[EAS] Engineer Emergency Credentials

[Gary Timm]

Wisconsin's Broadcaster Emergency Personnel ID Card program has been mentioned a few times in this thread - just some background.  It has been in place for over a decade now, and allows broadcast engineers access to transmitter and studio sites.  It is not for use by news crews.  The program is a joint effort of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA) and the Wisconsin Dept. of Justice (WDOJ).  WBA receives and vets the applications and photos, which are then forwarded to WDOJ who issues the cards.  WBA reconfirms the list of ID cards with each station on an annual basis.

This program grew out of the SECC's close relationship with WI DOJ as the agency which issues our Amber Alerts.  So for any SECC looking for a place to start on State Broadcaster ID cards, I'd suggest beginning with the state agency that you already have a relationship with through the Amber Alert program.

A copy of our WBA/WDOJ MOU and extensive FAQ is at:
http://www.wi-broadcasters.org/emergency-planning/broadcaster-id/

On the suggestion of a nationwide ID card issued by FEMA, SBE, NAB, etc. - I'd think the EM community's biggest concern would be after the cards are issued, what is the process to reconfirm on a regular basis that those people are still working in the broadcast engineering community - and how to get the cards back from those who aren't.  I know the federal government maintains a system of Smart Cards with an embedded chip for various purposes, and certainly the card of a retired broadcast engineer could be deactivated in that fashion - but now we're back to a very laborious process at the local checkpoint, akin to needing to call the IL EOC, as Mike pointed out.  I'm not really sure what the practical solution is to this, but we can't have cards issued floating around out there forever.

As for State EAS Chairs and/or SECCs issuing the cards... unfortunately, the Part 11 EAS rules barely even mention the existence of SECCs, and most certainly do not ascribe any authority or jurisdiction whatsoever to SECCs.  And the "State EAS Chair" is mentioned nowhere in the rules, its just an informal part of the logistics that the FCC adopted.  So apart from any liability concerns, the EAS Chair and SECC have no stated authority to carry any kind of weight in signing an ID card, unless the particular state chooses to acknowledge and empower their EAS Chair/SECC to do so.

My 2-cents on this anyway,
Gary Timm, Broadcast Chair
Wisconsin SECC

From: Mike McCarthy <towers at mre.com>

I agree, First Informer and EAS/SECC should have no connection
what-so-ever.  Two very different missions, function and roles.

If not FEMA, then the various state EMA's are the proper venue for
vetting, educating, and managing such credentialing programs.

MM

On Thu, February 16, 2017 8:11 pm, Adrienne Abbott wrote:
> What EAS chair would want that responsibility? It's way out of the realm
> of FCC requirements for EAS chairs. The idea sounds like a walking
> liability lawsuit.
>
> Adrienne
>

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