STATE
OF WASHINGTON
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM
Approved by the
Federal Communications Commission, March
3, 1997
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March 10, 2010
Present: Terry Spring-KWPX; Mark Allen-WSAB; Tom Sharp-Pierce County DEM; Rick Sucee-Whatcom County; Don Miller-Washington State Emergency Management; Clay Freinwald-EAS; Hillman S. Mitchell-City Of Tukwila; Ted Buehner-NWS Seattle; Jim Dalke-Dalke Broadcast Services
On the phone: Phil Johnson-CPS LACC; Ruth Brownstein-KAOS; Kevin Noyes-Skagit County; Luke Myers-City Of Bellevue; Anthony Cavalluccii-NWS Spokane; Jeff White-KXRO; Shad Burcham-King County; Art Blum-Tri Cities; Arthur Willetts-KWDK; Don White-KCPQ; Dennis Hull-NWS Pendleton
Clay Freinwald called the meeting to order and everyone introduced themselves. The minutes for the previous meeting were approved.
The recent EAN Test in Alaska was discussed at the EAS Summit in Washington DC. At some point, a national test is coming. For the most part, it worked well. If testing is to find problems, it was a success. An LP1 did not relay it due to a mistake. Cable systems did not relay it due to a bug in their equipment. Not all EAS boxes work the same way. Equipment should be tested before the national test, whenever that may be. There was no panic from the general public. Most people do not know what an EAN is.
The FCC will be rewriting Part 11 (EAS). They will be issuing a call for comments.
Clay Freinwald will be leaving Entercom. Use k7cr@blarg.net to contact him in the future.
The SECC still needs someone to step up and represent the cable industry at our meetings.
There has not been much word out of West Clallam County. KBIS/KBDB will be getting one of the Sage IP boxes.
The Green River flooding (or lack of flooding) was discussed. Fortunately we have had a mild winter. More than $40 million has been spent on flood prevention. The Corps Of Engineers will rebuild the Howard Hansen Dam by 2017. A lot of businesses have moved out of the flood plain. The Corps will be testing the grout curtain that was installed last summer/fall.....this spring and early summer - not now. The pool behind the dam has been kept essentially empty all winter, waiting and ready for a heavy rain and potential flood event. Now that the flood season is basically behind us, the Corps has begun to store snow melt and will continue to raise the pool level in stages to test the grout curtain in the May/June time frame.
Don Miller is still trying to collect the local area plans in electronic form. Please send them to D.Miller@EMD.WA.GOV.
As the new CAP boxes are distributed by the state, they will be programmed to forward event codes that broadcasters have agreed to forward.
The SECC can make recommendations, but cannot require anything. EAS is a great tool, but it is not always being used. Emergency Management organizations have worked with broadcasters, but more could be done. Emergency Management people do not always understand how EAS works.
The Central Puget Sound LRN repeater died, but has been repaired.
A new committee was formed at the EAS Summit to educate people in government and congress about EAS. There were also panel discussions on how CAP was going to work. There is a 180 day period starting when the FCC releases the new EAS rules for stations to have the new EAS equipment in operation. It might begin in September. Or it might be revisited as it doesn't leave enough time to get everything manufactured and installed. Stations should start planning and have funding in place. Cost will be around $3000. Stations will have to comply with the FCC rules, whatever they turn out to be.
There is still a real need for EAS training for both the originators, broadcasters, and the consumers.
The new EAS boxes will generate text from the voice message for a character generator on TV stations. FEMA is moving slow in setting a CAP standard. The state IP boxes will poll both the state emergency management and the National Weather Service.
IPAWS (http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/) was discussed. By executive order, it will now include local, state, and federal governments for broadcast, computers, public signage, etc. There will be more entry points. The current PEP system will be a back up.
The EAS-CAP Industry Work Group (ESIG) has a web site: http://www.eas-cap.org/.
The upcoming national test will come through the current system, from KIRO-AM to the SRN. The SECC will be working on a list of current EAS equipment in use around the state.
The Mount Spokane SRN transmitter was down for awhile, but it has been fixed.
The National Weather Service national ADR test was held on Tuesday 3/16. The Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference will be held in Tacoma on April 6 and 7. See http://capps.wsu.edu/emergencyprep.
At the Washington State Association of Broadcasters, the AMBER plan for Spokane County was approved. The WSP has revised AMBER and missing persons plans. Mark Allen will be meeting with news directors at the Seattle TV stations for emergency preparedness, both staying on the air and disseminating information.
The next meeting will be at Camp Murray on May 12 at 9:30 AM.
Terry Spring
Chief Engineer
KWPX TV/DT
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