Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
April 16, 2018
DA 18-374
Small Entity Compliance Guide
Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding Emergency Alert System
FCC 17-170
PS Docket No. 15-94
Released December 14, 2017
This Guide is prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section 212 of the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.  It is intended to help small entities—
small businesses, small organizations (non-profits), and small governmental jurisdictions—
to comply with the revised rule adopted in the above-referenced Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC or Commission) rulemaking docket.  This Guide is not intended to replace 
or supersede these rules but to facilitate compliance with the rules.  Although we have 
attempted to cover all parts of the rule that might be especially important to small entities, 
the coverage may not be exhaustive.  This Guide cannot anticipate all situations in which the 
rule applies.  Furthermore, the Commission retains the discretion to adopt case-by-case 
approaches, where appropriate, that may differ from this Guide.  Any decisions regarding a 
particular small entity will be based on the statute and any relevant rules.
In any civil or administrative action against a small entity for a violation of rules, the content 
of the Small Entity Compliance Guide maybe considered as evidence of the reasonableness 
or appropriateness of proposed fines, penalties and damages.  Interested parties are free to 
file comments regarding this Guide and the appropriateness of its application to a particular 
situation. The FCC will then consider whether the recommendations or interpretations in the 
Guide are appropriate in that situation. The FCC may decide to revise this Guide without 
public notice to reflect changes in the FCC’s approach to implementing a rule, or it may 
clarify or update the text of the Guide.  Direct your comments and recommendations, or calls 
for further assistance, to the FCC’s Consumer Center:
1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
Videophone: 1-844-4-FCC-ASL (1-844-432-2275)
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROCEEDING ...................................................................................1
II. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS ...........................................................................................1
III. RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS .................................................3
IV.        IMPLEMENTATION DATES ....................................................................................................3
V.         INTERNET LINKS ......................................................................................................................3
 
1I. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROCEEDING
The Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding Emergency Alert System Report 
and Order (Report and Order) advances the important public policy of protecting our nation’s law 
enforcement officials and the communities they serve.  Specifically, the Report and Order revises the 
Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules to adopt the three-
character code BLU as a new EAS event code, thereby enabling the delivery of “Blue Alerts” over the 
EAS, and permits Blue Alerts to be delivered over Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) (as one type of 
“Imminent Threat” Alert).
1
  The Commission’s actions in the Report and Order promote the development 
of compatible and integrated Blue Alert plans throughout the United States, consistent with the Rafael 
Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015 (Blue Alert Act),
2
 and support the need for a 
dedicated EAS event code for Blue Alerts, which was identified by the Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Service (COPS Office) of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The Report and Order 
adopted in this proceeding gives State and local agencies the option to notify the public of threats to law 
enforcement, and help apprehend dangerous suspects, by issuing warnings to the public through 
broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline and wireless video system providers (EAS Participants).  Officials 
may also send Blue Alerts through WEA to consumers’ wireless phones.  The Commission believes that 
establishing the BLU event code is in the public interest as a means to improve emergency alerting during 
emergency events such as those described in the COPS Office Blue Alert Guideline.
3
 
II. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS
A. Amendment of the EAS Rules to Create and Add the Dedicated BLU Event Code to the 
EAS Protocol for Blue Alerts (47 CFR §11.31(e)) 
? The dedicated BLU event code can only be used pursuant to the Blue Alert Act as 
implemented by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) of 
the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), to facilitate the dissemination of 
information in a consistent manner, when a law enforcement officer is (1) seriously 
injured or killed in the line of duty; (2) when there is an imminent credible threat of death 
or serious injury to a law enforcement officer; or (3) when a law enforcement officer is 
missing in connection with official duties.  
o If a Blue Alert is based on the first of the criteria listed above, the law 
enforcement agency must confirm that a law enforcement officer has been killed, 
seriously injured, or attacked, and there are indications of death or serious injury.  
1
 The Commission left the docket open until March 19, 2018 (which was 60 days after publication of the summary 
of the Report and Order in the Federal Register) for comment on one issue: whether additional rule changes would 
be helpful to facilitate delivery of Blue Alerts over WEA, and the potential implementation steps, time frame, and 
costs associated with such changes.  
2
 Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-12, 129 Stat. 192 (2015).  The 
Blue Alert Act directs the creation of guidelines that, among other things, shall “provide mechanisms that ensure 
that Blue Alerts comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local privacy laws and regulations” and “include 
standards that specifically provide for the protection of the civil liberties, including the privacy, of law enforcement 
officers who are seriously injured or killed in the line of duty,” are “missing in connection with the officer’s official 
duties, or who are threatened with death or serious injury, and the families of the officers.”  See 34 U.S.C. § 
50503(c)(3).  
3
 See U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, National Blue Alert Network:  When 
to Issue a Blue Alert, https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/blue-alert/blue_alert_guidelines.pdf (Blue Alert Guidelines); 34 
U.S.C. § 50503(b)(2)(D).  
2o If a Blue Alert is based on the second of the criteria listed above, the law 
enforcement agency must confirm that the threat is imminent and credible, and at 
the time of receipt of the threat, any suspect involved is wanted by a law 
enforcement agency.  
o If a Blue Alert is based on the third of the criteria listed above, the agency must 
have concluded that there is indication of serious injury to, or death of the 
missing law enforcement officer.
4
  
 
? Blue Alerts may only be used to warn the public when there is actionable information 
related to a law enforcement officer as described above, and in all cases, the agency 
issuing the alert must confirm that any suspect involved has not been apprehended and 
there is sufficient descriptive information of the suspect, including any relevant vehicle 
and license tag information.  
? Blue Alerts to the public over the EAS must otherwise satisfy the requirements 
articulated by the COPS Office in its voluntary Blue Alert Guidelines including focusing 
on an appropriately narrow geographic area and providing information in the message on 
the suspect’s last known location, direction of travel, and possible destination.
? Alert originators should initiate Blue Alerts via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning 
System (IPAWS) and include detailed information as part of each Blue Alert for which it 
is available.  
o EAS Participants are required to create video crawls based upon the enhanced 
text contained within the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message. 
o The last known location, direction of travel, and possible destinations of the 
suspect should be included as part of the alert message.
? In setting up the system for Blue Alerts, EAS manufacturers and EAS Participants are 
encouraged to take technical steps to facilitate the delivery of IPAWS-based EAS Blue 
Alerts to the public where an alert is first delivered to an EAS Participant via broadcast.
? Blue Alerts may be deployed via WEA using existing alerting methodologies and 
consistent with the Commission’s WEA rules.
? EAS Participants have a 12-month period from the effective date of the Report and 
Order—until January 18, 2019— to ensure that their equipment is capable of delivering 
of Blue Alerts over EAS.
? Participating Commercial Mobile Service Providers have an 18 month period from the 
effective date of the Report and Order —until July 18, 2019— to ensure that their 
equipment is capable of delivering Blue Alerts over WEA.
 
? The use of the BLU event code is voluntary, and EAS Participants may update their 
software to add the BLU event code on a voluntary basis.  Such software updates may be 
bundled with other routine software updates to minimize burden and expense.  
4
 Blue Alert Guidelines; 34 U.S.C. § 50503(b)(2)(E).
3III. RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The Report and Order did not create any new reporting or recordkeeping requirements.
IV.        IMPLEMENTATION DATE
EAS Participants choosing to offer Blue Alerts over EAS must render their equipment capable of 
delivering Blue Alerts over EAS by January 18, 2019 (one year after the summary of the Report and 
Order was published in the Federal Register).
Participating CMS Providers choosing to offer Blue Alerts over WEA must render their 
equipment capable of delivering Blue Alerts over WEA by July 18, 2019 (eighteen months after the 
summary of the Report and Order was published in the Federal Register). 
V.         INTERNET LINKS
A copy of the Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission's Rules Regarding Emergency Alert 
System, Report and Order is available at:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-170A1.docx
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-170A1.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-170A1.txt 
A copy of the Federal Register Summary of the Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission's Rules 
Regarding Emergency Alert System, Report and Order is available at:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/18/2018-00595/blue-alert-eas-event-code