STATE
OF WASHINGTON
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Approved by the
Federal Communications Commission, March
3, 1997
January 9, 2008
Present in person: Terry Spring-KWPX; Jim Tharp-Bonneville; DeWayne Sennett-AT&T; Phil Johnson-CPS LECC; Clay Freinwald-Entercom; Don Miller-Washington EMD; Roland Robinson-Bates Technical College
On the Phone: Pat Anderson-Aberdeen; Kris McGowan-FCC; Ted Buehner-NWS Seattle; Kerry Jones-NWS Spokane; Marte Simpson-RACES; Arthur Willetts-Daystar Television Network; Sandy Johnson-Thurston County EM; Dennis Hull-NWS Pendleton; Don White-Tribune
Introductions were made and the previous minutes were approved.
The FCC has issued a new EAS Handbook. The SBE has some issues with some of the things that are in it. Some of the instructions are either peculiar or contradictory. They are talking to the FCC about it. If you have some comments or suggestions send them to Clay at k7cr@blarg.net. He will pass them on. Stations should get the new handbook as the FCC looks for it during inspections. It can be downloaded at:
Radio:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278628A3.pdf
TV: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278628A5.pdf
Cable:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-278628A2.pdf
During the December storm, the National Weather Service activated EAS four times. Ted would like to know how it was used by broadcasters. For example, was the message relayed or used as the basis for a news story or PSA. Please post on the remailer.
The October 17 meeting between the SBE, NAB, FEMA, etc. was discussed. More information is in the November minutes. The NAB would be the lead for the next meeting, but nothing has been scheduled yet. The fourth annual EAS Summit will be on February 25. It is a closed meeting.
The SECC is looking for a replacement for Art Blum in the Tri Cities.
There was another brief discussion of the SECC decision making process, and then it was tabled again. No procedures are in place and there is nothing in the state plan. Mark Allen (who could not be here today) is working on a new tab for the state plan to address this.
We still need a representative from the cable industry. It would be great if someone would step up to the plate. Clay will be talking to Comcast.
There are changes coming to EAS that will mean more entities will become involved with the system. Who will they be? One group is the wireless phone carriers. There was a recent FCC NPRM (see
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-214A1.doc
for the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). There will be differences and similarities with the present system. It will use a CAP structure, but will be limited to 90 characters. It will probably have a message directing the recipients to tune to their local broadcast station. As an example, the recent flood warnings could have been sent to cell phones. Alerts will be sent to phones in specific areas. The messages will be for events involving immanent danger rather than advisories. It will not operate under the same rules as EAS. There is some precedence to this as there are already different limitations for different originators. For example, the message format for highway signs is different than for RDS. Don will be sending comments about the NPRM to the remailer. CMAS will alert people to an event so they can turn their radio on for the details. As for different languages, it is not known where the translation will occur. This service will be industry-wide. All the cell phone companies are collaborating with the government. It will be a supplement to EAS.
The discussion evolved into the limits of CAP version 1.1. It will evolve.
The letter addressing the committee's concerns about AMBER was posted on the remailer. The main recommendation is for better training. The WSP Chief has the power to require it, the Advisory Committee does not. The AMBER Plan needs to be reviewed and updated. The letter was approved and sent to the WASAAAC.
There will be a post-storm meeting to look at how everything worked during the December storms. Attending will be both broadcasters and government. They will look at both EAS, news stories, and other forms of communication with the public. All the information will be compiled for the governor. They want to know what broadcasters actually did. Please send information to Don Miller at D.Miller@EMD.WA.GOV or to the remailer.
Washington State Emergency Management has installed nine of the new internet based CAP boxes in Eastern Washington.
Also in Eastern Washington, a Safety Advisory was recently issued instead of an AMBER Alert. The event in Spokane did not meet the requirements for AMBER.
Grays Harbor County is assessing what worked and what didn't during the recent storms.
The Central Puget Sound LECC meeting will be held January 24 at 9:30 AM at NOAA. Clay will do a presentation on EAS and the big one. Registration is full, but there is a dial in number. It has been on the
remailer.
The local FCC office is now Mike Rothe and Kris McGowan. Gary Soulsby and Steve Houser have retired.
The test committee would like to know if the locally originated RMT's are being done. There is now a staggered schedule for them to prevent collisions with adjacent areas. If a test isn't originated for your area, put that information on the remailer. That is the only way problems will be fixed. Minor changes in the test schedule will only be on the WSAB web site at http://www.wsab.org/. It is Tab 11 in the state plan. Other problems can also be put on the remailer. If your station misses an RWT origination, that can be put on the remailer, especially if other stations monitor you.
The amateur radio community is working on putting AMBER alerts on their repeaters.
The next meeting will be on March 12th at 9:30 AM at Camp Murray.
Terry Spring
Chief Engineer
KWPX Seattle
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