39610 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Populations’’ (59 FR 7629, February 16, 

1994). 

Since tolerances and exemptions that 

are established on the basis of a petition 

under FFDCA section 408(d), such as 

the tolerances in this final rule, do not 

require the issuance of a proposed rule, 

the requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq.), do not apply. 

This action directly regulates growers, 

food processors, food handlers, and food 

retailers, not States or tribes, nor does 

this action alter the relationships or 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities established by Congress 

in the preemption provisions of FFDCA 

section 408(n)(4). As such, the Agency 

has determined that this action will not 

have a substantial direct effect on States 

or tribal governments, on the 

relationship between the national 

government and the States or tribal 

governments, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government or between 

the Federal Government and Indian 

tribes. Thus, the Agency has determined 

that Executive Order 13132, entitled 

‘‘Federalism’’ (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999) and Executive Order 13175, 

entitled ‘‘Consultation and Coordination 

with Indian Tribal Governments’’ (65 FR 

67249, November 9, 2000) do not apply 

to this action. In addition, this action 

does not impose any enforceable duty or 

contain any unfunded mandate as 

described under Title II of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) (2 U.S.C. 

1501 et seq.). 

This action does not involve any 

technical standards that would require 

Agency consideration of voluntary 

consensus standards pursuant to section 

12(d) of the National Technology 

Transfer and Advancement Act 

(NTTAA) (15 U.S.C. 272 note). 

VII. Congressional Review Act 

Pursuant to the Congressional Review 

Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), EPA will 

submit a report containing this rule and 

other required information to the U.S. 

Senate, the U.S. House of 

Representatives, and the Comptroller 

General of the United States prior to 

publication of the rule in the Federal 

Register. This action is not a ‘‘major 

rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 180 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Agricultural commodities, Pesticides 

and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: July 25, 2018. 

Michael Goodis, 

Director, Registration Division, Office of 

Pesticide Programs. 

Therefore, 40 CFR chapter I is 

amended as follows: 

PART 180—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 180 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321(q), 346a and 371. 

■ 2. In § 180.669, add alphabetically the 

following commodities: Alfalfa, forage; 

Alfalfa, hay; Alfalfa, seed; Almond, 

hulls; Beet, sugar, dried pulp; Bluegrass, 

forage; Bluegrass, hay; Bromegrass, 

forage; Bromegrass, hay; Cotton, gin 

byproducts; Cottonseed subgroup 20C; 

Fescue, forage; Fescue, hay; Leaf petiole 

vegetable subgroup 22B; Lettuce, head; 

Nut, tree, group 14–12; Onion, bulb, 

subgroup 3–07A; Onion, green, 

subgroup 3–07B; Orchardgrass, forage; 

Orchardgrass, hay; Pea and bean, 

succulent shelled, subgroup 6B; Peanut; 

Peanut, hay; Potato, wet peel; Ryegrass, 

forage; Ryegrass, hay; Sunflower 

subgroup 20B; Switchgrass, forage; 

Switchgrass, hay; Vegetable, brassica, 

head and stem, group 5–16; Vegetable, 

cucurbit, group 9; Vegetable, fruiting, 

group 8–10; Vegetable, leafy, group 4– 

16, except lettuce, head; Vegetable, 

leaves of root and tuber, group 2; 

Vegetable, legume, edible podded, 

subgroup 6A; Vegetable, root, subgroup 

1A; and Vegetable, tuberous and corm, 

subgroup 1C to the table in paragraph 

(a) to read as follows: 

§ 180.669 Picoxystrobin; tolerances for 

residues. 

(a) * * * 

Commodity Parts per 

million 

Alfalfa, forage ............................. 4.0 

Alfalfa, hay .................................. 5.0 

Alfalfa, seed ................................ 9.0 

Almond, hulls .............................. 7.0 

* * * * * 

Beet, sugar, dried pulp ............... 1.5 

Bluegrass, forage ....................... 30 

Bluegrass, hay ............................ 60 

Bromegrass, forage .................... 30 

Bromegrass, hay ........................ 60 

* * * * * 

Cotton, gin byproducts ............... 20 

Cottonseed subgroup 20C ......... 2.0 

* * * * * 

Fescue, forage ............................ 30 

Fescue, hay ................................ 60 

* * * * * 

Leaf petiole vegetable subgroup 

22B .......................................... 20 

Commodity Parts per 

million 

Lettuce, head .............................. 4.0 

* * * * * 

Nut, tree, group 14–12 ............... 0.08 

Onion, bulb, subgroup 3–07A .... 0.50 

Onion, green, subgroup 3–07B .. 10 

Orchardgrass, forage .................. 30 

Orchardgrass, hay ...................... 60 

* * * * * 

Pea and bean, succulent 

shelled, subgroup 6B .............. 0.90 

Peanut ........................................ 0.05 

Peanut, hay ................................ 30 

Potato, wet peel .......................... 0.10 

* * * * * 

Ryegrass, forage ........................ 30 

Ryegrass, hay ............................. 60 

* * * * * 

Sunflower subgroup 20B ............ 2.0 

Switchgrass, forage .................... 30 

Switchgrass, hay ........................ 60 

* * * * * 

Vegetable, brassica, head and 

stem, group 5–16 .................... 2.0 

Vegetable, cucurbit, group 9 ...... 0.30 

* * * * * 

Vegetable, fruiting, group 8–10 .. 0.70 

Vegetable, leafy, group 4–16, 

except lettuce, head ................ 30 

Vegetable, leaves of root and 

tuber, group 2 ......................... 30 

Vegetable, legume, edible podded, subgroup 6A ................... 2.0 

Vegetable, root, subgroup 1A .... 0.50 

Vegetable, tuberous and corm, 

subgroup 1C ........................... 0.03 

* * * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–17192 Filed 8–9–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 11 

[PS Docket Nos. 15–94, 15–91; FCC 18– 

94] 

Emergency Alert System; Wireless 

Emergency Alerts 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC or 

Commission) adopts changes to its rules 

governing the Emergency Alert System 

(EAS) to facilitate ‘‘Live Code Tests’’ of 

the EAS; permit use of the EAS 

Attention Signal and EAS Header Code 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 39611 

tones in Public Service Announcements; 

implement certain alert authentication 

and validation procedures; and require 

reporting of false alerts. 

DATES: Effective September 10, 2018, 

except for the amendments to 47 CFR 

11.33 and 11.56, which are effective 

August 12, 2019, and the amendments 

to 47 CFR 11.45(b) and 11.61, which 

contain modifications to information 

collection requirements that were 

previously approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). Once 

OMB has approved the modifications to 

these collections, the Commission will 

publish a document in the Federal 

Register announcing the effective date. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory Cooke, Deputy Chief, Policy 

and Licensing Division, Public Safety 

and Homeland Security Bureau, at (202) 

418–7452, or by email at 

Gregory.Cooke@fcc.gov. For additional 

information concerning the information 

collection requirements contained in 

this document, send an email to PRA@

fcc.gov or contact Nicole Ongele, Office 

of Managing Director, Performance 

Evaluation and Records Management, 

202–418–2991, or by email to PRA@

fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Report 

and Order (Order) in PS Docket Nos. 

15–94 and 15–91, FCC 18–94, adopted 

on July 12, 2018, and released on July 

13, 2018. The full text of this document 

is available for inspection and copying 

during normal business hours in the 

FCC Reference Center (Room CY–A257), 

445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 

20554. The full text may also be 

downloaded at: www.fcc.gov. 

Synopsis 

1. In the Order, the Commission 

adopts changes to its Part 11 EAS rules 

to improve the effectiveness and public 

utility of the EAS by facilitating more 

effective public safety tests and 

exercises using the EAS, implementing 

measures to help prevent distribution of 

false alerts over the EAS, and requiring 

reporting of false alerts. 

I. Background 

2. The EAS is a national public 

warning system through which EAS 

Participants deliver alerts to the public 

to warn them of impending 

emergencies. The primary purpose of 

the EAS is to provide the President of 

the United States (President) with ‘‘the 

capability to provide immediate 

communications and information to the 

general public at the National, State and 

Local Area levels during periods of 

national emergency.’’ State and local 

authorities also use this common 

distribution architecture of the EAS to 

distribute voluntary weather-related and 

other emergency alerts. Further, testing 

of the system at the state and local level 

increases the proficiency of local 

emergency personnel, provides insight 

into the system’s functionality and 

effectiveness at the federal level, and 

enhances the public’s ability to respond 

to EAS alerts when they occur. The 

integrity of the EAS is maintained 

through the Commission’s EAS rules, 

which set forth the parameters and 

frequency with which EAS Participants 

must test the system, prohibit the 

unauthorized use of the EAS Attention 

Signal and codes, and require EAS 

Participants to keep their EAS 

equipment in good working order. 

