation, or revalidation
   by the Executive Office of the President of a priority level associated with
   an NSEP telecommunications service.

   i.  Priority  level  means  the  level that may be assigned to an NSEP
   telecommunications service specifying the order in which provisioning or
   restoration  of  the service is to occur relative to other NSEP and/or
   non-NSEP telecommunication services. Priority levels authorized by this
   appendix are designated (highest to lowest) “E,” “1,” “2,” “3,” “4,” and
   “5,” for provisioning and “1,” “2,” “3,” “4,” and “5,” for restoration.

   j. Priority level assignment means the priority level(s) designated for the
   provisioning and/or restoration of a particular NSEP telecommunications
   service under section 9 of this appendix.

   k. Private NSEP telecommunications services include non-common carrier
   telecommunications services including private line, virtual private line,
   and private switched network services.

   l. Provisioning means the act of supplying telecommunications service to a
   user, including all associated transmission, wiring and equipment. As used
   herein, “provisioning” and “initiation” are synonymous and include altering
   the state of an existing priority service or capability.

   m. Public switched NSEP telecommunications services include those NSEP
   telecommunications  services  utilizing public switched networks. Such
   services may include both interexchange and intraexchange network facilities
   (e.g., switching systems, interoffice trunks and subscriber loops).

   n. Reconciliation means the comparison of NSEP service information and the
   resolution of identified discrepancies.

   o. Restoration means the repair or returning to service of one or more
   telecommunication services that have experienced a service outage or are
   unusable for any reason, including a damaged or impaired telecommunications
   facility. Such repair or returning to service may be done by patching,
   rerouting, substitution of component parts or pathways, and other means, as
   determined necessary by a service vendor.

   p. Revalidation means the rejustification by a service user of a priority
   level assignment. This may result in extension by the Executive Office of
   the President of the expiration date associated with the priority level
   assignment.

   q.  Revision means the change of priority level assignment for an NSEP
   telecommunications service. This includes any extension of an existing
   priority level assignment to an expanded NSEP service.

   r. Revocation means the elimination of a priority level assignment when it
   is no longer valid. All priority level assignments for an NSEP service are
   revoked upon service termination.

   s. Service identification refers to the information uniquely identifying an
   NSEP telecommunications service to the service vendor and/or service user.

   t.  Service user refers to any individual or organization (including a
   service  vendor) supported by a telecommunications service for which a
   priority level has been requested or assigned pursuant to section 8 or 9 of
   this appendix.

   u.  Service  vendor  refers  to  any person, association, partnership,
   corporation, organization, or other entity (including common carriers and
   government organizations) that offers to supply any telecommunications
   equipment, facilities, or services (including customer premises equipment
   and wiring) or combination thereof. The term includes resale carriers, prime
   contractors, subcontractors, and interconnecting carriers.

   v. Spare circuits or services refers to those not being used or contracted
   for by any customer.

   w. Telecommunication services means the transmission, emission, or reception
   of signals, signs, writing, images, sounds, or intelligence of any nature,
   by wire, cable, satellite, fiber optics, laser, radio, visual or other
   electronic, electric, electromagnetic, or acoustically coupled means, or any
   combination  thereof. The term can include necessary telecommunication
   facilities.

   x. Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) system user refers to any
   individual, organization, or activity that interacts with the NSEP TSP
   System.

4. Scope

   a. Domestic NSEP services. The NSEP TSP System and procedures established by
   this  appendix  authorize priority treatment to the following domestic
   telecommunication  services  (including portions of U.S. international
   telecommunication services provided by U.S. vendors) for which provisioning
   or restoration priority levels are requested, assigned, and approved in
   accordance with this appendix:

   (1) Common carrier services which are:

   (a) Interstate or foreign telecommunications services,

   (b) Intrastate telecommunication services inseparable from interstate or
   foreign  telecommunications services, and intrastate telecommunication
   services to which priority levels are assigned pursuant to section 9 of this
   appendix.

   Note: Initially, the NSEP TSP System's applicability to public switched
   services is limited to (a) provisioning of such services (e.g., business,
   centrex, cellular, foreign exchange, Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) and
   other  services that the selected vendor is able to provision) and (b)
   restoration of services that the selected vendor is able to restore.

   (2) Services which are provided by government and/or non-common carriers and
   are interconnected to common carrier services assigned a priority level
   pursuant to section 9 of this appendix.

   b. Control services and orderwires. The NSEP TSP System and procedures
   established  by this appendix are not applicable to authorize priority
   treatment to control services or orderwires owned by a service vendor and
   needed for provisioning, restoration, or maintenance of other services owned
   by that service vendor. Such control services and orderwires shall have
   priority provisioning and restoration over all other telecommunication
   services (including NSEP services) and shall be exempt from preemption.
   However, the NSEP TSP System and procedures established by this appendix are
   applicable to control services or orderwires leased by a service vendor.

   c. Other services. The NSEP TSP System may apply, at the discretion of and
   upon  special  arrangements  by the NSEP TSP System users involved, to
   authorize priority treatment to the following telecommunication services:

   (1) Government or non-common carrier services which are not connected to
   common carrier provided services assigned a priority level pursuant to
   section 9 of this appendix.

   (2) Portions of U.S. international services which are provided by foreign
   correspondents. (U.S. telecommunication service vendors are encouraged to
   ensure that relevant operating arrangements are consistent to the maximum
   extent practicable with the NSEP TSP System. If such arrangements do not
   exist,  U.S.  telecommunication  service vendors should handle service
   provisioning and/or restoration in accordance with any system acceptable to
   their foreign correspondents which comes closest to meeting the procedures
   established in this appendix.)

5. Policy

   The NSEP TSP System is the regulatory, administrative, and operational
   system authorizing and providing for priority treatment, i.e., provisioning
   and restoration, of NSEP telecommunication services. As such, it establishes
   the framework for telecommunication service vendors to provision, restore,
   or  otherwise  act  on  a  priority  basis  to  ensure  effective NSEP
   telecommunication services. The NSEP TSP System allows the assignment of
   priority levels to any NSEP service across three time periods, or stress
   conditions:     Peacetime/Crisis/Mobilizations,     Attack/War,    and
   Post-Attack/Recovery. Although priority levels normally will be assigned by
   the Executive Office of the President and retained by service vendors only
   for the current time period, they may be preassigned for the other two time
   periods at the request of service users who are able to identify and justify
   in  advance,  their  wartime  or  post-attack  NSEP  telecommunication
   requirements. Absent such preassigned priority levels for the Attack/War and
   Post-Attack/Recovery  periods,  priority  level  assignments  for  the
   Peacetime/Crisis/Mobilization period will remain in effect. At all times,
   priority level assignments will be subject to revision by the FCC or (on an
   interim basis) the Executive Office of the President, based upon changing
   NSEP needs. No other system of telecommunication service priorities which
   conflicts with the NSEP TSP System is authorized.

