WASHINGTON—FEMA has announced details surrounding its planned national emergency alert test Wednesday, Oct. 4. Conducted in conjunction with the FCC, the national test will consist of two portions, testing Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to mobile devices and Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts to TV and radio. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET.

This will be the third nationwide test for WEA alerts to cellphones, but the second test to all WEA-compatible cellular devices. The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset. This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test.

FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and other stakeholders in preparation for this national test to minimize confusion and maximize the public safety value of the test.

The purpose of the test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level. In case the Oct. 4 test is postponed, due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is Oct. 11.

The WEA portion of the test will be initiated using FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), a centralized internet-based system administered by FEMA that enables authorities to send authenticated emergency messages to the public through multiple communications networks. The WEA test will be administered via a code sent to cell phones.

This year the EAS message will be disseminated as a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System-Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN).

All wireless phones should receive the message only once. The following can be expected from the nationwide WEA test:

• Beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET, cell towers will broadcast the test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and in a geographic area where the wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message.
• For consumers, the message that appears on their phones will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
• Phones with the main menu set to Spanish will display: “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción.”
• Similar to when your phone receives an Amber Alert, the WEA alert tone is generally only played when the alert is initially received by the phone and on some devices stops as soon as the user clicks a button.
• If a phone is off before the test alert is sent and not turned back on until after the WEA Test expires (approximately 30 minutes), the phone should not get the test message.

•  The EAS portion of the test is scheduled to last approximately one minute and will be conducted with the participation of radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers.
• The test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar. It will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public." 

WEA alerts are created and sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government agencies through IPAWS to participating wireless providers, which deliver the alerts to compatible handsets in geo-targeted areas. To help ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, the alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration.

FEMA and the FCC warned TV and radio broadcasters not to include the tones or Attention Signals in broadcast TV or radio coverage about the Nationwide Emergency Alert Test being conducted on Oct. 4. Doing so could result in a violation of federal regulations, which prohibit the use of Emergency Alert System codes (which are audible tones) or the EAS and WEA Attention Signals, or simulations of them, except in actual emergencies, authorized tests of the EAS, or authorized Public Service Announcements (PSAs).

WASHINGTON—Aug. 11 will be the date of the first national EAS test since before the pandemic began.

Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency officially informed the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, May 4, that it plans its sixth national EAS test on that day. They also plan to conduct a nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test concurrently.

As in the past, FEMA set a backup date in case a national test on Aug. 11 might interfere with actual alerting needs in the country around that time. The backup is Aug. 25.

Al Kenyon, chief of the Customer Support Branch of the IPAWS Program Office, wrote to the FCC that FEMA plans to conduct the Aug. 11 test at 2:20 p.m. EDT (18:20 GMT).

“The test message will use the National Periodic Test (NPT) event code and be geo-targeted using the All-US (000000) geocode,” Kenyon wrote.

“This year FEMA proposes to originate the EAS portion of the test via the National Public Warning System composed of the FEMA designated Primary Entry Point (PEP) facilities. The intent of conducting the test in this fashion is to determine the capability of the Emergency Alert System to deliver messages to the public in event that dissemination via internet is not available.”

In the most recent national test in 2019, several PEPs did not transmit the alert due to varying degrees of equipment failures. Out of 77 PEP stations, 12 experienced technical issues on test day, according to a post-test FCC report.

Kenyon said that in the upcoming test, full message text and multilingual messaging will not be available due to the over-the-air message delivery and relay used in this system of EAS message dissemination.

“As in past years the national EAS test message will look and sound very much like the regular Required Monthly Test (RMT) messages broadcast every month by all EAS Participants, broadcast radio and television, cable, wireline service providers and direct broadcast satellite service providers,” he continued.

“Concurrent with the proposed 2021 National EAS Test, FEMA also proposes to originate a Nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test by originating a WEA message using the WEA test handling code targeting only cellphones where the user has opted-in to receive WEA test messages.”

