Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a "notice for proposed rulemaking" amending its existing rules for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and paving the way for national testing of the system.
The EAS is a national system that exists primarily to allow the President to issue warnings to the American public during crisis situations. To date, the system has never been used to deliver a national Presidential alert. Further, no systematic national test of the EAS has ever been conducted to determine whether or not the system would actually work should a Presidential alert be needed.
Regular tests at the state and local level are required ("this is a test, only a test"), but the rules in current form do not require any national exercising of the system. According to the FCC document, "the rules generally focus on testing of components of the system rather than the system as a whole...they do not test whether the national EAS infrastructure as a whole works well or at all."
The FCC now proposes to amend the existing regulations, requiring all EAS participants to take part in national testing procedures and provide post-test results. The FCC is seeking public comment on the issues surrounding this proposed rule.
A statewide test was conducted earlier this month in Alaska. The FCC, FEMA, National Weather Service, and the Executive Office of the President plan on conducting a national test sometime this year according to our sources.
All the best,
Lorin
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