FCC 64.6308 as of September 1, 2021

Goto Section: 64.6307 | 64.6308 | Table of Contents

FCC 64.6308
Revised as of September 1, 2021
Goto Year:2020 | 2022

§ 64.6308 xxx

Link to an amendment published at 86 FR 48520 , Aug. 31, 2021.

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706 of the Communications Act, this authority may be superseded, and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the NSEP TSP System, until such policies and procedures are superseded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use in the event this appendix is superseded by the President's war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.

(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]

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;

(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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