16688 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

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

will be effective April 23, 2012. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 355 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Chemicals, Disaster 

assistance, Hazardous substances, 

Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental 

relations, Natural resources, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Superfund, Water 

pollution control, Water supply. 

Dated: March 15, 2012. 

Lisa P. Jackson, 

Administrator. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, title 40, chapter I of the Code 

of Federal Regulations is amended as 

follows: 

PART 355—EMERGENCY PLANNING 

AND NOTIFICATION 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 355 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 302, 303, 304, 325, 

327, 328, and 329 of the Emergency Planning 

and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 

(EPCRA) (42 U.S.C. 11002, 11003, 11004, 

11045, 11047, 11048, and 11049). 

■ 2. Section 355.16 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (b) and (c) to read 

as follows: 

§ 355.16 How do I determine the quantity 

of extremely hazardous substances present 

for certain forms of solids? 

* * * * * 

(b) Solid in solution. Multiply the 

weight percent of the non-reactive solid 

in solution in a particular container by 

the total weight of solution in that 

container. Then multiply by 0.2. 

Note to paragraph (b): This reduction in 

quantity must not be used to determine the 

amount present at one-time at a facility for 

reporting under 40 CFR 370.10. 

(c) Solid in molten form. Multiply the 

weight of the non-reactive solid in 

molten form by 0.3. 

Note to paragraph (c): This reduction in 

quantity must not be used to determine the 

amount present at one-time at a facility for 

reporting under 40 CFR 370.10. 

■ 3. Section 355.61 is amended by 

adding in alphabetical order the 

definitions of ‘‘Non-reactive Solid’’, 

‘‘Reactive solid’’ and ‘‘Solution’’ to read 

as follows: 

§ 355.61 How are key words in this part 

defined? 

* * * * * 

Non-reactive solid means any 

substance listed in Appendix A or B of 

this part with two threshold planning 

quantity values, the higher TPQ being 

10,000 pounds. 

* * * * * 

Reactive solid means any extremely 

hazardous substance denoted with ‘‘a’’ 

in the ‘‘Notes’’ column in Appendix A 

or B of this part. 

* * * * * 

Solution means any aqueous or 

organic solutions, slurries, viscous 

solutions, suspensions, emulsions, or 

pastes. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2012–6910 Filed 3–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 11 

[EB Docket No. 04–296; FCC 12–7] 

Review of the Emergency Alert System 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission 

(Commission) amends its rules 

governing the Emergency Alert System 

(EAS) to codify the obligation to process 

alert messages formatted in the Common 

Alerting Protocol (CAP) and to 

streamline and clarify these rules 

generally to enhance their effectiveness. 

DATES: Effective April 23, 2012, except 

for 47 CFR 11.21(a), 11.33(a)(4), 

11.41(b), 11.42, 11.54(b)(13), and 11.55, 

which contain information collection 

requirements that have not been 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). The incorporation 

by reference of certain publications 

listed in this rule is approved by the 

Director of the Federal Register as of 

April 23, 2012. The Commission will 

publish a document in the Federal 

Register announcing the effective date 

of those paragraphs and rule 

amendments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa 

Fowlkes, Deputy Bureau Chief, Public 

Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, 

at (202) 418–7452, or by email at 

Lisa.Fowlkes@fcc.gov. For additional 

information concerning the Paperwork 

Reduction Act information collection 

requirements contained in this 

document, contact Judy Boley Hermann 

at (202) 418–0214 or send an email to 

PRA@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Fifth 

Report and Order (Fifth Report and 

Order) in EB Docket No. 04–296, FCC 

12–7, adopted on January 9, 2012, and 

released on January 10, 2012. 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 

complete text of this document also may 

be purchased from the Commission’s 

copy contractor, Best Copy and Printing, 

Inc., 445 12th Street SW., Room CY– 

B402, Washington, DC 20554. The full 

text may also be downloaded at: 

www.fcc.gov. 

Synopsis of the Fifth Report and Order 

1. In the Fifth Report and Order, the 

Commission adopts several changes to 

its Part 11 Emergency Alert System 

(EAS) rules to more fully codify the 

Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)- 

related obligations initially adopted in 

the Second Report and Order (Second 

Report and Order) in EB Docket No. 04– 

296, 72 FR 62123 (Nov. 2, 2007), and to 

eliminate outdated rules to improve Part 

11’s overall effectiveness. The rule 

amendments and other decisions taken 

in this Fifth Report and Order are 

predicated upon the Third Further 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Third 

FNPRM) in EB Docket No. 04–296, 76 

FR 35810 (June 20, 2011), adopted by 

the Commission on May 25, 2011. 

I. Background 

2. The present-day EAS is a 

hierarchical alert message distribution 

system that utilizes radio and television 

broadcasters, cable service providers, 

and other regulated entities (collectively 

known as EAS Participants) to transmit 

audio and/or visual emergency alert 

messages to the public. To initiate an 

EAS message, whether at the national, 

state, or local levels, the message 

originator must format a message in the 

EAS Protocol, which is identical to the 

Specific Area Message Encoding 

(SAME) digital protocol utilized by 

National Weather Service (NWS) 

(hereinafter, ‘‘EAS Protocol’’ and 

‘‘SAME’’ are used interchangeably), and 

send the formatted alert to a designated 

entry point within the EAS network for 

delivery to specialized equipment 

maintained and operated by EAS 

Participants that can receive (and 

decode) the alert for transmission over 

the EAS Participants’ facilities to their 

end users. 

