FEMA Provides Guidance to State Broadcasters Associations on 11-17-15 Regional EAS Test

On October 22, 2015, FEMA conducted a “non-technical” webinar to provide general information to broadcasters and other EAS participants in connection with the upcoming November 17, 2015, regional Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) voluntary test that will be conducted using the Emergency Alert System (EAS) with the support of the state broadcasters associations in Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wisconsin. The origination of the test will occur at 4:20 PM EST on November 17. The test is designed as a regional distribution of the National Periodic Test (NPT) code to assess the readiness of the IPAWS infrastructure that eventually will be used to distribute national-level EAS messages to broadcast stations and other EAS Participants.

IPAWS is a network of alert systems, including radio and television stations, through which FEMA is upgrading the dissemination of alert and warning information, providing that information through as many communications pathways as possible. IPAWS supports the sending of alerts from local, state, tribal, and territorial officials during emergencies and from the President in the event of a catastrophic national emergency.

The test is the latest in a series of voluntary local and regional tests FEMA began conducting last year working with state broadcasters associations, state emergency management communications chairs, and emergency management offices. FEMA’s first local test was conducted in West Virginia last year. Subsequent regional tests have taken place in FEMA’s “North Central” region which included EAS Participants in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee on March 18, 2015, and its “New England” region which included EAS Participants in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island on September 16, 2015. According to FEMA, more than 80% of commercial broadcasters located in these states participated in the voluntary testing of the NPT code and approximately 90% of those stations successfully transmitted the test message.

FEMA staff indicated that by all accounts the previous local and regional tests were largely a success, with the most common problem being that a number of stations either received distorted audio or no audio at all. The easiest way for stations to avoid similar issues for the upcoming test is to make sure that their EAS equipment is properly programmed to receive the NPT test code. This is particularly important given that the default settings for some EAS equipment are apparently set to ignore the NPT test code. As a result, FEMA anticipates that many stations participating in the November 17 test will be required to take affirmative steps in advance of that date to ensure that the NPT code is activated in their equipment in order to receive the FEMA test message.

The NPT message to be used by FEMA will be under a minute in length, using language similar to the following NPT message that was used during FEMA’s most recent regional test:

This is a National test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test. Broadcast and cable operators in your area have developed this system in voluntary cooperation with FEMA, the FCC and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the alert tone. This concludes this National test of the Emergency Alert System

FEMA representatives repeatedly emphasized that participation in the regional test is voluntary and that the agency is merely seeking to work with stations to uncover any glitches in the dissemination of the test message, and to address such problems for future testing. They also noted that the agency plans for several additional regional tests in the near future. Stations that do not participate in the regional test should be aware that the FCC is requiring that all participating broadcast stations have the NPT code activated in their equipment prior to the July 30, 2016, deadline set by the Commission as part of its revision of the FCC’s EAS rules earlier this year.

While the NPT code will continue to be used for all future testing, the next step for all broadcast stations to take regarding EAS is to make sure that they have updated their equipment to be able to receive the new national location code of “six zeros” (000000) for national FEMA EAS alerts by July 30, 2016. Stations should be aware that the change to the “six zeroes” national code could make some older “legacy” EAS equipment obsolete, or require that existing EAS equipment software be updated.

Finally, FEMA announced that it has formally scheduled two follow-up technical webinars that will take place on October 28 at 12PM EST and November 5 at 4PM EST. More information can be found here.