FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
December 22, 2015
The Honorable G.K. Butterfield
U.S. House of Representatives
2305 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Butterfield:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27, 2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable G.K. Butterfield
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if! can be of any further
assistance. :;j~{
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22, 2015
The Honorable Yvette D. Clarkeu.s. House of Representatives
2351 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman Clarke:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Yvette D. Clarke
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context ofthe
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
Sincerely,
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
December 22,2015
The Honorable Diana DeGette
U.S. House of Representatives
2368 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman DeGette:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Diana DeGette
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refme and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22, 2015
The Honorable Mike Doyleu.s. House of Representatives
239 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Doyle:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Mike Doyle
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refme and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context ofthe
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22, 2015
The Honorable Anna G. Eshoo
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman Eshoo:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a cornrnrnon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
-------------------------
Page 2-The Honorable Anna G. Eshoo
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages,including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
December 22, 2015
The Honorable Dave Loebsack
U.S. House of Representatives
1527 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Loebsack:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Dave Loebsack
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
;;if£t-
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22, 2015
The Honorable Ben Ray Lujan
U.S. House of Representatives
2446 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Lujan:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19, 2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health andjOutreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27, 2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Ben Ray Lujan
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
Sincerely, /';i:Jtq7~?
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22,2015
The Honorable Doris Matsui
U.S. House of Representatives
2434 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman Matsui:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Doris Matsui
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
Sincerely,
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22,2015
The Honorable Jerry McNerney
U.S. House of Representatives
1210 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman McNerney:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a comrnrnon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Jerry McNerney
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
Sincerely, I //
~£(,,--
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN December 22, 2015
The Honorable Frank Pallone
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Pallone:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commrnon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27, 2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
Page 2-The Honorable Frank Pallone
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
Sincerely,
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAI RMAN December 22, 2015
The Honorable Bobby L. Rush
U.S. House of Representatives
2268 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Rush:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Bobby L. Rush
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if! can be of any further
assistance.
Sincerely,
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
December 22, 2015
The Honorable Peter Welch
U.S. House of Representatives
2303 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Welch:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a cornmmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable Peter Welch
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition for
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities, and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context ofthe
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
Tom Wheeler
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF
TH E CHAr RMAN
December 22, 2015
The Honorable John Yarmuthu.s. House of Representatives
435 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Yarmuth:
Thank you for your November 2,2015 letter urging the Commission to ensure that
emergency alerts are available to the entire public, regardless of the languages they speak. We at
the Commission share the Committee's interest in promoting the delivery of alerts from the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to as wide an audience
as possible, including those who communicate in a language other than English, who have a
limited understanding of the English language, as well as to persons with disabilities. As you
note, the Commision and industry took an initial step by requiring that EAS alerts be delivered in
the Common Alerting Protocol, a commmon language that allows alert intitiators to provide
alerts in multiple languages. The Commission has taken several further steps recently to advance
this important goal:
• On November 19,2015, we adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in which
we proposed changes to improve WEA message content and to ensure that the messages
reach those people for whom an alert is relevant. As part of this community focus on
alerting, the NPRM seeks comment on whether advances in technology will allow WEA
to be offered in languages other than English, and on the extent to which supplementing
alert text with multimedia will contribute to alert accessibility.
• On September 22,2015, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau adopted an
order granting ECHO (Emergency, Community, Health and Outreach) Minnesota, a
program and service of Twin Cities Public Television, a waiver of certain EAS and WEA
rules to allow the broadcast or transmission of multingual public service anouncements
that contain a simulated WEA and EAS Attention Signals and EAS codes as part of a
public outreach program to educate English and non-English speakers in the state of
Minnesota about WEA, EAS and other emergency alerts.
• On August 27,2015, the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau held a workshop on ways to improve the
EAS that examined, among other things, how to improve the accessibility of alerts by
providing alerts in multiple languages. At the workshop, ECHO exhibited its ability to
deliver alerts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Notably,
Page 2-The Honorable John Yarmuth
ECHO demonstrated that the decision to deliver alerts in a particular language or
languages is most effective when determined by community outreach and consensus.
• Currently, the Commission has an order on circulation that addresses the Petition tor
Immediate Interim Relief filed by the Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media
and Telecommunications Council.
The Commission continues to refine and improve the efficacy of the EAS and WEA to
facilitate the delivery of life and property-saving alerts to the entire public, regardless of the
language they speak or any vision or hearing impairments they may have. Our goal, through our
recently circulated order, is to gain a much fuller understanding of what States, localities. and
individual EAS Participants are doing - and can do in the future - to facilitate the distribution of
multilingual alert content to their communities, and to work with the communities to further
advance their abilities to reach populations where English is not well understood. We will
continue to work to enable such efforts, both locally and within the broader context of the
nationwide EAS system.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further
assistance.
-;;"t
Tom Wheeler