U.S. Govt. Prepping For Nationwide Broadcasts

Nov. 9 Marks Day Of First Test

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) will conduct a test on Nov. 9 by taking over nationwide TV and radio stations, including satellite radio and satellite televisions providers, for an undetermined segment of time.

The EAS has been in existence since 1994 and, according to the Federal Communications Commission, wants to expand its capability of transmitting emergency alerts and warnings to the American public at the national level. State and local alerts have already been happening on regular basis.

The EAS will function as one key component of a national alert and warning system that will provide alerts over multiple communications platforms, including mobile communications devices.

An EAS alert is based on an audio protocol defined in the FCC’s rules. In the EAS, an alert originator at the local, state, or national level inputs an EAS alert into the system using specific encoding equipment. Specially designated stations then broadcast this alert to the public in their listening areas.

The EAS alerting architecture is frequently used by state and local emergency managers to send alerts to the public about emergencies and weather events. While the requirements for carrying a national-level EAS alert differ in some respects from state and local alerts, the national EAS test will test the underlying architecture that also supports state and local alerting.
Ensuring that the EAS architecture functions properly will benefit emergency alerting at all levels of government, notes the FCC.

According to the FCC, the EAS provides the ability to send messages regionally or nationally, though it has never been activated at these levels.

“But a major disaster like an earthquake or tsunami could necessitate the use of the EAS on a regional or national basis to send life-saving information to the public. We cannot anticipate which communications infrastructure will withstand a particular disaster, but the EAS is one of the tools we have to send alerts, warnings, and information to the American people. The national EAS test will help us improve its capabilities should it ever be needed at the regional or national level in an actual emergency.”

Pursuant to the FCC’s rules, local and state components of the EAS are tested on a weekly and monthly basis, respectively.  Although the EAS has been in existence for over 15 years, there has never been an end-to-end, nationwide test of the system.

The FCC hopes to learn that the system will work as intended should public safety officials ever need to send  an alert or warning to a large region of the United States.  “Only a top-down, simultaneous test of all components of the EAS can provide an appropriate diagnosis of system-wide performance.”

The national EAS test will be conducted jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS), the three federal agencies that have EAS management responsibilities.

FEMA is the arm of the DHS primarily responsible for developing national alert and warning functions.  The FCC is an independent agency that grants licenses to or otherwise oversees EAS Participants.  FCC rules regulate the transmission of EAS alerts.  The NWS is a key player in the dissemination of local warnings via the EAS.  The great majority of EAS alerts are NWS weather-related alerts.

On Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. CST, FEMA will transmit the EAS code for national level emergencies to Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations in the national level of the EAS. The PEP stations will then rebroadcast the alert to the general public in their broadcast vicinity, as well as to the next level of EAS Participants monitoring them.

Says the FCC, “This should continue through all levels of the system, until the national alert has been distributed throughout the entire country.” It is anticipated that a national test will be conducted periodically to ensure that the EAS is, and remains, functional.

FEMA and the FCC have already twice tested the EAS national code on a more limited basis, in the state of Alaska.  The lessons learned from the Alaska tests will inform how the agencies conduct the national test.

According to the FCC, “During the test, viewers will hear a message indicating that ‘This is a test.’  Although the National EAS Test may resemble the periodic, monthly EAS tests that most Americans are already familiar with, there will be some differences in what viewers will see and hear, which is one reason for conducting a national EAS test.”

The audio message will be the same for all EAS Participants; however, due to limitations in the EAS, the video test message scroll may not be the same or indicate that “This is a test.”  This is due to the use of a “live” national  code – the same code that would be used in an actual emergency.  In addition, the background image that appears on video screens during an alert may indicate that “This is a test,” but in some instances there might not be an image at all.  FEMA and the FCC plan to conduct outreach to organizations representing people with hearing disabilities to prepare that community for the national EAS test. Outreach will include specific information tailored to the needs of those with hearing disabilities that will be readily available at online sites.

It is anticipated that this test will last approximately three minutes. While state and local EAS messages are limited to two minutes, there is no time limit for national EAS alerts. To evaluate whether the system properly interprets the national message code in the national EAS test, the message duration must be longer than two minutes.

While EAS tests may be disruptive, the FCC intends to minimize disruption and confusion to the extent possible.

EAS Participants must take part in nationwide tests of the EAS.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which administers the EAS, has the authority to ensure the conduct of training, tests, and exercises of the EAS by Executive Order.

Some opponents to providing government agencies total access to public airwaves speculate that  preparations are being made for creation of a national emergency by the government itself to result in the ultimate loss of control of the airwaves by local broadcasters. Others fear that this intrusion could result in a gradual federal government takeover of all broadcasting.