Sponsors (2)
The bill aims to assess and accelerate NG9‑1‑1 interoperability in National Park units to improve emergency response and data sharing, but doing so will likely require significant planning and upgrade costs, impose administrative burdens, and create some oversight and implementation risks.
Visitors, park staff, and nearby residents will get faster, more reliable 9‑1‑1 calls with richer location and data because NG9‑1‑1 interoperability and routing gaps in National Park units will be assessed and addressed.
Congress will receive a concrete assessment (cost estimates, jurisdictional and legal barriers, and implementation challenges) within a year to inform targeted funding or legislative fixes.
Statutory language is aligned with FCC NG9‑1‑1 rules and federal agencies (DOC, DOT, FCC) are targeted for coordination, reducing ambiguity and helping create common technical standards and funding pathways for deployments.
Taxpayers and federal budgets — and potentially state/local budgets — may face significant costs to plan, purchase, operate, and maintain NG9‑1‑1 systems and any subsequent upgrades identified by the assessment.
Small and rural 9‑1‑1 centers may incur additional equipment or software costs to meet interoperability requirements (e.g., eliminating proprietary interfaces or integrating with federated systems).
The required assessment could reveal complex jurisdictional or legal barriers that delay actual NG9‑1‑1 upgrades, leaving some parks with prolonged legacy 9‑1‑1 gaps despite the study.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Directs Interior to assess NG9‑1‑1 readiness and costs for National Park emergency centers within 1 year and to create a deployment plan within 1 year after the report.
Introduced January 13, 2026 by Russell Fulcher · Last progress January 13, 2026
Requires the Interior Department to assess and plan upgrades to 9-1-1 systems used by emergency communications centers in units of the National Park System. The Secretary must report NG9‑1‑1 implementation status and cost estimates within one year, publish the results, and then develop a deployment plan (after consulting state/local officials and certain federal agencies) within one year of the report.