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History
This is a test of the Emergency Alert System
– this is only a test…”
You will occasionally hear or see these words
on your local broadcast station, satellite radio, Direct Broadcast
Satellite (DBS), or cable system.
The EAS is designed to provide the President
with a means to address the American people in the event of a
national emergency. Beginning in 1963, the President permitted
state and local emergency information to be transmitted using the
system. Since then, local emergency management personnel have used
the EAS to relay local emergency messages via broadcast stations,
cable, and wireless cable systems. In October 2005, the FCC
expanded the EAS rules to require EAS participation by digital
television (DTV) broadcasters, digital cable television providers,
digital broadcast radio, Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS), and
DBS systems. These rules take effect on December 31, 2006, except
for the DBS rules, which take effect on May 31, 2007. While
participation in national EAS alerts is mandatory for these
providers, state and local EAS participation is currently
voluntary.
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The FCC and EAS
The FCC designed the EAS to be
implemented through a cooperative arrangement among the
FCC, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), now
part of the Department of Homeland Security, the National
Weather Service (NWS), and the states. Each plays an
important role. The FCC provides information to
broadcasters, cable system operators, and other EAS
participants regarding the technical and operational
requirements of the EAS. Additionally, the FCC ensures
that state and local EAS plans conform to EAS
requirements. |
Other Organizations’ Roles
FEMA provides direction and assistance for
state and local emergency management officials to develop,
implement, and maintain their EAS structure. The NWS provides
emergency weather information to alert the public of dangerous
local weather conditions and other emergencies. State and local
plans for the activation of the EAS are created by the State
Emergency Communications Committees (SECCs) and Local Emergency
Communications Committees (LECCs), which are formed by government
officials and representatives from the broadcast and cable
industries.
EAS Communications
The EAS allows broadcast stations, satellite
radio, cable systems, DBS systems, participating satellite
companies, and other services to send and receive emergency
information quickly and automatically, even if their facilities
are unattended. The EAS was designed to ensure that if one link in
the dissemination of alert information is broken, members of the
public have multiple alternate sources of warning. EAS equipment
also provides a method for automatic interruption of regular
programming, and is able to relay emergency messages in any
language used by the EAS participant.
Along with its capability of providing a
national message to the entire public simultaneously, the EAS
structure provides authorized state and local personnel with a
quick method to distribute important local emergency information.
A state emergency manager may use the system to send out a public
warning by broadcasting that warning from one or more major radio
stations in a particular state. EAS equipment in other radio and
television stations, as well as cable systems in that state, can
automatically monitor and rebroadcast that message.
Additionally, EAS equipment can directly
monitor the National Weather Service for local weather and other
emergency alerts, which local broadcast stations, cable systems,
and other EAS participants can then rebroadcast, providing an
almost immediate relay of local emergency messages to the public.
The FCC’s goal is to make EAS capable of
disseminating emergency information as quickly as possible to the
people who need it. Accordingly, the FCC currently is considering
updating the EAS so that it can take full advantage of digital and
other emerging communications technologies. In addition, the FCC
is considering ways to ensure that EAS alerts reach all Americans,
including those with hearing and vision disabilities and those who
speak languages other than English.
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