A nationwide test of the emergency alert system will be held Aug. 7, as expected (see 1907170066), beginning at 2:20 p.m. EDT, the FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday. The test will be sent to television and radio stations.
Emergency alert system participants are required to provide accessible EAS alerts, said the FCC Public Safety Bureau in a reminder public notice Wednesday before the planned Aug. 7 nationwide EAS test (see 1907010041). EAS participants “should take necessary steps” to ensure the hearing and visually impaired have “full access” to the alert messages, the PN said.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., led a Tuesday letter with 18 other members of Congress from California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington urging FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to ensure proposed changes to the wireless emergency alert system don't “impair its ability to provide rapid earthquake early warning alerts.” Other signers include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Patty Murray of Washington, Senate Commerce Committee member Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and House Communications Subcommittee member Jerry McNerney, D-Calif. Recent changes to the WEA system “to better geo-fence wildfire and other emergency alerts could unintentionally delay notifications and severely weaken the effectiveness of the ShakeAlert system,” the lawmakers wrote Pai. They cited a June 21 letter from U.S. Geological Survey Director Jim Reilly urging the FCC to consider changes to the WEA rules to make wireless earthquake alerts more effective. “Act on this request from USGS for clarification, waiver and rule changes as soon as possible,” the lawmakers suggested. Recent significant earthquakes in areas around Seattle and southern California mean “the effectiveness of earthquake early alerts to our constituents is more critical than ever.” Wednesday, the FCC didn't comment.
The New York City Emergency Management Department (NYCEM), Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management and Harris County, Texas, Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management expressed interest in taking part in targeted tests of the wireless emergency alert system later this year or in early 2020. The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought expressions of interest last month (see 1906110065) and the three filed in docket 15-91 (see here, here and here) this week. “NYCEM considers WEA to be a mission-critical communication system and applauds the Commission for seeking participation of alert originators to test the accuracy of geo-targeting,” the department said. “NYCEM has conducted similar analyses of WEA delivery in the past.” WEA is a “powerful tool that is currently met with some skepticism in the City,” Philadelphia said: “Given the City's threat and hazard profile, we are very much interested in better understanding this tool and gaining confidence in its use.” Harris County, which includes Houston, offers “a very large sample population of 4.75 million,” it said: “We will work with the providers to help determine the best way to reach and recruit members of the public who subscribe to their services. We will be sensitive to privacy concerns and work to establish a methodology that will return the maximum amount of data while minimizing exposure of personal information.”
The FCC Public Safety Bureau posted state emergency alert system plans for each state, announced Chief Lisa Fowlkes in a blog post Tuesday. “We are also taking this opportunity to strongly encourage State Emergency Communications Committees to review their plans at least annually and submit any updates to us." To prepare for emergencies, local emergency managers should coordinate with their state emergency communications committees, the blog said. “These actions can help you keep your communities safe.” SECC reports on multilingual EAS alerting show it to be adopted in only a few localities (see 1904240021).
Emergency alert system participants are required to file Form 2 in the EAS test reporting system (ETRS) before 11:59 p.m. EDT Aug. 7 for the nationwide EAS test (see 1906030050), reminded a FCC Public Safety Bureau public notice Monday. Test participants are also required to file ETRS Form 3 by Sept. 23, the PN said. EAS alerts must be accessible and there are specific rules on where on a TV screen the visual message portion of an EAS message can be displayed, the PN said. The bureau also reminded EAS participants to coordinate with state emergency communication committees and to upgrade EAS equipment software and firmware, and the stakeholders to ensure they can receive and process the national periodic test code.
Localities and broadcasters have many options to offer some multilingual emergency alerts, but none is comprehensive, and federal rules requiring them are unlikely to help, said alerting officials Friday during the FCC Public Safety Bureau's Multilingual Alerting Workshop. “There's enough toys in the toy box, let us fit them together,” said Sage Alerting Systems President Harold Price on the event's final panel. “Multilingual still has a long way to go, but there are still things you can do,” said Public Safety Bureau Attorney Adviser David Munson.
Senate Passes FY 2020 NDAA Sans Anti-Huawei Language; Includes 5G Security, Spectrum, EAS Provisions
The Senate voted 86-8 Thursday to pass the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (S-1790) with a manager's amendment that included some 5G, spectrum and emergency alerts-related proposal. Senate leaders didn't include any proposed language in the manager's amendment targeting Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei (see 1906190054). There had been separate proposals by three senators -- Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Mitt Romney, R-Utah; and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. -- amid the debate over the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security notice adding Huawei and its affiliates to a list of entities subject to export administration regulations (see 1905160081). Romney was among those concerned President Donald Trump would seek to end BIS' restrictions against Huawei as part of the administration's ongoing trade talks with China (see 1905240038). The S-1790 language outlined in the manager's amendment would call for DOD to work with the FCC and NTIA to establish a spectrum sharing R&D program aimed at sharing between 5G technologies, federal and non-federal incumbent systems. The language says DOD, the FCC and NTIA officials should, by May 2020, propose an “integrated spectrum automation enterprise strategy” that will allow Defense to “address management of [spectrum], including Federal and non-Federal spectrum” shared by DOD “that could be used for national security missions in the future, including on a shared basis.” There's also language saying the secretary of defense should begin by March 15, 2020, to brief Hill committees with jurisdiction over DOD on how the department is using 5G technology and is working with other federal agencies to “develop common policies and approaches.” The manager's amendment includes a proposal from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., to would require the director of national intelligence to report on the extent to which “global and regional adoption” of foreign-made 5G technology affects U.S. national security. The study should in part look at how the nation's “strategy to reduce foreign influence and political pressure in international standard-setting bodies” could help mitigate the threat. Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, secured the addition of language from his Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (Alert) Act, which he first filed in response to the January 2018 false missile emergency alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054). The Alert Act would give the federal government sole authority to issue missile threat alerts and pre-empt state and local governments' role (see 1802070052). The Senate cleared the Alert Act last year by unanimous consent (see 1806270001).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau scheduled a webinar on the emergency alert system and the EAS test reporting system for low-power broadcasters at 1 p.m. EDT July 11, said a public notice Tuesday. A nationwide EAS test is planned for Aug. 7 (see 1906030050).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau’s Friday workshop on multilingual emergency alerting will include officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, emergency alert system equipment manufacturers, and Spanish- and English-language broadcasters, said a public notice agenda posted Friday. The workshop will open with a panel on the regulatory framework for multilingual alerts, featuring FCC, FEMA and NOAA officials. The workshop will then examine existing multilingual alerting programs in jurisdictions such as Minnesota, and then focus on the current capabilities of EAS equipment, the PN said. The event is intended to “inform state and local emergency management and planning authorities on actions they can take to implement multilingual alerts,” the PN said. A Communications Daily Special Report on multilingual broadcast alerts found FCC rules requiring the practice are unlikely anytime soon (see 1904240021).