II. Discussion 

A. Building Effective Alerting Exercise 

Programs 

1. Live Code Testing 

3. Section 11.31(e) of the 

Commission’s rules sets forth the event 

header codes that are used for alerts in 

specific emergency situations (e.g., TOR 

for tornado), as well as the specific test 

codes to be used for national periodic 

tests (NPT), required monthly tests 

(RMT), and required weekly tests 

(RWT). Section 11.45 of the EAS rules 

states that ‘‘[n]o person may transmit or 

cause to transmit the EAS codes or 

Attention Signal, or a recording or 

simulation thereof, in any circumstance 

other than in an actual National, State 

or Local Area emergency or authorized 

test of the EAS.’’ EAS Participants 

regularly have sought waivers of these 

rules to use the event codes used for 

actual alerts (i.e., ‘‘live’’ event header 

codes) and the EAS Attention Signal to 

conduct local EAS public awareness 

and proficiency training exercises. In 

the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM) in PS Docket Nos. 15–94 and 

15–91, 81 FR 15792 (March 24, 2016), 

the Commission proposed amending the 

rules to allow EAS Participants to 

conduct tests that use live EAS header 

codes and the EAS Attention Signal 

under specific circumstances without 

submitting a waiver request. The 

Commission also proposed amending 

section 11.45 to exempt state-designed 

EAS live code exercises from the 

prohibition against false or misleading 

use of the EAS Attention Signal. 

4. The Order amends section 11.45 to 

exempt EAS live code exercises from 

the prohibition against false or 

misleading use of the EAS Attention 

Signal. The Order also amends section 

11.61 to include ‘‘Live Code Tests’’ as a 

separate category of alerting exercise 

that EAS Participants may undertake 

voluntarily, provided such live code 

tests are conducted in accordance with 

specific parameters. Specifically, EAS 

Participants may participate in live code 

tests where the entity conducting the 

test: (1) Notifies the public before the 

test that live event codes will be used, 

but that no emergency is, in fact, 

occurring; (2) to the extent technically 

feasible, states in the test message that 

the event is only a test; (3) coordinates 

the test among EAS Participants and 

with state and local emergency 

authorities, the relevant State 

Emergency Communication Committee 

(SECC) (or SECCs, if the test could affect 

multiple states), and first responder 

organizations, such as Public Safety 

Answering Points (PSAPs), police, and 

fire agencies; and (4) consistent with the 

Commission’s rules, provides in widely 

accessible formats the required 

notification to the public that the test is 

not, in fact, a warning about an actual 

emergency. The Order requires that live 

code tests state in the alert message that 

the event is only a test as a further 

safeguard against public confusion, 

especially among those who are blind, 

deaf and hearing impaired. 

5. The Commission agrees with 

commenters that EAS Participants such 

as cable operators and broadcasters 

must be given sufficient notice of live 

code tests to benefit from them and to 

allow for planning and coordination to 

assess and mitigate the impact on 

downstream equipment and subscribers. 

Accordingly, the Commission expects 

test alert originators to coordinate with 

these stakeholders in good faith, and 

encourages them to provide the notice 

and coordination required by the rules 

adopted in the Order no later than two 

weeks prior to the test. As part of that 

coordination and outreach, the 

Commission encourages test alert 

originators to file notice of their intent 

to conduct a test in the EAS docket (PS 

Docket No. 15–94). 

6. Commenters generally support 

voluntary live code testing, and agree 

that such testing can yield important 

public safety benefits. The record also 

indicates that live code testing exercises 

can be tailored to improve public safety 

at the local or community level. 

7. To avoid customer exhaustion and 

any dissipation of the value of alerting 

that could come from over-testing the 

system to the public, the Order limits 

the number of live code tests that an 

alert originator may conduct under the 

new rules it adopts to two (2) within 

any calendar year. The Commission will 

continue to monitor the implementation 

of live code tests to determine whether 

additional measures are warranted. 


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39612 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

2. EAS Public Service Announcements 

(PSAs) 

8. Section 11.46 of the Commission’s 

rules provides that PSAs, while 

permissible, ‘‘may not be a part of alerts 

or tests, and may not simulate or 

attempt to copy alert tones or codes.’’ 

The Commission has granted requests 

from non-governmental organizations 

(NGOs) and FEMA for waivers of these 

rules to raise public awareness about the 

EAS through PSAs that use the EAS 

Attention Signal, and, in one instance, 

a simulation of header code sounds. In 

2016, the Commission amended its rules 

to allow authorized entities to use the 

Attention Signal in PSAs about WEA. In 

the NPRM, the Commission proposed 

allowing EAS Participants to use EAS 

header codes and the Attention Signal 

in coordination with federal, state, and 

local government entities without a 

waiver, provided that the PSAs are 

presented in a non-misleading manner 

that does not cause technical issues for 

downstream equipment. 

9. The Order amends section 11.46 of 

the Commission’s rules to allow, under 

certain circumstances, EAS Participants 

to use the Attention Signal in EAS PSAs 

(including commercially-sponsored 

announcements, infomercials, or 

programs) provided by federal, state, 

and local government entities, and 

NGOs, to raise public awareness about 

emergency alerting. This usage is only 

permitted if the PSA is presented in a 

non-misleading and technically 

harmless manner, including with the 

explicit statement that the Attention 

Signal is being used in the context of a 

PSA for the purpose of educating the 

viewing or listening public about 

emergency alerting. The Order also 

makes conforming changes to section 

11.45. 

10. The Commission declines to allow 

live EAS header codes to be used in 

EAS PSAs because, as suggested by 

some commenters, EAS PSAs 

containing live EAS header codes could 

have unintended consequences, 

including triggering false alerts. 

However, the Commission will permit 

the simulation of header code audio 

tones developed by FEMA in PSAs to 

deliver the familiar sounds of live EAS 

header codes that the public associates 

with the EAS in a manner that would 

not trigger an actual alert. Entities that 

want to simulate the EAS header codes 

in their PSAs must do so using FEMA’s 

simulation. The Commission observes 

that FEMA’s simulation of the header 

code audio tones is subject to the 

restrictions of section 11.45 and 

therefore should not be used for 

purposes other than the EAS PSAs 

described in the Order. In adopting 

these PSA rules, the Commission notes 

agreement with commenters that EAS 

PSAs can be effective tools to raise 

public awareness of the EAS, 

particularly those that may be new to 

this country or have limited English 

proficiency, who do not recognize EAS 

tones and could benefit from learning 

about the EAS’s benefits. 

3. Effective Dates 

11. The Commission proposed that 

these rules would become effective 30 

days from the date of their publication 

in the Federal Register. No commenters 

opposed this time frame. Accordingly, 

the rule amendments for sections 

11.45(a) and 11.46, both of which relate 

to PSAs, will become effective 30 days 

after publication of the Order in the 

Federal Register. 

12. The rule amendments for section 

11.61, which cover ‘‘Live Code Tests,’’ 

will become effective on the date 

specified in a Commission notice 

published in the Federal Register 

announcing their approval under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act by the Office 

of Management and Budget, which date 

will be at least 30 days after the date 

that this Order and rules adopted herein 

are published in the Federal Register. 

B. Ensuring EAS Readiness and 

Reliability 

1. False Alert Reporting 

13. The Commission agrees with 

commenters that false alert reporting 

would benefit ongoing EAS reliability, 

and that having timely information 

about false alerts could help identify 

and mitigate problems with the EAS. 

Accordingly, the Commission revises its 

rules to require that no later than 

twenty-four (24) hours of an EAS 

Participant’s discovery that it has 

transmitted or otherwise sent a false 

alert to the public, the EAS Participant 

send an email to the FCC Ops Center (at 

FCCOPS@fcc.gov), informing the 

Commission of the event and of any 

details that the EAS Participant may 

have concerning the event. If an EAS 

Participant has no actual knowledge 

that it has issued a false alert, then it 

would not be required to take any 

action. 

2. Alert Authentication 

14. The Order revises section 11.56(c) 

to require that EAS Participants 

configure their systems to reject all 

CAP-formatted EAS messages that 

contain an invalid digital signature, thus 

helping to prevent the transmission of a 

false alert. All commenters addressing 

this issue supported the Commission’s 

proposal and generally acknowledged 

the benefits of digitally signing CAP 

alerts. Although the Order requires EAS 

Participants to configure their systems 

in such a way as to reject alerts with 

invalid digital signatures, the 

Commission does not mandate the use 

of digital signatures at this time. With 

respect to broadcast-based, legacy alerts, 

the Commission believes it would be 

premature to adopt rules pertaining to 

specific authentication mechanisms for 

such alerts at this time. Based on the 

lack of consensus on an approach 

forward in the record, the Commission 

believes it would be prudent to await 

the recommendation from the 

Communications Security, Reliability 

and Interoperability Council VI on this 

issue rather than moving ahead with 

one of the originally proposed 

mechanisms. 

3. Alert Validation 

15. Section 11.33(a)(10) specifies 

certain error detection and validation 

requirements for decoders. Currently, 

the Commission’s rules do not require 

validation of alerts based upon the time 

period or year parameter in the ‘‘time 

stamp’’ portion of the header code, i.e., 

the portion that determines the correct 

date and time for the alert. Further, the 

Commission’s rules do not require that 

valid alerts have an expiration time in 

the future. Thus, an alert’s time stamp 

does not consistently serve as a filter 

through which officials can ensure an 

alert is confined to its relevant time 

frame. 

