S.C. Code Regs. § § 19-203

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 10, October 25, 2024

Section 19-203 - Information Requirements for Final Application

Final applications must address, affirm compliance with, and furnish information in accordance with each section and subsection below, explicitly, completely, and in the order given, to allow for a speedy and accurate review. It is recognized that much of the information requested below will be included in other primary documents. It is not necessary to transcribe such material into the prescribed order or format, but, instead, a cross-reference guide must be provided, arranged in the required order, to provide exact reference for quick and straightforward access to the needed information. Copies of all referenced primary documents must be furnished with the application, and all referenced locations must contain sufficiently complete and explicit information.

A. Government entities planning to make available 9-1-1 services are encouraged to implement Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) systems. However, where an E911 system is determined to be prohibitively costly or otherwise not feasible, and Basic 9-1-1 service can be shown to be reasonably adequate to the public's needs and safety, a Basic 9-1-1 system may be proposed. A Basic 9-1-1 system may be proposed as a temporary measure during development and pending implementation of full E911 capabilities. Applications must clearly identify the type of system proposed and contain sufficient explanatory information to justify such determination. In the event a Basic 9-1-1 system is proposed as a temporary measure, the application must indicate a proposed schedule or timetable for ultimate Enhanced 9-1-1 implementation.

B. Applications must include a statement of responsibility by which the government entity making application is identified and assumes responsibility for all matters and consequences relating to the implementation and operation of the planned 9-1-1 system, subject to limitations of legal liability specified in the Act. Applications must include name, title, address, and telephone number of the 9-1-1 project coordinator. In the case of planned regional systems, involving two or more distinct, coordinate government entities, a single statement of responsibility must delineate and make explicit respective administrative, operational, and fiscal functions and responsibilities by which the participating government entities will jointly undertake the planned 9-1-1 system as a whole.

C. Services made available through 9-1-1 must include all law enforcement, fire protection, emergency rescue, and EMS services in the PCA. Other emergency services may be included for potential 9-1-1 access; such services must be identified and described in the application. A 9-1-1 system must include in its PCA all of the territory of the government entity making application. A regional system must include in its PCA all of the territories of each of the separate government entities jointly making application. Applications must identify all 9-1-1 systems, basic and enhanced, operational and under development, that have coverage areas in common with the PCA.

D. Applications must include a listing of all public safety agents and other service providers accessible through the planned 9-1-1 system. Location, address, name of contact person, and telephone number(s) must be provided for each listed agent and service.

E. Applications must contain letters of understanding between the government entity making application and each public safety agent and other emergency service provider not falling under the direct administrative or operational control of the entity making application, defining a standard mutual operational relationship, and a joint acceptance and specific assignment of duties and responsibilities associated with 9-1-1 system operation. Where multiple public safety agents and/or other planned 9-1-1 accessible services have concurrent or overlapping jurisdictions within the PCA, a clear understanding of which specific calls for assistance will be referred to individual public safety agents and other services must be evidenced.

F. Applications must include written guidelines and procedures, based on internal policies and procedures of the government entity making application, or based on the above understandings with other public safety agents and emergency service providers, that will govern appropriate assignment of calls for assistance by/from each proposed 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to the various public safety agents and other emergency services able to respond to such calls. Certain such agents and services may be physically located outside the PCA: each such instance must be noted, and corresponding 9-1-1 call assignment patterns must be shown to coordinate with assignment patterns in adjacent jurisdictions in a manner not unduly affecting emergency responsiveness in those jurisdictions.

G. The proposed 9-1-1 system, to include all planned services and coverage/response areas and patterns, must be coordinated with services and coverage/response areas and patterns associated with all adjacent 9-1-1 systems and their respective PCA's, and all other adjacent public safety jurisdictions and activities. Application must identify and verify all points of such required coordination.

H. Applications must contain letters of understanding between the government entity making application and the telephone service supplier, or local exchange carrier, whose equipment, facilities, and/or services will be employed to support planned 9-1-1 service and/or from whose subscriber billing supporting revenues will be derived. Such agreement(s) must affirm details of compliance with the Act. Such agreement(s) must assign and make clear all respective roles, duties, and functions pertaining to proper 9-1-1 system planning, development, implementation, and operation. Such agreement(s) must specifically:

(1) Present a master schedule, or "system time line", detailing the schedule and sequencing of all major and/or critical events associated with 9-1-1 system planning, development, implementation, and operation; and

(2) Detail and schedule the particulars of street address data base creation, data element and data format standardization, data coordination, and periodic data base reconciliation and rectification, to ensure proper ANI-ALI correspondence and optimal 9-1-1 system responsiveness and efficiency; and

(3) Cite and present the text of the ordinance to be adopted, imposing a monthly 9-1-1 charge upon each local exchange access facility subscriber, and indicate the amount of the uniform monthly 9-1-1 charge imposed or to be imposed initially; and

(4) Describe billing procedures and detail the schedule and mechanism for transfer of funds from telephone service supplier(s), or LEC(s), to the government entity responsible for 9-1-1 system implementation and operation; and

(5) Affirm the creation of an Emergency Telephone System Fund, as specified in the Act, specifying the use of that fund solely to defray costs associated with those items allowed in the Act, to include all telephone service suppliers' allowed charges for equipment, facilities, and services in support of the planned 9-1-1 system; and excluding those items disallowed in the Act; and

(6) Specify a mechanism for annual review and adjustment of the uniform monthly telephone subscriber charge for 9-1-1 service, so to maintain a minimal Emergency Telephone System Fund balance necessary for continuing proper support of 9-1-1 services.