6. Responsibilities

   a. The FCC will:

   (1) Provide regulatory oversight of implementation of the NSEP TSP System.

   (2) Enforce NSEP TSP System rules and regulations, which are contained in
   this appendix.

   (3)  Act  as final authority for approval, revision, or disapproval of
   priority actions by the Executive Office of the President and adjudicate
   disputes  regarding either priority actions or denials of requests for
   priority actions by the Executive Office of the President, until superseded
   by  the  President's  war  emergency  powers  under section 706 of the
   Communications Act.

   (4)  Function  (on  a  discretionary  basis)  as  a sponsoring Federal
   organization. (See section 6(c) below.)

   b. The Executive Office of the President will:

   (1) During exercise of the President's war emergency powers under section
   706 of the Communications Act, act as the final approval authority for
   priority actions or denials of requests for priority actions, adjudicating
   any disputes.

   (2) Until the exercise of the President's war emergency powers, administer
   the NSEP TSP System which includes:

   (a) Receiving, processing, and evaluating requests for priority actions from
   service users, or sponsoring Federal government organizations on behalf of
   service users (e.g., Department of State or Defense on behalf of foreign
   governments, Federal Emergency Management Agency on behalf of state and
   local  governments,  and any Federal organization on behalf of private
   industry entities). Action on such requests will be completed within 30 days
   of receipt.

   (b)  Assigning, revising, revalidating, or revoking priority levels as
   necessary or upon request of service users concerned, and denying requests
   for  priority  actions as necessary, using the categories and criteria
   specified in section 12 of this appendix. Action on such requests will be
   completed within 30 days of receipt.

   (c) Maintaining data on priority level assignments.

   (d) Periodically forwarding to the FCC lists of priority actions by the
   Executive Office of the President for review and approval.

   (e) Periodically initiating reconciliation.

   (f) Testing and evaluating the NSEP TSP System for effectiveness.

   (g) Conducting audits as necessary. Any Telecommunications Service Priority
   (TSP) System user may request the Executive Office of the President to
   conduct an audit.

   (h)  Issuing, subject to review by the FCC, regulations and procedures
   supplemental to and consistent with this appendix regarding operation and
   use of the NSEP TSP System.

   (i)  Serving  as  a  centralized  point-of-contact  for collecting and
   disseminating to all interested parties (consistent with requirements for
   treatment of classified and proprietary material) information concerning use
   and abuse of the NSEP TSP System.

   (j) Establishing and assisting a TSP System Oversight Committee to identify
   and review any problems developing in the system and recommend actions to
   correct them or prevent recurrence. In addition to representatives of the
   Executive Office of the President, representatives from private industry
   (including telecommunication service vendors), state and local governments,
   the FCC, and other organizations may be appointed to that Committee.

   (k)  Reporting  at least quarterly to the FCC and TSP System Oversight
   Committee, together with any recommendations for action, the operational
   status of and trends in the NSEP TSP System, including:

   (i) Numbers of requests processed for the various priority actions, and the
   priority levels assigned.

   (ii) Relative percentages of services assigned to each priority level under
   each NSEP category and subcategory.

   (iii)  Any  apparent  serious misassignment or abuse of priority level
   assignments.

   (iv) Any existing or developing problem.

   (l) Submitting semi-annually to the FCC and TSP System Oversight Committee a
   summary  report  identifying  the  time and event associated with each
   invocation of NSEP treatment under section 9(c) of this appendix, whether
   the  NSEP  service requirement was adequately handled, and whether any
   additional charges were incurred. These reports will be due by April 30th
   for the preceding July through December and by October 31 for the preceding
   January through June time periods.

   (m) All reports submitted to the FCC should be directed to Chief, Public
   Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Washington, DC 20554.

   (3)  Function  (on  a  discretionary  basis)  as  a sponsoring Federal
   organization. (See section 6(c) below.)

   c. Sponsoring Federal organizations will:

   (1)  Review  and  decide  whether to sponsor foreign, state, and local
   government  and  private industry (including telecommunication service
   vendors) requests for priority actions. Federal organizations will forward
   sponsored requests with recommendations for disposition to the Executive
   Office of the President. Recommendations will be based on the categories and
   criteria in section 12 of this appendix.

   (2) Forward notification of priority actions or denials of requests for
   priority  actions  from  the  Executive Office of the President to the
   requesting  foreign,  state, and local government and private industry
   entities.

   (3)  Cooperate  with  the  Executive  Office  of  the President during
   reconciliation, revalidation, and audits.

   (4)  Comply  with  any  regulations and procedures supplemental to and
   consistent with this appendix which are issued by the Executive Office of
   the President.

   d. Service users will:

   (1) Identify services requiring priority level assignments and request and
   justify priority level assignments in accordance with this appendix and any
   supplemental regulations and procedures issued by the Executive Office of
   the President that are consistent with this appendix.

   (2) Request and justify revalidation of all priority level assignments at
   least every three years.

   (3) For services assigned priority levels, ensure (through contractual means
   or  otherwise)  availability of customer premises equipment and wiring
   necessary for end-to-end service operation by the service due date, and
   continued operation; and, for such services in the Emergency NSEP category,
   by the time that vendors are prepared to provide the services. Additionally,
   designate the organization responsible for the service on an end-to-end
   basis.

   (4) Be prepared to accept services assigned priority levels by the service
   due dates or, for services in the Emergency NSEP category, when they are
   available.

   (5) Pay vendors any authorized costs associated with services that are
   assigned priority levels.

   (6) Report to vendors any failed or unusable services that are assigned
   priority levels.

   (7) Designate a 24-hour point-of-contact for matters concerning each request
   for  priority action and apprise the Executive Office of the President
   thereof.

