A new series of online forms, part of the EAS Test Reporting System, will allow radio stations and other EAS participants to report whether they received and retransmitted the nationwide test message.
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The Federal Communication Commission released details about the new Emergency Alert System Test Reporting System, or ETRS, that it plans to launch later this year, including sample user screens.
The next nationwide test of the EAS system is set for fall and is being coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency using these new guidelines.
The new system is designed to increase reliability and effectiveness of EAS while minimizing reporting burdens that fall on EAS participants, organizers say. Users can expect to see a number of new features in the ETRS, including the ability to chart results of a test and the ability to better identify potential points of failure and coverage gaps. The EAS system will get a new FCC Mapbook, illustrating the manner in which an EAS alert has propagated throughout the United States.
[Read RW’s June 2015 story about the new reporting system.]
To get started, EAS participants will have to register an account to access the ETRS; watch for a forthcoming URL from the FCC that will link applicants to an ETRS registration form on the commission website. Participants will be required to enter identifying and background information as well as log in results of a completed test. The graphic at right provides an example of the new ETRS screens.
[You can read the notice and see the sample screens here (PDF).]
Stations looking for more information on the information released in the Public Notice can contact the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau: Austin Randazzo at (202) 418-1462 or James Wiley at (202) 418-1678.
