Senate Communications Subcommittee member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and other members of the Hawaii congressional delegation during a Thursday field hearing touted a set of bills they say are aimed at addressing issues with the emergency alert system highlighted during a January false alarm about a possible ballistic missile headed for the state (see 1801160054 and 1803160042).
The District of Columbia and 19 other nearby jurisdictions tested the wireless emergency alert system Thursday morning through the Washington Metro Council of Governments (COG). Some didn’t get the alerts, even though they were well within the region. By afternoon, about 12,000 people responded to a survey, D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency acting Director Chris Rodriguez told us. The FCC also seeks some input.
A planned Thursday Senate Commerce Committee field hearing on the January false alarm about a possible ballistic missile headed for Hawaii (see 1801160054 and 1803160042) is aimed as much at shaping legislation to address issues with the emergency alert system (EAS) highlighted in the incident as it is at answering lingering questions about the event, lawmakers and others told us. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. at the East-West Center’s Keoni Auditorium in Honolulu.
The National Capital Region is “blanketing social media” and doing a flurry of local media interviews before Thursday’s regional test of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Rodriguez, said in a Friday interview. The District will join 19 other nearby jurisdictions in a test from 10 to 11 a.m. (see 1803280055). “Our job as homeland security professionals is to provide lifesaving information to the public in an actual emergency,” he said. “We take that responsibility and that duty very seriously, and we need to practice that capability, because the last thing we want to do is in a real emergency be using this capability for the first time.” Users in the District will get an alert saying it’s a WEA test and no further action is required, he said. “We’re not going to do the Hawaii thing,” said Rodriguez, referring to the false alarm about a missile headed for the Pacific island state (see 1803160042). The District has about six or seven layers of review before a message is sent, he said. “No one person can send out a wireless emergency alert,” but the process still takes under a minute, he said. “We want to make sure that when the public hears from us, the public knows that it’s an emergency.” While HSEMA tests WEA every month internally, Thursday will be “the first coordinated regional test” of WEA to the general public, Rodriguez said. Success will be to “very quickly disseminate wireless emergency alerts to the public,” he said. Alerts will go out in phases over a half-hour period, with each jurisdiction taking turns hitting "send" about every 15 seconds, Rodriguez said. Alerts will go to anyone with a phone in the area, including out-of-town visitors, because WEA is based on proximity rather than area code, he said. HSEMA is coordinating with Destination D.C. to help get word out about the upcoming test through hotels and tourism organizations, a HSEMA spokeswoman added. Some users may get multiple alerts because the 20 jurisdictions overlap in some places, the director said. After the test, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments will gauge public reaction with an online survey, he said.
Broadcast industry officials see the recent seizure of a pirate radio operator’s equipment as a positive sign that the FCC is increasing its enforcement efforts against unlicensed operators (see 1803280049), but the existence of the pirate stations can be a reaction to a lack of diversity and localism in radio, a person affiliated with one of the stations involved in the seizure told us. The listeners of pirate station Big City FM won’t start listening to other Boston-area stations now that Big City is shut down, because those licensed stations don’t offer diverse or local voices, the unlicensed-affiliated person said. “I understand the need for diversity, but there’s other ways to provide that rather than stepping on [the Emergency Alert System],” said Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Executive Director Jordan Walton in an interview.
The District of Columbia will join 19 other nearby jurisdictions in a regional test of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency said in a Tuesday advisory. The test is April 5 between 10 and 11 a.m., with a backup date April 9 at the same time, HSEMA said. Others issuing advisories included Frederick County in Maryland, and Alexandria and Fairfax County, Virginia. The FCC earlier approved the WEA test (see 1803160044).
The FCC should create a separate wireless emergency alert classification for Blue Alerts, said DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) in a letter to the FCC posted in docket 15-94 Monday. The FCC order that created the BLU Blue Alert emergency alert system code authorized temporary use of the existing “imminent threat” classification to allow Blue Alerts to be disseminated through the WEA system (see 1712140045), but the COPS Office now wants a dedicated classification for WEAs as well. A separate classification “would further enhance the promulgation of succinct guidance and allow for additional safeguards to ensure that Blue Alerts are issued in an effective and consistent manner,” the letter said. “The WEA Imminent Threat classification is more of a ‘one size fits all’ tool whose usage is subject to broader interpretation.” A separate classification would minimize improper use of the alerts, it said.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, plans an April 5 field hearing in Honolulu on the January false alarm about a possible ballistic missile headed for that state (see 1801160054), as expected (see 1801170050). The hearing will focus on the failure of Hawaii’s state emergency alert system during the incident, the Senate Commerce Committee said. “This hearing is about moving forward and fixing the emergency alert system,” Schatz said. “By bringing together state and federal officials, we can understand what happened, what resources are needed to make it right, and how we can improve.” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, U.S. Pacific Command leader Adm. Harry Harris and Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Arthur Logan are among those set to testify. FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes, Federal Emergency Management Agency Continuity Communications Division Director Antwane Johnson and Hawaii Association of Broadcasters President Chris Leonard will also testify. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. at the East-West Center’s Keoni Auditorium. The FCC determined the false missile warning stemmed from a lack of safeguards and human error, including a now-fired HEMA employee who confused drills with alerts (see 1801300053). Schatz later filed the Senate version of the Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (Alert) Act (HR-4965/S-2385), which would give the federal government sole authority to issue missile threat alerts and pre-empt state and local governments' role in issuing such warnings (see 1802070052). Senate Commerce and the House Homeland Security Committee have held hearings on the incident (see 1801240046, 1801250061, 1802050046 and 1802060055). The House Communications Subcommittee is also expected at least to partially focus on the issue when it holds its next FCC oversight hearing, after postponing a planned February hearing (see 1802050025). House Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us the committee has a future FCC hearing “on the books.”
With a lack of electricity and access to funding hampering recovery efforts for communications services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, some concerns about the FCC USF-based aid proposal have emerged, industry and government officials in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington told us. Some industry officials expressed concern about the proposal's goals and said the plan does nothing for affected broadcasters. A group of Puerto Rico broadcasters pitched a nationwide disaster relief plan for broadcasters to Chairman Ajit Pai during his visit earlier this month. “What happened in Puerto Rico can happen elsewhere in the U.S.,” said Eduardo Rivero of Puerto Rico station owner Media Power Group.
New York City Emergency Management filed at the FCC a report it commissioned arguing for requiring the capacity to include transmission of photos and other media as part of wireless emergency alerts. The department said it submitted the report at the request of the FCC Public Safety Bureau. The report examines public reaction in the wake of the use of alerts as police searched for Ahmad Rahami, the suspect in the 2016 Chelsea bombing. The vast majority believed it was an "appropriate use of the system (89 percent appropriate) and less than 1 percent unsubscribed from the service following the alert,” the report said. “Although most could not correctly recall what time they received the message by the time our survey was conducted, over a quarter reported receiving the message between 7:30 and 8:30 am (27 percent).” Given limitations of WEAs, the city had to refer people to media reports for a photo of Rahami and 45 percent reported they took this step, the city said. “Those who didn’t said it was because they did not have time, were at work, or believed it was too much work to turn to the media for the picture. The survey shows broad support for updating these messages to include a direct link to view photos of the suspect, as 83 percent believe it would be useful to include such a link in wireless alerts.”