An FCC analysis of the 2019 test found that 82% of radio stations participated that year.

While that test generally was deemed a success, the FCC said in its post-test report that some challenges impeded the ability of some EAS participants to receive and/or retransmit the NPT.

Some participants reported problems with equipment configuration, audio quality, alerting source problems and clock errors, among other issues. More than 2,530 test participants didn’t receive the test at all.

Other issues in 2019 included audio issues, power issues, signal issues, internet issues and even lightning—20 participants reported issues caused by bolts of electricity.

Also, several State Emergency Communications Committees reported that certain areas of their states did not receive the alert. SECCs in Florida, Michigan and Georgia reported delivery problems to the Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations. The FCC also received reports of smaller-scale monitoring source issues in parts of several other states.

WASHINGTON—With the most recent nation-wide EAS Test having taken place on Aug. 7, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has issued a reminder to all of the test’s participants that there is still work to be done. All participants are required to file Form Three in the EAS Test Reporting System on or before Sept. 23.

Form Three requests information on post-test data regarding the nationwide test, including things like the source from which a facility first received the test message and any complications that might have been experienced in the receipt or retransmission of the test.

The provided information will be used to inform the FCC on the technical and operational performance of test that could indicate improvements needed to make EAS a reliable alerting tool.

Information on how to appropriately provide information via the ETRS form is available on the FCC website. Filers can also contact FCC staff at ETRS@fcc.gov.

WASHINGTON—With the Aug. 7 National Emergency Alert Test just a couple of weeks away, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has come out with a number of guidelines on how participants prepare to improve the accuracy of their reporting.

The suggestions made by the bureau came from problems that were identified during the 2018 nationwide EAS test that impacted accuracy, including outdated software and improper equipment configuration.

The recommendations provided by the bureau ask that EAS participants:

• Review their State EAS Plan monitoring assignments and work with State Emergency Communications Committee to ensure a good signal;
• Correctly identify their EAS designation or function within the EAS. Most common designations are Primary Entry Point (PEP), National Primary (NP), State Primary (SP), Local Primary (LP) and a Participating National (PN);
• Check EAS equipment, making sure software is up to date; that EAS equipment clocks are manually synchronized to the official time provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and that equipment is configured to receive and process the National Program Test code and the “six zeroes” national location code.

The Aug. 7 test is scheduled to take place at 2:20 p.m. ET. A backup date of Aug. 21 is set if needed.

WASHINGTON—The next national EAS test is coming up in two weeks The date was set earlier, as we've reported; and now FEMA and the FCC are highlighting it in public announcements.

This year's test focuses on national alerting in the absence of internet.

The nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 7. It will be sent to radio and television stations beginning at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

"The test is being conducted through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System," the FCC stated. "This year, the test message will originate from designated radio stations, known as Primary Entry Point stations, which participate in a component of IPAWS called the National Public Warning System. All other radio and television stations, cable, wireline service providers and direct broadcast satellite service providers should subsequently receive and broadcast the test message."

It noted that this test will not include a message on cell phones via Wireless Emergency Alerts. 

"This year’s test will evaluate the readiness of the national alerting capability in the absence of internet connectivity. The test will be approximately one minute long, have a limited impact on the public with only minor interruption of radio and television programs, and will be similar to regular monthly EAS tests. Both the audio message and text crawl should be accessible to people with disabilities." 

Stations must report how it went to the commission by filing ETRS Form Two on the day of the event, by midnight Eastern time; and then post-test data is due via Form Three by Sept. 23. Those forms become available in the commission's online system at the time of the test. Filers can access it through the FCC website using their registered FCC username associated with their FCC registration numbers.

LYNDONVILLE, N.Y.—There is less than a month before the mandatory, nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, and Digital Alert Systems is aiming to help its customers with a free online preparation document.

The brief, as described by Ed Czarnecki, senior director of strategy and government affairs for Monroe Electronics and Digital Alert Systems, provides the steps needed and additional recommendations to ensure a successful test. Noting that failures during the 2018 test were primarily due to audio quality issues, equipment misconfigurations, out-of-date software and device failure, Czarnecki says “our readiness document can help operators avoid those pitfalls.”