   (8) Upon termination of services that are assigned priority levels, or
   circumstances warranting revisions in priority level assignment (e.g.,
   expansion of service), request and justify revocation or revision.

   (9) When NSEP treatment is invoked under section 9(c) of this appendix,
   within 90 days following provisioning of the service involved, forward to
   the  National  Coordinating Center (see section 3(e) of this appendix)
   complete information identifying the time and event associated with the
   invocation and regarding whether the NSEP service requirement was adequately
   handled and whether any additional charges were incurred.

   (10)  Cooperate  with  the  Executive  Office  of the President during
   reconciliation, revalidation, and audits.

   (11)  Comply  with  any regulations and procedures supplemental to and
   consistent with this appendix that are issued by the Executive Office of the
   President.

   e. Non-federal service users, in addition to responsibilities prescribed
   above in section 6(d), will obtain a sponsoring Federal organization for all
   requests  for priority actions. If unable to find a sponsoring Federal
   organization, a non-federal service user may submit its request, which must
   include documentation of attempts made to obtain a sponsor and reasons given
   by the sponsor for its refusal, directly to the Executive Office of the
   President.

   f. Service vendors will:

   (1)  When  NSEP  treatment is invoked by service users, provision NSEP
   telecommunication services before non-NSEP services, based on priority level
   assignments made by the Executive Office of the President. Provisioning will
   require service vendors to:

   (a) Allocate resources to ensure best efforts to provide NSEP services by
   the time required. When limited resources constrain response capability,
   vendors will address conflicts for resources by:

   (i)  Providing  NSEP  services in order of provisioning priority level
   assignment (i.e., “E”, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, or “5”);

   (ii) Providing Emergency NSEP services (i.e., those assigned provisioning
   priority level “E”) in order of receipt of the service requests;

   (iii) Providing Essential NSEP services (i.e., those assigned priority
   levels “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, or “5”) that have the same provisioning priority
   level in order of service due dates; and

   (iv)  Referring  any conflicts which cannot be resolved (to the mutual
   satisfaction of servicer vendors and users) to the Executive Office of the
   President for resolution.

   (b) Comply with NSEP service requests by:

   (i) Allocating resources necessary to provide Emergency NSEP services as
   soon as possible, dispatching outside normal business hours when necessary;

   (ii) Ensuring best efforts to meet requested service dates for Essential
   NSEP services, negotiating a mutually (customer and vendor) acceptable
   service due date when the requested service due date cannot be met; and

   (iii) Seeking National Coordinating Center (NCC) assistance as authorized
   under the NCC Charter (see section 1.3, NCC Charter, dated October 9, 1985).

   (2) Restore NSEP telecommunications services which suffer outage, or are
   reported as unusable or otherwise in need of restoration, before non-NSEP
   services,  based on restoration priority level assignments. (Note: For
   broadband or multiple service facilities, restoration is permitted even
   though it might result in restoration of services assigned no or lower
   priority levels along with, or sometimes ahead of, some higher priority
   level services.) Restoration will require service vendors to restore NSEP
   services in order of restoration priority level assignment (i.e., “1”, “2”,
   “3”, “4”, or “5”) by:

   (a) Allocating available resources to restore NSEP services as quickly as
   practicable, dispatching outside normal business hours to restore services
   assigned priority levels “1”, “2”, and “3” when necessary, and services
   assigned priority level “4” and “5” when the next business day is more than
   24 hours away;

   (b) Restoring NSEP services assigned the same restoration priority level
   based upon which can be first restored. (However, restoration actions in
   progress should not normally be interrupted to restore another NSEP service
   assigned the same restoration priority level);

   (c) Patching and/or rerouting NSEP services assigned restoration priority
   levels from “1” through “5,” when use of patching and/or rerouting will
   hasten restoration;

   (d) Seeking National Coordinating Center (NCC) assistance authorized under
   the NCC Charter; and

   (e)  Referring  any  conflicts which cannot be resolved (to the mutual
   satisfaction of service vendors and users) to the Executive Office of the
   President for resolution.

   (3) Respond to provisioning requests of customers and/or other service
   vendors, and to restoration priority level assignments when an NSEP service
   suffers an outage or is reported as unusable, by:

   (a) Ensuring that vendor personnel understand their responsibilities to
   handle NSEP provisioning requests and to restore NSEP service; and

   (b) Providing a 24-hour point-of-contact for receiving provisioning requests
   for  Emergency  NSEP  services  and reports of NSEP service outages or
   unusability.

   (c) Seek verification from an authorized entity if legitimacy of a priority
   level assignment or provisioning request for an NSEP service is in doubt.
   However, processing of Emergency NSEP service requests will not be delayed
   for verification purposes.

   (4)  Cooperate  with other service vendors involved in provisioning or
   restoring  a  portion  of  an NSEP service by honoring provisioning or
   restoration  priority level assignments, or requests for assistance to
   provision or restore NSEP services, as detailed in sections 6(f)(1), (2),
   and (3) above.

   (5) All service vendors, including resale carriers, are required to ensure
   that  service  vendors  supplying  underlying  facilities are provided
   information necessary to implement priority treatment of facilities that
   support NSEP services.

   (6) Preempt, when necessary, existing services to provide an NSEP service as
   authorized in section 7 of this appendix.

   (7) Assist in ensuring that priority level assignments of NSEP services are
   accurately identified “end-to-end” by:

   (a) Seeking verification from an authorized Federal government entity if the
   legitimacy of the restoration priority level assignment is in doubt;

   (b)  Providing  to  subcontractors and/or interconnecting carriers the
   restoration priority level assigned to a service;

   (c) Supplying, to the Executive Office of the President, when acting as a
   prime contractor to a service user, confirmation information regarding NSEP
   service completion for that portion of the service they have contracted to
   supply;

   (d)  Supplying, to the Executive Office of the President, NSEP service
   information for the purpose of reconciliation.

   (e)  Cooperating  with  the  Executive  Office of the President during
   reconciliation.

   (f) Periodically initiating reconciliation with their subcontractors and
   arranging for subsequent subcontractors to cooperate in the reconciliation
   process.