16. Alert time validation. The alert 

message validation requirements in the 

EAS rules require that EAS decoders 

validate alert messages by comparing 

the three EAS header tone bursts that 

commence all EAS alerts to ensure that 

at least two out of three match—the 

content of those header tones is not 

reviewed for incoming alert message 

validity. The Order amends section 

11.33(a)(10) so that alert message 

validation confirms that the alert’s 

expiration time is set to take place in the 

future, and that its origination time 

takes place no more than 15 minutes in 

the future. 

17. The Commission observes that 

commenters generally support proposals 

that reduce the potential for repeat 

broadcasts of outdated alerts by 

validation based on specific origination 

and expiration times, and support a 15- 

minute timeframe, and believe that such 

requirement will require minimal 

software updates. Based on the record, 

most EAS equipment already validates 

the time of EAS messages, blocking 

alerts that have expired. Remaining 

equipment can achieve this capability 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 39613 

by installing the necessary software as 

part of a regularly scheduled in-version 

equipment software update. 

18. Year Parameter. The Commission 

declines to require a year parameter in 

the time stamp section of the EAS 

Protocol. The record indicates that 

adding a year parameter requirement is 

not technically feasible without 

significant modification to the current 

EAS Protocol, as well as all associated 

equipment, which would be extremely 

expensive and burdensome, and would 

cause significant disruption to the 

NOAA Weather Radio infrastructure. 

4. Compliance Timeline 

19. The Order adopts a one-year 

compliance timeframe from publication 

in the Federal Register. The record 

indicates that most EAS Participants 

already have EAS equipment capable of 

complying with these requirements. The 

Commission also observes that a oneyear time frame would allow equipment 

manufacturers to develop and make 

available software updates to implement 

these requirements in deployed 

equipment that do not already meet 

these requirements. 

20. The rule amendments for section 

11.45(b), which address the filing of 

false alert reports will become effective 

on the date specified in a Commission 

notice published in the Federal Register 

announcing their approval under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act by the Office 

of Management and Budget, which date 

will be at least 30 days after the date 

that this Order and rules adopted herein 

are published in the Federal Register. 

C. Benefit-Cost Analysis 

21. The rule changes adopted in the 

Order reduce burdens by eliminating 

waiver filing time and costs. To the 

extent the Commission adopts new 

requirements, it does so in a minimally 

burdensome way that either imposes no 

additional costs or imposes only 

minimal costs. Other than the alert 

validation and authentication 

requirements, for which a one-year 

compliance timeframe is provided, only 

the new false alert reporting rule will 

involve new costs to EAS Participants. 

As discussed below, the Commission 

concludes that the benefits of these rule 

changes exceed their costs. 

1. Benefits 

22. The rule changes adopted in the 

Order will reduce regulatory burden on 

EAS stakeholders. Waivers will no 

longer be needed for live code testing. 

The rule changes also reduce the 

regulatory burden on EAS Participants 

by allowing them to produce PSAs 

using EAS header codes and a simulated 

Attention Signal without requesting a 

waiver. This change will make the 

process of producing a PSA less costly, 

and promote greater proficiency in the 

use of EAS, both by EAS alert initiators 

and EAS Participants. 

23. These rule changes will also help 

prevent incidents of misuse and abuse 

of the EAS. The authentication and 

validation rule changes will require the 

use of EAS equipment’s existing 

capabilities to help prevent misuse and 

abuse of the EAS, thus protecting its 

integrity and maintaining its credibility 

with the public and alerting officials. To 

provide an estimate of the value of the 

benefits of the rules adopted in the 

Order, the Commission turns to the 

overall value of the EAS. Scholars agree 

that public safety in the United States 

has improved over the years because its 

early warning systems for recurring 

hazards, such as lightning, floods, 

storms and heat waves, are continually 

improving. By reducing the frequency of 

false alerts, the rule changes adopted in 

the Order strengthen public confidence 

in the EAS, thus avoiding erosion in its 

overall value. 

2. Costs 

24. The rule changes to section 11.61 

for live code testing and to sections 

11.45 and 11.46 for public service 

announcements do not impose any new 

costs. Rather, they codify requirements 

that were previously imposed on 

waivers granted by the Commission. 

Removing the requirement to file a 

waiver removes the need for legal and 

other staff time associated with filing a 

waiver. The new rules therefore 

eliminate any legal or administrative 

costs that were associated with filing 

waiver requests. 

25. The Commission estimates that 

compliance with the alert 

authentication and validation rule 

changes will involve only minimal costs 

to EAS Participants. Current EAS rules 

require that EAS Participants must have 

EAS equipment that is capable of being 

updated via software. According to the 

record, most EAS equipment deployed 

in the field is already configured to 

support the validation and 

authentication rule changes adopted in 

the Order. The one-year compliance 

period adopted for these rule changes 

will provide sufficient time for any 

necessary update to be deployed within 

a previously scheduled in-version 

equipment software update. In 

combination, these factors result in no 

incremental cost to EAS Participants for 

installing the update. 

26. With respect to the new false alert 

reporting requirement, the Commission 

concludes that the cost of reporting false 

alerts will be $11,600 per year, based 

upon an average of 290 EAS participants 

each spending 15 minutes to file one 

report. 

27. Therefore, based on the foregoing 

analysis, the Commission finds it 

reasonable to conclude that the benefits 

of the rules adopted in the Order will 

exceed the costs of their 

implementation. The rule changes will 

support greater testing and awareness of 

the EAS and promote the security of the 

EAS. They will also likely result in 

fewer false alerts, and thus fewer 

unnecessary 911 calls. The benefits of 

these rule changes will continue to 

accrue to the public each year, while the 

imposed costs are low. 

III. Procedural Matters 

A. Accessible Formats 

28. To request materials in accessible 

formats for people with disabilities 

(Braille, large print, electronic files, 

audio format), send an email to fcc504@

fcc.gov or call the Consumer & 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202– 

418–0530 (voice), 202–418–0432 (tty). 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

29. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 

(RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 

in PS Docket Nos. 15–94 and 15–91, 81 

FR 15792 (March 24, 2016). The 

Commission sought written public 

comment on the proposals in the NPRM, 

including comment on the IRFA. No 

comments were filed addressing the 

IRFA. This present Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to 

the RFA. 

1. Need for, and Objectives of, the 

Report and Order 

30. In today’s Report and Order 

(Order), the Commission adopts rules 

that fall into two categories: (1) Building 

stronger alerting exercise programs and 

greater awareness of the EAS; and (2) 

taking steps to ensure the readiness and 

reliability of the EAS to protect it 

against accidental misuse and malicious 

intrusion. 

31. With respect to building effective 

public safety exercises and supporting 

greater testing and awareness of the 

EAS, the Commission permits the use of 

‘‘live code’’ EAS public safety exercises 

to empower communities to meet their 

emergency preparedness needs and to 

provide opportunities for system 

verification and proficiency training. 

The Commission also allows EAS 

Participants to use the EAS Attention 

Signal and simulation of the header 


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39614 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

codes in Public Service Announcements 

(PSAs) provided by federal, state, and 

local government entities, as well as 

non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 

to raise public awareness about 

emergency alerting. 

32. With respect to taking steps to 

ensure the readiness and reliability of 

the EAS, the Commission requires EAS 

Participants, upon discovery (i.e., actual 

knowledge) that they have transmitted 

or otherwise sent a false alert to the 

public, to provide minimal reports to 

the Commission. The Commission also 

requires EAS Participants to reject any 

CAP-formatted EAS messages that 

contain an invalid digital signature, and 

require EAS Participants to reject all 

EAS alerts that they receive with header 

code date/time data inconsistent with 

the current date and time. 

2. Summary of Significant Issues Raised 

by Public Comments in Response to the 

IRFA 

33. There were no comments filed 

that specifically addressed the proposed 

rules and policies presented in the 

IRFA. 

3. Response To Comments by the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration 

34. Pursuant to the Small Business 

Jobs Act of 2010, which amended the 

RFA, the Commission is required to 

respond to any comments filed by the 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration (SBA), and to 

provide a detailed statement of any 

change made to the proposed rules as a 

result of those comments. 

35. The Chief Counsel did not file any 

comments in response to the proposed 

rules in this proceeding. 

4. Description and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities to Which 

Rules Will Apply 

36. The RFA directs agencies to 

provide a description of and, where 

feasible, an estimate of the number of 

small entities that may be affected by 

the rules adopted, herein. The RFA 

generally defines the term ‘‘small 

entity’’ as having the same meaning as 

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small 

organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdiction.’’ In addition, the term 

‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning 

as the term ‘‘small business concern’’ 

under the Small Business Act. A ‘‘small 

business concern’’ is one which: (1) Is 

independently owned and operated; (2) 

is not dominant in its field of operation; 

and (3) satisfies any additional criteria 

established by the SBA. 

37. Small Businesses, Small 

Organizations, and Small Governmental 

Jurisdictions. The Commission’s actions, 

over time, may affect small entities that 

are not easily categorized at present. 

