US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

47 U.S.C. § 1008

Payment of costs of telecommunications carriers to comply with capability requirements

(a)

Equipment, facilities, and services deployed on or before

section 1002 of this titleThe Attorney General may, subject to the availability of appropriations, agree to pay telecommunications carriers for all reasonable costs directly associated with the modifications performed by carriers in connection with equipment, facilities, and services installed or deployed on or before , to establish the capabilities necessary to comply with .

(b)

Equipment, facilities, and services deployed after

(1)

Determinations of reasonably achievable

section 1002 of this titleThe Commission, on petition from a telecommunications carrier or any other interested person, and after notice to the Attorney General, shall determine whether compliance with the assistance capability requirements of is reasonably achievable with respect to any equipment, facility, or service installed or deployed after . The Commission shall make such determination within 1 year after the date such petition is filed. In making such determination, the Commission shall determine whether compliance would impose significant difficulty or expense on the carrier or on the users of the carrier’s systems and shall consider the following factors:
(A)
The effect on public safety and national security.
(B)
The effect on rates for basic residential telephone service.
(C)
The need to protect the privacy and security of communications not authorized to be intercepted.
(D)
section 1002 of this title The need to achieve the capability assistance requirements of by cost-effective methods.
(E)
The effect on the nature and cost of the equipment, facility, or service at issue.
(F)
The effect on the operation of the equipment, facility, or service at issue.
(G)
The policy of the United States to encourage the provision of new technologies and services to the public.
(H)
The financial resources of the telecommunications carrier.
(I)
The effect on competition in the provision of telecommunications services.
(J)
The extent to which the design and development of the equipment, facility, or service was initiated before .
(K)
Such other factors as the Commission determines are appropriate.
(2)

Compensation

section 1002 of this titleIf compliance with the assistance capability requirements of is not reasonably achievable with respect to equipment, facilities, or services deployed after —
(A)
the Attorney General, on application of a telecommunications carrier, may agree, subject to the availability of appropriations, to pay the telecommunications carrier for the additional reasonable costs of making compliance with such assistance capability requirements reasonably achievable; and
(B)
if the Attorney General does not agree to pay such costs, the telecommunications carrier shall be deemed to be in compliance with such capability requirements.
(c)

Allocation of funds for payment

The Attorney General shall allocate funds appropriated to carry out this subchapter in accordance with law enforcement priorities determined by the Attorney General.

(d)

Failure to make payment with respect to equipment, facilities, and services deployed on or before

section 1002 of this titlesection 1002 of this titleIf a carrier has requested payment in accordance with procedures promulgated pursuant to subsection (e), and the Attorney General has not agreed to pay the telecommunications carrier for all reasonable costs directly associated with modifications necessary to bring any equipment, facility, or service deployed on or before , into compliance with the assistance capability requirements of , such equipment, facility, or service shall be considered to be in compliance with the assistance capability requirements of until the equipment, facility, or service is replaced or significantly upgraded or otherwise undergoes major modification.

(e)

Cost control regulations

(1)

In general

50 U.S.C. 1801The Attorney General shall, after notice and comment, establish regulations necessary to effectuate timely and cost-efficient payment to telecommunications carriers under this subchapter, under chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, and under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( et seq.).

(2)

Contents of regulations

The Attorney General, after consultation with the Commission, shall prescribe regulations for purposes of determining reasonable costs under this subchapter. Such regulations shall seek to minimize the cost to the Federal Government and shall—
(A)
permit recovery from the Federal Government of—
(i)
section 1003(e) of this title the direct costs of developing the modifications described in subsection (a), of providing the capabilities requested under subsection (b)(2), or of providing the capacities requested under , but only to the extent that such costs have not been recovered from any other governmental or nongovernmental entity;
(ii)
the costs of training personnel in the use of such capabilities or capacities; and
(iii)
the direct costs of deploying or installing such capabilities or capacities;
(B)
in the case of any modification that may be used for any purpose other than lawfully authorized electronic surveillance by a law enforcement agency of a government, permit recovery of only the incremental cost of making the modification suitable for such law enforcement purposes; and
(C)
maintain the confidentiality of trade secrets.
(3)

Submission of claims

Such regulations shall require any telecommunications carrier that the Attorney General has agreed to pay for modifications pursuant to this section and that has installed or deployed such modification to submit to the Attorney General a claim for payment that contains or is accompanied by such information as the Attorney General may require.

Pub. L. 103–414, title I, § 109108 Stat. 4286(, , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Pub. L. 95–51192 Stat. 1783section 1801 of Title 50The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, referred to in subsec. (e)(1), is , , , which is classified principally to chapter 36 (§ 1801 et seq.) of Title 50, War and National Defense. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under and Tables.