   (8) Receive compensation for costs authorized through tariffs or contracts
   by:

   (a) Provisions contained in properly filed state or Federal tariffs; or

   (b) Provisions of properly negotiated contracts where the carrier is not
   required to file tariffs.

   (9) Provision or restore only the portions of services for which they have
   agreed to be responsible (i.e., have contracted to supply), unless the
   President's war emergency powers under section 706 of the Communications Act
   are in effect.

   (10) Cooperate with the Executive Office of the President during audits.

   (11)  Comply  with  any  regulations or procedures supplemental to and
   consistent with this appendix that are issued by the Executive Office of the
   President and reviewed by the FCC.

   (12) Insure that at all times a reasonable number of public switched network
   services are made available for public use.

   (13) Not disclose information concerning NSEP services they provide to those
   not having a need-to-know or might use the information for competitive
   advantage.

7. Preemption of Existing Services

   When necessary to provision or restore NSEP services, service vendors may
   preempt services they provide as specified below. “User” as used in this
   Section means any user of a telecommunications service, including both NSEP
   and non-NSEP services. Prior consent by a preempted user is not required.

   a. The sequence in which existing services may be preempted to provision
   NSEP services assigned a provisioning priority level “E” or restore NSEP
   services assigned a restoration priority level from “1” through “5”:

   (1) Non-NSEP services: If suitable spare services are not available, then,
   based on the considerations in this appendix and the service vendor's best
   judgment, non-NSEP services will be preempted. After ensuring a sufficient
   number of public switched services are available for public use, based on
   the service vendor's best judgment, such services may be used to satisfy a
   requirement for provisioning or restoring NSEP services.

   (2) NSEP services: If no suitable spare or non-NSEP services are available,
   then existing NSEP services may be preempted to provision or restore NSEP
   services with higher priority level assignments. When this is necessary,
   NSEP  services will be selected for preemption in the inverse order of
   priority level assignment.

   (3) Service vendors who are preempting services will ensure their best
   effort to notify the service user of the preempted service and state the
   reason for and estimated duration of the preemption.

   b. Service vendors may, based on their best judgment, determine the sequence
   in which existing services may be preempted to provision NSEP services
   assigned a provisioning priority of “1” through “5”. Preemption is not
   subject to the consent of the user whose service will be preempted.

8. Requests for Priority Assignments.

   All service users are required to submit requests for priority actions
   through the Executive Office of the President in the format and following
   the procedures prescribed by that Office.

9. Assignment, Approval, Use, and Invocation of Priority Levels

   a. Assignment and approval of priority levels. Priority level assignments
   will be based upon the categories and criteria specified in section 12 of
   this appendix. A priority level assignment made by the Executive Office of
   the President will serve as that Office's recommendation to the FCC. Until
   the President's war emergency powers are invoked, priority level assignments
   must  be  approved by the FCC. However, service vendors are ordered to
   implement any priority level assignments that are pending FCC approval.

   After invocation of the President's war emergency powers, these requirements
   may be superseded by other procedures issued by the Executive Office of the
   President.

   b. Use of Priority Level Assignments.

   (1) All provisioning and restoration priority level assignments for services
   in the Emergency NSEP category will be included in initial service orders to
   vendors.  Provisioning  priority  level assignments for Essential NSEP
   services, however, will not usually be included in initial service orders to
   vendors. NSEP treatment for Essential NSEP services will be invoked and
   provisioning priority level assignments will be conveyed to service vendors
   only if the vendors cannot meet needed service dates through the normal
   provisioning process.

   (2)  Any  revision or revocation of either provisioning or restoration
   priority level assignments will also be transmitted to vendors.

   (3) Service vendors shall accept priority levels and/or revisions only after
   assignment by the Executive Office of the President.

   Note: Service vendors acting as prime contractors will accept assigned NSEP
   priority levels only when they are accompanied by the Executive Office of
   the President designated service identification, i.e., TSP Authorization
   Code. However, service vendors are authorized to accept priority levels
   and/or revisions from users and contracting activities before assignment by
   the  Executive  Office of the President when service vendor, user, and
   contracting activities are unable to communicate with either the Executive
   Office of the President or the FCC. Processing of Emergency NSEP service
   requests will not be delayed for verification purposes.

   c. Invocation of NSEP treatment. To invoke NSEP treatment for the priority
   provisioning of an NSEP telecommunications service, an authorized Federal
   official  either  within,  or  acting on behalf of, the service user's
   organization must make a written or oral declaration to concerned service
   vendor(s) and the Executive Office of the President that NSEP treatment is
   being invoked. Authorized Federal officials include the head or director of
   a Federal agency, commander of a unified/specified military command, chief
   of  a  military service, or commander of a major military command; the
   delegates of any of the foregoing; or any other officials as specified in
   supplemental regulations or procedures issued by the Executive Office of the
   President. The authority to invoke NSEP treatment may be delegated only to a
   general  or  flag  officer of a military service, civilian employee of
   equivalent  grade  (e.g.,  Senior  Executive  Service member), Federal
   Coordinating    Officer    or    Federal    Emergency   Communications
   Coordinator/Manager, or any other such officials specified in supplemental
   regulations or procedures issued by the Executive Office of the President.
   Delegates  must  be designated as such in writing, and written or oral
   invocations  must  be  accomplished,  in  accordance with supplemental
   regulations or procedures issued by the Executive Office of the President.

10. Resubmission of Circuits Presently Assigned Restoration Priorities

   All  circuits  assigned  restoration  priorities  must be reviewed for
   eligibility for initial restoration priority level assignment under the
   provisions  of  this appendix. Circuits currently assigned restoration
   priorities,  and  for which restoration priority level assignments are
   requested under section 8 of this appendix, will be resubmitted to the
   Executive Office of the President. To resubmit such circuits, service users
   will comply with applicable provisions of section 6(d) of this appendix.