Things that are covered in the document include the filing procedures through the FCC’s EAS Test Reporting System; Form One was due July 3, but Forms Two and Three will be due on Aug. 7 and Sept. 23, respectively. It also provides information on how to check EAS equipment is properly powered and operated, as well as being up to date.

The national EAS Test is set for Aug. 7 at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

Read DAS’ preparation document here.

WASHINGTON—A preliminary analysis of results from the 2017 nationwide EAS test in September show overall improvement compared to last year’s test, but the performance of TV broadcasters appears to have slipped slightly in one key area, according to a public notice from the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released last week.

The nationwide test, which took place at 2:20 p.m. EDT on Sept. 27, was conducted to determine the reliability and effectiveness of the Emergency Alert System. The test placed special emphasis on assessing the performance of FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), the gateway for dissemination of common alerting protocol (CAP) EAS alerts to EAS participants.

The initial findings, released Dec. 7, show 2,283 television broadcasters, or 83.5 percent, successfully retransmitted the EAS alert during the test vs. 85.3 percent of the 2,601 that did so last year—a slight percentage decline.

For the test, participants around the country were required to submit three separate filings with information that in the aggregate gave the bureau the data used for its initial assessment.

Among the overall findings:

· 19,069 radio and TV broadcasters, cable systems, IPTV providers, wireline video systems and other participants from all 50 states and U.S. territories filed their EAS receipt and retransmission results;

· 95.8 percent of them received the test alert vs. 95.4 percent in 2016;

· 91.9 percent successfully retransmitted the test alert vs. 85.8 percent in 2016;

· 89 percent of those filing the form that specified how they received the alert and any complications experienced no problems receiving the alert vs. 81.5 percent in 2016;

· 88.3 percent of the same group experienced no complications transmitting the alert vs. 80.2 percent in 2016;

· 40.7 percent of this group reported first receiving the alert over the air vs. 56.5 percent in 2016;

· 59.3 percent of the group first received the alert via IPAWS vs. 43.5 percent in 2016; and

· 207 participants reported retransmitting the IPAWS-generated Spanish language version of the alert vs. 75 in 2016.

While these initial findings offer a first look at what actually transpired on Sept. 27 during the test, the bureau and FEMA will continue to analyze the results and release more information as it becomes available, the notice said.

The public notice detailing the initial results is available on the FCC website.

WASHINGTON—Anecdotal evidence points to general success of yesterday’s national EAS system test, according to broadcasters and a major EAS equipment vendor. However, despite the test’s overall success, a nagging known problem stemming from FCC rules that require no delay in the turnaround and transmission of EAS messages persists.

Ed Czarnecki

“Overall, from the information that we have gotten so far, it sounds like the EAS test was a success,” says Ed Czarnecki, senior director, Strategic & Government Affairs at Monroe Electronics.

The FCC—along with the Federal Emergency Management Administration—will compile the reports of test results from broadcasters and is expected to release its assessment of how the system performed in mid-November. The FCC also has extended the deadline to file test results till Nov. 13 for stations affected by the recent hurricanes.

Like last year’s test, a bit of a problem that resulted in relatively poor audio quality and display of a generic EAS message plagued roughly half of TV broadcasters involved, according to Czarnecki. The problem grows out of having both the traditional over-the-air EAS daisy chain and FEMA’s Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) in use concurrently, he says. When a station’s EAS hardware receives a traditional OTA EAS alert before its scheduled check of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) server for a new CAP-based EAS message, the device automatically responds without pause to rebroadcast the alert and default to a generic EAS text message loaded into its memory.

