I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4856 

To improve oversight by the Federal Communications Commission of the 

wireless and broadcast emergency alert systems. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 24, 2019 

Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. GABBARD, and Mr. OLSON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve oversight by the Federal Communications Commission of the wireless and broadcast emergency alert 

systems. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reliable Emergency 

5 Alert Distribution Improvement Act of 2019’’ or ‘‘READI 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

3 Agency; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

5 Communications Commission; 

6 (3) the term ‘‘Emergency Alert System’’ means 

7 the national public warning system, the rules for 

8 which are set forth in part 11 of title 47, Code of 

9 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation); 

10 and 

11 (4) the term ‘‘Wireless Emergency Alert Sys12 tem’’ means the wireless national public warning 

13 system established under the Warning, Alert, and 

14 Response Network Act (47 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.), the 

15 rules for which are set forth in part 10 of title 47, 

16 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu17 lation). 

18 SEC. 3. WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM OFFERINGS. 

19 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 602(b)(2)(E) of the 

20 Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act (47 U.S.C. 

21 1201(b)(2)(E)) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking the second and third sentences; 

23 and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘other than an alert issued by 

2 the President.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘other 

3 than an alert issued by— 

4 ‘‘(A) the President; or 

5 ‘‘(B) the Administrator of the Federal 

6 Emergency Management Agency.’’. 

7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, in con9 sultation with the Administrator, shall adopt regulations 

10 to implement the amendment made by subsection (a)(2). 

11 SEC. 4. STATE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM PLANS AND 

12 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMIT13 TEES. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘SECC’’ means a State Emer16 gency Communications Committee; 

17 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the 

18 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com19 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

20 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common21 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 

22 possession of the United States; and 

23 (3) the term ‘‘State EAS Plan’’ means a State 

24 Emergency Alert System Plan. 


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1 (b) STATE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COM2 MITTEE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact3 ment of this Act, the Commission shall adopt regulations 

4 that— 

5 (1) encourage the chief executive of each 

6 State— 

7 (A) to establish an SECC if the State does 

8 not have an SECC; or 

9 (B) if the State has an SECC, to review 

10 the composition and governance of the SECC; 

11 (2) provide that— 

12 (A) each SECC, not less frequently than 

13 annually, shall— 

14 (i) meet to review and update its 

15 State EAS Plan; 

16 (ii) certify to the Commission that the 

17 SECC has met as required under clause 

18 (i); and 

19 (iii) submit to the Commission an up20 dated State EAS Plan; and 

21 (B) not later than 60 days after the date 

22 on which the Commission receives an updated 

23 State EAS Plan under subparagraph (A)(iii), 

24 the Commission shall— 


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1 (i) approve or disapprove the updated 

2 State EAS Plan; and 

3 (ii) notify the chief executive of the 

4 State of the Commission’s findings; and 

5 (3) establish a State EAS Plan content check6 list for SECCs to use when reviewing and updating 

7 a State EAS Plan for submission to the Commission 

8 under paragraph (2)(A). 

9 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall consult 

10 with the Administrator regarding the adoption of regula11 tions under subsection (b)(3). 

12 SEC. 5. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS13 TEM GUIDANCE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall de16 velop and issue guidance on how State, Tribal, and local 

17 governments can participate in the integrated public alert 

18 and warning system of the United States described in sec19 tion 526 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

20 321o) (referred to in this section as the ‘‘public alert and 

21 warning system’’) while maintaining the integrity of the 

22 public alert and warning system, including— 

23 (1) guidance on the categories of public emer24 gencies and appropriate circumstances that warrant 

25 an alert and warning from State, Tribal, and local 


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1 governments using the public alert and warning sys2 tem; 

3 (2) the procedures for State, Tribal, and local 

4 government officials to authenticate civil emer5 gencies and initiate, modify, and cancel alerts trans6 mitted through the public alert and warning system, 

7 including protocols and technology capabilities for— 

8 (A) the initiation, or prohibition on the ini9 tiation, of alerts by a single authorized or unau10 thorized individual; 

11 (B) testing a State, Tribal, or local govern12 ment incident management and warning tool 

13 without accidentally initiating an alert through 

14 the public alert and warning system; and 

15 (C) steps a State, Tribal, or local govern16 ment official should take to mitigate the possi17 bility of the issuance of a false alert through 

18 the public alert and warning system; 

19 (3) the standardization, functionality, and inter20 operability of incident management and warning 

21 tools used by State, Tribal, and local governments to 

22 notify the public of an emergency through the public 

23 alert and warning system; 

24 (4) the annual training and recertification of 

25 emergency management personnel on requirements 


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1 for originating and transmitting an alert through 

2 the public alert and warning system; 

3 (5) the procedures, protocols, and guidance con4 cerning the protective action plans that State, Trib5 al, and local governments should issue to the public 

6 following an alert issued under the public alert and 

7 warning system; 

8 (6) the procedures, protocols, and guidance con9 cerning the communications that State, Tribal, and 

10 local governments should issue to the public fol11 lowing a false alert issued under the public alert and 

12 warning system; 

13 (7) a plan by which State, Tribal, and local 

14 government officials may, during an emergency, con15 tact each other as well as Federal officials and par16 ticipants in the Emergency Alert System and the 

17 Wireless Emergency Alert System, when appropriate 

18 and necessary, by telephone, text message, or other 

19 means of communication regarding an alert that has 

20 been distributed to the public; and 

21 (8) any other procedure the Administrator con22 siders appropriate for maintaining the integrity of 

23 and providing for public confidence in the public 

24 alert and warning system. 


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1 (b) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL ADVISORY

2 COUNCIL REPORT.—The Administrator shall ensure that 

3 the guidance developed under subsection (a) do not con4 flict with recommendations made for improving the public 

5 alert and warning system provided in the report submitted 

6 by the National Advisory Council under section 2(b)(7)(B) 

7 of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Mod8 ernization Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–143; 130 Stat. 

9 332). 

10 (c) PUBLIC CONSULTATION.—In developing the guid11 ance under subsection (a), the Administrator shall ensure 

12 appropriate public consultation and, to the extent prac13 ticable, coordinate the development of the guidance with 

14 stakeholders of the public alert and warning system, in15 cluding— 

16 (1) appropriate personnel from Federal agen17 cies, including the National Institute of Standards 

18 and Technology, the Federal Emergency Manage19 ment Agency, and the Commission; 

20 (2) representatives of State and local govern21 ments and emergency services personnel, who shall 

22 be selected from among individuals nominated by 

23 national organizations representing those govern24 ments and personnel; 


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1 (3) representatives of federally recognized In2 dian Tribes and national Indian organizations; 

3 (4) communications service providers; 

4 (5) vendors, developers, and manufacturers of 

5 systems, facilities, equipment, and capabilities for 

6 the provision of communications services; 

7 (6) third-party service bureaus; 

8 (7) the national organization representing the 

9 licensees and permittees of noncommercial broadcast 

10 television stations; 

11 (8) technical experts from the broadcasting in12 dustry; 

13 (9) educators from the Emergency Management 

14 Institute; and 

15 (10) other individuals with technical expertise 

16 as the Administrator determines appropriate. 

17 (d) INAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Advi18 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

19 the public consultation with stakeholders under subsection 

20 (c). 

21 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub22 section (a) shall be construed to amend, supplement, or 

23 abridge the authority of the Commission under the Com24 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) or in 

25 any other manner give the Administrator authority over 


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1 communications service providers participating in the 

2 Emergency Alert System or the Wireless Emergency Alert 

3 System. 

4 SEC. 6. FALSE ALERT REPORTING. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Ad7 ministrator, shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to es8 tablish a system to receive from the Administrator or 

9 State, Tribal, or local governments reports of false alerts 

10 under the Emergency Alert System or the Wireless Emer11 gency Alert System for the purpose of recording such false 

12 alerts and examining their causes. 

13 SEC. 7. REPEATING EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM MES14 SAGES FOR NATIONAL SECURITY. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Ad17 ministrator, shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to 

18 modify the Emergency Alert System to provide for repeat19 ing Emergency Alert System messages while an alert re20 mains pending that is issued by— 

21 (1) the President; 

22 (2) the Administrator; or 

23 (3) any other entity under specified circum24 stances as determined by the Commission, in con25 sultation with the Administrator. 


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1 SEC. 8. INTERNET AND ONLINE STREAMING SERVICES 

2 EMERGENCY ALERT EXAMINATION. 

3 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, and after providing public notice 

5 and opportunity for comment, the Commission shall com6 plete an inquiry to examine the feasibility of updating the 

7 Emergency Alert System to enable or improve alerts to 

8 consumers provided through the internet, including 

9 through streaming services. 

10 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after com11 pleting the inquiry under subsection (a), the Commission 

12 shall submit a report on the findings and conclusions of 

13 the inquiry to— 

14 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation of the Senate; and 

16 (2) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

17 the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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