11. Appeal

   Service users or sponsoring Federal organizations may appeal any priority
   level assignment, denial, revision, revocation, approval, or disapproval to
   the Executive Office of the President within 30 days of notification to the
   service user. The appellant must use the form or format required by the
   Executive Office of the President and must serve the FCC with a copy of its
   appeal. The Executive Office of the President will act on the appeal within
   90 days of receipt. Service users and sponsoring Federal organizations may
   only then appeal directly to the FCC. Such FCC appeal must be filed within
   30 days of notification of the Executive Office of the President's decision
   on appeal. Additionally, the Executive Office of the President may appeal
   any FCC revisions, approvals, or disapprovals to the FCC. All appeals to the
   FCC must be submitted using the form or format required. The party filing
   its appeal with the FCC must include factual details supporting its claim
   and must serve a copy on the Executive Office of the President and any other
   party directly involved. Such party may file a response within 20 days, and
   replies may be filed within 10 days thereafter. The Commission will not
   issue public notices of such submissions. The Commission will provide notice
   of its decision to the parties of record. Any appeals to the Executive
   Office of the President that include a claim of new information that has not
   been presented before for consideration may be submitted at any time.

12. NSEP TSP System Categories, Criteria, and Priority Levels

   a.  General.  NSEP TSP System categories and criteria, and permissible
   priority level assignments, are defined and explained below.

   (1) The Essential NSEP category has four subcategories: National Security
   Leadership; National Security Posture and U.S. Population Attack Warning;
   Public Health, Safety, and Maintenance of Law and Order; and Public Welfare
   and Maintenance of National Economic Posture. Each subcategory has its own
   criteria. Criteria are also shown for the Emergency NSEP category, which has
   no sub-categories.

   (2) Priority levels of “1,” “2,” “3,” “4,” and “5” may be assigned for
   provisioning  and/or  restoration  of Essential NSEP telecommunication
   services.  However,  for Emergency NSEP telecommunications services, a
   priority level “E” is assigned for provisioning. A restoration priority
   level from “1” through “5” may be assigned if an Emergency NSEP service also
   qualifies for such a restoration priority level under the Essential NSEP
   category.

   (3) The NSEP TSP System allows the assignment of priority levels to any NSEP
   telecommunications service across three time periods, or stress conditions:
   Peacetime/Crisis/Mobilization,  Attack/War,  and Post-Attack/Recovery.
   Priority levels will normally be assigned only for the first time period.
   These assigned priority levels will apply through the onset of any attack,
   but it is expected that they would later be revised by surviving authorized
   telecommunication resource managers within the Executive Office of the
   President based upon specific facts and circumstances arising during the
   Attack/War and Post-Attack/Recovery time periods.

   (4) Service users may, for their own internal use, assign subpriorities to
   their services assigned priority levels. Receipt of and response to any such
   subpriorities is optional for service vendors.

   (5)  The  following  paragraphs  provide a detailed explanation of the
   categories,  subcategories,  criteria, and priority level assignments,
   beginning with the Emergency NSEP category.

   b.  Emergency  NSEP. Telecommunications services in the Emergency NSEP
   category  are  those  new services so critical as to be required to be
   provisioned at the earliest possible time, without regard to the costs of
   obtaining them.

   (1) Criteria. To qualify under the Emergency NSEP category, the service must
   meet criteria directly supporting or resulting from at least one of the
   following NSEP functions:

   (a) Federal government activity responding to a Presidentially declared
   disaster or emergency as defined in the Disaster Relief Act (42 U.S.C.
   5122).

   (b)  State or local government activity responding to a Presidentially
   declared disaster or emergency.

   (c)  Response  to  a  state of crisis declared by the National Command
   Authorities (e.g., exercise of Presidential war emergency powers under
   section 706 of the Communications Act.)

   (d) Efforts to protect endangered U.S. personnel or property.

   (e) Response to an enemy or terrorist action, civil disturbance, natural
   disaster, or any other unpredictable occurrence that has damaged facilities
   whose uninterrupted operation is critical to NSEP or the management of other
   ongoing crises.

   (f) Certification by the head or director of a Federal agency, commander of
   a unified/specified command, chief of a military service, or commander of a
   major military command, that the telecommunications service is so critical
   to protection of life and property or to NSEP that it must be provided
   immediately.

   (g)  A  request  from  an  official authorized pursuant to the Foreign
   Intelligence Surveillance Act (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and 18 U.S.C. 2511,
   2518, 2519).

   (2) Priority Level Assignment.

   (a) Services qualifying under the Emergency NSEP category are assigned
   priority level “E” for provisioning.

   (b)  After 30 days, assignments of provisioning priority level “E” for
   Emergency  NSEP services are automatically revoked unless extended for
   another 30-day period. A notice of any such revocation will be sent to
   service vendors.

   (c) For restoration, Emergency NSEP services may be assigned priority levels
   under the provisions applicable to Essential NSEP services (see section
   12(c)). Emergency NSEP services not otherwise qualifying for restoration
   priority level assignment as Essential NSEP may be assigned a restoration
   priority level “5” for a 30-day period. Such 30-day restoration priority
   level assignments will be revoked automatically unless extended for another
   30-day period. A notice of any such revocation will be sent to service
   vendors.

   c. Essential NSEP. Telecommunication services in the Essential NSEP category
   are those required to be provisioned by due dates specified by service
   users, or restored promptly, normally without regard to associated overtime
   or expediting costs. They may be assigned priority level of “1,” “2,” “3,”
   “4,” or “5” for both provisioning and restoration, depending upon the nature
   and urgency of the supported function, the impact of lack of service or of
   service interruption upon the supported function, and, for priority access
   to public switched services, the user's level of responsibility. Priority
   level  assignments  will  be valid for no more than three years unless
   revalidated. To be categorized as Essential NSEP, a telecommunications
   service must qualify under one of the four following subcategories: National
   Security Leadership; National Security Posture and U.S. Population Attack
   Warning; Public Health, Safety and Maintenance of Law and Order; or Public
   Welfare and Maintenance of National Economic Posture. (Note Under emergency
   circumstances,   Essential  NSEP  telecommunication  services  may  be
   recategorized  as Emergency NSEP and assigned a priority level “E” for
   provisioning.)

   (1) National security leadership. This subcategory will be strictly limited
   to only those telecommunication services essential to national survival if
   nuclear attack threatens or occurs, and critical orderwire and control
   services  necessary  to ensure the rapid and efficient provisioning or
   restoration of other NSEP telecommunication services. Services in this
   subcategory are those for which a service interruption of even a few minutes
   would have serious adverse impact upon the supported NSEP function.

   (a) Criteria. To qualify under this subcategory, a service must be at least
   one of the following:

   (i) Critical orderwire, or control service, supporting other NSEP functions.

