What is EAS?
The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) designed the Emergency
Alert System (EAS) as a tool for officials to quickly
send out important emergency information targeted to a specific
area. After conducting extensive tests of competing technologies,
the FCC ruled that the EAS would be a digital-based automated
system (and use coding protocols similar to NOAA
Weather Radio (NWR) Specific
Area Message Encoding (SAME)). As a new technical and
operational structure, the EAS is so named to account for
multiple sources of activation (not just broadcast media but
also cable television, satellite, pagers, and such new forms
of digital technology as Direct Broadcast Satellite, High
Definition Television, and Video Dial Tone) to deliver EAS
messages and to account for the needs of such special populations
as the deaf and those with differing language requirements.
In 1996, EAS replaced the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS).
While NWR SAME is the National
Weather Service's (NWS) primary entry into EAS, there
are also other means of external entry of emergency information
to the EAS. Several levels of backup and procedures exist
for those areas currently outside the range of an NWR station.
Local and county emergency operations centers have the ability
to input messages directly to the EAS in much the same way
as the NWS. Radio and television stations have similar capabilities
to initiate an EAS message. FCC rules also requires broadcasters
to monitor at least two independent sources for emergency
information, ensuring that emergency information is received
and delivered to viewers and listeners.
Under the EAS guidelines, each state formed a State Emergency
Communications Committee (SECC). The SECC is chaired by a
broadcast and cable representative who was nominated by the
SECC membership and appointed by the FCC. Duties of the SECC
include presiding over training and workshop sessions, liaison
with the National Advisory Committee and Local Emergency Communications
Committees (LECCs), and performing studies to improve emergency
communications. The SECC is also responsible for developing
the state
EAS plan for broadcast and cable media.
The LECC has the same mission as the SECC but on a local level.
The number of LECCs varies widely from state to state, with
each LECC responsible for an area about the size of a typical
county. LECC members include broadcasters, cable operators,
emergency management officials, other technological personnel,
amateur radio operators, utility companies in the service
area, and others who have a responsibility or interest in
local emergency communications.
FCC Report and Order amending EAS
Rules
On February 26, 2002, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) issued the eagerly awaited
Report
and Order amending the Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules.
The Report and Order is available online in html, Acrobat
and Word formats. The FCC's
Press Release announcing the issuance of the Report and
Order is also posted online. The Report and Order became effective
May 16, 2002.
The 56-page Report and Order indicates the FCC adopted some
key provisions of the 2001 Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which the National
Weather Service (NWS) supported. Significantly, the FCC
adopted a critical provision permitting broadcasters to preselect
which EAS messages they wish to display and log. Additionally,
the FCC adopted a naming
convention for new event codes, numerous new
event codes, and NWS'
marine area location codes. Several weather event codes
that were omitted in the original FCC EAS rules were added.
Also, a Child Abduction Emergency event code for use in connection
with local, state and regional "AMBER" (America's
Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Plans was added.
The FCC will not require, rather will permit on a voluntary
basis broadast stations and cable systems to upgrade their
existing EAS equipment to add the new event and location codes,
until such equipment is replaced. All EAS equipment manufactured
after August 1, 2003 will be required to be capable of receiving
and transmitting the new event codes. In order to provide
for an orderly transition to the use of the new codes, NWS
Headquarters coordinated with warning partners to develop
an NWS implementation schedule and outreach information. As
a first step, NWS Headquarters has prepared a fact sheet (in
pdf format) entitled National
Weather Service and Changes to the Emergency Alert System
(EAS), dated June 23, 2004.
Supporting documents:
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