Chapter 06-246

ARTICLE 4 SUBSTITUTE A

RELATING TO 911 EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM SURCHARGE

SECTION 1. Section 39-21.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-21.1 entitled “911 Emergency Telephone Number Act” is hereby amended to read as follows:

39-21.1-14. Funding. – (a) A monthly surcharge of one dollar ($1.00) is hereby levied upon each residence and business telephone line or trunk or path and data, telephony, Internet, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) wireline, line, trunk or path in the state including PBX trunks and centrex equivalent trunks and each line or trunk serving, and upon each user interface number or extension number or similarly identifiable line, trunk, or path to or from a digital network (such as, but not exclusive of, integrated services digital network (ISDN), Flexpath or comparable digital private branch exchange, or connecting to or from a customer-based or dedicated telephone switch site (such as, but not exclusive of, a private branch exchange (PBX)), or connecting to or from a customer-based or dedicated central office (such as, but not exclusive of, a centrex system but exclusive of trunks and lines provided to wireless communication companies) that can access to, connect with or interface with the Rhode Island E-911 Uniform Emergency Telephone System (RI E-911). The surcharge shall be billed by each telecommunication services provider at the inception of services and shall be payable to the telecommunication services provider by the subscriber of the services. A monthly surcharge of one dollar ($1.00) is hereby levied effective July 1, 2002, on each wireless instrument, device or means including prepaid, cellular, telephony, Internet, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite, computer, radio, communication, data or data only wireless lines or any other wireless instrument, device or means which has access to, connects with, or activates or interfaces or any combination thereof with the E 9-1-1 Uniform Emergency Telephone System. The surcharge shall be in addition to the surcharge collected under § 39-1-62 and shall be billed by each telecommunication services provider and shall be payable to the telecommunication services provider by the subscriber or prepaid services customer. The E-911 Uniform Emergency Telephone System shall establish, by rule or regulation an appropriate funding mechanism to recover from the general body of ratepayers this surcharge.

(b) The amount of the surcharge shall not be subject to the tax imposed under chapter 18 of title 44 nor be included within the telephone common carrier's gross earnings for the purpose of computing the tax under chapter 13 of title 44.

(c) Each telephone common carrier and each telecommunication services provider shall establish a special account to which it shall deposit on a monthly basis the amounts collected as a surcharge under this section.

(d) The money collected by each telecommunication services provider shall be transferred within sixty (60) days after its inception of wireline, wireless, prepaid, cellular, telephony, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite, computer, Internet, or communications services in this state and every month thereafter, to the ~~general treasury~~ division of taxation, together with the accrued interest and shall be deposited in the general fund as general revenue. Any money not transferred in accordance with this paragraph shall be assessed interest at eight percent (8%) per annum from the date the money should have been transferred.

(e) Every billed subscriber-user shall be liable for any surcharge imposed under this section until it has been paid to the telephone common carrier or telecommunication services provider. Any surcharge shall be added to and may be stated separately in the billing by the telephone common carrier or telecommunication services provider and shall be collected by the telephone common carrier or telecommunication services provider.

(f) Each telephone common carrier and telecommunication services provider shall annually provide the E 9-1-1 uniform emergency telephone system division or any other agency that may replace it, with a list of amounts uncollected together with the names and addresses of its subscriber-users who can be determined by the telephone common carrier or telecommunication services provider to have not paid the surcharge.

(g) Included within, but not limited to, the purposes for which the money collected may be used are rent, lease, purchase, improve, construct, maintenance, repair, and utilities for the equipment and site or sites occupied by the E 9-1-1 uniform emergency telephone system; salaries, benefits, and other associated personnel costs; acquisition, upgrade or modification of PSAP equipment to be capable of receiving E 9-1-1 information, including necessary computer hardware, software, and data base provisioning, addressing, and non-recurring costs of establishing emergency services; network development, operation and maintenance; data-base development, operation, and maintenance; on-premise equipment maintenance and operation; training emergency service personnel regarding use of E 9-1-1; educating consumers regarding the operations, limitations, role and responsible use of E 9-1-1; reimbursement to telephone common carriers or telecommunication services providers of rates or recurring costs associated with any services, operation, administration or maintenance of E 9-1-1 services as approved by the division; reimbursement to telecommunication services providers or telephone common carriers of other costs associated with providing E 9-1-1 services, including the cost of the design, development, and implementation of equipment or software necessary to provide E 9-1-1 service information to PSAP's, as approved by the division.

(h) [Deleted by P.L. 2000, ch. 55, art. 28, § 1.]

(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to constitute rate regulation of wireless communication services carriers, nor shall this section be construed to prohibit wireless communication services carriers from charging subscribers for any wireless service or feature.

