Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB1256                                                                                     LB1256
                                                                                       2024
                                   LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                              ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
                                        SECOND SESSION
                         LEGISLATIVE BILL 1256
     Introduced by DeBoer, 10; Fredrickson, 20.
     Read first time January 16, 2024
     Committee: Transportation and Telecommunications
 A     BILL   FOR   AN   ACT   relating to   telecommunications;     to amend section
         75-109.01, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023; to provide certain
         jurisdiction and powers and duties for the Public Service
         Commission; to define terms; to require the filing of reports by a
         communications service provider relating to 911 service outages; and
         to repeal the original section.
     Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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LB1256                                                                                          LB1256
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         Section 1. Section 75-109.01, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, is
     amended to read:
        75-109.01    Except as    otherwise specifically provided by    law,    the
     Public Service Commission shall have jurisdiction, as prescribed, over
     the following subjects:
         (1)    Common carriers,    generally,      pursuant to    sections      75-101    to
     75-158;
        (2) Grain pursuant to the Grain Dealer Act and the Grain Warehouse
    Act and sections 89-1,104 to 89-1,108;
        (3) Manufactured homes and recreational vehicles pursuant to the
    Uniform Standard Code for Manufactured Homes and Recreational Vehicles;
        (4) Modular housing units pursuant to the Nebraska Uniform Standards
    for Modular Housing Units Act;
        (5) Motor carrier registration, licensure, and safety pursuant to
    sections 75-301 to 75-343, 75-369.03, 75-370, and 75-371;
         (6) Pipeline carriers and rights-of-way pursuant to the Major Oil
     Pipeline Siting Act, the State Natural Gas Regulation Act, and sections
     75-501 to 75-503. If the provisions of Chapter 75 are inconsistent with
 the provisions of the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act, the provisions of
    the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act control;
         (7) Railroad carrier safety pursuant to sections 74-918, 74-919,
     74-1323, and 75-401 to 75-430;
        (8) Telecommunications carriers pursuant to the Automatic Dialing-
    Announcing Devices Act, the Emergency Telephone Communications Systems
    Act, the Enhanced Wireless 911 Services Act, the Intrastate Pay-Per-Call
    Regulation Act,   the Nebraska Telecommunications Regulation Act,     the
    Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund Act,       the
    Telecommunications Relay System Act,   the Telephone Consumer Slamming
    Prevention Act, and sections 86-574 to 86-578, 86-1307, and 86-1308, and
    section 2 of this act;
         (9) Transmission lines and rights-of-way pursuant to sections 70-301
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LB1256                                                                                              LB1256
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  and 75-702 to 75-724;
           (10) Water service pursuant to the Water Service Regulation Act; and
           (11)   Jurisdictional utilities governed by    the State Natural Gas
  Regulation Act. If the provisions of Chapter 75 are inconsistent with the
  provisions of the State Natural Gas Regulation Act, the provisions of the
  State Natural Gas Regulation Act control.
           Sec. 2.     (1) For purposes of this section:
           (a)    Communications service provider has the same meaning as    in
  section 86-1214;
           (b) 911 service has the same meaning as in section 86-428; and
           (c) Outage means a significant degradation in the ability of an end
  user to establish and maintain a channel of communications service as a
  result of failure or degradation in the performance of a communications
  service provider's network.
           (2)    A   communications service provider that is   required to    file
  reports to the Federal Communications Commission regarding a 911 service
  outage pursuant to 47 C.F.R. 4.9 and 4.11, as such regulations existed on
  January 1, 2024, shall also file copies of such reports with the Public
  Service Commission. The reports filed with the Public Service Commission
  shall follow the same timelines as outlined in 47 C.F.R. 4.9 and 4.11.
 Reports filed pursuant to this section shall be deemed confidential and
     not subject to   public disclosure pursuant to   sections       84-712        to
  84-712.09. The Public Service Commission may adopt and promulgate rules
  and regulations to carry out this section. This section shall only apply
  to 911 service outages in Nebraska.
           (3) The Public Service Commission shall hold a public hearing no
  later than ninety days after receipt of the first report filed by a
     communications service provider pursuant to    subsection           (2)   of this
  section. The Public Service Commission may delay the hearing for good
  cause shown, but such delay shall be extended no longer than thirty days.
 The Public Service Commission may hold subsequent hearings as it deems
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LB1256                                                                    LB1256
                                                                      2024
    necessary.
        Sec. 3.    Original section 75-109.01, Revised Statutes Supplement,
    2023, is repealed.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 75-109.01