47 U.S.C. § 1008 : US Code - Section 1008: Payment of costs of telecommunications carriers to comply with capability requirements

Search 47 U.S.C. § 1008 : US Code - Section 1008: Payment of costs of telecommunications carriers to comply with capability requirements

(a) Equipment, facilities, and services deployed on or before
January 1, 1995
The Attorney General may, subject to the availability of
appropriations, agree to pay telecommunications carriers for all
reasonable costs directly associated with the modifications
performed by carriers in connection with equipment, facilities, and
services installed or deployed on or before January 1, 1995, to
establish the capabilities necessary to comply with section 1002 of
this title.
(b) Equipment, facilities, and services deployed after January 1,
1995
(1) Determinations of reasonably achievable
The Commission, on petition from a telecommunications carrier
or any other interested person, and after notice to the Attorney
General, shall determine whether compliance with the assistance
capability requirements of section 1002 of this title is
reasonably achievable with respect to any equipment, facility, or
service installed or deployed after January 1, 1995. The
Commission shall make such determination within 1 year after the
date such petition is filed. In making such determination, the
Commission shall determine whether compliance would impose
significant difficulty or expense on the carrier or on the users
of the carrier's systems and shall consider the following
factors:
(A) The effect on public safety and national security.
(B) The effect on rates for basic residential telephone
service.
(C) The need to protect the privacy and security of
communications not authorized to be intercepted.
(D) The need to achieve the capability assistance
requirements of section 1002 of this title by cost-effective
methods.
(E) The effect on the nature and cost of the equipment,
facility, or service at issue.
(F) The effect on the operation of the equipment, facility,
or service at issue.
(G) The policy of the United States to encourage the
provision of new technologies and services to the public.
(H) The financial resources of the telecommunications
carrier.
(I) The effect on competition in the provision of
telecommunications services.
(J) The extent to which the design and development of the
equipment, facility, or service was initiated before January 1,
1995.
(K) Such other factors as the Commission determines are
appropriate.
(2) Compensation
If compliance with the assistance capability requirements of
section 1002 of this title is not reasonably achievable with
respect to equipment, facilities, or services deployed after
January 1, 1995 -
(A) the Attorney General, on application of a
telecommunications carrier, may agree, subject to the
availability of appropriations, to pay the telecommunications
carrier for the additional reasonable costs of making
compliance with such assistance capability requirements
reasonably achievable; and
(B) if the Attorney General does not agree to pay such costs,
the telecommunications carrier shall be deemed to be in
compliance with such capability requirements.
(c) Allocation of funds for payment
The Attorney General shall allocate funds appropriated to carry
out this subchapter in accordance with law enforcement priorities
determined by the Attorney General.
(d) Failure to make payment with respect to equipment, facilities,
and services deployed on or before January 1, 1995
If a carrier has requested payment in accordance with procedures
promulgated pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, and the
Attorney General has not agreed to pay the telecommunications
carrier for all reasonable costs directly associated with
modifications necessary to bring any equipment, facility, or
service deployed on or before January 1, 1995, into compliance with
the assistance capability requirements of section 1002 of this
title, such equipment, facility, or service shall be considered to
be in compliance with the assistance capability requirements of
section 1002 of this title until the equipment, facility, or
service is replaced or significantly upgraded or otherwise
undergoes major modification.
(e) Cost control regulations
(1) In general
The Attorney General shall, after notice and comment, establish
regulations necessary to effectuate timely and cost-efficient
payment to telecommunications carriers under this subchapter,
under chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, and under the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).
(2) Contents of regulations
The Attorney General, after consultation with the Commission,
shall prescribe regulations for purposes of determining
reasonable costs under this subchapter. Such regulations shall
seek to minimize the cost to the Federal Government and shall -
(A) permit recovery from the Federal Government of -
(i) the direct costs of developing the modifications
described in subsection (a) of this section, of providing the
capabilities requested under subsection (b)(2) of this
section, or of providing the capacities requested under
section 1003(e) of this title, but only to the extent that
such costs have not been recovered from any other
governmental or nongovernmental entity;
(ii) the costs of training personnel in the use of such
capabilities or capacities; and
(iii) the direct costs of deploying or installing such
capabilities or capacities;
(B) in the case of any modification that may be used for any
purpose other than lawfully authorized electronic surveillance
by a law enforcement agency of a government, permit recovery of
only the incremental cost of making the modification suitable
for such law enforcement purposes; and
(C) maintain the confidentiality of trade secrets.
(3) Submission of claims
Such regulations shall require any telecommunications carrier
that the Attorney General has agreed to pay for modifications
pursuant to this section and that has installed or deployed such
modification to submit to the Attorney General a claim for
payment that contains or is accompanied by such information as
the Attorney General may require.