Chapter 045

2016 -- S 2051 Enacted 06/06/2016

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION--INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY SERVICE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Introduced By: Senators Coyne, Miller, Conley, Walaska, and Goldin

Date Introduced: January 13, 2016

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 39-1-42 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-1 entitled "Public

Utilities Commission" is hereby amended to read as follows:

39-1-42. Access to telephone information services for persons with disabilities. -- (a)

The public utilities commission shall establish, administer, and promote an information

accessibility service that includes:

(1) A statewide telephone relay service and, through the competitive bidding process,

contract for the administration and operation of such a relay system for utilization of the

telecommunications network by deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired persons;

(2) The adaptive telephone equipment loan program capable of servicing the needs of

persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, severely speech impaired, or those with neuromuscular

impairments for use with a single-party telephone line, or wireless telephone, to any subscriber

who is certified as deaf, hard of hearing, severely speech impaired, or with neuromuscular

impairments by a licensed physician, audiologist, speech pathologist, or a qualified state agency,

pursuant to chapter 23 of this title; and

(3) A telephone access to the text of newspaper programs to residents who are blind,

deaf or blind, visually impaired, or reading impaired with a single-party telephone line.

(b) The commission shall establish, by rule or regulation, an appropriate funding

mechanism to recover the costs of providing this service from each residence and business

telephone access line or trunk in the state, including PBX trunks and centrex equivalent trunks

and each service line or trunk, and upon each user interface number or extension number or

similarly identifiable line, trunk, or path to or from a digital network. Notwithstanding the

foregoing, there shall not be any additional funding mechanism used to charge each residence and

business telephone access line or truck trunk in the state, including PBX trunks and centrex

equivalent trunks and each service line or trunk, or upon each user interface number or extension

number or similarly identifiable line, trunk, or path to or from a digital network, to recover the

costs of providing the services outlined in subsections (a)(1), (2) or (3) above.

(c) The commission, with the assistance of the state commission on the deaf and hard of

hearing, shall also develop the appropriate rules, regulations, and service standards necessary to

implement the provisions of subsection (a)(1) of this section. At a minimum, however, the

commission shall require, under the terms of the contract, that the relay service provider:

(1) Offer its relay services seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours a day,

including holidays;

(2) Hire only qualified salaried operators with deaf language skills; and

(3) Maintain the confidentiality of all communications.

(d) The commission shall collect from the telecommunications service providers the

amounts of the surcharge collected from their subscribers and remit to the department of human

services an additional ten thousand dollars ($10,000) annually commencing in fiscal year 2005

for the adaptive telephone equipment loan program and forty thousand dollars ($40,000) to the

department of human services for the establishment of a new telephone access to the text of

newspaper programs. In addition, eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) shall annually be remitted to

the Rhode Island Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing commission on the deaf and

hard of hearing for an emergency and public communication access program, pursuant to § 23-

1.8-4 of the Rhode Island general laws. The surcharge referenced hereunder shall be generated

from existing funding mechanisms and shall not be generated as a result of any new funding

mechanisms charged to each residence and business telephone access line or trunk in the state,

including PBX trunks and centrex equivalent trunks and each service line or trunk, or upon each

user interface number or extension number or similarly identifiable line, trunk, or path to or from

a digital network.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC003740

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