Progress Reports
5/31/07 – FCC Press Release titled “FCC Takes Action to Further Strengthen Nation’s Emergency Alert System” is released, outlining the EAS transition to CAP.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-273458A1.doc
6/12/07 – Wisconsin EAS Committee preliminary meeting to begin discussion on Wisconsin’s transition to CAP alerting. We will need to wait until the actual text of the new EAS rules is released to get a better picture of what changes this new EAS alerting format will require, but it was agreed that all Committee members should start contemplating the possibilities.
7/12/07 – FCC releases the text of the new EAS rules within a “Second Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking”.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-109A1.pdf
Implementation of the new alerting system is not specifically spelled out in the new rules, and much is left to policies to be enacted by FEMA. From all that can be determined at this point, FEMA is not expected to act on implementing any new system for at least a year. When sufficient information is gleaned as to the direction that FEMA is heading, the Wisconsin EAS Committee will reconvene to begin planning the actual groundwork for our transition. The best analysis of the new rules is found on the National SBE EAS Web page, referenced above at the top of this page.
9/12/07 – This web page, Next Generation EAS Planning for Wisconsin, was placed on the Wisconsin EAS website, to keep all Wisconsin broadcasters and cable operators up to date on CAP/Next Gen EAS developments in our state.
10/10/07 – Gary Timm, Broadcast Chair of Wisconsin EAS Committee, continues outreach on the new system with a presentation entitled “Introducing the FCC-mandated Next Generation EAS” at the annual Broadcasters Clinic in Madison, WI. This conference is sponsored by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, and is attended primarily by the Wisconsin broadcast engineering community.
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10/17/07 – The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) today chaired a meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss the next generation of public alerting.
Attending the meeting with SBE were representatives of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the National Alliance of State Broadcast Associations (NASBA).
The purpose of the meeting was to bring together federal agencies responsible for developing and implementing an improved emergency notification system with representatives of the broadcast industry.
Representing SBE at the meeting were Clay Freinwald, national SBE Emergency Alert System (EAS) Committee chair, who led the meeting, Richard Rudman, a member of SBE's EAS Committee and John Poray, Executive Director.
Based on comments from the representatives of the federal agencies in attendance, there is much work to be done before any firm plan for the next generation alerting plan will be known. The agencies all said that input from the broadcast industry is needed and will be solicited to help design the system. FEMA, which has primary responsibility for system architecture, anticipates a system that will provide redundancy and resiliency. FEMA said this Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) will essentially be a "system of systems", and that a next generation of EAS would constitute one of those systems. NASBA representatives made it clear that funding for any required equipment should come from the federal government.
FEMA is preparing a "first assessment" of architecture for the White House, due by December 31 of this year. SBE representatives came away from the meeting feeling that there will likely be no action required of local broadcasters for at least a year and possibly longer. The group anticipates another meeting in January, 2008 to hear updates from the federal agencies and continue the dialogue.
10/31/07 – The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA) co-sponsored the annual conference of the Wisconsin Emergency Management Association in Madison. Along with WBA President Michelle Vetterkind and WBA Vice President Linda Baun, Wisconsin EAS Broadcast Chair Gary Timm staffed the WBA exhibit table where Next Generation EAS, Wisconsin's Broadcaster ID Card Program, and digital TV and radio were promoted to our Emergency Management partners. To promote the new, upcoming EAS to your local Emergency Manager, print the Wisconsin Next Generation EAS Flyer used at the event above.
11/02/07 – The FCC Report & Order referred to in the 7/12/07 entry above was published today in the Federal Register. This establishes December 3, 2007 as the deadline to file Comments on the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. See National SBE EAS Web page link at the top of this page for details on the FNPRM.
If 60 days have already elapsed since the Congressional Review Act report on the R&O was delivered to Congress, then the new FCC rules set out in the R&O will become law on December 3, 2007 as well. Both the 30-day Federal Register timeline and the 60-day Congressional Review Act report timeline must be completed before the new rules become law.
12/03/07 – With the new FCC Rules becoming effective on 12/3/07, the FCC has now released new EAS Handbooks and has also updated (and moved) its EAS Website.
All Broadcasters and Cable Operators should now print out the new FCC EAS Handbook that is appropriate for their facility. The FCC Press Release regarding the new Handbooks reminds that, "The Commission's rules require that copies of the handbooks be located at "normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations when an operator is required to be on duty and be immediately available to staff responsible for authenticating messages and initiating actions" (47 CFR §11.15)."
Bookmark the new FCC EAS Homepage: www.fcc.gov/pshs/services/eas/index.html
Follow the link on the right side of that page to the new FCC EAS Handbooks.
The Press Release announcing the new Handbooks, as well as links to the individual Handbooks, can be found on the Public Safety & Homeland Security
(PSHS) Bureau's homepage at: www.fcc.gov/pshs/. Look for Recent Releases, date 12/3/2007.
