PPW Report 2004-1 The Emergency Alert System (EAS): An Assessment Partnership for Public Warning FEBRUARY 2004 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii FOREWORD About the Partnership for Public Warning … “Every person will have the information needed in an emergency to save lives, prevent injury, mitigate property loss, and minimize the time needed to return to a normal life.” (The PPW Vision) The Partnership for Public Warning is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership established to save the lives and property of people at risk from natural disasters, accidents and terrorism by improving the nation’s alert and warning capabilities. PPW provides a collaborative, consensus-based forum where all interested stakeholders – public and private – are working together to develop processes, standards, systems and strategies to ensure that the right people have the right information at the right time. PPW’s objectives include, but are not limited to: • Fostering communication, cooperation and consensus among key stakeholders: • Promoting and conducting research and studies into alert and warning issues: • Assisting and advising government officials on the development, implementation and operation of public warning systems, technologies, policies and procedures: • Supporting the timely generation of standards, specifications, and protocols: • Encouraging private sector investment in the development of new warning technologies and promoting the existence of such technologies to government decision makers; • Fostering a knowledgeable public and informed decision making by establishing, maintaining and providing educational materials and other information on warning technologies and programs. The Partnership is governed by an elected Board of Trustees representing local and state governments, private industry and the non-profit community. Federal agencies participating in PPW include the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce and Federal Communications Commission. In addition to this assessment of the Emergency Alert System, PPW has published a “National Strategy for Integrated Public Warning Policy and Capability” that establishes a vision and roadmap for creating a more effective national alert and warning capability. In August 2003 the Partnership released a plan, “Implementing the Vision”, for implementing that national strategy. Copies of these reports and additional information about the Partnership are available at www.PartnershipforPublicWarning.org. iii Membership in PPW is open to any organization or individual who is interested in public alert and warning and shares our vision. Voting membership in the Partnership is available to federal, state and local government entities and to private organizations (for- profit and not-for-profit). Individuals may join the Partnership as non-voting, associate members. PPW is a 501(c)3 organization and all dues and other payments are charitable tax contributions to the extent otherwise permitted by law. For more information on the Partnership and to learn how you can get involved, visit the PPW web site at www.PartnershipforPublicWarning.org. You may also write or call: Partnership for Public Warning 7515 Colshire Drive, MS N655 McLean, VA 22102 Phone: (703) 883-2745 Fax: (703) 883-3689 Email: [email protected] About this EAS Assessment… The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is one of two national systems that exist in the United States to provide alert and warning information directly to the public. The other is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio system operated by the National Weather Service. The purpose of this document is to provide a definitive description and evaluation of the EAS past and present as a basis for recommending ways to make immediate improvements. As this report indicates, the current Emergency Alert System has a number of significant policy, management and operational challenges. America has an obligation and the technologies to build a national alert system that can warn people regardless of where they are, what time of day or what language they speak. In May 2003 the PPW issued “A National Strategy for Integrated Public Warning Policy and Capability.” This document, developed with input from experts in industry, government and academia, sets forth a vision and strategic plan to create a more effective national public warning capability. The report may be obtained from the PPW web site at www.PartnershipforPublicWarning.org. Special thanks go to Frank Lucia for contributing his leadership and expertise to the production of this report. See Appendix A for the list of PPW EAS Committee members who contributed to this report and Appendix B for a list of acronyms used in this report. Copyright © 2003. The Partnership for Public Warning. This report may be cited, quoted, reproduced and distributed provided that the Partnership for Public Warning is acknowledged as the author. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7 EAS History Highlights................................................................................................ 8 How the EAS Works ................................................................................................... 9 Overview................................................................................................................................ 9 EAS Structure ...................................................................................................................... 11 National Level and The Primary Entry Point System.......................................................... 13 Broadcast Station Protection Program ................................................................................. 15 Options For Inputting State and Local Information into EAS............................................. 15 State EAS Planning.............................................................................................................. 16 Local EAS Planning............................................................................................................. 17 EAS and NOAA Weather Radio.......................................................................................... 17 Cable in the EAS.................................................................................................................. 19 Cable Override Techniques -- Analog ................................................................................. 19 Cable Override Techniques – Digital................................................................................... 20 Cable Television EAS issues ............................................................................................... 20 EAS Audience...................................................................................................................... 21 Numbers of EAS and EBS Messages Transmitted .............................................................. 23 EAS Funding............................................................................................................. 24 Federal Support.................................................................................................................... 24 Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) Support................................................................... 25 Broadcaster Association Support......................................................................................... 25 State and Local Support ....................................................................................................... 25 EAS Concerns .......................................................................................................... 26 Financial............................................................................................................................... 26 Operational........................................................................................................................... 26 EAS Looking Forward ............................................................................................... 28 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 30 1 Appendix A - EAS Committee Members ................................................................... 33 Appendix B - Acronyms and Definitions.................................................................... 34 Appendix C - History of the EAS ............................................................................... 38 Appendix D - Important EAS Documents.................................................................. 50 Appendix E - EAS Activation Statistics...................................................................... 51 Appendix F - State and Territory Plans and Structure.............................................. 52 Appendix G - Structure Flow Chart .......................................................................... 54 Appendix H - Equipment Manufacturers ................................................................... 55 Appendix I - Web Sites ............................................................................................. 56 Appendix J - Example Messages of the SAME/EAS Format .................................... 57 Appendix K - 1981 State