DA 22-1189
										Released: November 10, 2022
					
	
PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU ANNOUNCES EFFECTIVE DATE AND COMPLIANCE DATES FOR CERTAIN EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS) RULES

PS Docket No. 15-94

	On September 30, 2022, the Commission released a Report and Order in PS Docket No. 15-94 adopting new rules to improve the clarity and accessibility of Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages. Amendment of the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System, PS Docket 15-94, Report and Order, FCC 22-75, para. 70 (Sept. 30, 2022) (Report and Order) (“...[T]his Report and Order, including the amended rules, SHALL BE EFFECTIVE 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.”).  
  On November 10, 2022, the Office of the Federal Register published a summary of the Report and Order. Federal Communications Commission, Emergency Alert System, 87 Fed. Reg. 67808 (Nov. 10, 2022).
  Accordingly, the effective date for the rules adopted in the Report and Order is December 12, 2022. Id.
  In addition, as provided in the Report and Order, EAS Participants See 47 CFR §§ 11.2(b), 11.11(a) (defining EAS Participants as entities required to comply with the Commission’s EAS rules and identifying such entities to include analog radio and television stations, wired and wireless cable television systems, Direct Broadcast Satellite, digital television broadcast stations, Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service, digital cable and digital audio broadcasting systems, and wireline video systems).  
 are required to comply with the following new and revised Commission rules by the following dates: 

· December 12, 2023:  

o Sections 11.55(c) and 11.61(a)(1)(iv), requiring EAS Participants to implement the new Common Alerting Protocol alert polling and prioritization rules.  

o Section 11.51(d)(3), requiring EAS Participants to display the new text for the national alert originator code (PEP), 47 CFR § 11.31(d).
 the national test code (NPT), 47 CFR § 11.31(e).
 and (excluding cable systems) the national emergency code (EAN). Id.


o Section 11.51(d)(3)(iii), requiring EAS Participants to display a standard script for NPT alerts issued in legacy format.   

o Section 11.31(d)(2), requiring EAS Participants to deactivate National Information Center or “NIC” code alert processing. 

· March 12, 2024:  

o Section 11.51(d)(5)(i), requiring cable systems to update set-top boxes to display the new EAN text. 

o Section 11.51(d)(5)(ii)(B), requiring cable systems to replace certain set-top boxes.  Cable systems must replace set-top boxes that cannot be modified using software updates to display the new EAN text with set-top boxes capable of displaying the new text for requesting subscribers with hearing disabilities.  

o Section 11.51(d)(5)(iii), requiring cable systems to display on their websites information about the availability of set-top boxes capable of displaying the new EAN text for subscribers with hearing disabilities upon request.  

· December 12, 2028:

o Section 11.51(d)(5)(ii)(A), requiring cable systems to complete the provision of set-top boxes capable of displaying the new EAN text to all subscribers. 

For further information, contact Chris Fedeli, Attorney-Advisor, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Policy and Licensing Division at (202) 418-1514 or christopher.fedeli@fcc.gov. 

- FCC -
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