[EAS] State use of NPT

[Kenyon, Alfred]

Dave,

During the evolution of the current series of IPAWS regional tests the title of the testing series evolved into IPAWS Support for State and Regional Testing. We began testing with West Virginia due to the excellent relationship and close cooperation between the WV Director of Emergency Management and our office. In WV we also had outstanding cooperation from the WV Broadcasters Association and Michelle Crist, WVBA President. Our first multi-state test included Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee which was coordinated in part by Whit Adamson of the Tennessee Broadcast Association. Next up came Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut spearheaded by Suzanne Goucher of the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

All of these tests involved use of an NPT event code message originated by the IPAWS Lab using the remaining Federal Originator Code PEP. The test message sent through IPAWS for dissemination via EAS and the IPAWS All-Hazards Public feed. The message send time was coordinated with a regularly scheduled monthly Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test to provide a more comprehensive IPAWS test. As others have pointed out the National Periodic Test (NPT) event code is not available for state or local use; it is supposed to be reserved for Federal use.

The next regional IPAWS test will take place on Tuesday, November 17th and will target Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Minnesota, Utah and Wisconsin. We plan to take a break over the holidays and resume regional testing in late winter/early spring. With the effective date for the FCC's EAS 6th Report and Order on July 30, 2016, we hope to have sufficient time to conduct three more rounds of IPAWS testing using NPT. If you like, upon your request as SECC and in coordination with the Idaho  State Broadcasters Association we can make plans to include Idaho in one of those tests. The FCC reporting requirement does not go into effect until that date. Please note that I do not speak on behalf of the FCC, however it appears to me that any NPT issued after July  could trigger a reporting obligation for EAS Participants.

Regards,

AL KENYON
IPAWS National Test Technical Lead
IPAWS Program Office, National Continuity Programs
Department of Homeland Security - FEMA
500 C Street, SW, 5NW-0407
Washington, DC 20472-3153
202-646-3308 Office
Alfred.Kenyon at fema.dhs.gov