“EAS devices typically do one poll [of the IPAWS server] per minute,” says Czarnecki. “We are quoting our customers once every 30 seconds.” Statistically, this circumstance results in about 50 percent of the stations deriving their EAS message as CAP data and 50 percent from the traditional EAS system, he adds. “If the upstream monitoring source polls before you, it’ll grab the EAS message, post it over the air and in a classic example of a race condition, the EAS message can get to a broadcaster via an upstream source before the downstream source has had a chance to poll.”

Monroe Electronics has asked the FCC to change a rule to allow EAS device manufacturers to add a feature to enable an automatic IPAWS system poll once any broadcast EAS message is received and then generate the audio and text emergency alert with the CAP-based data. But so far, there has been no movement at the agency, he says.

At KPTM, the Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned Fox affiliate in Omaha, Neb., the national EAS test went well, says broadcast engineer Jim Skinner. “I would say we passed the test,” says Skinner, who also is the TV representative to Nebraska’s State Emergency Communications Committee.

However, the EAS message broadcast by KPTM, KXVO, the CW affiliate that Sinclair operates under an LMA, and their digital subchannels was triggered by reception of a traditional EAS radio transmission. “Being that the source came from radio before the IPAWS CAP message, the crawl was generic and not specific to the test and the audio quality was very poor, but understandable,” says Skinner.

It took between one and two minutes for the station’s EAS system to receive the IPAWS CAP message and replace the built-in generic EAS text message and lower quality audio with the specific National Periodic Test message, he adds.

At Twin Cities PBS in St. Paul, Minn., the national EAS test was generally a success, says Don Heppelmann, technologist at the public broadcaster. “It went reasonably well,” he says, adding that in the case of Twin Cities PBS, the EAS message originated with the CAP data.

While the test was successful for the broadcaster’s English-language service, a second, newly installed EAS device dedicated to multilingual alerts for Spanish-, Somali- and Mung-speaking viewers, did not work properly. Heppelmann attributes the problem to not having sufficient time to test the unit before the nationwide test. “I wish I would have had another week or two to configure the unit dedicated to providing multilingual alerts,” he says.

While the industry waits for the government to compile its data to see how it did on the nationwide test, some broadcasters like Heppelmann, are already thinking of ways FEMA can improve next year’s test. “I hope FEMA does next year’s test with live audio,” he says. “We are testing the EAS system, and the idea behind it is that a live person will talk into a microphone. That’s not been done to my knowledge for a national test, and I sure would love to see that happen.” 

WASHINGTON—Mark your calendars, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has scheduled the 2017 national EAS test for Wednesday Sept. 27 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

(If, by chance, a hurricane is making landfall on that date, or some other event interferes, the test will be run on the following Wednesday.)

The test will be conducted in the same way it was last year, with both English and Spanish language text and audio. Total duration is expected to be about one minute. (Shown below are FEMA officials about to launch the 2016 test in a facility not far from Washington.)

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission has already released instructions as to how Emergency Alert System participants must register for access to the 2017 EAS Test Reporting System.

As a result of feedback regarding last year’s use of the ETRS, the FCC has mandated that filers using the ETRS must use a single account. The Public Safety Bureau also said to expect a further notice soon about the opening of the 2017 ETRS, and the date by which EAS participants must file their data.

As Radio World has reported, the 2016 EAS test was considered by officials to be a success, with an over 87 percent participation rate, although there were some technical glitches. A few test participants reported complications ranging from equipment configuration issues, equipment failures, failure to update equipment software, audio quality issues, source issues, clock errors, and, in some cases, noncompliance with Part 11 rules.

At the local level, the Alabama Broadcasters Association plans to discuss the test procedure in depth at its annual conference next month in Hoover, Ala. Other active state associations will likely be communicating with their own members about the test as well.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World. 

WASHINGTON—The first national test of the emergency alert system in five years—and the first ever using the IPAWS infrastructure as an overlay on EAS—has been deemed a success based on initial feedback from the field.

FEMA headquarters during the national EAS test on Wednesday.

The one-minute test was conducted Wednesday afternoon by the Federal Emergency Management Agency with radio, TV and cable stations around the United States. The test verified the successful transmission and broadcast of a national test message. The ability of the U.S. President to send such a message remains an important part of the nation’s alerting infrastructure, though such a real message has never been sent.