~~(j) State, local and quasi-governmental agencies shall be exempt from the surcharge.~~

SECTION 2. Section 39-1-61 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-1 entitled "Public Utilities Commission" is hereby amended to read as follows:

39-1-61. Rhode Island telecommunications education access fund. -- (a) Preamble. - For the past ten (10) years, the schools and libraries of Rhode Island have benefited from a regulatory agreement with Verizon and its predecessor companies that has provided up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) annually for support of telecommunications lines for internet access. In addition, the funds provided for in the original regulatory agreement and every dollar generated hereunder leverages a one dollar and twenty-seven cents ($1.27) federal E-Rate match. With the regulatory agreement approaching its termination and the advent of more advanced technologies, it is the intent of this section to provide a continued source of funding for internet access for eligible public and private schools and libraries.

(b) Definitions. - As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "Department" ~~of education"~~ means the Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education.

(2) "Division" means the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers.

(3) "Telecommunications education access fund" means the programs and funding made available to qualified libraries and schools to assist in paying the costs of acquiring, installing and using telecommunications technologies to access the internet.

(c) Purpose. - The purpose of the telecommunications education access fund shall be to fund a basic level of internet connectivity for all of the qualified schools (kindergarten through grade 12) and libraries in the state.

(d) Authority. - The division shall establish, by rule or regulation, an appropriate funding mechanism to recover from the general body of ratepayers the costs of providing telecommunications technology to access the internet.

(1) The general assembly shall determine the amount of a monthly surcharge to be levied upon each residence and business telephone access line or trunk in the state, including PBX trunks and centrex equivalent trunks and each service line or trunk, and upon each user interface number or extension number or similarly identifiable line, trunk, or path to or from a digital network. The department will provide the general assembly with information and recommendations regarding the necessary level of funding to effectuate the purposes of this article. The surcharge shall be billed by each telecommunications services provider and shall be payable to the telecommunications services provider by the subscriber of the telecommunications services. State, local and quasi-governmental agencies shall be exempt from the surcharge. The surcharge shall be deposited in a restricted receipt account, hereby created within the department of elementary and secondary education and known as the telecommunications education access fund, to pay any and all costs associated with subsection (b)(3). The amount of the surcharge shall not exceed thirty-five cents ($.35) per access line or trunk.

(2) The surcharge is hereby determined to be twenty-six cents ($.26) per access line or trunk.

(3) The amount of the surcharge shall not be subject to the sales and use tax imposed under chapter 18 of title 44 nor be included within the gross earnings of the telecommunications corporation providing telecommunications service for the purpose of computing the tax under chapter 13 of title 44.

(e) Administration. - The division, with input from the department, shall administer the telecommunications education access fund consistent with the requirements of the Universal Service (E-Rate) program. The division of taxation shall collect from the telecommunications service providers the amounts of the surcharge collected from their subscribers. The department, with the approval of the division, shall publish requests for proposals that do not favor any particular technology, evaluate competitive bids, and select products and services that best serve the internet access needs of schools and libraries. In doing so, the department shall endeavor to obtain all available E-Rate matching funds. The department is further authorized and encouraged to seek matching funds from all local, state, and federal public or private entities. The department shall approve dispersement of funds under this section in accordance with the division's directives. Unsuccessful bids may be appealed to the division. The division shall annually review the department's disbursements from this account to ensure that the department's decisions do not favor any competitor.

(f) Eligibility. - All schools seeking support from the fund must be eligible for Universal Service (E-Rate) support and meet the definition of "elementary school" or "secondary school" in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. section 8801). Schools operating as a for-profit business or with endowments exceeding fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) are not eligible for support. All libraries seeking support from the fund must meet the definition of "library" or "library consortium" in the Library Services and Technology Act, P.L. 104-208, section 211 et seq., 110 Stat. 3009 (1996) and must be eligible for assistance from a state library administrative agency under that act. Only libraries that have budgets that are completely separate from any schools (including, but not limited to, elementary and secondary, colleges and universities) shall be eligible to receive support. Libraries operating as a for-profit business shall not be eligible for support.

(g) The effective date of assessment for the telecommunications education access fund shall be January 1, 2004.

SECTION 3. Section 39-1-62 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-1 entitled "Public Utilities Commission" is hereby amended to read as follows:

39-1-62. E-911 Geographic Information System (GIS) and Technology Fund. [Repealed effective June 30, 2007.] -- (a) Preamble. - To allow the Rhode Island E-911 Emergency Telephone System agency to associate latitude and longitude coordinates provided by wireless carriers with physical locations throughout the state, the agency must establish and maintain a GIS database of street addresses and landmarks. The database will allow local emergency response personnel to dispatch police, fire and rescue personnel to a specific address or landmark of a cellular caller in the event the caller is unaware of his or her location, or is physically unable to communicate it. Because more than half of the 530,000 9-1-1 phone calls received in 2003 came from cellular phones, it is critical that the GIS database be developed and maintained in order to improve caller location identification and reduce emergency personnel response times.

(b) Definitions. - As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "System" means Emergency 911 Uniform Telephone System.

(2) "Agency" means Rhode Island 911 Emergency Telephone System.

(3) "Division" means the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers.

