Public service providers may use emergency notification systems, but the system must meet specified technical requirements, notices must be copied to and sometimes approved by emergency management directors, customers may opt out in writing, and some providers and legacy systems are exempt.
Sec. 418.192. COMMUNICATIONS BY PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS DURING DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES. (a) In this section: (1) "Emergency" means a temporary, sudden, and unforeseen occurrence that requires action by a public service provider to correct the occurrence, inform others of the occurrence, protect lives or property, or temporarily reduce demand for or allocate supply of the provider's products or services to ensure public safety or preserve the integrity of service delivery mechanisms. (2) "Public service provider" means any person or entity that provides essential products or services to the public that are regulated under the Natural Resources Code, Utilities Code, or Water Code, including: (A) common carriers under Section 111.002, Natural Resources Code; (B) telecommunications providers as defined by Section 51.002, Utilities Code; and (C) any other person or entity providing or producing heat, light, power, or water. (b) A public service provider may enter into a contract for an emergency notification system described by this section for use in informing the provider's customers, governmental entities, and other affected persons regarding: (1) notice of a disaster or emergency; and (2) any actions a recipient is required to take during a disaster or emergency. (c) The emergency notification system for which a contract is entered into under Subsection (b) must rely on a dynamic information database that: (1) is capable of simultaneous transmission of emergency messages to all recipients through at least two industry-standard gateways to one or more telephones or electronic devices owned by a recipient in a manner that does not negatively impact the existing communications infrastructure; (2) allows the public service provider to: (A) store prewritten emergency messages in the dynamic information database for subsequent use; and (B) generate emergency messages in real time based on provider inputs; (3) allows a recipient to select the language in which the recipient would prefer to receive messages; (4) transmits the message in the recipient's language of choice to that recipient; (5) converts text messages to sound files and transmits those sound files to the appropriate device; (6) assigns recipients to priority groups for notification; (7) allows for the collection and verification of responses by recipients of emergency messages; and (8) reads or receives alerts from a commercial mobile alert system established by the Federal Communications Commission or complies with standards adopted for a commercial mobile alert system established by the Federal Communications Commission. (d) The dynamic information database must comply with: (1) the Telecommunications Service Priority program established by the Federal Communications Commission; and (2) the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 governing compliant cryptographic modules for encryption and security issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (e) Before sending a notice described by Subsection (b), a public service provider must: (1) provide a copy of the notice to the emergency management director designated under Section 418.1015, for each political subdivision for which the public service provider provides services at the time of the notice; and (2) during a disaster declared by the governor or United States government, obtain approval of the notice from the emergency management director designated under Section 418.1015, for each political subdivision for which the public service provider provides services during the disaster. (f) A customer of a public service provider may decline to receive the notices described by Subsection (b) by providing written notice of that decision to the public service provider. (g) A public service provider shall cooperate with emergency management officials of each political subdivision in which the public service provider provides services to survey the number of notification systems in place. (h) The requirements of this section do not apply to: (1) a public service provider serving 250,000 or fewer customers; or (2) an emergency notification system that is in use by a public service provider on June 1, 2011. Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1068 (S.B. 924), Sec. 3(a), eff. June 17, 2011. Amended by: Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1052 (H.B. 3096), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013.