Radio World was invited to attend and watch the launch of the test at a FEMA technical facility in Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C. Gathered via a webinar and conference call were officials with FEMA’s alerting partners at the Federal Communications Commission, National Weather Service and the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, as well as the chairs of the state emergency communications committees.

Prior to the 2:20 test, the staff (shown in photo) tested the integrity of the audio files at the Amazon Web Services server, then conducted final checks with the federal partners to confirm there were no last-minute national events or weather complications that would warrant postponing the test. They made their “go” decision at 2:06 p.m.

The test was launched on the stroke of 2:20 p.m. (ET) from a laptop, in English and Spanish, and the results on local broadcast outlets were immediately monitored in the room. Shortly after the test concluded, IPAWS National Test Technical Lead Al Kenyon polled the SECCs and others on the conference call, and one by one they reported back — Wisconsin, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia/South Carolina, Nevada, SiriusXM, various EAS manufacturers...the reports were all similar: “everything sounded good... our experience in Austin was fine... everything came through.”

Kenyon (shown seated on the left side of the table) thanked the participants and said, “We seemed to have a large degree of success” based on immediate feedback, but said official results will have to wait for stations to fill out their required forms reporting results to the FCC.

Kenyon told Radio World, “My driving goal was to have clean audio, delivered timely, and closed out properly.” He said there had been few, if any, complaints about intelligibility or delays in delivery.

“This was the first time we’ve served every EAS device in the country at the same time.”

A separate debriefing call was scheduled late Wednesday by the FCC with state coordinators.

IPAWS Deputy Director Wade Witmer attended and told Radio World the test appeared to be a success, and he called the timing an appropriate tie-in for National Preparedness Month.

More national tests are expected in the future, but the timing and nature of the next one are yet to be determined. 

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World.

SAN FRANCISCO—If ever the broadcast industry was poised and ready for a test, it seems to be this one. On Sept. 28 at 2:20 pm EDT, EAS broadcast participants will participate in a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Set up by the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the test is designed to analyze the reliability and effectiveness of the nation’s EAS warning system. The emphasis will be on the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System gateway—aka IPAWS—which is the way that common alerting protocol-based EAS alerts are disseminated.

Broadcasters have to report results of the Sept. 28 tests in the Fcc’s new eAS Test Reporting System portal. The date is set: Sept. 28. And all EAS participants must be prepared to participate in the test on both that day and the backup test date (set for Oct. 5) if the original date is rescheduled due to inclement weather.

FEMA says broadcasters appear ready for the test: “Based on observations of the six regional IPAWS/EAS tests, the broadcast and cable industries generally appear to be ready for the September test,” said FEMA Press Secretary Alexa Lopez.

But preparing for this test—which includes prepping equipment and getting ready for new reporting requirements—has been no easy feat.

COMPLICATED EXTRA STEP

The test will introduce new elements added since the first nationwide test held in 2011. The September 2016 test will be transmitted in English and Spanish and will include both audio and the text of the test message.

The test will also assess the feasibility of a new national code—known in engineering parlance as the six-zero “000000” geocode. On Jan. 1, 2016, FEMA officially began rolling out use of this six-zero national location geocode in an effort to ease the process of sending either an Emergency Alert Notification (EAN) or National Periodic Test (NPT) to stations across the nation.

But this addition has added a complicated step for those stations taking part: they must have gear that can process the all-zero event code in order to bring consistency to the operation of EAS equipment. Stations that continue to operate with EAS gear that have not been upgraded to recognize the 000000 code will be in violation of FCC rules.

Monroe Electronics, a Lyndonville, N.Y.-based developer of EAS gear, has seen a significant uptick in support calls from broadcasters as they prepare themselves for the upcoming test. “We are getting questions about everything from basic device configuration, to upgrading software, to overall systems integration support,” said Ed Czarnecki, senior director for strategy and global government affairs for Monroe.

