Cameron Miranda
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system that requires radio and television broadcasters to provide the President with the capability to address the American people within 10 minutes during a national emergency. The EAS is also used by federal, state, and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as weather alerts, and is maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the FCC, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS). The EAS has been in place since at least 2011, with the IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015 requiring FEMA to conduct a nationwide EAS test at least once every three years. The EAS has undergone changes and improvements over the years, including the addition of multilingual alerting capabilities and the strengthening of security measures in 2022.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To deliver important emergency information such as weather and AMBER alerts |
| Participants | Radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, wireline video providers |
| Activation | Originated from a Common Program Control Station (CPCS-1), which transmitted an Attention Signal |
| Attention Signal | A combination of 853 and 960 Hz sine waves, chosen for their ability to attract attention due to their unpleasantness |
| Alert Creation | Authorized federal, state, and local authorities create alerts, often through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System |
| Alert Types | Weather alerts, imminent threat alerts, AMBER alerts, local incident information |
| Alert Delivery | Broadcast TV and radio, satellite digital audio services, direct broadcast satellite providers, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, mobile devices |
| Alert Testing | FEMA and FCC conduct national tests to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of the system |
| Alert Interruption | EAS activation interrupts regular programming once, with messages repeated twice if necessary |
| Alert Accessibility | Alerts can be targeted to specific areas and support multiple languages |
| Alert Procedures | EAS participants must install and maintain FCC-certified EAS decoders and encoders, continuously monitoring nearby stations for EAS messages |
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What You'll Learn
The Emergency Alert System (EAS)
The EAS is jointly coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the FCC, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It requires radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers to deliver emergency alerts to affected communities. These alerts include weather warnings, AMBER alerts, and other civil emergency information. While the delivery of local alerts is done on a voluntary basis, EAS participants are required to provide the capability for the President to address the nation during a national emergency.
The EAS utilizes a digitally encoded audio signal called Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) to transmit alerts. The SAME header contains critical information such as the alert type, location, duration, and originating station. This design allows for automated station-to-station relay of alerts, ensuring that only the intended areas receive the message. The EAS also incorporates a "daisy chain" system, where messages are forwarded through multiple stations, increasing the likelihood of message delivery and adding redundancy.
To ensure the effectiveness and reliability of the EAS, FEMA conducts nationwide tests at least once every three years, as mandated by the IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015. These tests evaluate the system's readiness and ability to alert the public during emergencies, even in the absence of internet connectivity. After each test, an after-action report and improvement plan are created to enhance the system's performance.
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False alarms and testing
One notable incident of a false alarm occurred on February 20, 1971, when a properly authenticated Emergency Action Notification (EAN) was mistakenly sent to US broadcast stations during a weekly EAN test. Many stations ignored the alert, believing it to be false, while others cancelled the EAN without any indication, and some stations went off the air as per the procedure. This incident led to the temporary suspension of EAN use and testing by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on February 25, 1971.
Following this incident, several changes were implemented, including the elimination of EAN Message #2, which indicated an imminent attack. The tapes for genuine alerts were moved away from broadcasting machines to prevent confusion with test tapes. After these safeguards were put in place, the FCC resumed automatic national activation of the EBS in December 1972.
More recently, on August 15, 2017, Guam stations KTWG and KSTO transmitted a civil danger warning, which was described as an "unauthorized test" of the EAS. This incident caused concern due to North Korea's recent threats to launch missiles towards Guam. On January 13, 2018, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) mistakenly issued an emergency alert warning of an inbound ballistic missile, which was later corrected as a false alarm. This incident led to the FCC announcing plans to promote public awareness, improve system efficiency, and prevent false alarms.
To prevent false activations, the FCC prohibits the use of EAS/WEA tones and attention signals outside of genuine alerts, tests, or authorized public service announcements. Broadcasters who misuse these tones may face sanctions and fines. The FCC also conducts nationwide tests of the EAS in collaboration with radio and television stations and emergency management officials. These tests are designed to evaluate the system's effectiveness and ensure timely and accurate alerts. The IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015 requires FEMA to conduct a nationwide EAS test at least once every three years.
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The IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015
The bill would have authorized activities to operate and modernize IPAWS within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the 2016-2018 period. It also would have established a committee to develop and submit recommendations for improving the system. The CBO estimated that implementing the bill would have cost $37 million over the 2016-2020 period.
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The FCC and FEMA's roles
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system that requires radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers to deliver local alerts and provide the President with the capability to address the American people during a national emergency. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) work together to maintain the EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are the two main components of the national public warning system.
The FCC's role in the EAS includes establishing technical standards, procedures, and testing protocols for EAS participants. The FCC does not create or transmit EAS alerts. The FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau), in partnership with FEMA, ensures that local broadcasters can carry out their public safety responsibilities by conducting outreach to broadcasters, state broadcast associations, and the National Association of Broadcasters to determine preparedness status and exchange emergency contact information. The Bureau also aids broadcasters by coordinating their needs with the state emergency operations center, the National Coordinating Center of the National Communications System, and FEMA officials in the Joint Field Office (JFO).
FEMA is responsible for any national-level activation, tests, and exercises of the EAS. It conducts national-level tests of the EAS to evaluate the readiness of the system and the national alerting capability in the absence of internet connectivity. FEMA has also prepared a pre-scripted mission assignment for the deployment of DoD mobile, self-sustained AM/FM radio stations with multi-lingual broadcast capability during a disaster to provide English and multi-lingual public alert and warning broadcasts when the local broadcast capability has been severely damaged.
Together, the FCC and FEMA have developed a logistical coordination assistance procedure to provide assistance when state aid is unavailable. Under this procedure, FEMA requests that FCC personnel be deployed to the JFO to provide assistance to communications companies, including broadcasters. FCC personnel coordinate actions with and between other private sector communications companies and local businesses to determine who can provide the necessary support.
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The Attention Signal
Upon receiving the Attention Signal, decoders at relay stations would sound an alarm, alerting station personnel to the incoming emergency message. The relay stations would then broadcast the alert tone and disseminate the emergency message from the primary station, ensuring that the public receives crucial information. This system was crucial for disseminating time-sensitive information during emergencies.
The EBS underwent several changes and improvements over time. Notably, in 1971, a false activation of the Emergency Action Notification (EAN) protocol occurred due to human error. This incident led to temporary suspension and subsequent improvements to the system, ensuring that such mistakes did not recur.
Today, the Emergency Alert System (EAS) has replaced the EBS, and it continues to utilise attention signals to grab the attention of the public during emergencies. These signals are designed to be attention-grabbing and easily distinguishable from regular programming. The EAS is a national public warning system that enables authorities to provide urgent information to the public through various channels, including radio, television, and mobile devices.
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Frequently asked questions
The EAS is a national public warning system that requires radio and TV broadcasters, cable TV, wireless cable systems, satellite and wireline operators to provide the President with the capability to address the American people within 10 minutes during a national emergency.
The EAS was first created in the mid-1960s. It was previously known as the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS).
The President has sole responsibility for determining when the national-level EAS will be activated. Other authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial alerting authorities may also use the system to deliver important emergency information.
The EAS is activated by sending an Attention Signal to a Common Program Control Station (CPCS-1). The CPCS-1 then transmits the alert tone and emergency message to relay stations, which rebroadcast the message.
