[EAS] Alerting in General

[Rod Zeigler]

The one thing I see having a very bright light shone on it in the EAS 
State Plan thread is the oft cursed ambiguity in the FCC EAS Rules and Regs.
SECC's are alluded to in the context of being the go-to authority in the 
States for monitoring assignments. That is all.
What the various States do, or don't do, with regards to SECC's is 
totally up to those States since there are no other guidelines.
FEMA has the authority to designate PEP stations, but the FCC has the 
operating authority over those same stations.
FEMA IPAWS set up the Cap Aggregator for alerts which distributes, via 
public internet, those alerts to various outlets. EAS and WEA being two 
separate entities getting those alerts.
Alert dissemination via EAS and WEA is under the purview of the FCC. We 
have a multi level interface between two different government agencies 
with two different missions.
I am surprised it works as well as it does, and that is due to the 
dedicated people in both agencies that want to make it work. I could be 
a nightmare, but it isn't.
Alert origination is even more disparate than alert dissemination. 
Everything below a Federal level alert is left to the States to handle 
as they see fit.
Alerting directly to the public (WEA) is in its infancy and alert 
origination via this method is far from mature. It has the promise of 
being a primary alerting source, but not quite yet.

We have various other agencies wanting a seat on the alerting bus, such 
as the DoJ and Blue Alerts. These boutique alerts will grow as others 
discover needs as yet unseen.

I have heard "Be careful what you wish for", but some kind of definition 
of SECC's needs to be made at the Federal level to handle the Federal 
alerting requirements. Further definition can be done at the State level 
to meet that States needs, but a definitive foundation at the Federal 
level is paramount.

Alerting the public needs to be a subject of study by the Emergency 
Management community just as they study sheltering displaced persons, 
radiological monitoring, communications, and other areas they are 
responsible for. Alerting, in all of its forms, must also become part of 
the Incident Command System. Alerting has gone way beyond the days of 
the tornado siren and with current and future technological advancement, 
will be an evolving science for the foreseeable future.

-- 
R. V. Zeigler, Dir. of Eng.
Nebraska Rural Radio Assn.
Chairman, Ne. SECC
Exec. Dir, NEBA