12/05/07 – State of Wisconsin Originates First Official CAP Alert
Wisconsin EAS history was made tonight, as the regularly-scheduled EAS RMT issued by Wisconsin Emergency Management was originated as a CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) message. The message was originated by WEM personnel logging onto a website server, where the alert was composed and then sent as a CAP message via the Internet. The CAP message was received from the Internet by a CAP Decoder located at Wisconsin ECB, where it was converted to an EAS message for transmission to the State EAS Network. If you heard the test, you will note that the test audio was a computer-generated synthesized voice. This audio was generated in the CAP Decoder box located at ECB, as part of the conversion process from a text-based CAP message to a complete EAS alert. This CAP generation and decoding equipment is currently in use in Wisconsin as part of a FEMA pilot project. We plan to continue testing CAP messaging in Wisconsin for as long as the pilot program CAP equipment remains at our disposal. This initial foray into CAP message generation ushers Wisconsin into the new age of Next Generation EAS. Much remains to be done, but these first steps are giving us valuable insight into where we need to be heading with Wisconsin’s eventual full transition to CAP-generated emergency messaging.
01/10/08 – The DHS National Incident Management System (NIMS) endorses CAP
After 9/11, the federal government realized that when multiple agencies respond to an emergency scene, they all have their own command structure and terminology to describe what is going on. To remedy this, the federal government devised the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS defines command structure and terminology to be used by all emergency agencies, so that they are all “on the same page” when responding to a major incident. Any local or state agency that wishes to receive any federal funding must have their personnel take NIMS classes and pass the exams. Therefore, all emergency response and emergency management agencies today abide by NIMS protocols. Today, NIMS officials recommended that state and local governments adopt CAP for their emergency alerting. What the NIMS officials did with this endorsement did not actually make CAP use mandatory as a part of NIMS (which may come eventually), but their recommendation does go a long way toward encouraging state and local agencies to use CAP in their alerting. This dovetails quite well with the transition of EAS to CAP, especially since these same state emergency agencies will likely be the ones originating the Next Generation EAS Governor’s CAP messages.
The link below is the PDF announcing this endorsement, which also includes a link to more information on NIMS:
http://www.fema.gov/library/file?type=publishedFile&file=standards_nims_alert_draft_12_11_07_rv__2_.pdf&fileid=8506bb40-bfbc-11dc-8be8-001185636fb7
2/24/08 to 2/26/08 – The Annual EAS Summit held in Washington, DC was attended again this year by Wisconsin EAS Committee members Michelle Vetterkind and Gary Timm. We learned much about the future of Next Generation EAS. On Sunday Evening: Right from the FCC, we heard what will be expected in the revised State EAS Plans to be filed with the FCC after adoption of CAP alerting. We were also able to give our direct feedback to these FCC officials. In the Monday All-day Sessions: We heard officials from NAB, FCC, FEMA, NWS, various SBE experts in the EAS community, legislative staff, and the Governor of Nevada, all with their perspectives on where we are currently at and where we should be headed with Next Gen EAS. We also did valuable networking with EAS Committee members, Emergency Management officials, and State Broadcast Association representatives from all of our surrounding states (MN, IA, IL, MI) and gathered info from other states in general as well. On Tuesday: Options for moving our State EAS alert distribution to Next Gen EAS were pursued at the Satellite 2008 Convention, which happened to also be in DC that week. Overall, EAS experts are still expecting nationwide EAS CAP alerting to be years away, although no federal officials would go on record with a timetable. Click on this link for a Detailed Report on the 2008 DC EAS Summit.
4/15/08 – Next Gen EAS Session and New Equipment at NAB2008
The "Next Generation Public Alerting" session featured a rare appearance by a FEMA official, Walter Florence of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Office, which is charged with implementing the new Next Generation EAS, among other things. One of the other programs that the IPAWS Office administers is Digital EAS (DEAS), which is a network that was built to deliver the President's message via a digital data channel on all PBS HDTV stations. Walter announced at this session that FEMA has decided to open up this DEAS channel for states to disseminate their state messages as well. He also said FEMA is working on gaining approval for an Advisory Committee to allow the broadcast and cable EAS communities a forum to provide FEMA with guidance on implementing Next Gen EAS. He said that FEMA is working closely with FCC and NOAA on Next Gen EAS, and the new EAS CAP protocol in particular.
Next Generation EAS Equipment at NAB2008
There were several equipment manufacturers showing equipment capable of decoding CAP 1.1 messages. It should be noted that the CAP 1.1 Standard will be the basis for the new EAS, but FEMA has not yet actually defined the exact Next Gen EAS-specific protocols that will need to be added to the basic CAP 1.1 Standard in order for it to carry the new CAP-based EAS alerts. While all of these new CAP 1.1 devices described below are software-based and thus should have no trouble being tweaked for the Next Gen EAS-specific "Profile", they are not "guaranteed" to work with the new EAS CAP Profile as it has not yet been written.
