Denver is seeking an FCC waiver to do a wireless emergency alert for the city and county, said the Denver Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in a letter posted Thursday in docket 15-91. The test would be Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. MDT, with a backup date of the same time Sept. 13. It would be Denver’s first live WEA test: “It is imperative to test the system now, rather than wait until May 2019 when the FCC’s end-to-end testing rules become active.”
Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Colleen Hanabusa, both D-Hawaii, filed a House version of the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (Readi) Act (HR-6427) in a bid to further address emergency alert system issues highlighted by a January false alarm in Hawaii (see 1801160054). HR-6427 and Senate version S-3238 would require the FCC set best practices for delivering emergency alerts in a bid to streamline the alerting process. It would update the process for creating and approving state plans and examine the feasibility of expanding EAS to also distribute warnings to online streaming services (see 1804050055). Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., filed S-3238 earlier this month (see 1807180053). HR-6427 “will fortify and improve the federal Emergency Alert System and expand the reach of emergency alerts on phones, [TV], radio, and online,” Hanabusa said Thursday. “It will create effective policies and procedures for issuing alerts and the ability to immediately retract misinformation. We must help restore the public’s trust in government and ensure that we have an effective alert system in place.”
The FCC partially rejected and partially granted a 2005 petition for reconsideration by satellite operators on the agency's emergency alert system report and order (see 0601040124). In an order in Wednesday's Daily Digest, commissioners rejected the ask by Intelsat, SES and the former PanAmSat, which was acquired by Intelsat, that EAS obligations for Ku-band fixed satellite service licensees move to the video programming distributors that lease transponder capacity from the licensees. It rejected an alternative ask that it not apply FSS EAS rules to FSS operations covered by lease agreements already in place when the EAS requirements took effect. It said over the past decade in which the rules have been in effect, it hasn't heard from FSS licensees about big problems with rules implementation. But the agency said it adopts more specific criteria for determining when EAS obligations are triggered for FSS licensees whose satellites provide programming aimed primarily at consumers outside the U.S. The FCC said another pending petition for partial reconsideration of the EAS order by the former XM Radio seeks reconsideration of unrelated issues and will be addressed separately.
Key Republicans backed and Democrats attacked deregulatory FCC policies under Chairman Ajit Pai at a House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing Wednesday. GOP leaders lauded commission actions to improve emergency communications, update media regulations and promote broadband deployment. Democrats blasted the agency's net neutrality rollback and other deregulatory moves as favoring big industry players and even complicating national security. Pai and other commissioners had provided prepared testimony (see 1807240056).
The FCC will let the Federal Emergency Management Agency do the first nationwide test of wireless emergency alerts to wireless devices using the presidential level code on Sept. 20, with Oct. 3 a back-up date. FEMA requested a waiver (see 1807110033) so carriers would be able to participate in the test, to start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and be transmitted throughout the U.S. and its territories. The test “presents a unique circumstance that justifies a waiver of the Commission’s rules,” the Public Safety Bureau said. “We agree with FEMA, as noted in its letter, that it is important to ‘determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency.’”
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., filed the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (Readi) Act Wednesday in a bid to further address emergency alert system issues highlighted by a January false alarm in Hawaii (see 1801160054). The bill, which Schatz previewed during an April hearing, would require the FCC set best practices for delivering emergency alerts in a bid to streamline the alerting process. It would update the process for creating and approving state plans and examine the feasibility of expanding EAS to also distribute warnings to online streaming services (see 1804050055). “Even though it was a false alarm, the missile alert exposed real flaws in the way people receive emergency alerts,” Schatz said. “Our bill fixes a number of important problems with the system responsible for delivering emergency alerts.” Schatz led filing of the Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (Alert) Act (S-2385), which the Senate passed in June (see 1802060055, 1802070052 and 1806270001). S-2385 and House companion HR-4965 would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Advisory Council's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System subcommittee “make recommendations on the best practices that state and local governments should follow to maintain the integrity of IPAWS.” There has been no action on the House version.
The FCC Further NPRM on emergency alert system testing and false alerts approved by commissioners 3-1 Thursday (see 1807120059) and in Monday's Daily Digest has comments due 30 days after Federal Register publication, replies 30 days later. It has several pages that list questions in three sections, including on false alert reporting and delivery of wireless emergency alerts to handsets. That section examines how performance of WEAs to wireless devices is measured and reported: “We are concerned that inconsistent WEA delivery not only fails to deliver potentially life-saving information to the public, but also can erode consumer confidence in alerting systems. Accordingly, we seek comment regarding WEA delivery issues that stakeholders have encountered or are aware of, either in connection with a live alert or with a regional end-to-end test.”
Commissioner Mike O’Rielly split with fellow FCC Republicans Thursday to partially dissent from an order on emergency alert system testing and false alerts, over concerns about alert fatigue. Since lone FCC Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel voted in favor, it was approved 3 to 1. “If people come to expect that when those alert signals go off they may not be real, there is a very high likelihood that they will ignore potentially life-saving information.” O’Rielly said.
A heated dispute over FCC changes to informal complaint procedures overshadowed commissioners' 3-1 approval of an order to streamline formal complaint processes. Dissenter Jessica Rosenworcel said the order effectively removes the agency from working to resolve informal complaints against companies, forcing consumers unsatisfied by company responses to file a formal complaint costing $225. "This is bonkers. No one should be asked to pay $225 for this agency to do its job," she said at Thursday's commissioners' meeting.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans the first nationwide test of wireless emergency alerts to wireless devices using the presidential level code on Sept. 20, FEMA said in an FCC filing. FEMA sought waiver of FCC rules to let wireless carriers participate in the test, to start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and be transmitted throughout the U.S. and its territories. On the same day, FEMA said it plans the fourth in a series of nationwide tests of the emergency alert system, to start at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The WEA test “is necessary because it will determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency,” FEMA said in docket 15-91. “FEMA proposes to conduct this test in September in conjunction with National Preparedness Month.” FEMA said tests of public alert and warning systems can “assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine what technological improvements need to be made.” The WEA test will instruct wireless subscribers: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”