Emergency Alert System participants, remember that you must file ETRS Form One soon.
That note comes to us courtesy of the “ABA Engineering Services Quick Notes” e-newsletter. Although he was writing to his Alabama readers, veteran engineer Larry Wilkins reminds U.S. broadcasters more generally that they are subject to the annual requirement to file ETRS Form One even in years that FEMA does not conduct a nationwide EAS test.
EAS participants are to submit Form One for calendar 2024 no later than Oct. 4, 2024.
Form One completion requires background information such as EAS designation, EAS monitoring assignments, facility location, equipment type, contact information and other relevant data.
All EAS Participants — including low-power FM stations, Class D non-commercial educational FM stations and EAS participants that are silent pursuant to a grant of Special Temporary Authority — are required to register and file in ETRS.
EAS participants that do not need to file Form One include:
- Analog and digital low-power television stations that operate as television broadcast translator stations,
- FM broadcast booster stations and FM translator stations that entirely rebroadcast the programming of other local FM broadcast stations, and
- Analog and digital broadcast stations that operate as satellites or repeaters of a hub station and rebroadcast 100 percent of the programming of the hub station (or common studio or control point)
Filers can access ETRS by visiting the ETRS page of the FCC’s website.
If you have questions, Wilkins says you should contact your State Emergency Communications Committee or your legal counsel.
