[EAS] ALERT Act introduced in Senate - Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (ALERT) Act

[Ed Czarnecki]

FYI - An "Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (ALERT) Act" was
introduced into the Senate:

1. Restrict the authority to alert the public of a missile threat to the
Federal government.  It would also require FEMA to establish a process to
promptly notify state authorities when a missile alert is issued so they can
activate their own protective action plans to ensure public safety;

2. Require the IPAWS subcommittee of the FEMA National Advisory Council to
make recommendations on the best practices that state and local governments
should follow to maintain the integrity of IPAWS.  At a minimum, the
subcommittee would make recommendations regarding the incident management
tools used to originate alerts, and the procedures for testing and sending
notifications to the public to avoid false alarms; (note: several folks on
these lists serve on the FEMA NAC, including myself).

3. Require FEMA to establish minimum requirements for state and local
governments to participate in IPAWS within 120 days of receiving the
subcommittee’s recommendations.  States would have reasonable time to
implement any new requirements FEMA imposes;

4. Require FEMA to establish a process to test the incident management and
warning tool that a state or local government adopts to originate and send
alerts to the public in the FEMA IPAWS Lab and to certify it meets any
technical requirements that FEMA adopts; and

5. Require FEMA to review its Emergency Operations, National Watch and
Regional Watch Centers to assess their ability to track state and local
alerts issued under IPAWS and determine which ones they should be notified
about when states send them out.
 
Bill introduced Senators Schatz (D-HI), Harris (D-CA), and Gardner (R-CO),
and cosponsored Senators Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Hirono (D-Hawai‘i).

Edward Czarnecki Ph.D.
Senior Director – Strategy and Government Affairs.
Monroe Electronics / Digital Alert Systems
585-765-2254 ext 122 | fax 585-765-9330
Reston VA | Lyndonville NY
www.digitalalertsystems.com