Federal Communications Commission	DA 20-128 



Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of

Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements
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PS Docket No. 07-114

ORDER

Adopted:  February 4, 2020	Released:  February 4, 2020

By the Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau:

1. By this Order, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) grants the Joint Petition for Extension of Comment and Reply Comment Deadlines (Joint Petition) submitted by the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT), the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA); NENA: The 9-1-1 Association (NENA); the Texas 9-1-1 Alliance; and the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications (collectively, Petitioners). NENA, et al., Joint Petition for Extension of Comment and Reply Comment Deadlines, PS Docket No. 07-114 (filed Jan. 30, 2020) (Joint Petition).  
  Based on the record before us, we find that good cause exists to grant a short extension of time until February 21, 2020, for all commenters to file initial comments, and March 20, 2020, for all commenters to file reply comments in this proceeding. 
2. When the Commission released the Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Fifth FNPRM) in the instant docket, it initially set a comment deadline of February 18, 2020, and a reply comment deadline of March 16, 2020. Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Announces the Effective Date and Comment Cycle for the Vertical Location Accuracy (Z-Axis) Fifth Report and Order and Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Public Notice, DA 20-80 (PSHSB Jan. 16, 2020) (announcing comment and reply dates); Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements, Fifth Report and Order and Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 19-124 (Nov. 25, 2019) (Fifth FNPRM), amended by Erratum (Jan, 15, 2020) (Erratum).
  Petitioners request a “short” extension of the comment and reply comment deadlines to February 21, 2020, and March 20, 2020, respectively. Joint Petition at 2.
  Petitioners submit that “[t]he opportunity to develop the record is made even more challenging by three major events in the 9-1-1 policymaking space” during the original comment and reply period. These events include: (1) NENA’s NG9-1-1 Standards & Best Practices Conference, January 20–23, 2020; (2) NENA’s 9-1-1 Goes to Washington event, February 12-15, 2020; and (3) the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) Emergency Services Interconnection Forum, February 25-26, 2020.  Id. at 2-3.
  Petitioners seek an “extension of time to allow interested parties to analyze the complex and expansive issues raised in the FNPRM regarding the evolving indoor location accuracy ecosystem and the feasibility of large-scale indoor 3D [three-dimensional] mapping and addressing.” Id. at 4.
  The Petitioners “believe it is of paramount importance for the Commission to develop a full and complete record in this proceeding.” Id.
   
3. While it is the policy of the Commission that “extensions shall not be routinely granted,” 47 CFR § 1.46.
 we find good cause to extend both the comment and reply comment deadlines.  The Commission has previously found that an extension of time is warranted when such an extension is necessary to ensure that the Commission receives full and informed responses and that affected parties have a meaningful opportunity to develop a complete record for the Commission's consideration. See, e.g., Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements, Order, 25 FCC Rcd 16789, 16880, para. 3 (PSHSB 2010). 
  Granting a modest extension of the comment and reply comment deadlines will ensure that interested parties have adequate time to prepare full and informed reply comments without constraining the Commission’s ability to consider a full record.  We expect that this modest extension will result in a more robust record from all stakeholders.
4. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 4(i), 4(j), and 5(c) of the Communications Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i), 154(j), and 155(c), and sections 0.191, 0.392, and 1.46 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 0.191, 0.392, and 1.46 that the Petitioners’ Joint Petition for Extension of Comment and Reply Comment Deadlines filed on January 30, 2020, IS GRANTED, and the deadline for filing comments and reply comments in PS Docket No. 07-114 is extended until February 21, 2020, and March 20, 2020, respectively. 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



Lisa M. Fowlkes
Chief 
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau







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