[EAS] EAS Forum Editorial on "Governor Mandatory"

[Ed Czarnecki]

Richard - that was a strongly argued editorial, raising a number of good
points for discussion.  

 

While we - as a manufacturer - do not take a specific position
for-or-against the so-called "governor's mandatory alert," we think there
are a few additional points and questions that are worth evaluation.  

 

These cover some of the "who, what, where and when" such a mandatory alert
capability could or should be used.

 

.         Event specificity: the mandatory alert capability would be linked
to an existing event code.  The CAP-EAS Implementation Guidelines adopted by
FEMA make a provision for "tagging" an existing event code with the
mandatory carry override.

 

.         Usage threshold:  what circumstances would justify use of such an
"override" capability.  What safeguards can be put into place to prevent
over-use or abuse?  What sanctions could/should be in place in case of
abuse?

 

.         Designated authority:  While this could certainly use further
definition, many infer that the designated authority would be the emergency
manager anyway.  Essentially, the same way the governor designates the other
normal emergency management functions to that official.   This is implicit,
and could be made explicit, either in the revised FCC regs, or as part of a
standardized practice (see below).

 

.         Need for standardized operational practice:  what best practices
can be developed, and potentially introduced into state EAS plans to
maintain consistency from state to state in use of governors mandatory alert
capability.  Recommending an SOP might be something that a future DHS
National Advisory Council or current FCC CSRIC could look at.  Remember that
a governors mandatory capability could only be adopted once a state writes
CAP into their state EAS plan.  A further requirement could be that the
governors mandatory capability can only be adopted if the standardized
operational practice is also included in the state EAS plan.

 

.         Need for standardized training:  this would be very helpful, as a
reinforcement of how such an alert capability should be (and not be) used.
Bear in mind, though, that national-level training courses (such as the new
FEMA IS-247), only directly impact the IPAWS path, and don't directly touch
the significant number of state-level CAP EAS systems out there already.
FEMA may need to find a way to work with these systems (and vendors) in a
public-private partnership role - to date they have been very uncomfortable
with this, but the reality is that over 20 states have CAP systems that are
by and large provisioned and serviced by private sector entities.

 

Questions like the above need to be addressed if the governors mandatory
alert is to be effective, and not end up as a major problem.  Short of
offering a firm position - yea or nay - we might just suggest that there are
major unanswered questions that need definition before such a capability is
formally adopted.

 

Again, we don't necessarily have a firm position on the GMC alert
capability, and look forward to qualified input from emergency management
professionals on this subject

 

 

Edward Czarnecki, Ph.D. 

Senior Director - Strategy, Development & Regulatory Affairs  |  Monroe
Electronics Inc.  |  Digital Alert Systems

	

  _____  

	

email ed.czarnecki at monroe-electronics.com | www.monroe-electronics.com |
www.digitalalertsystems.com 

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
Behalf Of Richard Rudman

 

Greetings:

 

I just posted a short editorial on the "governor mandatory" issue.

 

 <http://eas.radiolists.net/> http://eas.radiolists.net/

 

If you have views on this important issue, pro or con, please let us all
know on this list.

 

Richard Rudman

The BWWG

 

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