The Commission therefore describes 

here, at the outset, three broad groups of 

small entities that could be directly 

affected herein. First, while there are 

industry specific size standards for 

small businesses that are used in the 

regulatory flexibility analysis, according 

to data from the SBA’s Office of 

Advocacy, in general a small business is 

an independent business having fewer 

than 500 employees. These types of 

small businesses represent 99.9% of all 

businesses in the United States which 

translates to 28.8 million businesses. 

38. Next, the type of small entity 

described as a ‘‘small organization’’ is 

generally ‘‘any not-for-profit enterprise 

which is independently owned and 

operated and is not dominant in its 

field.’’ Nationwide, as of Aug. 2016, 

there were approximately 356,494 small 

organizations based on registration and 

tax data filed by nonprofits with the 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

39. Finally, the small entity described 

as a ‘‘small governmental jurisdiction’’ 

is defined generally as ‘‘governments of 

cities, counties, towns, townships, 

villages, school districts, or special 

districts, with a population of less than 

fifty thousand.’’ U.S. Census Bureau 

data from the 2012 Census of 

Governments indicates that there were 

90,056 local governmental jurisdictions 

consisting of general purpose 

governments and special purpose 

governments in the United States. Of 

this number there were 37,132 General 

purpose governments (county, 

municipal and town or township) with 

populations of less than 50,000 and 

12,184 Special purpose governments 

(independent school districts and 

special districts) with populations of 

less than 50,000. The 2012 U.S. Census 

Bureau data for most types of 

governments in the local government 

category shows that the majority of 

these governments have populations of 

less than 50,000. Based on this data the 

Commission estimates that at least 

49,316 local government jurisdictions 

fall in the category of ‘‘small 

governmental jurisdictions.’’ 

40. Radio Stations. This Economic 

Census category ‘‘comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

broadcasting aural programs by radio to 

the public. Programming may originate 

in their own studio, from an affiliated 

network, or from external sources.’’ The 

SBA has established a small business 

size standard for this category as firms 

having $38.5 million or less in annual 

receipts. Economic Census data for 2012 

shows that 2,849 radio station firms 

operated during that year. Of that 

number, 2,806 operated with annual 

receipts of less than $25 million per 

year, 17 with annual receipts between 

$25 million and $49,999,999 million 

and 26 with annual receipts of $50 

million or more. Therefore, based on the 

SBA’s size standard the majority of such 

entities are small entities. 

41. According to Commission staff 

review of the BIA/Kelsey, LLC’s Media 

Access Pro Radio Database as of January 

2018, about 11,261 (or about 99.9 

percent) of 11,383 commercial radio 

stations had revenues of $38.5 million 

or less and thus qualify as small entities 

under the SBA definition. The 

Commission has estimated the number 

of licensed commercial AM radio 

stations to be 4,639 stations and the 

number of commercial FM radio 

stations to be 6,744, for a total number 

of 11,383. The Commission notes that 

the Commission has also estimated the 

number of licensed NCE radio stations 

to be 4,120. Nevertheless, the 

Commission does not compile and 

otherwise does not have access to 

information on the revenue of NCE 

stations that would permit it to 

determine how many such stations 

would qualify as small entities. 

42. The Commission also notes, that 

in assessing whether a business entity 

qualifies as small under the above 

definition, business control affiliations 

must be included. The Commission’s 

estimate therefore likely overstates the 

number of small entities that might be 

affected by its action, because the 

revenue figure on which it is based does 

not include or aggregate revenues from 

affiliated companies. In addition, to be 

determined a ‘‘small business,’’ an 

entity may not be dominant in its field 

of operation. The Commission further 

notes, that it is difficult at times to 

assess these criteria in the context of 

media entities, and the estimate of small 

businesses to which these rules may 

apply does not exclude any radio station 

from the definition of a small business 

on this basis, thus the Commission’s 

estimate of small businesses may 

therefore be over-inclusive. Also, as 

noted above, an additional element of 

the definition of ‘‘small business’’ is that 

the entity must be independently owned 

and operated. The Commission notes 

that it is difficult at times to assess these 

criteria in the context of media entities 

and the estimates of small businesses to 

which they apply may be over-inclusive 

to this extent. 

43. Low-Power FM Stations. Low 

Power FM Stations are classified in the 

category of Radio Stations and are 

assigned the same NAICs Code as 

licensees of radio stations. This U.S. 


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industry, Radio Stations, comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

broadcasting aural programs by radio to 

the public. Programming may originate 

in their own studio, from an affiliated 

network, or from external sources. The 

SBA has established a small business 

size standard which consists of all radio 

stations whose annual receipts are $38.5 

million dollars or less. U.S. Census data 

for 2012 indicates that 2,849 radio 

station firms operated during that year. 

Of that number, 2,806 operated with 

annual receipts of less than $25 million 

per year, 17 with annual receipts 

between $25 million and $49,999,999 

million and 26 with annual receipts of 

$50 million or more. Based on U.S. 

Census data, the Commission concludes 

that the majority of Low Power FM 

Stations are small. 

44. Television Broadcasting. This 

Economic Census category ‘‘comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

broadcasting images together with 

sound.’’ These establishments operate 

television broadcast studios and 

facilities for the programming and 

transmission of programs to the public. 

These establishments also produce or 

transmit visual programming to 

affiliated broadcast television stations, 

which in turn broadcast the programs to 

the public on a predetermined schedule. 

Programming may originate in their own 

studio, from an affiliated network, or 

from external sources. The SBA has 

created the following small business 

size standard for such businesses: Those 

having $38.5 million or less in annual 

receipts. The 2012 Economic Census 

reports that 751 firms in this category 

operated in that year. Of that number, 

656 had annual receipts of $25,000,000 

or less, 25 had annual receipts between 

$25,000,000 and $49,999,999 and 70 

had annual receipts of $50,000,000 or 

more. Based on this data the 

Commission therefore estimates that the 

majority of commercial television 

broadcasters are small entities under the 

applicable SBA size standard. 

45. The Commission has estimated 

the number of licensed commercial 

television stations to be 1,378. Of this 

total, 1,258 stations (or about 91 

percent) had revenues of $38.5 million 

or less, according to Commission staff 

review of the BIA Kelsey Inc. Media 

Access Pro Television Database (BIA) on 

November 16, 2017, and therefore these 

licensees qualify as small entities under 

the SBA definition. In addition, the 

Commission has estimated the number 

of licensed noncommercial educational 

(NCE) television stations to be 395. 

Notwithstanding, the Commission does 

not compile and otherwise does not 

have access to information on the 

revenue of NCE stations that would 

permit it to determine how many such 

stations would qualify as small entities. 

There are also 2,367 low power 

television stations, including Class A 

stations (LPTV) and 3,750 TV translator 

stations. Given the nature of these 

services, the Commission will presume 

that all of these entities qualify as small 

entities under the above SBA small 

business size standard. 

46. The Commission notes, however, 

that in assessing whether a business 

concern qualifies as ‘‘small’’ under the 

above definition, business (control) 

affiliations must be included. The 

Commission’s estimate, therefore likely 

overstates the number of small entities 

that might be affected by the 

Commission’s action, because the 

revenue figure on which it is based does 

not include or aggregate revenues from 

affiliated companies. In addition, 

another element of the definition of 

‘‘small business’’ requires that an entity 

not be dominant in its field of operation. 

The Commission is unable at this time 

to define or quantify the criteria that 

would establish whether a specific 

television broadcast station is dominant 

in its field of operation. Accordingly, 

the estimate of small businesses to 

which rules may apply does not exclude 

any television station from the 

definition of a small business on this 

basis and is therefore possibly overinclusive. Also, as noted above, an 

additional element of the definition of 

‘‘small business’’ is that the entity must 

be independently owned and operated. 

The Commission notes that it is difficult 

at times to assess these criteria in the 

context of media entities and its 

estimates of small businesses to which 

they apply may be over-inclusive to this 

extent. 

47. Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers. The U.S. Census Bureau 

defines this industry as ‘‘establishments 

primarily engaged in operating and/or 

providing access to transmission 

facilities and infrastructure that they 

own and/or lease for the transmission of 

voice, data, text, sound, and video using 

wired communications networks. 

Transmission facilities may be based on 

a single technology or a combination of 

technologies. Establishments in this 

industry use the wired 

telecommunications network facilities 

that they operate to provide a variety of 

services, such as wired telephony 

services, including VoIP services, wired 

(cable) audio and video programming 

distribution, and wired broadband 

internet services. By exception, 

establishments providing satellite 

television distribution services using 

facilities and infrastructure that they 

operate are included in this industry.’’ 

The SBA has developed a small 

business size standard for Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers, which 

consists of all such companies having 

1,500 or fewer employees. U.S. Census 

Bureau data for 2012 shows that there 

were 3,117 firms that operated that year. 

Of this total, 3,083 operated with fewer 

than 1,000 employees. Thus, under this 

size standard, the majority of firms in 

this industry can be considered small. 

