Emergency Reporting Act

Hozzl · 2026-04-15T19:06:04Z

Explore the details of House Bill 5200 Emergency Reporting Act currently in Congress. Get insights into its purpose, current status, sponsors, and potential impact on Science, Technology, Communications. Stay informed on legislative developments.

4/15/2026, 7:06 PM

Summary of Bill HR 5200

The bill, designated as H.R. 5200 in the 119th Congress and introduced on September 8, 2025, aims to direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports post-activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System, enhance network outage reporting, and address other related matters.

Congressional Summary of HR 5200

Emergency Reporting Act

This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate and report on emergency communications outages (e.g., 9-1-1 outages).

Specifically, the FCC must publish a general report on (1) the volume and nature of 9-1-1 outages that are not required to be reported under current outage notification rules, (2) the value and practicality of including visual information in outage notifications from communications providers, and (3) recommended changes to FCC rules to address these issues.

Separately, the FCC must hold annual public hearings on events for which the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) was activated for at least a week. (DIRS is a reporting system that is activated during severe weather and other events impacting communications service. It enables communications providers to report outages and other degradations to service.) After each such hearing, the FCC must issue a report that includes information about the number, duration, and nature of all associated outages, along with recommendations for improving the resiliency of affected communications services or networks. Such reports must generally be made public on the FCC website.

Read the Full Bill

Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Current Status of Bill HR 5200

Bill HR 5200 is currently in the status of Bill Introduced since September 8, 2025. Bill HR 5200 was introduced during Congress 119 and was introduced to the House on September 8, 2025. Bill HR 5200's most recent activity was Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 517. as of April 9, 2026

Bipartisan Support of Bill HR 5200

Total Number of Sponsors

Democrat Sponsors

Republican Sponsors

Unaffiliated Sponsors

Total Number of Cosponsors

Democrat Cosponsors

Republican Cosponsors

Unaffiliated Cosponsors

Policy Area and Potential Impact of Bill HR 5200

Primary Policy Focus

Science, Technology, Communications

Potential Impact Areas

- Congressional oversight

- Electric power generation and transmission

- Emergency communications systems

- Emergency medical services and trauma care

- Emergency planning and evacuation

- Government information and archives

- Government studies and investigations

- Natural disasters

- Telephone and wireless communication

Alternate Title(s) of Bill HR 5200

To direct the Federal Communications Commission to issue reports after activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvements to network outage reporting, and for other purposes.