The Federal Communications Commission has voted to streamline reporting requirements for its Disaster Information Reporting System, which it hopes will allow providers time to focus more of their resources on service restoration during the wake of a paralyzing storm.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the changes to the system reduce burdens while still ensuring accurate, up-to-date information on service restoration efforts.
“This will be especially important for small, rural providers that may already be stretched thin during emergencies,” Carr said in a prepared statement. “The FCC should be focused on helping crews reconnect communities and clearing barriers that slow recovery down.”
Carr added that the period following a disaster “limited manpower shouldn’t be spent on unnecessary red tape.”
The three FCC commissioners unanimously approved enhancements to DIRS at its Wednesday opening meeting for the month of May.
DIRS reporting will still be voluntary for radio and TV broadcasters under the revised rules. The system includes broadcast, wireless, wireline, cable and broadband service providers.
Specifics
The overhaul streamlines emergency communication reporting by replacing 10 cumbersome, multi-worksheet manual online fields with a single dynamic form, offering a one-click status update and eliminating redundant final report requirements after DIRS deactivation.
The information collected by DIRS allows state, Tribal, territorial and federal emergency management officials to more efficiently prioritize disaster response efforts.
Importantly, for manual filers, the updated version of DIRS permits the submission of a single streamlined form instead of multiple worksheets and it establishes a “one-click” option to indicate no change from the previous day’s report.
It’s not clear how soon the changes will be implemented. The final full text of the approved rulemaking is not yet available.
In addition, the new rules will direct the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to improve the ability of filers to voluntarily submit geographic information about service areas and the locations of facilities that are out of service.
The order also establishes mandatory DIRS reporting for public safety voice and broadband network operators on the status of public safety network infrastructure and public safety customer impact.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said the actions streamline the DIRS reporting process.
“In addition to making DIRS easier to use, this item will provide federal, state and local officials with a more precise and comprehensive understanding of network availability in the aftermath of disasters so they can help restore connectivity when communities need it most,” she said in a statement.
As an example of system’s effectiveness, the FCC said DIRS recently provided daily reports before, during and for weeks after the recent landfall of Super Typhoon Sinlaku in the U.S. island territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The DIRS system, first established in 2007, can only be activated by the commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.
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