The Ohio Association of Broadcasters has released a detailed summary of the official state EAS plan.
It outlines the plan’s procedures for activation of the Emergency Alert System for the state or any of its local operational areas.
The plan itself was completed by the State Emergency Communications Committee and approved by the FCC in 2023.
OAB officials say the Ohio EAS is a fully automated system that allows notifiers, through dedicated encoders, to selectively provide citizens with timely emergency information and warnings. The state’s 88 counties are grouped into 12 Local Operational Areas.
The state plan provides background data and prescribes procedures for broadcast and cable television media to disseminate emergency information and warnings to the public at the request of designated federal, state and local government officials, also known as notifiers.
For monitoring purposes, the state’s originating station is WNCI(FM), Columbus, Ohio, which is designated the State Primary (SP-1) station. The alternate originating station is WBNS(FM), also in Columbus, which is the state capital.
For national EAS alerts, FEMA has contracted with AM stations WTAM in Cleveland and WLW in Cincinnati as National Primary stations, according to the document.
In addition, participating broadcast stations and cable systems monitor LP-1 and LP-2 stations serving their local operational areas, as covered in the OAB summary. The document also outlines the responsibilities of those local primary stations.
A complete list of NOAA weather stations and the counties for which they provide weather warnings is in an appendix for those broadcasters also wishing to monitor NOAA weather radio station in their area.
The summary lists the steps broadcasters and cable operators must take to participate in the Ohio EAS and test procedures required in accordance with FCC rules. It also provides an extensive list of contacts for each operational area in the state.
And it includes notification procedures for state agencies, such as the governor’s office and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. Broadcaster procedures are included in the summary.
OAB thanked Chris Merritt, its former president, and Greg Savoldi, the Ohio State Emergency Communications Committee Chair, for volunteering their time to help create the document.
