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The EAS is the fastest, cheapest, and the most effective means of warning the public-bar none!
The EBS was originally created to enable Federal authorities to warn the American public of a national emergency via the nation's broadcast stations and other communications resources. It was subsequently expanded to enable the National Weather Service and local civil defense authorities to warn the public of any threat to the public health, safety, and welfare. The EBS was never used for an actual National emergency but it has been used thousands of times to warn of local, natural, or manmade threats.
The old EBS required that an official call the primary EBS station with the warning message. That primary station, in turn, would activate special EBS tones that would unlock EBS alert decoders in every radio and television station tuned to that station. The FCC required every broadcast station to buy and maintain such equipment.
There were several problems with the EBS that grew over the years:
* First, the threat of a national
emergency diminished.
* Second, many states didn't utilize the
benefits of the EBS for local emergencies.
* Third, more and more broadcast stations
were allowed to operate unattended thereby making the relay of any warning
message impossible. Even if a station was attended, if the control operator
stepped out of the room when an alert came in, the operator was not there
to manually handle it.
* Fourth, the long, obnoxious EBS tones
used in the weekly tests served to drive listeners away to other stations.
* Fifth, listeners could have a false
sense of security about a system that local officials never planned to
use or failed to use.
* Sixth, and perhaps one of the most important
weaknesses, was that the EBS depended upon the domino theory; i.e., if
the primary station failed for any reason, none of the other broadcasters
could receive and retransmit the warning.
1997 heralded the upgrade of the venerable EBS into the digital communications age and automation. In other words, there will still be the verbal warning message but it will be accompanied by digital bursts that do many things. The digital header contains the type of warning, for what county or counties, a date/time stamp, and the issuing authority. The FCC regulations require that every broadcaster receive a minimum of two radio signals. Many stations are equipped for four or six or more. This means that a warning message may be relayed from several sources-no more "dominoes." The EAS becomes a web. The "smarts" within an EAS decoder rejects duplicates so that there should be no danger of multiple activation's for the same event.
Equally important is that the EAS enables any radio station to automatically put that warning message over the air without any human intervention. This means that, whether the station is attended or not, that warning will be broadcast to its audience. It is predicted that over 80% of the nation's broadcasters will opt for this automatic "loop through" for EAS warning bulletins.
Because the EAS has the ability to provide the message digitally, this enables it to be carried by television stations and cable television companies. Television stations are not required to place additional text or instructions on the screen for the hearing impaired, but the State of California has facilitated this with a cooperative joint industry-government supported system called the EDIS (Emergency Digital Information Service.) The EDIS complements, but is not a part of, the FCC-mandated Emergency Alert System.
CATV companies will become FCC-required participants in the EAS.
There is a new requirement in the EAS regulations-a coordinated, monthly test that includes every AM, FM and TV station. The broadcasters are given the option to automatically relay or delay the monthly broadcast but by no more than 15 minutes. To best test the system end to end, it is recommended that the Required Monthly Test originate from time to time from an Emergency Operations Center. Thus all participants are trained: the county emergency management people, all of the broadcasters and CATV firms, and the public.
All new EAS Plans are required by the FCC. Every state is divided into one or more Local Areas. The larger a state's geography, the more Local Area plans must be accomplished. The Plan should be simple, accurate, and easy to follow. Together, the Local Plans constitute the State Plan. There are several formats; some are simple and some are not. We support a format for a State EAS Plan that has two parts. Part I is the introduction, general description, glossary, and other non-perishable information. The standard operating procedures, any perishable, changeable information, and data always goes into Part II. Part II is comprised of separately numbered Communications Operations Orders or COOs.
Writing plans is not usually a broadcaster's strong suit. To facilitate writing a plan we start first with the "LECCQ" --- the Local Emergency Communications Committee Questionnaire. A copy of the LECCQ will be found on this Web Page or from the author. If an LECCQ is properly completed, the COOs (the heart of any EAS Plan) can be easily written --- even by someone 5,000 miles away!
Here is how we have standardized the COOs for any FCC Local Area:
COO#1: MONITOR ASSIGNMENTS
a. Identify the LP1s. (Call letters, frequency)
b. Identify the LP2s. (ditto)
c. Identify the/any LP1S (Spanish), etc.
d. NWR (National Weather Radio) channel(s)
e. CLERS (This is the California Law Enforcement
Radio System, a statewide, microwave-linked Police Radio Service system
used for local and State EAS activations. In your locality it could be
a similar government radio system. Using such systems for the EAS meets
all FCC eligibility requirements. We recommend strongly against the use
of any RPU frequency.)
f. Other radio channels.
COO#2: EVENT CODES
Here is where you (the LECC) selects and
identifies those Event Codes you agree and recommend should be in the "must
carry" category. This includes, of course, EVI and CEM.
COO#3: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
This is a two-part COO, Part "A" usually
states that broadcasters and CATV firms are normally served by NOAA Weather
Radio (NWR). Part "B" spells how exactly, step by step, how the NWS telephones
the LP1 with any Warnings when the NWR is off the air --- or in those areas
where there is no NWR service at all.
COO#4: LP1/LP2 STATIONS
This describes the exact role and responsibilities
of any LP1 and LP2 stations.
COO#5: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTIVATIONS
AND OFFICIALS AUTHORIZED TO ACTIVATE THE EAS
Part "A" instructs those authorized precisely
how to activate the EAS by telephone or EAS terminal. It includes a statement
about the requirement for them to upload the same message to the EDIS.
(Emergency Digital Information Service, a computer-to-radio system delivers
text to TV stations and their character generators. It is essential that
TV stations provide clear text to the hearing impaired and others for any
EAS activation.) Part "B" is a list of the local officials authorized to
activate the EAS. The list should be as short as possible.
COO#6: REQUIRED MONTHLY TEST (RMT)
This gives the day of the month and time
selected by the LECC. The RMT must be carried by all stations within 15
minutes of receipt. The COO includes the RMT script.
COO#7. AUTHENTICATION
This COO is last because not all Local
Areas have a need to authenticate telephonic activation requests. Radio
transmissions and hard copy do not require authentication. FAX, not encouraged
and seldom used, does require authentication. Typical authentication requires
matching numbers with code words.
A participant need post only the COO(s) that applies to them and file away the rest of the Plan. COOs can be amended overnight. The Local Area COOs then become a part of the State Plan. Thus your EAS Plan need never be out of date. You may like this approach in your state.
State and local emergency management officials
should be members of the state and local FCC committees. How can an EAS
be successful without them?
* Email: EAS_PM@oes.ca.gov
* FAX 916-845-8606
* Telephone: 916-845-8610
* Mail: P.O. Box 419047, Rancho Cordova CA 95741-9047
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Updated:
TPP - 20020129