Emergency alert system participants must register with the EAS test reporting system and file ETRS Form 1 by Aug. 28 to be ready for the required Sept. 27 nationwide test (see 1707180042), said FCC Public Safety Bureau reminder public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. Participants have until the day of the test to update information and correct errors on their Form 1 filings, and 24 hours from the 2:20 p.m. EDT exercise to file day of test data, the PN said. Detailed post-test data must be filed within 45 days afterwards.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency placed “non-functional sound-alike” emergency alert system audio files on its website to be used in educational public service announcements, FEMA said in a filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 15-94. The filing was an update to a Nov. 9 conference call with the Public Safety Bureau where making the files available online was discussed.
FCC implementation of a Blue Alert program should include a training program for message originators similar to that used for Amber Alerts, NAB commented in docket 15-94 (see 1708010065). The training associated with Amber Alerts improved “investigative responses” of law enforcement agencies in incidents involving abducted children, NAB said. It also weighed in on whether the FCC should create a new code or use the existing Law Enforcement Warning code: “A dedicated BLU code may more accurately alert the public regarding police-related incidents.” NAB supports voluntary Blue Alerts with clear criteria for use, and a six month implementation timeframe with a waiver process. NCTA also indicated support for the Blue Alert proposal. The commission should consider that implementation of a new emergency alert system code could take longer than the NPRM suggests, and take a longer time frame into account in any final proposal, NCTA said. The FCC also should ensure the criteria for a Blue Alert are firm, to cut down on overuse of the code, NCTA said: "The issuance of Blue Alerts outside the federal government’s specific guidelines risks desensitizing the public to their significance through unnecessary interruptions of television programming."
Emergency alert system entities, EAS participants and law enforcement organizations divided over whether incidents involving danger to police should have their own EAS code, in comments in FCC docket 15-94 by Monday’s deadline. Most commenters -- including APCO, DOJ (see 1707310045) and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) -- support creating the alert code. Others believe existing codes can serve the same function, and adding another will further dilute effectiveness of the EAS system or increase expense. The proposed BLU event code is “another vanity Event Code intended to meet the needs of the one/few at the expense of further eroding the intrinsic value of mass alerting for more significant and substantive mass call-to-action notifications,” said broadcasting technical service provider McCarthy Radio Enterprises.
A “perceived lack of urgency” is associated with the law enforcement warning (LEW) code used on emergency alert systems systems for incidents involving danger to the police, said DOJ's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) in comments on the FCC Blue Alert NPRM in docket 15-94. COPS supports blue alerts, and Chairman Ajit Pai announced the proceeding at a joint news conference with DOJ officials (see 1705190048). “Despite its serious sounding name, the LEW event code is often used for routine informational purposes such as hazardous road conditions and road closures,” DOJ said. The NPRM included the possibility of using the existing LEW code instead of creating a new EAS code. The FCC should recommend a best practice for configuring EAS systems to search for a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) alert when a legacy broadcast EAS alert arrives first, Sage Alerting Systems commented. A stakeholder technical committee could also generate such a procedure, Sage said. “Legacy EAS messages do not have access to all of the rich media from the CAP message.”
The FCC should use its existing law enforcement warning (LEW) event code for emergencies involving danger to law enforcement officials instead of creating a new BLU event code as proposed in an NPRM (see 1706190080), said emergency alert system equipment manufacturer Monroe Electronics in comments in docket 15-94. “The addition of a new EAS event code may involve various costs and operational considerations for EAS and public warning stakeholders which may not have been adequately factored in.” The two states that incorporated EAS into Blue Alert processes already use LEW, and the code could be redefined to only be used for the scenarios described in the NPRM, Monroe said. Because the LEW code is already present on all current EAS devices, new rules for blue alerts could take effect immediately, Monroe said. Creating a new event code would require “a substantially extended timeline for both EAS and WEA [wireless emergency alerts], additional costs to EAS Participants and manufacturers, and the need to revise some Blue Alert plans and all state EAS plans,” Monroe said. The Blue Alert system and the upcoming nationwide EAS test (see 1707240042) also would be better served by the FCC taking action on a Monroe proposal to transition the EAS system to “Triggered CAP [common alerting protocol] Polling” (see 1701090043), the company said: EAS equipment would poll the system to check if the more informative CAP alert was also available, and if so, run with that instead of the less useful old-style alert.
The FCC notified broadcasters of the upcoming nationwide emergency alert system test and opened the EAS test reporting system (ETRS) for 2017 filings, in a public notice in docket 15-94 Monday. In preparation for the Sept. 27 test, broadcasters should make sure their EAS systems are ready, including ensuring that the EAS handbook is available to operators, that their equipment is functional, and that software is up to date, the PN said. Broadcasters also should make sure their ETRS identifying information hasn’t changed, since Form 1 filings are due by Aug. 28, the PN said. Broadcasters will need to file info in ETRS by the day of the test, and file post-test information by Nov. 13, the PN said. Meanwhile, a recent proposal to slap an Alaska broadcaster with a $66,000 fine partly over failure to follow EAS rules (see 1707190040) should be a warning to broadcasters about the nationwide test (see 1707180042), Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford blogged Monday. “This is a good time for stations to insure that they are monitoring the correct EAS sources as required by their state EAS plan, that they have their online EAS CAPS [common alerting protocols] alert systems functional, and that they are properly receiving, conducting and logging their weekly and monthly tests.” The FCC’s investigation into the Alaska matter seems to have been triggered by the station’s EAS problems, and the EAS aspects were highlighted in the news release on the notice of apparent liability, he said.
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The FCC unanimously approved a notice of apparent liability for a proposed $66,000 fine against Seward, Alaska, FM licensee Kenai Educational Media for “actions that undermine the effectiveness of the Emergency Alert System” and failing to maintain public records or respond to agency inquiries, said a Wednesday news release. Kenai’s noncommercial educational KIBH was failing to monitor EAS sources, didn't make EAS information available to staff, was in violation of staffing and public file rules, and had programmed its EAS equipment messages for a radio station serving a different geographic area, the NAL said. “A broadcaster’s failure to meet these FCC requirements is a serious offense which can pose real dangers for their communities,” the release said. Kenai Educational Media didn't comment.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct a nationwide emergency alert system test either Sept. 27 or, as a backup, Oct. 4, FEMA said in a letter posted Friday in FCC docket 15-94 to Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes. The proposed test would be “originated in the same manner” as the national test conducted last September, FEMA said. Meantime, a dedicated EAS event code for blue alerts would facilitate the adoption of new blue alert plans in the 23 states that don’t yet have one, and a national blue alert network would help save police lives, said the National Association of Police Organizations in comments posted in FCC docket 15-94 Monday. “Lack of a dedicated Blue Alert EAS event code is one of the main obstacles to states adopting and using Blue Alert plans,” the filing said. “With the number of law enforcement officer assaults, injuries, and deaths increasing sharply in recent years, a functioning National Blue Alert Network, with all states participating, is vital.” Commissioners approved an NPRM at their June meeting (see 1706220045).