Although many EAS devices already have the new location code installed in firmware, a number of broadcast associations—such as those in New Hampshire, Michigan and Alabama—are trying to keep their member stations up to date by offering their constituencies step-by-step guidelines on what engineers need to do in order to be compliant.

One of the most beneficial changes made by the FCC after the last National Test in 2011 is how national alerts and tests are relayed to stations, said Larry Wilkins, an engineer with the Alabama Broadcasters Association. “Realizing that the internet is not 100 percent reliable, they have begun updating all the PEP [primary entry point] stations with VSAT equipment while keeping the dial-up as a backup,” he said. “As engineers know all too well, redundancy is the key to proper operation.”

The Alabama State Emergency Communications Committee has taken the added step of installing an FTP server, and has more than 80 stations sending their alert and test files to the SECC automatically, Wilkins said. “The SECC is monitoring those files on a daily basis, mainly for proper reception of items such as the IPAWS Required Weekly Test, State Required Monthly Test and weekly test of our State CAP satellite network,” he said.

While this doesn’t remove the requirement from the station reviewing their log weekly as required, it does give another set of eyes on the operation. “Just recently we discovered and helped two different stations with IT issues which cause the EAS unit not to function correctly,” he said.

The FCC is also requiring all EAS partici-pants to monitor at least two other participants to ascertain that all tests were received, relayed and transmitted correctly.

REPORTING RESULTS

And then comes the next step: actually reporting the results from the Sept. 28 EAS test.

Those results must be reported to the FCC through a new portal known as the EAS Test Reporting System. The initial registration page, known as Form One, had to be filed by Aug. 26, followed by another more lengthy report, called Form Two, which must be completed before midnight Eastern Time on the day of the test itself and includes only two questions: Did you receive the alert? Did you relay the alert?

The last step: EAS participants must file detailed post-test data on Form Three by Nov. 14. But a fair number of registrants have had concerns in simply registering with the ETRS. Though it has been touted by the commission as a way of improving feedback on the effectiveness of nationwide emergency alert system tests, the path to registering the thousands of broadcast EAS participants has been a bumpy one.

Registrants expressed concerns over coordinates and database organization, the complicated nature of the data required during the registration process, and over the proposed length of time that it would take to complete the registration process—with an official notice in the Federal Register suggesting the registration process could take up to 43 hours.

“Is it really going to take up to 43 hours to do this, and for two stations will that be up to 86 hours?” asked Cal Zethmayr, general sales manager of WAAZ(FM), and WJSB(AM) in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.

Manufacturers like Monroe are also getting requests for help with the FCC’s ETRS system, as well as other regulatory questions. “The FCC gave an estimate of up to 43 hours needed for a broadcaster to complete the whole ETRS process,” Cznarecki said. “I can tell you that as an EAS device manufacturer, fielding these ETRS-related questions has been occupying a good deal more than 43 manhours each week for our support team.”

Questions have also been raised as to how the ETRS database will handle the load of thousands of participants using the system near-simultaneously on test day. As of early August, the FCC said more than 2,700 filings have been completed by EAS participants. According to an FCC spokesperson, the commission is aware of broadcasters’ concerns with the ETRS registration process and has taken steps to address some of the issues.

To get ready for the September test, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has also encouraged EAS participants to review their state EAS plan and confirm that a copy of the current EAS Operating Handbook located at the appropriate locations.

The commission is also conducting webinars to help with the registration process.

“The FCC had the best of intentions with these changes, based on the often-limited input they received from EAS participants, EAS manufacturers and other commentators,” Cznarecki said. “National EAS testing is a necessary exercise. And the ETRS, while it may have some rough edges, could have been a lot worse in execution.

“If anything, we are seeing a fair number of EAS participants come into better compliance, spurred in part by the ETRS requirement,” he said. “So, if nothing else, a side effect of the ETRS may have been saving some broadcasters a lot more pain down the road from potential non-compliance.”