48. Cable and Other Subscription 

Programming. This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

operating studios and facilities for the 

broadcasting of programs on a 

subscription or fee basis. The broadcast 

programming is typically narrowcast in 

nature (e.g., limited format, such as 

news, sports, education, or youthoriented). These establishments produce 

programming in their own facilities or 

acquire programming from external 

sources. The programming material is 

usually delivered to a third party, such 

as cable systems or direct-to-home 

satellite systems, for transmission to 

viewers. The SBA size standard for this 

industry establishes as small, any 

company in this category which has 

annual receipts of $38.5 million or less. 

According to 2012 U.S. Census Bureau 

data, 367 firms operated for that entire 

year. Of that number, 319 operated with 

annual receipts of less than $25 million 

a year and 48 firms operated with 

annual receipts of $25 million or more. 

Based on this data, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of firms 

operating in this industry are small. 

49. Cable Companies and Systems 

(Rate Regulation). The Commission has 

developed its own small business size 

standards for the purpose of cable rate 

regulation. Under the Commission’s 

rules, a ‘‘small cable company’’ is one 

serving 400,000 or fewer subscribers 

nationwide. Industry data indicate that 

there are currently 4,600 active cable 

systems in the United States. Of this 

total, all but nine cable operators 

nationwide are small under the 400,000- 

subscriber size standard. In addition, 

under the Commission’s rate regulation 

rules, a ‘‘small system’’ is a cable system 

serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers. 

Current Commission records show 4,600 

cable systems nationwide. Of this total, 

3,900 cable systems have fewer than 

15,000 subscribers, and 700 systems 

have 15,000 or more subscribers, based 

on the same records. Thus, under this 

standard as well, the Commission 

estimates that most cable systems are 

small entities. 

50. Cable System Operators (Telecom 

Act Standard). The Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended, also contains 


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a size standard for small cable system 

operators, which is ‘‘a cable operator 

that, directly or through an affiliate, 

serves in the aggregate fewer than one 

percent of all subscribers in the United 

States and is not affiliated with any 

entity or entities whose gross annual 

revenues in the aggregate exceed 

$250,000,000.’’ There are approximately 

52,403,705 cable video subscribers in 

the United States today. Accordingly, an 

operator serving fewer than 524,037 

subscribers shall be deemed a small 

operator if its annual revenues, when 

combined with the total annual 

revenues of all its affiliates, do not 

exceed $250 million in the aggregate. 

Based on available data, the 

Commission finds that all but nine 

incumbent cable operators are small 

entities under this size standard. The 

Commission notes that it neither 

requests nor collects information on 

whether cable system operators are 

affiliated with entities whose gross 

annual revenues exceed $250 million. 

Although it seems certain that some of 

these cable system operators are 

affiliated with entities whose gross 

annual revenues exceed $250,000,000, 

the Commission is unable at this time to 

estimate with greater precision the 

number of cable system operators that 

would qualify as small cable operators 

under the definition in the 

Communications Act. 

51. Satellite Telecommunications. 

This category comprises firms 

‘‘primarily engaged in providing 

telecommunications services to other 

establishments in the 

telecommunications and broadcasting 

industries by forwarding and receiving 

communications signals via a system of 

satellites or reselling satellite 

telecommunications.’’ Satellite 

telecommunications service providers 

include satellite and earth station 

operators. The category has a small 

business size standard of $32.5 million 

or less in average annual receipts under 

SBA rules. For this category, U.S. 

Census Bureau data for 2012 shows that 

there were a total of 333 firms that 

operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 299 firms had annual receipts of 

less than $25 million. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of satellite telecommunications 

providers are small entities. 

52. All Other Telecommunications. 

The ‘‘All Other Telecommunications’’ 

category is comprised of establishments 

primarily engaged in providing 

specialized telecommunications 

services, such as satellite tracking, 

communications telemetry, and radar 

station operation. This industry also 

includes establishments primarily 

engaged in providing satellite terminal 

stations and associated facilities 

connected with one or more terrestrial 

systems and capable of transmitting 

telecommunications to, and receiving 

telecommunications from, satellite 

systems. Establishments providing 

internet services or voice over internet 

protocol (VoIP) services via clientsupplied telecommunications 

connections are also included in this 

industry. The SBA has developed a 

small business size standard for All 

Other Telecommunications, which 

consists of all such firms with annual 

receipts of $32.5 million or less. For this 

category, U.S. Census Bureau data for 

2012 shows that there were 1,442 firms 

that operated for the entire year. Of 

those firms, a total of 1,400 had annual 

receipts less than $25 million and 42 

firms had annual receipts of $25 million 

to $49,999,999. Thus, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of ‘‘All Other 

Telecommunications’’ firms potentially 

affected by the Commission’s action can 

be considered small. 

53. The Educational Broadcasting 

Services. Cable-based Educational 

Broadcasting Services have been 

included in the broad economic census 

category and Small Business 

Administration (SBA) size standard for 

Wired Telecommunications Carriers 

since 2007. Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers, which was developed for small 

wireline businesses is defined as 

follows: ‘‘This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

operating and/or providing access to 

transmission facilities and infrastructure 

that they own and/or lease for the 

transmission of voice, data, text, sound, 

and video using wired 

telecommunications networks. 

Transmission facilities may be based on 

a single technology or a combination of 

technologies. Establishments in this 

industry use the wired 

telecommunications network facilities 

that they operate to provide a variety of 

services, such as wired telephony 

services, including VoIP services; wired 

(cable) audio and video programming 

distribution; and wired broadband 

internet services.’’ The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for this category, which is all 

such businesses having 1,500 or fewer 

employees. U.S. Census data for 2012 

shows that there were 3,117 firms that 

operated that year. Of this total, 3,083 

operated with fewer than 1,000 

employees. Thus, under this size 

standard, the majority of firms in this 

industry can be considered small. In 

addition to Census Bureau data, the 

Commission’s internal records indicate 

that, as of October 2014, there were 

2,206 active EBS licenses. The 

Commission estimates that of these 

2,206 licenses, the majority are held by 

non-profit educational institutions and 

school districts, which are defined by 

statute as small businesses. 

54. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) 

Service. DBS Service is a nationally 

distributed subscription service that 

delivers video and audio programming 

via satellite to a small parabolic ‘‘dish’’ 

antenna at the subscriber’s location. 

DBS is included in the SBA’s economic 

census category ‘‘Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers.’’ The 

Wired Telecommunications Carriers 

industry comprises establishments 

primarily engaged in operating and/or 

providing access to transmission 

facilities and infrastructure that they 

own and/or lease for the transmission of 

voice, data, text, sound, and video using 

wired telecommunications networks. 

Transmission facilities may be based on 

a single technology or combination of 

technologies. Establishments in this 

industry use the wired 

telecommunications network facilities 

that they operate to provide a variety of 

services, such as wired telephone 

services, including VoIP services, wired 

(cable) audio, and video programming 

distribution, and wired broadband 

internet services. By exception, 

establishments providing satellite 

television distribution services using 

facilities and infrastructure that they 

operate are included in this industry. 

The SBA determines that a wireline 

business is small if it has fewer than 

1,500 employees. U.S. Census Bureau 

data for 2012 indicates that 3,117 

wireline companies were operational 

during that year. Of that number, 3,083 

operated with fewer than 1,000 

employees. Based on that data, the 

Commission concludes that the majority 

of wireline firms are small under the 

applicable standard. However, 

currently, only two entities provide DBS 

service, which requires a great deal of 

capital for operation: DIRECTV (owned 

by AT&T) and DISH Network. DIRECTV 

and DISH Network each report annual 

revenues that are in excess of the 

threshold for a small business. 

Accordingly, the Commission must 

conclude that internally developed FCC 

data are persuasive, that, in general, 

DBS service is provided only by large 

firms. 

55. Wireless Telecommunications 

Carriers (Except Satellite). This industry 

comprises establishments engaged in 

operating and maintaining switching 

and transmission facilities to provide 

communications via the airwaves. 

Establishments in this industry have 


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spectrum licenses and provide services 

using that spectrum, such as cellular 

services, paging services, wireless 

internet access, and wireless video 

services. The appropriate size standard 

under SBA rules is that such a business 

is small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees. For this industry, U.S. 

Census data for 2012 shows that there 

were 967 firms that operated for the 

entire year. Of this total, 955 firms had 

fewer than 1,000 employees. Thus, 

under this category and the associated 

size standard, the Commission estimates 

that the majority of wireless 

telecommunications carriers (except 

satellite) are small entities. 

56. The Commission’s own data— 

available in its Universal Licensing 

System—indicate that, as of October 25, 

2016, there are 280 Cellular licensees 

that will be affected by the 

Commission’s actions today. The 

Commission does not know how many 

of these licensees are small, as the 

Commission does not collect that 

information for these types of entities. 

Similarly, according to internally 

developed Commission data, 413 

carriers reported that they were engaged 

in the provision of wireless telephony, 

including cellular service, Personal 

Communications Service (PCS), and 

Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) 

services. Of this total, an estimated 261 

have 1,500 or fewer employees and 152 

have more than 1,500 employees. Thus, 

using available data, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of wireless 

firms can be considered small. 

