Pending OMB approval still keeping some of the new rules in limbo for now
A couple of months ago we reported on two FCC actions involving E911 accuracy standards. In separate decisions released simultaneously, the Commission (a) accepted an industry/public safety community compromise on those standards and (b) proposed to expand the reach of those standards. As we reported a couple of weeks ago, it took the Commission more than a month to get the deadlines for comments and replies about the proposed rules established (by publishing the NPRM in the Federal Register).
For some unexplained reason, it has taken even longer for the Commission to get the rules it adopted back in September published and, therefore, effective. Never fear, though – today, just in time for Thanksgiving, the Second Report and Order in the E911 location accuracy proceeding has finally made it into the Federal Register. That means that the new rules will become effective in 60 days. Wait, don’t bother to reach for your calendar – we’ve already done the calculation: the effective date will be January 18, 2011 (which is actually 62 days from publication — presumably that’s because the 60th day, January 16, is a Sunday, and the next day, January 17, is Martin Luther King Day).
Note that §§ 20.18(h)(1)(vi), 20.18(h)(2)(iii), and 20.18(h)(3) – all of which were changed in the Second Report and Order – will not necessarily take effect on January 18. That’s because they involve information collections which have yet to be approved by OMB first. OMB approval might be obtained before January 16, but it hasn’t happened yet, so we still can’t say for sure when those particular rules will kick in.