   (ii)  Presidential  communications  service  critical to continuity of
   government and national leadership during crisis situations.

   (iii) National Command Authority communications service for military command
   and control critical to national survival.

   (iv) Intelligence communications service critical to warning of potentially
   catastrophic attack.

   (v) Communications service supporting the conduct of diplomatic negotiations
   critical to arresting or limiting hostilities.

   (b) Priority level assignment. Services under this subcategory will normally
   be assigned priority level “1” for provisioning and restoration during the
   Peace/Crisis/Mobilization time period.

   (2) National security posture and U.S. population attack warning. This
   subcategory covers those minimum additional telecommunication services
   essential   to   maintaining   an   optimum  defense,  diplomatic,  or
   continuity-of-government  postures  before,  during,  and after crises
   situations. Such situations are those ranging from national emergencies to
   international crises, including nuclear attack. Services in this subcategory
   are those for which a service interruption ranging from a few minutes to one
   day would have serious adverse impact upon the supported NSEP function.

   (a) Criteria. To qualify under this subcategory, a service must support at
   least one of the following NSEP functions:

   (i) Threat assessment and attack warning.

   (ii) Conduct of diplomacy.

   (iii) Collection, processing, and dissemination of intelligence.

   (iv) Command and control of military forces.

   (v) Military mobilization.

   (vi) Continuity of Federal government before, during, and after crises
   situations.

   (vii) Continuity of state and local government functions supporting the
   Federal government during and after national emergencies.

   (viii) Recovery of critical national functions after crises situations.

   (ix) National space operations.

   (b) Priority level assignment. Services under this subcategory will normally
   be  assigned priority level “2,” “3,” “4,” or “5” for provisioning and
   restoration during Peacetime/Crisis/Mobilization.

   (3)  Public  health,  safety,  and  maintenance of law and order. This
   subcategory  covers  the  minimum number of telecommunication services
   necessary for giving civil alert to the U.S. population and maintaining law
   and order and the health and safety of the U.S. population in times of any
   national, regional, or serious local emergency. These services are those for
   which a service interruption ranging from a few minutes to one day would
   have serious adverse impact upon the supported NSEP functions.

   (a) Criteria. To qualify under this subcategory, a service must support at
   least one of the following NSEP functions:

   (i) Population warning (other than attack warning).

   (ii) Law enforcement.

   (iii) Continuity of critical state and local government functions (other
   than  support  of  the  Federal  government  during and after national
   emergencies).

   (vi) Hospitals and distributions of medical supplies.

   (v) Critical logistic functions and public utility services.

   (vi) Civil air traffic control.

   (vii) Military assistance to civil authorities.

   (viii) Defense and protection of critical industrial facilities.

   (ix) Critical weather services.

   (x) Transportation to accomplish the foregoing NSEP functions.

   (b) Priority level assignment. Service under this subcategory will normally
   be  assigned  priority  levels  “3,”  “4,” or “5” for provisioning and
   restoration during Peacetime/Crisis/Mobilization.

   (4)  Public welfare and maintenance of national economic posture. This
   subcategory  covers  the minimum number of telecommunications services
   necessary for maintaining the public welfare and national economic posture
   during any national or regional emergency. These services are those for
   which a service interruption ranging from a few minutes to one day would
   have serious adverse impact upon the supported NSEP function.

   (a) Criteria. To qualify under this subcategory, a service must support at
   least one of the following NSEP functions:

   (i) Distribution of food and other essential supplies.

   (ii) Maintenance of national monetary, credit, and financial systems.

   (iii)  Maintenance of price, wage, rent, and salary stabilization, and
   consumer rationing programs.

   (iv) Control of production and distribution of strategic materials and
   energy supplies.

   (v) Prevention and control of environmental hazards or damage.

   (vi) Transportation to accomplish the foregoing NSEP functions.

   (b) Priority level assignment. Services under this subcategory will normally
   be assigned priority levels “4” or “5” for provisioning and restoration
   during Peacetime/Crisis/Mobilization.

   d. Limitations. Priority levels will be assigned only to the minimum number
   of telecommunication services required to support an NSEP function. Priority
   levels will not normally be assigned to backup services on a continuing
   basis, absent additional justification, e.g., a service user specifies a
   requirement for physically diverse routing or contracts for additional
   continuity-of-service features. The Executive Office of the President may
   also establish limitations upon the relative numbers of services which may
   be assigned any restoration priority level. These limitations will not take
   precedence over laws or executive orders. Such limitations shall not be
   exceeded absent waiver by the Executive Office of the President.

   e. Non-NSEP services. Telecommunication services in the non-NSEP category
   will be those which do not meet the criteria for either Emergency NSEP or
   Essential NSEP.

   [ 53 FR 47536 , Nov. 23, 1988;  54 FR 152 , Jan. 4, 1989;  54 FR 1471 , Jan. 13,
   1989, as amended at  67 FR 13229 , Mar. 21, 2002;  71 FR 69038 , Nov. 29, 2006]

   return arrow Back to Top

Appendix B to Part 64—Priority Access Service (PAS) for National Security and
Emergency Preparedness (NSEP)

1. Authority

   This appendix is issued pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 201 through 205 and
   303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Under these sections,
   the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may permit the assignment and
   approval of priorities for access to commercial mobile radio service (CMRS)
   networks. Under section 706 of the Communications Act, this authority may be
   superseded  by the war emergency powers of the President of the United
   States. This appendix provides the Commission's Order to CMRS providers and
   users to comply with policies and procedures establishing the Priority
   Access Service (PAS). This appendix is intended to be read in conjunction
   with regulations and procedures that the Executive Office of the President
   issues:

   (1) To implement responsibilities assigned in section 3 of this appendix, or

   (2) For use in the event this appendix is superseded by the President's
   emergency  war powers. Together, this appendix and the regulations and
   procedures issued by the Executive Office of the President establish one
   uniform system of priority access service both before and after invocation
   of the President's emergency war powers.