57. Broadband Personal 

Communications Service. The 

broadband personal communications 

service (PCS) spectrum is divided into 

six frequency blocks designated A 

through F, and the Commission has held 

auctions for each block. The 

Commission initially defined a ‘‘small 

business’’ for C- and F-Block licenses as 

an entity that has average gross revenues 

of $40 million or less in the three 

previous calendar years. For F-Block 

licenses, an additional small business 

size standard for ‘‘very small business’’ 

was added and is defined as an entity 

that, together with its affiliates, has 

average gross revenues of not more than 

$15 million for the preceding three 

calendar years. These standards 

defining ‘‘small entity’’, in the context 

of broadband PCS auctions, have been 

approved by the SBA. No small 

businesses within the SBA-approved 

small business size standards bid 

successfully for licenses in Blocks A 

and B. There were 90 winning bidders 

that claimed small business status in the 

first two C-Block auctions. A total of 93 

bidders that claimed small business 

status won approximately 40 percent of 

the 1,479 licenses in the first auction for 

the D-, E-, and F-Blocks. On April 15, 

1999, the Commission completed the 

reauction of 347 C-, D-, E-, and F-Block 

licenses in Auction No. 22. Of the 57 

winning bidders in that auction, 48 

claimed small business status and won 

277 licenses. 

58. On January 26, 2001, the 

Commission completed the auction of 

422 C- and F-Block Broadband PCS 

licenses in Auction No. 35. Of the 35 

winning bidders in that auction, 29 

claimed small business status. 

Subsequent events concerning Auction 

No. 35, including judicial and agency 

determinations, resulted in a total of 163 

C- and F-Block licenses being available 

for grant. On February 15, 2005, the 

Commission completed an auction of 

242 C-, D-, E-, and F-Block licenses in 

Auction No. 58. Of the 24 winning 

bidders in that auction, 16 claimed 

small business status and won 156 

licenses. On May 21, 2007, the 

Commission completed an auction of 33 

licenses in the A-, C-, and F-Blocks in 

Auction No. 71. Of the 12 winning 

bidders in that auction, five claimed 

small business status and won 18 

licenses. On August 20, 2008, the 

Commission completed the auction of 

20 C-, D-, E-, and F-Block Broadband 

PCS licenses in Auction No. 78. Of the 

eight winning bidders for Broadband 

PCS licenses in that auction, six claimed 

small business status and won 14 

licenses. 

59. Narrowband Personal 

Communications Services. Two 

auctions of narrowband personal 

communications services (PCS) licenses 

have been conducted. To ensure 

meaningful participation of small 

business entities in future auctions, the 

Commission has adopted a two-tiered 

small business size standard in the 

Narrowband PCS Second Report and 

Order. Through these auctions, the 

Commission has awarded a total of 41 

licenses, 11 of which were obtained by 

small businesses. A ‘‘small business’’ is 

an entity that, together with affiliates 

and controlling interests, has average 

gross revenues for the three preceding 

years of not more than $40 million. A 

‘‘very small business’’ is an entity that, 

together with affiliates and controlling 

interests, has average gross revenues for 

the three preceding years of not more 

than $15 million. The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards. 

60. 700 MHz Guard Band Licensees. 

In 2000, in the 700 MHz Guard Band 

Order, the Commission adopted size 

standards for ‘‘small businesses’’ and 

‘‘very small businesses’’ for purposes of 

determining their eligibility for special 

provisions such as bidding credits and 

installment payments. A small business 

in this service is an entity that, together 

with its affiliates and controlling 

principals, has average gross revenues 

not exceeding $40 million for the 

preceding three years. Additionally, a 

very small business is an entity that, 

together with its affiliates and 

controlling principals, has average gross 

revenues that are not more than $15 

million for the preceding three years. 

SBA approval of these definitions is not 

required. An auction of 52 Major 

Economic Area (‘‘MEA’’) licenses 

commenced on September 6, 2000, and 

closed on September 21, 2000. Of the 

104 licenses auctioned, 96 licenses were 

sold to nine bidders. Five of these 

bidders were small businesses that won 

a total of 26 licenses. A second auction 

of 700 MHz Guard Band licenses 

commenced on February 13, 2001, and 

closed on February 21, 2001. All eight 

of the licenses auctioned were sold to 

three bidders. One of these bidders was 

a small business that won a total of two 

licenses. 

61. Lower 700 MHz Band Licenses. 

The Commission previously adopted 

criteria for defining three groups of 

small businesses for purposes of 

determining their eligibility for special 

provisions such as bidding credits. The 

Commission defined a ‘‘small business’’ 

as an entity that, together with its 

affiliates and controlling principals, has 

average gross revenues not exceeding 

$40 million for the preceding three 

years. A ‘‘very small business’’ is 

defined as an entity that, together with 

its affiliates and controlling principals, 

has average gross revenues that are not 

more than $15 million for the preceding 

three years. Additionally, the lower 700 

MHz Service had a third category of 

small business status for Metropolitan/ 

Rural Service Area (MSA/RSA) 

licenses—‘‘entrepreneur’’—which is 

defined as an entity that, together with 

its affiliates and controlling principals, 

has average gross revenues that are not 

more than $3 million for the preceding 

three years. The SBA approved these 

small size standards. An auction of 740 

licenses (one license in each of the 734 

MSAs/RSAs and one license in each of 

the six Economic Area Groupings 

(EAGs)) commenced on August 27, 

2002, and closed on September 18, 

2002. Of the 740 licenses available for 

auction, 484 licenses were won by 102 

winning bidders. Seventy-two of the 

winning bidders claimed small 

business, very small business or 

entrepreneur status and won a total of 

329 licenses. A second auction 


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commenced on May 28, 2003, closed on 

June 13, 2003, and included 256 

licenses: 5 EAG licenses and 476 

Cellular Market Area licenses. 

Seventeen winning bidders claimed 

small or very small business status and 

won 60 licenses, and nine winning 

bidders claimed entrepreneur status and 

won 154 licenses. On July 26, 2005, the 

Commission completed an auction of 

five licenses in the Lower 700 MHz 

band (Auction No. 60). There were three 

winning bidders for five licenses. All 

three winning bidders claimed small 

business status. 

62. In 2007, the Commission 

reexamined its rules governing the 700 

MHz band in the 700 MHz Second 

Report and Order. An auction of 700 

MHz licenses commenced January 24, 

2008, and closed on March 18, 2008, 

which included: 176 Economic Area 

licenses in the A-Block, 734 Cellular 

Market Area licenses in the B-Block, 

and 176 EA licenses in the E-Block. 

Twenty winning bidders, claiming small 

business status (those with attributable 

average annual gross revenues that 

exceed $15 million and do not exceed 

$40 million for the preceding three 

years) won 49 licenses. Thirty-three 

winning bidders claiming very small 

business status (those with attributable 

average annual gross revenues that do 

not exceed $15 million for the preceding 

three years) won 325 licenses. 

63. Upper 700 MHz Band Licenses. In 

the 700 MHz Second Report and Order, 

the Commission revised its rules 

regarding Upper 700 MHz licenses. On 

January 24, 2008, the Commission 

commenced Auction No. 73, in which 

several licenses in the Upper 700 MHz 

band were available for licensing: 12 

Regional Economic Area Grouping 

licenses in the C-Block, and one 

nationwide license in the D-Block. The 

auction concluded on March 18, 2008, 

with three winning bidders claiming 

very small business status (those with 

attributable average annual gross 

revenues that do not exceed $15 million 

for the preceding three years) and 

winning five licenses. 

64. Advanced Wireless Services. AWS 

Services (1710–1755 MHz and 2110– 

2155 MHz bands (AWS–1); 1915–1920 

MHz, 1995–2000 MHz, 2020–2025 MHz 

and 2175–2180 MHz bands (AWS–2); 

2155–2175 MHz band (AWS–3)). For the 

AWS–1 bands, the Commission has 

defined a ‘‘small business’’ as an entity 

with average annual gross revenues for 

the preceding three years not exceeding 

$40 million, and a ‘‘very small 

business’’ as an entity with average 

annual gross revenues for the preceding 

three years not exceeding $15 million. 

For AWS–2 and AWS–3, although the 

Commission does not know for certain 

which entities are likely to apply for 

these frequencies, the Commission notes 

that the AWS–1 bands are comparable 

to those used for cellular service and 

personal communications service. The 

Commission has not yet adopted size 

standards for the AWS–2 or AWS–3 

bands, but proposes to treat both AWS– 

2 and AWS–3 similarly to broadband 

PCS service and AWS–1 service due to 

the comparable capital requirements 

and other factors, such as issues 

involved in relocating incumbents and 

developing markets, technologies, and 

services. 

65. Broadband Radio Service and 

Educational Broadband Service. 

Broadband Radio Service systems, 

previously referred to as Multipoint 

Distribution Service (MDS) and 

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution 

Service (MMDS) systems, and ‘‘wireless 

cable,’’ transmit video programming to 

subscribers and provide two-way highspeed data operations using the 

microwave frequencies of the 

Broadband Radio Service (BRS) and 

Educational Broadband Service (EBS) 

(previously referred to as the 

Instructional Television Fixed Service 

(ITFS)). 

