Norton Warns FEMA to Make Immediate Upgrades to EAS System
A federal emergency official told House members Wednesday that there’s a plan to improve the nation’s emergency alert system before fiscal 2013. The plan is “not without its challenges,” Damon Penn, assistant administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said at a House Public Safety Subcommittee hearing. “There must be no more delay in building a modern alert system,” said Subcommittee Chairman Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
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Penn acknowledged lawmakers’ sharp criticism of the current system’s inadequacies and the federal government’s slow progress in upgrading emergency communications technology. In a report released for the hearing, the Government Accountability Office said national alert capabilities haven’t advanced at all the past five years, because of program mismanagement at FEMA.
The federal system is little changed since the 1960s and “exhibits long-standing weaknesses” that threaten public safety, said GAO Director Mark Goldstein. The system’s reliance on broadcast alerts is a problem, and plans to upgrade to more modern communications such as cellphones have stagnated under the agency’s management, Goldstein said. Inadequate staffing, unclear program directives and lack of leadership all are to blame for the government’s inability to comply with a 2006 executive order by former President George W. Bush to upgrade emergency communications systems.
Without an integrated alert system, state and local governments have begun developing their own systems. Norton said she fears that state efforts, though well-intended, could create a patchwork of 50 incompatible systems that wouldn’t alert people in emergencies that cross state lines. “We hope the lack of progress will be a thing of the past” under new leaders appointed by President Barack Obama, Norton said. Subcommittee ranking member Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida agreed, said if future state efforts aren’t coordinated properly they could create a new set of problems.
GAO’s study found little cooperation among state and local emergency managers and the telecommunications industry. Many contacted by GAO for the study had no knowledge of federal efforts to move toward the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, the report said. “The majority of state emergency management directors had little communications with FEMA regarding IPAWS.” FEMA has no plans to create a system of state advisory committees to work on the long-range goal of developing a comprehensive system, GAO said. “EAS’s reliance on broadcast and other media currently exclude other communications devices, such as cell phones,” which makes it difficult to reach “distinct segments” of the population, GAO said. The agency urged FEMA to hire more people to do the job. The study identified many staffing problems. GAO also urged that the agency develop a step-by-step plan for building out the IPAWS system.
Penn said he’s committed to meeting those goals and promised regular updates to show progress. He defended the agency’s reliance on contractors, a strategy that Norton questioned, because the program is short-term and needs people with specific experience. This is best accomplished by hiring contractors, he said. Penn acknowledged that the federal government has never done a nationwide, end-to-end test of the Emergency Alert System but said officials are planning one soon. FEMA ran a closed-circuit test Sept. 23 of message transmission from the White House to Primary Entry Point stations, Penn said. The stations have backup generators and onsite fuel supplies to keep them running during disasters.
FEMA also plans to double the number of PEP stations to 74 over the next two years, Penn said. The Army Corps of Engineers already is working on these plans. “That is good news,” Norton said. But she queried Penn whether the PEP stations are the best means of delivering emergency communications. Penn said the system can be very effective, especially if all systems can communicate with each other.