2. Background

   a. Purpose. This appendix establishes regulatory authorization for PAS to
   support the needs of NSEP CMRS users.

   b. Applicability. This appendix applies to the provision of PAS by CMRS
   licensees to users who qualify under the provisions of section 5 of this
   appendix.

   c. Description. PAS provides the means for NSEP telecommunications users to
   obtain  priority  access to available radio channels when necessary to
   initiate emergency calls. It does not preempt calls in progress and is to be
   used during situations when CMRS network congestion is blocking NSEP call
   attempts. PAS is to be available to authorized NSEP users at all times in
   equipped CMRS markets where the service provider has voluntarily decided to
   provide such service. Authorized users would activate the feature on a per
   call basis by dialing a feature code such as *XX. PAS priorities 1 through 5
   are reserved for qualified and authorized NSEP users, and those users are
   provided access to CMRS channels before any other CMRS callers.

   d. Definitions. As used in this appendix:

   1. Authorizing agent refers to a Federal or State entity that authenticates,
   evaluates and makes recommendations to the Executive Office of the President
   regarding the assignment of priority access service levels.

   2. Service provider means an FCC-licensed CMRS provider. The term does not
   include agents of the licensed CMRS provider or resellers of CMRS service.

   3. Service user means an individual or organization (including a service
   provider) to whom or which a priority access assignment has been made.

   4. The following terms have the same meaning as in Appendix A to Part 64:

   (a) Assignment;

   (b) Government;

   (c) National Communications System;

   (d) National Coordinating Center;

   (e) National Security Emergency Preparedness (NSEP) Telecommunications
   Services (excluding the last sentence);

   (f) Reconciliation;

   (g) Revalidation;

   (h) Revision;

   (i) Revocation.

   e. Administration. The Executive Office of the President will administer
   PAS.

3. Responsibilities

   a. The Federal Communications Commission will provide regulatory oversight
   of the implementation of PAS, enforce PAS rules and regulations, and act as
   final  authority  for  approval,  revision, or disapproval of priority
   assignments  by  the Executive Office of the President by adjudicating
   disputes regarding either priority assignments or the denial thereof by the
   Executive Office of the President until superseded by the President's war
   emergency powers under Section 706 of the Communications Act.

   b. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) will administer the PAS
   system. It will:

   1. Act as the final approval or denial authority for the assignment of
   priorities  and the adjudicator of disputes during the exercise of the
   President's war emergency powers under section 706 of the Communications
   Act.

   2.  Receive,  process, and evaluate requests for priority actions from
   authorizing agents on behalf of service users or directly from service
   users. Assign priorities or deny requests for priority using the priorities
   and  criteria specified in section 5 of this appendix. Actions on such
   requests should be completed within 30 days of receipt.

   3. Convey priority assignments to the service provider and the authorizing
   agent.

   4. Revise, revalidate, reconcile, and revoke priority level assignments with
   service users and service providers as necessary to maintain the viability
   of the PAS system.

   5. Maintain a database for PAS related information.

   6. Issue new or revised regulations, procedures, and instructional material
   supplemental to and consistent with this appendix regarding the operation,
   administration, and use of PAS.

   7. Provide training on PAS to affected entities and individuals.

   8.  Enlarge the role of the Telecommunications Service Priority System
   Oversight Committee to include oversight of the PAS system.

   9. Report periodically to the FCC on the status of PAS.

   10. Disclose content of the NSEP PAS database only as may be required by
   law.

   c. An Authorizing agent shall:

   1. Identify itself as an authorizing agent and its community of interest
   (State, Federal Agency) to the EOP. State Authorizing Agents will provide a
   central point of contact to receive priority requests from users within
   their state. Federal Authorizing Agents will provide a central point of
   contact  to  receive priority requests from federal users or federally
   sponsored entities.

   2. Authenticate, evaluate, and make recommendations to the EOP to approve
   priority  level  assignment requests using the priorities and criteria
   specified in section 5 of this appendix. As a guide, PAS authorizing agents
   should request the lowest priority level that is applicable and the minimum
   number  of  CMRS  services  required to support an NSEP function. When
   appropriate, the authorizing agent will recommend approval or deny requests
   for PAS.

   3. Ensure that documentation is complete and accurate before forwarding it
   to the EOP.

   4. Serve as a conduit for forwarding PAS information from the EOP to the
   service user and vice versa. Information will include PAS requests and
   assignments,  reconciliation and revalidation notifications, and other
   information.

   5. Participate in reconciliation and revalidation of PAS information at the
   request of the EOP.

   6. Comply with any regulations and procedures supplemental to and consistent
   with this appendix that are issued by the EOP.

   7.  Disclose  content  of the NSEP PAS database only to those having a
   need-to-know.

   d. Service users will:

   1. Determine the need for and request PAS assignments in a planned process,
   not waiting until an emergency has occurred.

   2. Request PAS assignments for the lowest applicable priority level and
   minimum number of CMRS services necessary to provide NSEP telecommunications
   management and response functions during emergency/disaster situations.

   3. Initiate PAS requests through the appropriate authorizing agent. The EOP
   will make final approval or denial of PAS requests and may direct service
   providers to remove PAS if appropriate. (Note: State and local government or
   private users will apply for PAS through their designated State government
   authorizing agent. Federal users will apply for PAS through their employing
   agency. State and local users in states where there has been no designation
   will  be  sponsored by the Federal agency concerned with the emergency
   function as set forth in Executive Order 12656. If no authorizing agent is
   determined using these criteria, the EOP will serve as the authorizing
   agent.)

   4. Submit all correspondence regarding PAS to the authorizing agent.

   5. Invoke PAS only when CMRS congestion blocks network access and the user
   must establish communications to fulfill an NSEP mission. Calls should be as
   brief as possible so as to afford CMRS service to other NSEP users.

   6. Participate in reconciliation and revalidation of PAS information at the
   request of the authorizing agent or the EOP.

   7. Request discontinuance of PAS when the NSEP qualifying criteria used to
   obtain PAS is no longer applicable.

   8. Pay service providers as billed for PAS.

   9. Comply with regulations and procedures that are issued by the EOP which
   are supplemental to and consistent with this appendix.

   e. Service providers who offer any form of priority access service for NSEP
   purposes shall provide that service in accordance with this appendix. As
   currently described in the Priority Access and Channel Assignment Standard
   (IS-53-A), service providers will:

   1. Provide PAS levels 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 only upon receipt of an authorization
   from the EOP and remove PAS for specific users at the direction of the EOP.

