[EAS] Answering the right question - EAS Handbook

[Sean Donelan]

There is no published national EAS plan.

State EAS plans do NOT contain specific operating instructions for a 
participant's EAS equipment. Interestingly enough, there is NO specific 
rule requiring EAS Participants have a copy of State or local EAS plans.
Its implied by 47CFR11.21, but not stated.

State EAS plans contain a lot of information, and guidance about EAS 
operations such as general instructions about sending an RMT. For example, 
the Wisconsin state EAS plan contains 25 pages in the main section, plus 
29 pages in nine appendices, and a 19 page mapbook. State EAS plans 
sometimes contain guidance configuring EAS equipment, and some of the 
quirks of particular EAS manufacturers.

In most states, a local EAS plan is usually just the local area contact 
information, i.e. phone numbers, etc., for local agencies and 
participants. When a local EAS area covers extends across multiple states, 
they sometimes explain how to coordinate activations across states, such 
as the national capital region EAS area covering Washington, D.C., 
Maryland and Virginia.

The Emergency Broadcast System Checklist manuals served a purpose. They 
contained a sleeve to hold the Red Envelope.

The EBS Checklist manuals were important when an operator-on-duty 
needed to open the Red Envelope, authenticate the EAN, and 
fade-up/fade-down different transmission sources, maybe even which 
frequencies to tune too.  But even in the old days, local facilities 
wrote their own standard operating manuals.

What's the right question?

The FCC needs to publish a national EAS plan.

The national EAS plan needs to provide guidance how the EAS is intended 
to operate, provide information describing how messages will be 
distributed, national monitoring sources, and so on. The national EAS plan 
should be jointly prepared and published by FCC, FEMA and NOAA; with 
advice from industry and state EAS participants.

For the few broadcast stations, and they are essentially all broadcast 
stations, which still operate EAS equipment manually the national EAS 
plan can include a standard operating procedure template. But those few 
manually operated EAS Participants will likely have their own facility 
specific SOPs. The person responsible for EAS could use the information 
from the national EAS plan, state EAS plan and local EAS plan to prepare 
the facility specific SOP.

The 1,000 or so LP-1, LP-2, SP and NP stations will want their own more 
specific SOPs. The FCC's EAS Handbook is just be that thing they show 
the FCC field agent, but they don't use as a SOP themselves. They usually 
have more than just the required two EAS sources, more complicated 
distribution plants, and generally no two are alike.

The other 97% of EAS Participants, it probably could be a two-side, 
single page laminated in plastic. This is what the EAS equipment does 
when activated, this is what EAS sources its supposed to monitor, this is 
how to verify its working correctly, and this is who to contact if 
something's wrong or you have questions or a FCC Field Agent shows up.
For additional SOPs, they will likely have their own operating procedure 
manuals.

The person you call about problems is going to need the big manual, and 
the phone numbers of the EAS manufacturer, middleware manufacturer, 
automation manufacturer, etc.