(4) "GIS and Technology Fund" means the programs and funding made available to the Emergency 911 Uniform Telephone System to assist in paying the costs of the GIS database development project and GIS systems maintenance, which will enable the system to locate cellular phone callers by geocoding all addresses and landmarks in cities and towns throughout the state. It also includes programs to create system redundancy and maintain state-of-the-art equipment technology.

(1) Implement and maintain a geographic information system database to assist in locating wireless phone callers for emergency purposes in a manner consistent and in coordination with the Rhode Island geographic information system administered by the Division of Planning as provided for in section 42-11-10(g)(3); and

(2) Create system redundancy to ensure the reliability of 9-1-1 service to the public; and

(3) Maintain state-of-the-art equipment technology.

(d) Authority. - The agency shall establish, by rule or regulation, an appropriate funding mechanism to recover from the general body of ratepayers the costs of funding GIS and technology projects.

(1) The general assembly shall determine the amount of a monthly surcharge to be levied upon each wireless instrument, device or means including prepaid, cellular, telephony, Internet, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite, computer, radio, communication, data, or any other wireless instrument, device or means that has access to, connects with, interfaces with or is capable of delivering two-way interactive communications services to the Rhode Island E-911 Uniform Emergency Telephone System. The agency will provide the general assembly with information and recommendations regarding the necessary level of funding to effectuate the purposes of this article. The surcharge shall be billed monthly by each wireless telecommunications services provider as defined in section 39-21.1-3 and shall be payable to the wireless telecommunications services provider by the subscriber or prepaid service customer of the telecommunications services. Each telecommunication services provider shall establish a special (escrow) account to which it shall deposit on a monthly basis the amounts collected as a surcharge under this section. The money collected by each wireless telecommunication services provider shall be transferred within sixty (60) days after its inception of wireless, prepaid, cellular, telephony, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite, computer, Internet, or communications, information or data services in this state and every month thereafter. Any money not transferred in accordance with this paragraph shall be assessed interest at eight percent (8%) per annum from the date the money should have been transferred. State, local and quasi-governmental agencies shall be exempt from the surcharge. The surcharge shall be deposited in a restricted receipt account, hereby created within the agency and known as the GIS and Technology Fund, to pay any and all costs associated with the provisions of subsection (c). The amount of the surcharge under this section shall not exceed thirty-five cents ($.35) per wireless phone.

(2) The surcharge is hereby determined to be twenty-six cents ($.26) per wireless phone, prepaid, cellular, telephony, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite, computer, data or data only wireless lines or Internet communication or data instrument, device or means which has access to, connects with, activates or interfaces with or any combination of the above with the Rhode Island E-911 Uniform Emergency Telephone System per month and shall be in addition to the wireless surcharge charged under section 39-21.1-14. The twenty-six cents ($.26) is to be billed to all wireless telecommunication service providers, subscribers or prepaid service customers upon the inception of services.

(4) With respect to prepaid wireless telecommunication service providers and customers, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this section, the surcharge shall be collected and remitted to the ~~agency~~ division of taxation by the prepaid wireless telecommunication service provider under one of three methods:

(i) The prepaid wireless telecommunication service provider shall collect the surcharge, on a monthly basis, from each active prepaid wireless telecommunication service customer whose account balance is equal to or greater than the amount of the service charge; or

(ii) The prepaid wireless telecommunication service provider shall collect the surcharge, on a monthly basis, at the point of sale; or

(iii) The prepaid wireless telecommunication service provider shall divide the total earned prepaid wireless telephone revenue received by the prepaid wireless telecommunication service provider within the monthly reporting period by fifty dollars ($50.00), and multiply the quotient by the amount of the surcharge.

The surcharge amount or an equivalent number of air-time minutes may be reduced from a prepaid wireless telecommunication service customer's account when direct billing is not possible.

(e) Administration. - The ~~agency~~ division of taxation shall collect monthly from the wireless telecommunications service providers as defined in section 39-21.1-3 the amounts of the surcharge collected from their subscribers or prepaid customers. The ~~agency~~ division of taxation shall deposit such collections in an account maintained and administered by the Rhode Island 911 Emergency Telephone System for use in developing and maintaining the geographic information system database, creating system redundancy, and improving equipment technology. The agency is further authorized and encouraged to seek matching funds from all local, state, and federal public or private entities and shall coordinate its activities and share all information with the state Division of Planning.

(f) The effective date of assessment for the GIS and Technology Fund shall be July 1, 2004.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to constitute rate regulation of wireless communications services carriers, nor shall this section be construed to prohibit wireless communications services carriers from charging subscribers for any wireless service or feature.

(h) Except as otherwise provided by law, the agency shall not use, disclose or otherwise make available call location information for any purpose other than as specified in subsection (c).

(i) The attorney general shall, at the request of the E-911 uniform emergency telephone system division, or any other agency that may replace it, or on its own initiative, commence judicial proceedings in the superior court against any telecommunication services provider as defined in section 39-21.1-3(11) providing communication services to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

SECTION 4. Subsection (j) of Section 1 of this article shall take effect as of July 1, 2005. The remainder of this article shall take effect upon passage.