Summary
During emergencies, the public needs accurate and timely information. Through the Emergency Alert System (EAS), the media play a pivotal role, assisting emergency management personnel in communicating to the public. GAO reviewed (1) the media's ability to meet federal requirements for participating in EAS, (2) stakeholder views on the challenges facing EAS and potential changes to it, and (3) the progress made toward developing an integrated alert system. GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) proposed rulemaking on EAS and interviewed media outlets, state emergency management officials, and federal agencies responsible for EAS, including FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
According to stakeholders, the media are generally prepared to participate in EAS as required, but EAS has limitations that could affect its performance. Broadcast radio and television, cable operators, and satellite radio operators are required to participate in national EAS alerts, and satellite television will be required to participate in May 2007. Participation in state and local alerts is voluntary. While these media outlets appear generally prepared to participate, FCC has limited measures for ensuring compliance. In addition, stakeholders cited limitations, including an unreliable method for relaying national EAS messages to the public. GAO found a lack of ongoing testing of this relay method. In a national test, three primary relay stations failed, and in one state test, a state representative reported that the message was not received beyond an area roughly 50 to 70 miles from the state capital. Problems with equipment and software caused these failures, which, in a real emergency, could have prevented the public from receiving critical information. Another cited limitation was inadequate training of EAS personnel. FEMA officials and other stakeholders told GAO that the current EAS faces a range of technical, cultural, and other challenges, such as interfacing with newer communications technologies and issuing alerts in multiple languages. FEMA said the alerting system should provide various means to reach the greatest number of people, and FCC reported that a wide-reaching public alert system is critical to the public safety. In November 2005, FCC proposed changes to improve EAS and address some of the challenges facing it. Stakeholders GAO contacted anticipated positive results from some of the potential changes, such as expanding EAS alerts to additional media, but expressed mixed views on other potential changes. For example, the emergency managers GAO contacted generally favored making the transmission of state and local alerts mandatory, whereas the broadcasters GAO interviewed expressed concern about over alerting, which they said could lead the public to ignore EAS messages. Several efforts to develop an integrated alert system--one that would provide effective warnings over all broadcast media devices available to the public--are underway. FEMA is conducting various pilots under a public-private partnership called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. One such pilot, the Digital Emergency Alert System, uses the digital capabilities of the nation's public television stations to provide public alerts. Another effort, the Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act, is aimed at integrating emergency alerts and enables the participation of wireless providers in EAS. However, FEMA officials and others identified challenges to the implementation of an integrated system, including achieving cooperation among federal, state, and local emergency management organizations on the use of a standardized technology for disseminating alerts. Coordination and collaboration among a variety of stakeholders will be critical to ensure that all elements of the system can work together and produce accurate, timely alerts for all Americans.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Mark L. Goldstein
Government Accountability Office: Physical Infrastructure
No phone on record
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To ensure that the Emergency Alert System is capable of operating as intended and that coordination with a variety of stakeholders on the implementation of the integrated public alert and warning system exists, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Director, FEMA, to work in conjunction with the Chairman, FCC, to develop and implement a plan to verify (1) the dependability and effectiveness of the relay distribution system, which is used to disseminate national-level EAS alerts, and (2) that EAS participants have the training and technical skills to issue effective EAS alerts.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: In process
Comments: DHS did not provide a 60-day letter in response to this report. DHS liaison contacted about the agency's response to our recommendations numerous times. Each time the liaison said he was waiting on a response from FEMA and thus could provide no documentation. On June 4, 2008, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing during which the Chairwoman asked DHS to respond within 30 days on how the agency planned to respond to GAO's recommendations from this report. On July 14, 2008, GAO staff contacted the Committee's staff to determine if it received the required information from DHS. The staff responded that DHS had not yet provided the information, but she agreed to share the material with GAO as soon as DHS provided it.
Agency Affected: Federal Communications Commission
Status: In process
Comments: While FCC provided a 60-day letter in response to this report, our recommendations were directed towards DHS -- requesting that DHS work in conjunction with FCC. Once DHS responds to our recommendations, we will be able to determine if it worked in conjunction with FCC to implement the recommendations.
Recommendation: To ensure that the Emergency Alert System is capable of operating as intended and that coordination with a variety of stakeholders on the implementation of the integrated public alert and warning system exists, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Director, FEMA, to work in conjunction with the Chairman, FCC, to establish a forum for the diverse stakeholders involved with emergency communications to discuss emerging and other issues related to the implementation of an integrated public alert and warning system. Representation on the forum should include relevant federal agencies, state and local governments, private industry, and the affected consumer community.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: In process
Comments: DHS did not provide a 60-day letter in response to this report. DHS' liaison was contacted about the agency's response to our recommendations numerous times. Each time the liaison said he was waiting on a response from FEMA and thus could provide no documentation. On June 4, 2008, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing during which the Chairwoman asked DHS to respond within 30 days on how the agency planned to respond to GAO's recommendations from this report. On July 14, 2008, GAO staff contacted the Committee's staff to determine if it received the required information from DHS. The staff responded that DHS had not yet provided the information, but she agreed to share the material with GAO as soon as DHS provided it.
Agency Affected: Federal Communications Commission
Status: In process
Comments: While FCC provided a 60-day letter in response to this report, our recommendations were directed towards DHS -- requesting that DHS work in conjunction with FCC. Once DHS responds to our recommendations, we will be able to determine if it worked in conjunction with FCC to implement the recommendations.
