Background
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a
national public warning system that requires TV and radio
broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems,
satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers, direct
broadcast satellite (DBS) service providers, and wireline video
service providers to offer to the President the communications
capability to address the American public during a national
emergency. The system also may be used by state and local
authorities to deliver important emergency information such as
AMBER (missing children) alerts and emergency weather
information targeted to a specific area.
How the EAS Works
The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's National Weather Service (NWS), implement the
EAS at the national level. Only the President determines when
the EAS will be activated at the national level, and has
delegated the administration of this function to FEMA.
Accordingly, FEMA activates the national EAS, and directs
national EAS tests and exercises. The NWS uses the EAS on a
local and statewide basis to provide the public with alerts and
warnings regarding dangerous weather and other emergency
conditions.
The FCC's role includes prescribing rules
that establish technical standards for the EAS, procedures for
EAS participants to follow in the event the EAS is activated,
and EAS testing protocols. Additionally, the FCC ensures that
state and local EAS plans developed by industry conform to the
FCC’s EAS rules and regulations. The FCC’s goal is to make the
EAS capable of distributing emergency information as quickly as
possible to as many people as possible.
The EAS allows participating providers to
send and receive emergency information quickly and
automatically, even if their facilities are unattended. If one
link in the system for spreading emergency 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 in certain instances is
able to relay emergency messages in languages other than
English.
Along with its capability of providing an
emergency message to the entire nation simultaneously, the EAS
allows authorized state and local authorities to quickly
distribute important local emergency information. A state
emergency manager can use the EAS to broadcast a warning from
one or more major radio stations in a particular state. EAS
equipment in other radio and television stations, as well as in
cable television systems in that state, can automatically
monitor and rebroadcast the warning. Additionally, EAS equipment
can directly monitor the NWS 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.
For More Information
For more information about EAS, visit
the FCC’s EAS Web page at
www.fcc.gov/pshs/services/eas/. For more information
about AMBER Alerts, see our consumer fact sheet at
www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/AMBERPlan.html.
Finally, for information about other telecommunications
issues, visit the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs
Bureau Web site at www.fcc.gov/cgb,
or contact the FCC’s Consumer Center by e-mailing
fccinfo@fcc.gov;
calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or
1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing
1-866-418-0232; or writing to: Federal Communications
Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554. |
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