   2. Ensure that PAS system priorities supersede any other NSEP priority which
   may be provided.

   3. Designate a point of contact to coordinate with the EOP regarding PAS.

   4. Participate in reconciliation and revalidation of PAS information at the
   request of the EOP.

   5. As technically and economically feasible, provide roaming service users
   the same grade of PAS provided to local service users.

   6.  Disclose  content  of the NSEP PAS database only to those having a
   need-to-know or who will not use the information for economic advantage.

   7. Comply with regulations and procedures supplemental to and consistent
   with this appendix that are issued by the EOP.

   8. Insure that at all times a reasonable amount of CMRS spectrum is made
   available for public use.

   9. Notify the EOP and the service user if PAS is to be discontinued as a
   service.

   f. The Telecommunications Service Priority Oversight Committee will identify
   and  review  any  systemic problems associated with the PAS system and
   recommend actions to correct them or prevent their recurrence.

4. Appeal

   Service  users  and  authorizing  agents may appeal any priority level
   assignment, denial, revision or revocation to the EOP within 30 days of
   notification to the service user. The EOP will act on the appeal within 90
   days of receipt. If a dispute still exists, an appeal may then be made to
   the FCC within 30 days of notification of the EOP's decision. The party
   filing the appeal must include factual details supporting its claim and must
   provide  a  copy of the appeal to the EOP and any other party directly
   involved. Involved parties may file a response to the appeal made to the FCC
   within 20 days, and the initial filing party may file a reply within 10 days
   thereafter. The FCC will provide notice of its decision to the parties of
   record. Until a decision is made, the service will remain status quo.

5. PAS Priority Levels and Qualifying Criteria

   The following PAS priority levels and qualifying criteria apply equally to
   all users and will be used as a basis for all PAS assignments. There are
   five levels of NSEP priorities, priority one being the highest. The five
   priority levels are:

   1. Executive Leadership and Policy Makers

   2. Disaster Response/Military Command and Control

   3. Public Health, Safety and Law Enforcement Command

   4. Public Services/Utilities and Public Welfare

   5. Disaster Recovery

   These priority levels were selected to meet the needs of the emergency
   response community and provide priority access for the command and control
   functions critical to management of and response to national security and
   emergency situations, particularly during the first 24 to 72 hours following
   an event. Priority assignments should only be requested for key personnel
   and those individuals in national security and emergency response leadership
   positions. PAS is not intended for use by all emergency service personnel.

A. Priority 1: Executive Leadership and Policy Makers.

   Users who qualify for the Executive Leadership and Policy Makers priority
   will be assigned priority one. A limited number of CMRS technicians who are
   essential to restoring the CMRS networks shall also receive this highest
   priority treatment. Examples of those eligible include:

   (i) The President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, selected
   military  leaders, and the minimum number of senior staff necessary to
   support these officials;

   (ii)  State  governors,  lieutenant governors, cabinet-level officials
   responsible for public safety and health, and the minimum number of senior
   staff necessary to support these officials; and

   (iii) Mayors, county commissioners, and the minimum number of senior staff
   to support these officials.

B. Priority 2: Disaster Response/Military Command and Control

   Users who qualify for the Disaster Response/Military Command and Control
   priority  will be assigned priority two. Individuals eligible for this
   priority  include personnel key to managing the initial response to an
   emergency  at the local, state, regional and federal levels. Personnel
   selected for this priority should be responsible for ensuring the viability
   or reconstruction of the basic infrastructure in an emergency area. In
   addition, personnel essential to continuity of government and national
   security  functions  (such as the conduct of international affairs and
   intelligence activities) are also included in this priority. Examples of
   those eligible include:

   (i)  Federal  emergency operations center coordinators, e.g., Manager,
   National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications, National Interagency
   Fire Center, Federal Coordinating Officer, Federal Emergency Communications
   Coordinator, Director of Military Support;

   (ii) State emergency Services director, National Guard Leadership, State and
   Federal Damage Assessment Team Leaders;

   (iii) Federal, state and local personnel with continuity of government
   responsibilities;

   (iv) Incident Command Center Managers, local emergency managers, other state
   and local elected public safety officials; and

   (v) Federal personnel with intelligence and diplomatic responsibilities.

C. Priority 3: Public Health, Safety, and Law Enforcement Command

   Users who qualify for the Public Health, Safety, and Law Enforcement Command
   priority will be assigned priority three. Eligible for this priority are
   individuals  who  direct  operations  critical  to life, property, and
   maintenance of law and order immediately following an event. Examples of
   those eligible include:

   (i) Federal law enforcement command;

   (ii) State police leadership;

   (iii) Local fire and law enforcement command;

   (iv) Emergency medical service leaders;

   (v) Search and rescue team leaders; and

   (vi) Emergency communications coordinators.

D. Priority 4: Public Services/Utilities and Public Welfare

   Users who qualify for the Public Services/Utilities and Public Welfare
   priority will be assigned priority four. Eligible for this priority are
   those users whose responsibilities include managing public works and utility
   infrastructure damage assessment and restoration efforts and transportation
   to accomplish emergency response activities. Examples of those eligible
   include:

   (i) Army Corps of Engineers leadership;

   (ii) Power, water and sewage and telecommunications utilities; and

   (iii) Transportation leadership.

E. Priority 5: Disaster Recovery

   Users  who qualify for the Disaster Recovery priority will be assigned
   priority five. Eligible for this priority are those individuals responsible
   for managing a variety of recovery operations after the initial response has
   been accomplished. These functions may include managing medical resources
   such  as supplies, personnel, or patients in medical facilities. Other
   activities such as coordination to establish and stock shelters, to obtain
   detailed  damage  assessments, or to support key disaster field office
   personnel may be included. Examples of those eligible include:

   (i) Medical recovery operations leadership;

   (ii) Detailed damage assessment leadership;

   (iii) Disaster shelter coordination and management; and

   (iv) Critical Disaster Field Office support personnel.

6. Limitations

   PAS will be assigned only to the minimum number of CMRS services required to
   support an NSEP function. The Executive Office of the President may also
   establish limitations upon the relative numbers of services that may be
   assigned PAS or the total number of PAS users in a serving area. These
   limitations  will  not  take precedence over laws or executive orders.
   Limitations established shall not be exceeded.

   [ 65 FR 48396 , Aug. 8, 2000]

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