66. BRS—In connection with the 1996 

BRS auction, the Commission 

established a small business size 

standard as an entity that had annual 

average gross revenues of no more than 

$40 million in the previous three 

calendar years. The BRS auctions 

resulted in 67 successful bidders 

obtaining licensing opportunities for 

493 Basic Trading Areas (BTAs). Of the 

67 auction winners, 61 met the 

definition of a small business. BRS also 

includes licensees of stations authorized 

prior to the auction. At this time, the 

Commission estimates that of the 61 

small business BRS auction winners, 48 

remain small business licensees. In 

addition to the 48 small businesses that 

hold BTA authorizations, there are 

approximately 392 incumbent BRS 

licensees that are considered small 

entities. After adding the number of 

small business auction licensees to the 

number of incumbent licensees not 

already counted, the Commission finds 

that there are currently approximately 

440 BRS licensees that are defined as 

small businesses under either the SBA 

or the Commission’s rules. 

67. In 2009, the Commission 

conducted Auction No. 86, the sale of 

78 licenses in the BRS areas. The 

Commission offered three levels of 

bidding credits: (i) A bidder with 

attributed average annual gross revenues 

that exceed $15 million and do not 

exceed $40 million for the preceding 

three years (small business) received a 

15 percent discount on its winning bid; 

(ii) a bidder with attributed average 

annual gross revenues that exceed $3 

million and do not exceed $15 million 

for the preceding three years (very small 

business) received a 25 percent discount 

on its winning bid; and (iii) a bidder 

with attributed average annual gross 

revenues that do not exceed $3 million 

for the preceding three years 

(entrepreneur) received a 35 percent 

discount on its winning bid. Auction 

No. 86 concluded in 2009 with the sale 

of 61 licenses. Of the ten winning 

bidders, two bidders that claimed small 

business status won four licenses; one 

bidder that claimed very small business 

status won three licenses; and two 

bidders that claimed entrepreneur status 

won six licenses. 

68. EBS—Educational Broadband 

Service has been included within the 

broad economic census category and the 

SBA size standard for Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers since 

2007. Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers are comprised of establishments 

primarily engaged in operating and/or 

providing access to transmission 

facilities and infrastructure that they 

own and/or lease for the transmission of 

voice, data, text, sound, and video using 

wired telecommunications networks. 

Transmission facilities may be based on 

a single technology or a combination of 

technologies. The SBA’s small business 

size standard for this category is all such 

firms having 1,500 or fewer employees. 

U.S. Census data for 2012 shows that 

there were 3,117 firms that operated that 

year. Of this total, 3,083 operated with 

fewer than 1,000 employees. Thus, 

under this size standard, the majority of 

firms in this industry can be considered 

small. In addition to Census Bureau 

data, the Commission’s Universal 

Licensing System indicates that as of 

October 2014, there are 2,206 active EBS 

licenses. The Commission estimates that 

of these 2,206 licenses, the majority are 

held by non-profit educational 

institutions and school districts, which 

are by statute defined as small 

businesses. 

69. Wireless Communications Service. 

This service can be used for fixed, 

mobile, radiolocation, and digital audio 

broadcasting satellite uses. The 

Commission defined ‘‘small business’’ 

for the wireless communications 

services (WCS) auction as an entity with 

average gross revenues of $40 million 

for each of the three preceding years, 

and a ‘‘very small business’’ as an entity 

with average gross revenues of $15 

million for each of the three preceding 

years. The SBA has approved these 

small business size standards. In the 


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Commission’s auction for geographic 

area licenses in the WCS service there 

were seven winning bidders that 

qualified as ‘‘very small business’’ 

entities, and one that qualified as a 

‘‘small business’’ entity. 

70. Radio and Television 

Broadcasting and Wireless 

Communications Equipment 

Manufacturing. This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

manufacturing radio and television 

broadcast and wireless communications 

equipment. Examples of products made 

by these establishments are: 

Transmitting and receiving antennas, 

cable television equipment, GPS 

equipment, pagers, cellular phones, 

mobile communications equipment, and 

radio and television studio and 

broadcasting equipment. The SBA has 

established a small business size 

standard for this industry of 1,250 

employees or less. U.S. Census data for 

2012 shows that 841 establishments 

operated in this industry in that year. Of 

that number, 819 establishments 

operated with less than 500 employees. 

Based on this data, the Commission 

concludes that a majority of 

manufacturers in this industry are 

small. 

71. Software Publishers. This industry 

comprises establishments primarily 

engaged in computer software 

publishing or publishing and 

reproduction. Establishments in this 

industry carry out operations necessary 

for producing and distributing computer 

software, such as designing, providing 

documentation, assisting in installation, 

and providing support services to 

software purchasers. These 

establishments may design, develop, 

and publish, or publish only. The SBA 

has established a size standard for this 

industry of annual receipts of $38.5 

million per year. U.S. Census data for 

2012 indicates that 5,079 firms operated 

in that year. Of that number, 4,697 firms 

had annual receipts of $25 million or 

less. Based on that data, the 

Commission concludes that a majority 

of firms in this industry are small. 

72. NCE and Public Broadcast 

Stations. Non-commercial educational 

and public broadcast television stations 

fall within the U.S. Census Bureau’s 

definition for Television Broadcasting. 

This industry comprises establishments 

primarily engaged in broadcasting 

images together with sound and 

operating television broadcasting 

studios and facilities for the 

programming and transmission of 

programs to the public. The SBA has 

created a small business size standard 

for Television Broadcasting entities, 

which is such firms having $38.5 

million or less in annual receipts. The 

2012 Economic Census reports that 751 

firms in this category operated in that 

year. Of that number, 656 had annual 

receipts of $25,000,000 or less, 25 had 

annual receipts between $25,000,000 

and $49,999,999 and 70 had annual 

receipts of $50,000,000 or more. Based 

on this data the Commission concludes 

that the majority of NCEs and Public 

Broadcast Stations are small entities 

under the applicable SBA size standard. 

73. According to Commission staff 

review of the BIA Kelsey Inc. Media 

Access Pro Television Database (BIA) as 

of November 16, 2017, approximately 

1,258 of the 1,378 licensed commercial 

television stations (or about 91 percent) 

had revenues of $38.5 million or less, 

and therefore these licensees qualify as 

small entities under the SBA definition. 

The Commission also estimates that 

there are 395 licensed noncommercial 

educational NCE television stations. 

Notwithstanding, the Commission does 

not compile and otherwise does not 

have access to information on the 

revenue of NCE stations that would 

permit it to determine how many such 

stations would qualify as small entities. 

In addition to licensed commercial 

television stations and NCEs, there are 

also an estimated 2,367 low power 

television stations (LPTV), including 

Class A stations and 3,750 TV translator 

stations. Given the nature of these 

services, the Commission will presume 

that all of these entities qualify as small 

entities under the above SBA small 

business size standard. 

74. The Commission notes, however, 

that in assessing whether a business 

concern qualifies as small under the 

above definition, business (control) 

affiliations must be included. The 

Commission’s estimate, therefore, likely 

overstates the number of small entities 

that might be affected by the 

Commission’s action, because the 

revenue figure on which it is based does 

not include or aggregate revenues from 

affiliated companies. Moreover, the 

definition of ‘‘small business’’ also 

requires that an entity not be dominant 

in its field of operation and that the 

entity be independently owned and 

operated. The estimate of small 

businesses to which rules may apply 

does not exclude any television station 

from the definition of a small business 

on these bases and is therefore overinclusive to that extent. Further, the 

Commission is unable at this time to 

define or quantify the criteria that 

would establish whether a specific 

television station is dominant in its field 

of operation. The Commission further 

notes that it is difficult at times to assess 

these criteria in the context of media 

entities, and therefore the Commission’s 

estimates of small businesses to which 

they apply may be over-inclusive to this 

extent. 

5. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements for Small Entities 

75. The Order allows EAS 

Participants to take part in live code 

EAS public safety exercises, provided 

that the entity conducting the test 

provides notification during the test to 

the extent technically feasible that there 

is no actual emergency and provides 

notice to the public and coordinates 

with EAS Participants, state and local 

emergency authorities, the SECC, and 

other entities before the test to inform 

the public and other affected entities 

that live event codes will be used and 

that no emergency is occurring. In 

addition, the Order allows EAS 

Participants to use the EAS Attention 

Signal and a harmless simulation of 

EAS header codes in PSAs provided by 

federal, state, and local government 

entities, as well as NGOs. These 

measures will obviate recurring costs 

associated with the filing of live code 

waiver requests (e.g., legal, 

administrative, printing, and mailing 

costs) and will not create any cost 

burdens for EAS Participants. The Order 

also requires that no later than twentyfour (24) hours of an EAS Participant’s 

discovery (i.e., actual knowledge) that it 

has transmitted or otherwise sent a false 

alert to the public that the it send an 

email to the FCC Ops Center (at 

FCCOPS@fcc.gov) informing the 

Commission of the event and of any 

details that the EAS Participant may 

have concerning the event. This 

measure will help ensure that all 

alerting stakeholder have sufficient 

situational awareness of a false alert to 

quickly respond to and remediate the 

situation. 

