[EAS] new legislative activity on EAS/WEA

[Ed Czarnecki]

Yes, those are highlights from the Schatz "READI" bill, but not the Gabbard
bill.  

Schatz issued a press release with those talking points, but the text of the
bill still has not been posted.  See
ttps://www.schatz.senate.gov/press-releases/schatz-thune-introduce-new-legis
lation-to-improve-the-way-the-public-receives-missile-alerts

The Gabbard bill may - or may not - be a House version of the Schatz Senate
bill.  I'll be looking for that text.

As for the Schatz bill - there are some areas to watch carefully:

-> Eliminate the option to opt out of receiving certain federal alerts on
mobile phones (I'm not thrilled about the slippery slope from voluntary to
mandatory);
-> Require active alerts issued by the president or FEMA to be repeated
(always great when Congress mandates a technical solution, without
conferring with industry.  And - presumably - "issued" means originated, not
everything forwarded from IPAWS OPEN.);
-> Explore establishing a system to offer emergency alerts to streaming
services like Netflix and Spotify (which IPAWS already does - they can
monitor the IPAWS public feed any time they want to).
-> Encourage SECCs to review and update their State Emergency Alert System
Plans periodically (what does "encourage" mean?  Carrot with funding, or
stick with penalties?);
-> Compel FEMA to create best practices for issuing alerts, avoiding false
alerts and retracting false alerts, as well as for alert origination
training and plans for officials to contact each other and federal officials
during emergencies (All for best alerts - hopefully Congress will "compel"
FEMA with requisite funding, rather than keep trying to keep squeezing an
already dry turnip); and
-> Establish a reporting system for false alerts, so the FCC can track when
they occur and examine their causes (hopefully the email address offered by
the recent FCC order meets that objective already.  De we want a new
Electronic False Alert Report Tracking System.  "e-Farts".  Yeah, I said
it).

-----Original Message-----
From: EAS [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On Behalf Of Dale Lamm

An industry trade publication has some more information:

https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/sens-schatz-and-thune-introduce
-readi-act-to-improve-eas

Here are some highlights: