II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1753 

To establish a unified national hazard alert system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2005 

Mr. DEMINT (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. VITTER, Mr. LOTT, and Ms. LANDRIEU) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a unified national hazard alert system, and 

for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Establishment of all hazards alert system. 

Sec. 3. National program office. 

Sec. 4. Working group on national alert system. 

Sec. 5. Grant program for remote community alert systems. 

Sec. 6. Characteristics of alerts. 
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Sec. 7. Implementation and use of system. 

Sec. 8. Definitions. 

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ALL HAZARDS ALERT SYSTEM. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an all 

3 hazards alert system that— 

4 (1) will enable any appropriate Federal depart5 ment or agency or State or local governmental entity 

6 to alert the public to any imminent threat from nat7 ural phenomena, accidents, natural disasters, ter8 rorist activity, and other emergency situations that 

9 present a significant risk of injury or death to the 

10 public; 

11 (2) will be coordinated with and supplement ex12 isting Federal, State, and local emergency warning 

13 and alert system; 

14 (3) will be flexible enough in its application to 

15 permit narrowly targeted alerts in circumstances in 

16 which only a small geographic area is exposed or po17 tentially exposed to the threat; and 

18 (4) will transmit alerts in response to natural 

19 hazards, hazardous materials incidents, and terrorist 

20 attacks across the greatest possible variety of media, 

21 including digital and analog broadcast, cable, and 

22 satellite television and radio, wireless telecommuni23 cations, and hardwire telecommunications, to reach 

24 the largest portion of the affected population. 
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1 (b) TECHNOLOGY.—The System— 

2 (1) shall incorporate multiple technologies for 

3 effecting mass communications and be designed to 

4 adapt to, and incorporate, future technologies for 

5 communicating directly with the public; 

6 (2) include mechanisms and technologies to en7 sure that members of the public with disabilities are 

8 able to receive alerts and information provided 

9 through the System; 

10 (3) may not interfere with existing alert, warn11 ing, or emergency communications systems employed 

12 by Federal, State, or local emergency response per13 sonnel; 

14 (4) shall be designed to provide alerts over as 

15 diverse a group of media as possible, to include dig16 ital and analog broadcast, cable, and satellite tele17 vision and radio, wireless telecommunications, and 

18 landline communications and technologies for com19 municating within rural communities; 

20 (5) shall incorporate existing emergency alert 

21 technologies currently utilized by digital and analog 

22 broadcast, cable, and satellite television and radio; 

23 and 

24 (6) shall incorporate technologies to alert tradi25 tionally underserved communities. 
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1 (c) OFFICIAL ACCESS AND ACTIVATION.—The direc2 tor shall implement procedures that ensure that— 

3 (1) the System is available to, and enables, 

4 credentialed personnel to access and utilize the Sys5 tem to provide geographically targeted alerts where 

6 such alerts are appropriate; and 

7 (2) the System is available to, and enables, 

8 State and local public safety officials to provide 

9 alerts for hazards within their respective jurisdic10 tions subject to a mechanism developed by the 

11 Working Group for verifying the legitimacy and au12 thenticity of a proffered System alert, ensuring the 

13 proffered alert’s compliance with regulations estab14 lished by the Office, and guaranteeing the integrity 

15 of a System alert from the point of origination to 

16 delivery. 

17 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The System shall— 

18 (1) utilize multiple technologies for providing 

19 alerts to the public, including technologies that do 

20 not require members of the public to activate a par21 ticular device or use a particular technology to re22 ceive an alert provided via the System; 

23 (2) provide redundant alert mechanisms where 

24 practicable so as to reach the greatest number of 

25 people regardless of whether they have access to, or 
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1 utilize, any specific medium of communication or 

2 any particular device; and 

3 (3) incorporate means by which an individual 

4 may remove a passive alert device from the System 

5 or otherwise block alerts transmitted through the de6 vice to the individual on a device owned or controlled 

7 by that individual. 

8 (e) EAS COORDINATION AND REQUIREMENTS.—The 

9 director shall work with the Federal Communications 

10 Commission to ensure that the System— 

11 (1) complements, rather than duplicates, the 

12 current emergency alert system; and 

13 (2) obtains the maximum benefit possible from 

14 the utilization of existing research and development, 

15 technologies, and processes developed for or utilized 

16 by the emergency alert system. 

17 (f) EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM.—Notwithstanding 

18 any other provision of law, all broadcast licensees or per19 mittees engaged in digital broadcasting shall broadcast 

20 any emergency alert, including alerts under the emergency 

21 alert system established pursuant to sections 1, 4, 303, 

22 and 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

23 151, 154, 303, and 606) governing war emergency powers 

24 of the President of the United States, at the request of— 

25 (1) the President of the United States; 
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1 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security; or 

2 (3) a governor of a State in which it broad3 casts. 

4 SEC. 3. NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Program Of7 fice is established within the National Oceanic and 

8 Atmospheric Administration. 

9 (2) DIRECTOR.—The office shall be headed by 

10 a director with at least 5 years’ operational experi11 ence in the management and issuance of warnings 

12 and alerts, hazardous event management, or disaster 

13 planning. 

14 (3) STAFF.—The office shall have a staff with 

15 significant technical expertise in the telecommuni16 cations industry. The director may request the de17 tailing, with or without reimbursement, of staff from 

18 any appropriate Federal department or agency in 

19 order to ensure that the concerns of all such depart20 ments and agencies are incorporated into the daily 

21 operation of the System. 

22 (b) FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall conduct the 

24 day-to-day operation and management of the Sys25 tem. 
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1 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF WORKING GROUP

2 RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Office shall be respon3 sible for implementing the recommendations of the 

4 Working Group established by section 4 regarding— 

5 (A) the technical issuance of alerts; 

6 (B) the incorporation of new technologies 

7 into the System; and 

8 (C) the technical capabilities of the Sys9 tem. 

10 (c) REPORTS.— 

11 (1) INITIAL PROGRESS REPORT.—Fifteen 

12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

13 director shall transmit a report to the President, the 

14 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation and Committee on Homeland Secu16 rity and Governmental Affairs and the House of 

17 Representatives Committee on Energy and Com18 merce and Committee on Homeland Security con19 cerning— 

20 (A) the progress made toward operational 

21 activation of the System; and 

22 (B) the anticipated date on which the Sys23 tem will be activated. 

24 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The director shall sub25 mit an annual report to the Senate Committee on 
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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Com2 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af3 fairs and the House of Representatives Committee 

4 on Energy and Commerce and Committee on Home5 land Security on the status of, and plans for, the 

6 System. 

7 (3) 5-YEAR PLAN.—Within 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act and every 5 years 

9 thereafter, the director shall publish a 5-year plan 

10 that outlines future capabilities and warning tech11 nologies for the System. The plan shall serve as the 

12 long-term planning document for the Office. 

13 (d) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—The 

14 director shall establish a research and development pro15 gram to support the development of technology that will 

16 enable all existing and future providers of communications 

17 services and all existing and future communications de18 vices to be utilized effectively with the System. 

19 SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP ON NATIONAL ALERT SYSTEM. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP.—Not 

21 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

22 the director of the National Program Office shall establish 

23 a working group, to be known as the Working Group on 

24 the National Alert System. The director of the Office shall 

25 serve as chairperson of the Working Group. 
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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 (1) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The membership 

3 of the Working Group shall include appropriate per4 sonnel from the National Institute of Standards and 

5 Technology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

6 Administration, the Federal Communications Com7 mission, and the Federal Emergency Management 

8 Agency. The chair may also include in the Working 

9 Group representatives of other Federal agencies as 

10 appropriate. 

11 (2) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, ETC.— 

12 The Working Group shall include 8 representatives 

13 from State and local governments and 5 representa14 tives of emergency services personnel, selected by na15 tional organizations representing such governments 

16 and personnel. 

17 (3) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

18 Membership in the Working Group shall be open to 

19 representatives of— 

20 (A) communications service providers, 

21 (B) vendors, developers, and manufactur22 ers of facilities, equipment, and capabilities for 

23 the provision of communications services, and 

24 (C) trusted third party service bureaus, 
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1 who have the requisite technical knowledge and ex2 pertise to assist the Working Group in the fulfill3 ment of its duties. 

4 (4) APPOINTMENTS.—The initial meeting of the 

5 Working Group shall take place not later than 60 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (5) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Working 

8 Group shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled 

9 in the same manner as the original appointment. 

10 (c) DUTIES OF THE WORKING GROUP.—Not later 

11 than 1 year after the enactment of this Act, the Working 

12 Group shall transmit to the director— 

13 (1) a description of the emergency alert service 

14 to be provided by the System; 

15 (2) guidelines for the technical capabilities of 

16 the System; 

17 (3) guidelines for technical capability that pro18 vides for the priority transmission of System alerts; 

19 (4) guidelines for the other capabilities of the 

20 System as specified in this Act; and 

21 (5) standards to which the equipment and tech22 nologies in the System must conform. 

23 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS AND GRANTS.—The 

24 Working Group may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or 

25 grants of services or property, both real and personal, for 
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1 purposes of aiding or facilitating the work of the Working 

2 Group. Gifts or grants not used at the expiration of the 

3 Working Group shall be returned to the donor or grantor. 

4 (e) OTHER RESOURCES.—The Working Group shall 

5 have reasonable access to— 

6 (1) materials, resources, data, and other infor7 mation from the National Institute of Standards and 

8 Technology, the Department of Commerce and its 

9 agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and 

10 its bureaus, and the Federal Communications Com11 mission; and 

12 (2) the facilities of any such agency for pur13 poses of conducting meetings. 

14 (f) RULES OF THE WORKING GROUP.— 

15 (1) QUORUM.—One-third of the members of the 

16 Working Group shall constitute a quorum for con17 ducting business of the Working Group. 

18 (2) MEETINGS.—The chairperson shall convene 

19 meetings. Any meetings held by the Working Group 

20 shall be duly noticed at least 14 days in advance and 

21 shall be open to the public. 

22 (3) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—The 

23 Working Group shall provide public notice and an 

24 opportunity for public comment on each of the mat25 ters committed to it. 
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1 (4) SUBCOMMITTEES.—To assist the Working 

2 Group in carrying out its functions, the chairperson 

3 may establish appropriate subcommittees composed 

4 of members of the Working Group and other subject 

5 matter experts as deemed necessary. 

6 (5) ADDITIONAL RULES.—The Working Group 

7 may adopt other rules as needed. 

8 (g) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Neither 

9 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. ) nor 

10 any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under that Act 

11 shall apply to the Working Group. 

12 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM FOR REMOTE COMMUNITY ALERT 

13 SYSTEMS. 

14 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Office shall establish a 

15 program under which grants may be made to provide for 

16 the installation of technologies in remote communities ef17 fectively unserved by broadcast and wireless technologies 

18 for the purpose of enabling residents of those communities 

19 to receive System alerts. 

20 (b) APPLICATIONS AND CONDITIONS.—In conducting 

21 the program, the director of the Office— 

22 (1) shall establish a notification and application 

23 procedure; and 
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1 (2) may establish such conditions, and require 

2 such assurances, as may be appropriate to ensure 

3 the efficiency and integrity of the grant program. 

4 SEC. 6. CHARACTERISTICS OF ALERTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The System shall be capable of— 

6 (1) notifying the public of hazardous situations 

7 that pose an imminent threat to the public health or 

8 safety; 

9 (2) providing appropriate instructions for ac10 tions to be taken by individuals affected or poten11 tially affected by such a situation; 

12 (3) transmitting public address by Federal, 

13 State, or local officials; and 

14 (4) notifying the public of when the hazardous 

15 situation has ended or brought under control. 

16 (b) EVENT ELIGIBILITY REGULATIONS.—The Office 

17 shall by regulation specify— 

18 (1) the classes of events or situations for which 

19 the System may be used to alert the public; and 

20 (2) the types of alerts that may be transmitted 

21 by or through use of the System. 

22 (c) VOLUNTARY ALERTS RETRANSMITTAL.—The 

23 System shall be capable of transmitting alerts that are not 

24 of a nature described in subsection (a) subject to the re-
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1 quirement that any recipient of such an alert shall take 

2 appropriate action to receive the alert. 

3 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION AND USE OF SYSTEM. 

4 (a) CREDENTIALING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The System shall include a 

6 credentialing process for public officials with respon7 sibility for issuing safety warnings to the public that 

8 will enable them to access the System. 

9 (2) REVIEW OF REQUESTS.—The Office shall 

10 review and approve requests for credentials from 

11 Federal, State, and local government agencies. All 

12 such requests shall be submitted to the Office by the 

13 head of the Federal department or agency, or the 

14 governor of the State, concerned. 

15 (3) SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF CREDEN16 TIALS.—The Office shall— 

17 (A) establish eligibility criteria for issuing, 

18 renewing, and revoking access credentials; 

19 (B) limit credentials to appropriate geo20 graphic areas or political jurisdictions; and 

21 (C) ensure that the credentials permit use 

22 of the System only for alerts that are consistent 

23 with the jurisdiction, authority, and basis for 

24 eligibility of the individual credentialed to use 

25 the System. 
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1 (4) PERIODIC TRAINING.—The Office shall— 

2 (A) establish a periodic training program 

3 for individuals credentialed to use the System; 

4 and 

5 (B) require credentialed individuals to un6 dergo periodic training under the program as a 

7 prerequisite for retaining their credentials to 

8 use the system. 

9 (b) ACCESS POINTS.—The System shall provide— 

10 (1) widely dispersed multiple access points to 

11 credentialed Federal, State, and local officials to 

12 input appropriate alerts into the System for retrans13 mission to citizens; and 

14 (2) system redundancies to ensure functionality 

15 in the event of partial system failures, power fail16 ures, or other interruptive events. 

17 (c) OPERATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT.—The director of 

18 the National Program Office shall notify the President 

19 and the Congress when the System is operational, ready 

20 to be deployed, and capable of transmitting alerts across 

21 a variety of media to the public. 

22 (d) ELECTION TO CARRY SERVICE.— 

23 (1) AMENDMENT OF LICENSE.—Within 60 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 
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1 Communications Commission shall initiate a pro2 ceeding— 

3 (A) to allow any licensee providing mobile 

4 service (as defined in section 3(27) of the Com5 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(27))) 

6 to transmit System alerts to all subscribers to, 

7 or users of, such service; and 

8 (B) to require any such licensee who elects 

9 under paragraph (2) not to participate in the 

10 transmission of System alerts, to disclose to po11 tential subscribers to its mobile service, at the 

12 point of sale of any devices with which its serv13 ice is included, that it will not transmit System 

14 alerts via its service. 

15 (2) ELECTION TO CARRY SERVICE.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Within 60 days after 

17 transmittal by the Working Group of the re18 quirements under section 4(c), each such li19 censee shall— 

20 (i) file an election with the Commis21 sion with respect to whether or not it in22 tends to participate in the transmission of 

23 System alerts; and 

24 (ii) if it elects to participate, certify to 

25 the Commission that it will do so in a 
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1 manner consistent with the standards and 

2 protocols implemented by the National 

3 Program Office. 

4 (B) WITHDRAWAL FROM OR LATER ENTRY

5 INTO SYSTEM.—The Commission shall establish 

6 a procedure for— 

7 (i) participating licensees to withdraw 

8 from the System; and 

9 (ii) licensees to enter the System at a 

10 date later than provided in subparagraph 

11 (A). 

12 (3) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—A licensee de13 scribed in paragraph (1) shall not be liable to any 

14 subscriber to, or user of, such licensee’s mobile serv15 ice for— 

16 (A) any act or omission related to or any 

17 harm resulting from the transmission of, or 

18 failure to transmit, a System alert to such sub19 scriber or user; 

20 (B) the failure, deficiency, or malfunction 

21 of any network, equipment, or facility of the 

22 provider or any other person, or the lack of cov23 erage or network capacity; 
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1 (C) the discontinuation of service or the 

2 unavailability of any networks, equipment, or 

3 facility of the provider or any other person; or 

4 (D) the release to a government agency or 

5 entity, public safety, fire service or law enforce6 ment official or emergency facility of subscriber 

7 information related to emergency alert mes8 sages. 

9 (e) DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSMISSION TOWERS.— 

10 (1) RETRANSMISSION CAPABILITY.—Within 30 

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

12 Federal Communications Commission shall initiate a 

13 proceeding to require public broadcast television li14 censees and permittees to install necessary equip15 ment and technologies on, or as part of, any broad16 cast television digital signal transmitter for the re17 ception, relay, and retransmission of System alerts. 

18 (2) COMPENSATION.—The National Program 

19 Office established pursuant to section 3 shall com20 pensate any such licensee or permittee for costs in21 curred in complying with the requirements imposed 

22 pursuant to paragraph (1). 

23 (f) FCC REGULATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Except as 

24 provided in subsections (d) and (e), the Federal Commu25 nications Commission shall have no regulatory authority 
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1 under this Act except to regulate compliance with this Act 

2 by licensees and permittees regulated by the Commission 

3 under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 

4 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘director’’ means 

8 the director of the National Program Office. 

9 (2) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

10 National Program Office. 

11 (3) SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘System’’ means the 

12 national alert system operated and managed by the 

13 Office. 

14 (4) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘‘Working 

15 Group’’ means the Working Group on the National 

16 Alert System established in section 4. 

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Un19 dersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere 

20 $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 to carry out this Act, 

21 such sum to remain available until expended. 

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