§ 1008. — Payment of costs of telecommunications carriers to comply with capability requirements.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 47USC1008]
TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
CHAPTER 9--INTERCEPTION OF DIGITAL AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS
SUBCHAPTER I--INTERCEPTION OF DIGITAL AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS
Sec. 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.
(Pub. L. 103-414, title I, Sec. 109, Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4286.)
References in Text
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, referred to in
subsec. (e)(1), is Pub. L. 95-511, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1783, as
amended, which is classified principally to chapter 36 (Sec. 1801 et
seq.) of Title 50, War and National Defense. For complete classification
of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1801
of Title 50 and Tables.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 158, 1002, 1003, 1005, 1007,
1010, 1021 of this title.
