FCC Seeks Comments on Technical Details of Nationwide EAS Test - Preparing for the Next Test?

In 2011, the Federal Communications Commission conducted the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

While the system was originally created to convey Presidential alerts to the nation, it has never been used for that purpose and, until the nationwide test, it had never even been tested. Instead, EAS has most commonly been used for local emergencies like weather alerts and, in recent years, Amber Alerts for missing or abducted children. In its recent Public Notice, the FCC asked for comments on a number of issues uncovered during the nationwide test. The issues on which comments are sought are principally technical issues of system design, such as whether the time codes in the EAS headers work the same on all EAS hardware, or whether these codes resulted in tests running at different times on different stations. Apparently, some stations immediately broadcast the alert when received, and others delayed it until the time specified in the codes indicated that it should be run.

The FCC wonders if the hardware and software systems can be reprogrammed to accommodate new codes for a nationwide emergency alert and at what cost. Would the benefits of such new codes outweigh these costs?

Comments on this proceeding are due on October 23, and reply comments on November 7.