I. Applications must include a comprehensive description of the planned 9-1-1 system, showing:

(1) Configuration of the planned 9-1-1 system, to include number, locations, and descriptions of PSAP's; types and quantities of equipment, and communications facilities and services to be employed initially upon implementation, and projected over the three year period following implementation; initial and projected system capacities; initial and projected reserve capacities expressed as percentages of total available capacities; and

(2) Description of real property and construction and renovation of physical structures necessary to accommodate PSAP(s) and all other facilities, to include provisions for environmental conditioning (HVAC), emergency power, and security; and

(3) Maintenance and system support resources and services necessary to ensure continuing system availability and optimal functioning; and

(4) Personnel resources and organizational structure necessary to manage, operate, and maintain the planned system, initially, and projected over the three (3) year period following implementation; and

(5) Description of the existing public telephone system within the PCA, to include: map identifying and showing extent of all telephone exchanges (prefixes) serving territory in common with the PCA; names and locations of telephone central offices (wire centers) serving those exchanges; identities of owning telephone companies; types of central office switching equipment, and counts of telephone subscribers served (capable of 9-1-1 access): counts of total access and billed lines within each telephone exchange listed; and

(6) Plans for disaster recovery and for continuing system availability and functioning during and following disaster/emergency situations, such plans to include records of federal Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) System protection applied for, if any.

J. No Enhanced 9-1-1 system may be implemented until such time as at least eighty-five percent (85%) of all residents in the PCA have been assigned a standard street address. Applications for E911 systems must include a mapping/addressing plan and schedule verifying:

(1) That the 85% addressing requirement will be met prior to system implementation; and

(2) That duplicate addresses will be eliminated through readdressing, or, in cases where readdressing is considered not to be feasible, that any two or more distinct residences or locations within the PCA and adjacent coordination areas having the same address will be mapped for 9-1-1 response in a manner that ensures proper identification; and

(3) That planning and street naming and numbering conventions will prevent occurrence of future duplicate addressing.

K. The mapping/addressing plan must state long-term mapping/addressing policy and goals that will ensure the greatest practical extent of 9-1-1 coverage to residences and other locations throughout the PCA. The plan must indicate policy to apply to non-addressed locations, specifically as required by the Act, as concerning residents who do not have a standardized address provided by the local government.

L. Applications must include a plan for public instruction in 9-1-1 capabilities and usage. The plan must address the following instructional goals:

(1) Public awareness of what constitutes an emergency and a nonemergency.

(2) Public awareness of the availability of 9-1-1 service for emergencies.

(3) Promotion of general use of "911" rather than a 7-digit number for emergency calls.

(4) Public awareness of the requirements of the Act for conspicuous display of street numbers at residences.

M. 9-1-1 systems for which application is made must conform to the following requirements and incorporate the following features and capabilities, except that only those features and capabilities not specifically associated with E911 systems shall be required of proposed Basic 9-1-1 systems. Specific technical capabilities generally associated with those features indicated below shall be required to the extent such capabilities are technically and economically feasible and supportable within the respective telephone system infrastructure, to include cellular system infrastructure. Applications must note and justify such exceptions. Applications must identify all facilities, features, and capabilities that are to be furnished by or through a telephone service supplier.

(1) Continuous staffing and operation (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

(2) Automatic Number Identification (ANI)-automatically displays at the PSAP the telephone number of 9-1-1 caller's telephone.

(3) Automatic Location Identification (ALI)-automatically displays at the PSAP the address of the 9-1-1 caller's telephone, to include coin or pay telephone locations.

(4) Central Office Identification-allows the identity of the 9-1-1 call-receiving central office to be determined (where a single PSAP may receive 9-1-1 calls from more than one telephone central office).

(5) Call Detail Recording-provides an electronic (e. g., magnetic tape) and printed record for each 9-1-1 call showing the caller's telephone number, the time the call was initiated, the time the call was answered, the time the call was transferred (if appropriate), the time the call was disconnected, trunk line identification, and identification of the call answerer's position or console.

(6) Electronic recording of all 9-1-1 calls; retention of all call recordings for a minimum of sixty days following the date of the call. Immediate playback capability for all 9-1-1 call recordings.

(7) A minimum of two trunk lines connecting each serving telephone central office to the E911 tandem (controlling central office), and a minimum of two trunk lines connecting the E911 tandem to the PSAP. In all cases sufficient lines, facilities, equipment, and staffing must remain continuously in service to ensure no more than one busy signal per one hundred 9-1-1 calls during normal operation, and capability to answer at least 80 percent of all 9-1-1 calls within ten seconds during normal operation.