76. The Order requires EAS 

Participants to reject all digitally-signed 

CAP-formatted EAS alerts that are 

invalidly signed. It further requires EAS 

Participants to reject all EAS alerts that 

are received with header code date/time 

data inconsistent with the current date 

and time. Most EAS equipment 

deployed in the field already supports 

these authentication and validation 

rules, but the Commission anticipates 

that a small minority of EAS 

Participants may need to update 

software to comply with these rules. 

Such an update should result in 

minimal costs to EAS Participants, as it 

can be performed during a scheduled inversion equipment software update. 


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39620 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

6. Steps Taken To Minimize the 

Significant Economic Impact on Small 

Entities, and Significant Alternatives 

Considered 

77. The RFA requires an agency to 

describe any significant alternatives that 

it has considered in reaching its 

approach, which may include the 

following four alternatives (among 

others): ‘‘(1) the establishment of 

differing compliance or reporting 

requirements or timetables that take into 

account the resources available to small 

entities; (2) the clarification, 

consolidation, or simplification of 

compliance or reporting requirements 

under the rule for small entities; (3) the 

use of performance, rather than design, 

standards; and (4) and exemption from 

coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, 

for small entities.’’ 

78. The Commission does not expect 

its actions in the Order to have a 

significant economic impact on small 

entities. The rule changes to section 

11.61 with respect to live code tests do 

not impose any new requirements or 

new costs for small entities or other EAS 

Participants. The steps taken by the 

Commission eliminating the waiver 

filing requirement will benefit small 

entities by reducing the need for legal 

and other staff time associated with 

filing a waiver, which will translate into 

cost reductions and have a positive 

economic impact. Thus, as an 

alternative to the existing process, the 

record supports the Commission’s 

conclusion that removing the need for 

entities to request a waiver of the 

Commission’s rules to conduct live code 

tests will reduce costs and remove 

regulatory burdens for small entities as 

well as other entities subject to these 

rules. 

79. The false alert reporting rules the 

Commission adopts today similarly 

impose minimal burdens on small 

entities. The reporting requirement is 

triggered only upon discovery of the 

false alert, allows twenty-four hours for 

the submission of the report and 

imposes no obligation to and investigate 

the false report. Further, the 

Commission recognizes that smaller 

entities often face particular challenges 

in achieving authentication and 

validation of EAS messages due to 

limited human, financial, or technical 

resources. Due, in part, to the 

potentially significant burdens that the 

originally-proposed requirements would 

pose, the Commission declines, at this 

time, to adopt certain of the proposals 

and defer consideration of others. Those 

the Commission adopts are unlikely to 

pose burdens that are not already 

incurred in the normal course of 

business. 

80. Finally, the Commission adopts 

implementation timeframes for each of 

the Commission’s rules that are 

intended to allow EAS Participants to 

come into compliance with the 

Commission’s rules in a manner that 

balances the need for improving EAS 

organization and effectiveness as soon 

as possible with any potential burdens 

that may be imposed by adoption of the 

Commission’s proposals. 

81. The Commission concludes that 

the adopted mandates provide small 

entities as well as other EAS 

Participants with a sufficient measure of 

flexibility to account for technical and 

cost-related concerns. The Commission 

has determined that implementing these 

improvements to the EAS is technically 

feasible. In the event that small entities 

face unique circumstances that restrict 

their ability to comply with the 

Commission’s rules, the Commission 

can address them through the waiver 

process. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis 

82. This document contains modified 

information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104–13. It 

will be submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review under section 3507(d) of the 

PRA. OMB, the general public, and 

other Federal agencies will be invited to 

comment on the new or modified 

information collection requirements 

contained in this proceeding. In 

addition, the Commission notes that 

pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public 

Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), 

the Commission previously sought 

specific comment on how the 

Commission might further reduce the 

information collection burden for small 

business concerns with fewer than 25 

employees. 

D. Congressional Review Act 

83. The Commission will send a copy 

of this Order in a report to be sent to 

Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, see U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A). 

IV. Ordering Clauses 

84. Accordingly, it is ordered, 

pursuant to sections 1, 2, 4(i), 4(o), 301, 

303(r), 303(v), 307, 309, 335, 403, 

624(g), 706, and 713 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 

154(o), 301, 303(r), 303(v), 307, 309, 

335, 403, 544(g), 606, and 613, as well 

as by sections 602(a),(b),(c), (f), 603, 604 

and 606 of the WARN Act, 47 U.S.C. 

1202(a), (b), (c), (f), 1203, 1204 and 

1206, and the Twenty-First Century 

Communications and Video 

Accessibility Act of 2010, Public Law 

111–260 and Public Law 111–265, that 

this Report and Order is adopted. 

85. It is further ordered that the rule 

amendments adopted herein will 

become effective September 10, 2018, 

except that the amendments to sections 

11.33 and 11.56 will become effective 

August 12, 2019, and the amendments 

to sections 11.45(b) and 11.61, which 

contain modifications to information 

collection requirements that are 

currently approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), will 

become effective on the date specified in 

a Commission notice published in the 

Federal Register announcing their 

approval (which date shall not be less 

than 30 days after publication of this 

Report and Order in the Federal 

Register). 

86. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Report and Order, including the 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 11 

Radio, Television. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

Final Rules 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 11 as 

follows: 

PART 11—EMERGENCY ALERT 

SYSTEM (EAS) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 11 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i) and (o), 

303(r), 544(g) and 606. 

■ 2. Amend § 11.33 by revising 

paragraph (a)(10) to read as follows: 

§ 11.33 EAS Decoder. 

(a) * * * 

(10) Message Validity. An EAS 

Decoder must provide error detection 

and validation of the header codes of 

each message to ascertain if the message 

is valid. Header code comparisons may 

be accomplished through the use of a 

bit-by-bit compare or any other error 

detection and validation protocol. A 

header code must only be considered 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 39621 

valid when two of the three headers 

match exactly; the Origination Date/ 

Time field (JJJHHMM) is not more than 

15 minutes in the future and the 

expiration time (Origination Date/Time 

plus Valid Time TTTT) is in the future 

(i.e., current time at the EAS equipment 

when the alert is received is between 

origination time minus 15 minutes and 

expiration time). Duplicate messages 

must not be relayed automatically. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Revise § 11.45 to read as follows: 

§ 11.45 Prohibition of false or deceptive 

EAS transmissions. 

(a) No person may transmit or cause 

to transmit the EAS codes or Attention 

Signal, or a recording or simulation 

thereof, in any circumstance other than 

in an actual National, State or Local 

Area emergency or authorized test of the 

EAS; or as specified in §§ 10.520(d), 

11.46, and 11.61 of this chapter. 

(b) No later than twenty-four (24) 

hours of an EAS Participant’s discovery 

(i.e., actual knowledge) that it has 

transmitted or otherwise sent a false 

alert to the public, the EAS Participant 

send an email to the Commission at the 

FCC Ops Center at FCCOPS@fcc.gov, 

informing the Commission of the event 

and of any details that the EAS 

Participant may have concerning the 

event. 

■ 4. Revise § 11.46 to read as follows: 

§ 11.46 EAS public service 

announcements. 

EAS Participants may use the EAS 

Attention Signal and a simulation of the 

EAS codes as provided by FEMA in EAS 

Public Service Announcements (PSAs) 

(including commercially-sponsored 

announcements, infomercials, or 

programs) provided by federal, state, 

and local government entities, or nongovernmental organizations, to raise 

public awareness about emergency 

alerting. This usage is only permitted if 

the PSA is presented in a nonmisleading and technically harmless 

manner, including with the explicit 

statement that the Attention Signal and 

EAS code simulation are being used in 

the context of a PSA for the purpose of 

educating the viewing or listening 

public about emergency alerting. 

■ 5. Amend § 11.56 by redesignating 

paragraph (c) as paragraph (d) and 

adding new paragraph (c) to read as 

follows: 

§ 11.56 Obligation to process CAPformatted EAS messages. 

* * * * * 

(c) EAS Participants shall configure 

their systems to reject all CAP-formatted 

EAS messages that include an invalid 

digital signature. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Amend § 11.61 by adding paragraph 

(a)(5) to read as follows: 

§ 11.61 Tests of EAS procedures. 

(a) * * * 

(5) Live Code Tests. EAS Participants 

may participate in no more than two (2) 

‘‘Live Code’’ EAS Tests per calendar 

year that are conducted to exercise the 

EAS and raise public awareness for it, 

provided that the entity conducting the 

test: 

(i) Notifies the public before the test 

that live event codes will be used, but 

that no emergency is, in fact, occurring; 

(ii) To the extent technically feasible, 

states in the test message that the event 

is only a test; 

(iii) Coordinates the test among EAS 

Participants and with state and local 

emergency authorities, the relevant 

SECC (or SECCs, if the test could affect 

multiple states), and first responder 

organizations, such as PSAPs, police, 

and fire agencies); and, 

(iv) Consistent with § 11.51, provides 

in widely accessible formats the 

notification to the public required by 

this subsection that the test is only a 

test, and is not a warning about an 

actual emergency. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–17096 Filed 8–9–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 


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