Digital Alert Systems DASDEC: This unit is FCC-certified for use as an EAS unit, and also decodes CAP. It is the EAS/CAP unit that has been around the longest, and now has over 600 units in the field. See: www.digitalalertsystems.com
SAGE Digital ENDEC: This unit became FCC-certified for use as an EAS unit just days before NAB2008, and it also decodes CAP messages. It is the new blue version of the familiar SAGE ENDEC. See: www.sagealertingsystems.com
Trilithic EASyCAST Encoder/Decoder+Visionary HD/SD Overlay System: Trilithic is a formerly cable-TV-only EAS provider that is now marketing to TV broadcasters with its new device to overlay EAS messages on SD and HD TV streams. This unit is FCC-certified for EAS use and also decodes CAP messages. See: www.trilithic.com
TFT Model 2008 CAP-to-EAS Converter: This unit is a CAP decoder only, and outputs the alert as a standard EAS message to be fed into your current EAS Encoder/Decoder. See: www.tftinc.com There is some question at this time whether this type of external CAP-to-EAS converter (vs. a fully integrated EAS/CAP all-in-one-box unit) will be capable of full functionality under the new EAS CAP system.
5/19/08 – FCC EAS Summit in Washington, DC
For Press Release, see: www.fcc.gov/pshs/summits/
For Event Video, see: www.fcc.gov/realaudio/mt051908.ram
Several themes were repeated by many at this FCC EAS Summit: EAS has been largely ignored at the Federal government and needs Federal leadership; funding and training will be needed to implement Next Generation EAS - for Emergency Managers to properly originate CAP messages, for SECC's to properly build new networks to distribute the CAP alerts, and for broadcasters and cable to properly present the alerts on the air. While these are not new news, it was pointed out that all comments made during the summit would be entered into the record of official comments filed regarding the currently-open FCC FNPRM, so may have some impact there.
FEMA Advisory Committee
There was a renewed call from a panelist to establish a FEMA Advisory Committee to help FEMA in their Next Gen EAS decisions.
Funding
Although FCC said, "Most alerts are local, why shouldn't funding be local?", most participants felt the Federal government should provide funding, in particular so there is compatibility and interoperability in how Next Gen EAS is implemented in all states.
Training
It was suggested that the same type of conferences involving Emergency Management, law enforcement, and broadcasters and cable that have been held in recent years regarding Amber Alerts should be held to launch Next Gen EAS.
Frank Lucia said we need training and development of new State EAS plans; the Federal government needs to sponsor local and state workshops (live onsite, or remotely), the same as was done to launch EAS when it was introduced.
It was proposed to include EAS training within NIMS, the National Incident Management System, which is a federally-mandated training course for all levels of government officials, as a way to provide uniform basic EAS training and awareness across the country.
EAS becoming irrelevant
Emergency Managers in the audience commented that they see EAS as somewhat irrelevant, now becoming supplanted by email, cell phone messaging, billboards, etc. EM's also find EAS to be unreliable - are local broadcasters and cable programmed to re-broadcast the Event Code and FIPS Code the EM is sending - or is he wasting his time? In some cases, the local stations are opting to do the alerts as news stories rather than re-broadcasting as an EAS alert. Should EAS at the local level be required, not voluntary? Clay Freinwald voiced an opinion in agreement with that concept.
It was stated by a panel member that if EAS doesn't move into Next Gen EAS soon, it WILL become irrelevant.
In California, Art Botterell can sit in his office and with one button-push activate any or all of 8 different alerting methods, all because of CAP messaging. EAS needs to move to CAP ASAP to become part of this mix.
IPAWS
Lance Craver from FEMA stated that the number of PEP stations is being increased from 36 to 63. He also said that DEAS is being opened up to allow distribution of state and local alerts, not just the President's message. FEMA is working now on how to aggregate those state and local messages for proper delivery over DEAS. Trials of State-DEAS systems are being conducted in a number of states already. Eventually, video and foreign language will be added. DEAS is now being deployed at the PEP stations, with the first one of those receivers being installed this week.
CAP Alert Distribution
The need was noted for CAP alert distribution means in every state. It was requested that the federal government help with placing CAP servers around the country to hold and serve out these messages. The suggestion was renewed to give a small sliver of the 700MHz band vacated by analog TV stations to EAS for local "last-mile" delivery of CAP EAS messages.
Independent development of EAS CAP
It was pointed out that among others, MyStateUSA, Hormann-America, EMnet, and SpectraRep's AlertManager are all currently out in the field sending CAP messages, but each with its own unique protocol. None of these systems could send messages to another system; they are incompatible. Any EAS manufacturer wanting to add CAP decoding to its box would need to be able to decode all of these formats. It was suggested that before many more manufacturers are on-line deploying equipment, an agreed-upon EAS CAP Profile is needed for interoperability among systems. The current thinking within EAS circles is that the equipment manufacturers should just get together and agree on an EAS CAP Profile, and all start sending their messages that way - rather than waiting for FEMA to do it.
CAP in two phases
Art Botterell, the "father" of CAP, felt the best strategy for implementing EAS CAP is in two phases: Phase 1 is the simple introduction of CAP-based SAME-messaging. Meanwhile, be working on an informed 2nd step to incorporate all the advanced features of CAP messaging in a subsequent Phase 2.
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