(8) Sufficient telephone lines, facilities, and equipment to allow immediate telephone contact between the PSAP and each law enforcement, fire protection, emergency rescue, EMS, and other service location/activity designated to receive calls for assistance through the planned system.

(9) At least one telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) available at each PSAP at all times.

(10) At least one local telephone line in addition to 9-1-1 access line(s). This nonemergency telephone number must be published as such immediately following the "emergency dial 911" listing.

(11) Sufficient standby emergency power to operate each PSAP during power failures of unlimited duration. This requirement may relaxed if provision is made to transfer functions of each PSAP to an alternate site.

(12) Adequate physical security to minimize the possibility of disruption of services through intentional acts, negligence, or Acts of God; adequate equipment security features to prevent unauthorized or improper use of equipment or communications facilities; adequate security features to prevent casual and inappropriate access to data base information.

(13) Means of identifying 9-1-1 calls for highest answering priority; both audible and visual (light) indicators of incoming 9-1-1 calls.

(14) Capability to route directly and receive any cellular telephone-originated 9-1-1 call placed from any location in the corresponding cellular system's coverage area within the PCA.

(15) Coin-free dialing-9-1-1 calls must be allowed without charge from all public coin or pay telephones in the PCA.

(16) Forced Disconnect-allows the PSAP to clear a 9-1-1 line when the calling party does not, or cannot, hang up.

(17) Disconnect Tone-distinctive tone indicating that the 9-1-1 caller has disconnected.

(18) Selective Routing-automatically routes all 9-1-1 calls originating in a specific geographical area to the PSAP serving that area, irrespective of political or telephone wire center boundary alignments within the PCA.

(19) Default Routing-automatically routes a 9-1-1 call to a predesignated alternate PSAP or answering point when the 9-1-1 call cannot be selectively routed due to ANI failure or other cause.

(20) Alternate Routing-provides backup for a PSAP by routing 9-1-1 calls to predesignated alternate PSAP or answering point when all lines to the primary PSAP are busy or when the primary PSAP is out of service.

(21) Selective Transfer-capability to transfer a 9-1-1 call directly, by means of one or two keystrokes, to a different PSAP to allow proper responsiveness to calls more appropriately handled by that PSAP.

(22) Contingency plans and capability to directly reroute some, or all, 9-1-1 calls from any receiving PSAP to adjacent PSAP's in the event of incoming 9-1-1 call overload or PSAP functional degradation due to equipment failure or other causes.

(23) Contingency plans and capability to relocate any PSAP as situations may warrant. Such relocation must not significantly impair overall 9-1-1 call processing capability.

N. Applications must include detailed, written operational procedures for each PSAP, governing invocation and usage of capabilities and features listed in subsection M above, in addition to specifying all 9-1-1 call processing procedures and other PSAP activities necessary and appropriate for proper PSAP functioning over a comprehensive range of usual and unusual situations and circumstances.

O. Applications must include a detailed budget plan scheduling all anticipated revenues and expenses associated with the following items. Each budget item must show two components: [1] that part to be funded through telephone subscriber fee revenues, and [2] that part to be funded through other sources, such other sources to be identified. The budget plan must detail all expense items to be recovered wholly or in part through telephone subscriber fee revenues, and make explicit and detail this revenue schedule and recovery mechanism.

(1) Mapping and addressing activities preliminary to 9-1-1 system implementation.

(2) Other pre-implementation activities.

(3) Acquisition, construction, renovation, and readying of physical facilities.

(4) Acquisition, installation, and preliminary testing of equipment, by item, and communications facilities and circuits.

(5) Estimated initial and projected recurring costs and charges associated with telephone service supplier furnished equipment, communications facilities and circuits, and services.

(6) Estimated initial and projected personnel costs with associated full-time-equivalent (FTE) figures.

(7) Estimated training costs, itemized by source of training.

(8) Estimated initial and projected recurring costs for ongoing PSAP operation, other than personnel costs.

(9) All other projected recurring and ongoing operational expenses, detailed, to include maintenance expenses.

(10) All other costs, detailed, e.g. debt service, legal expenses, consultants fees, other miscellaneous expenses.

P. The budget plan must make explicit all planned indebtedness and debt retirement schedules.

Q. The budget plan must explicitly make provision for and schedule an annual budget reconciliation, or "true-up", in which, to allow for periodic rate adjustment, revenues received by the responsible government entity through telephone subscriber fees are reconciled with actual allowed operating expenses and other allowed expenses, to include all costs and charges pertaining to telephone service supplier supplied facilities and services. Such reconciliation may provide for carryover of Emergency Telephone System Fund surpluses to accommodate identified long-term needs. Such reconciliation may be accomplished in conjunction with the annual audit required in the Act.

S.C. Code Regs. § 19-203

Added by State Register Volume 16, Issue No. 7, eff July 24, 1992.