Slowly but surely, the new set of rigorous requirements for 911 system service providers adopted last December in the wake of the 2012 “derecho” storm are coming on line. Most of those requirements took effect in February, but four particular rules did not. That’s because they involve “information collections” that had to be run past the Office of Management and Budget thanks to the Paperwork Reduction Act. OMB’s review process has now been wrapped up for three of the four – those would be Sections 12.4(c), 12.4(d)(1) and 12.4(d)(3) – and they have now taken effect, according to a notice in the Federal Register. (To refresh your recollections, Sections 12.4(c) and 12.4(d)(1) relate, respectively, to the required submission of annual reliability and initial reliability certifications. Section 12.4(d)(3) imposes certain record retention obligations.)
Still waiting in the wings: Section 4.9(h), which requires reporting on outages potentially affecting a special 911 facility. Apparently OMB hasn’t given that one the thumbs up yet. When that does happen, look for another Federal Register notice. We’ll let you know when that pops up.