3. In 2007, the Commission adopted 

the Second Report and Order in this 

docket, which revised the Commission’s 

Part 11 EAS rules to lay the foundation 

for a state-of-the-art, next-generation 

national EAS (Next Generation EAS). 

First, to ensure the efficient, rapid, and 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16689 

secure transmission of EAS alerts in a 

variety of formats (including text, audio, 

and video) and via different means 

(broadcast, cable, satellite, and other 

networks), the Commission required 

that EAS Participants be capable of 

receiving CAP-formatted alert messages 

no later than 180 days after the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) publicly publishes its adoption 

of the CAP standard. Second, the 

Commission required EAS Participants 

to adopt Next Generation EAS delivery 

systems no later than 180 days after 

FEMA publicly releases standards for 

those systems. Third, the Commission 

required EAS Participants to transmit 

state and local EAS alerts that are 

originated by governors or their 

designees no later than 180 days after 

FEMA publishes its adoption of the CAP 

standard, provided that the state has a 

Commission-approved State Area EAS 

Plan that provides for delivery of such 

alerts. 

4. CAP is an open, interoperable 

XML-based standard, developed within 

the Organization for the Advancement 

of Structured Information Standards 

(OASIS) standards process, which 

permits links to voice, audio or data 

files, images, multilingual translations 

of alerts, and links providing further 

information. Although CAP and SAME 

both convey data, the two protocols 

function in entirely different ways. CAP 

essentially represents an envelope into 

which data is packaged according to 

predetermined fields and packetized for 

transmission over various IP-based 

mediums, such as the Internet. The 

SAME protocol is designed to combine 

specific codes that identify alert data 

(e.g., type, origin, and area affected) 

with an audio message, which are 

modulated onto an RF signal using the 

audio frequency-shift keying (AFSK) 

modulation scheme (this process is 

referred to as ‘‘encoding’’). 

5. On March 25, 2010, in anticipation 

of FEMA’s adoption of CAP, the 

Commission’s Public Safety and 

Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) 

released a Public Notice (Part 11 Public 

Notice) in EB Docket No. 04–296, DA 

10–500, released on March 25, 2010, 

that sought informal comment regarding 

what, if any, Part 11 changes might be 

necessitated by the introduction of CAP. 

On October 7, 2010, the 

Communications Security, Reliability, 

and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), 

which had been established by the 

Commission to, among other things, 

recommend revisions to the Part 11 

rules in light of FEMA’s then-pending 

adoption of CAP, adopted a Final 

Report, which included a number of 

recommendations for revisions to the 

Part 11 rules related to the obligation to 

accept CAP-formatted messages. 

6. On September 30, 2010, FEMA 

announced its adoption of technical 

standards and requirements for CAPformatted EAS alerts. Specifically, 

FEMA identified three documents as 

defining the FEMA Integrated Public 

Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) 

technical standards and requirements 

for CAP and its implementation: (1) The 

OASIS CAP Standard v1.2; (2) an 

IPAWS Specification to the CAP 

Standard (CAP v1.2 IPAWS USA Profile 

v1.0); and (3) the EAS–CAP Industry 

Group’s (ECIG) Recommendations for a 

CAP–EAS Implementation Guide, 

Version 1.0 (May 17, 2010) (ECIG 

Implementation Guide). FEMA’s 

announced adoption of CAP v1.2 

triggered an initial deadline for EAS 

Participants to be able to receive CAP 

alerts by March 29, 2011. 

7. On November 18, 2010, in response 

to the recommendations in CSRIC’s 

Final Report, as well as to comments 

submitted in response to the Part 11 

Public Notice, the Commission adopted 

an order in EB Docket No. 04–296, FCC 

01–191, that extended the 180-day 

deadline for meeting the CAP-related 

obligations until September 30, 2011 

(the Waiver Order). On May 25, 2011, 

the Commission adopted the Third 

FNPRM, which sought comment on 

several proposed changes to the EAS 

rules to more fully codify the CAPrelated obligations adopted in the 

Second Report and Order, and to 

eliminate outdated rules to improve Part 

11’s overall effectiveness, and is the 

basis for the decisions taken in the Fifth 

Report and Order. On September 15, 

2011, the Commission adopted the 

Fourth Report and Order (Fourth Report 

and Order) in EB Docket No. 04–296, 76 

FR 80780 (Dec. 27, 2011), which 

amended section 11.56 of the EAS rules 

to require EAS Participants to be able to 

receive CAP-formatted EAS alerts no 

later than June 30, 2012. 

II. Discussion 

8. The Fifth Report and Order adopts 

changes to the Part 11 rules to fully 

effectuate the CAP-related obligations 

adopted in the Second Report and 

Order, as well as other rule changes and 

clarifications intended to streamline 

Part 11 and generally enhance the 

overall effectiveness of the EAS, based 

upon the rule changes and clarifications 

proposed in the Third FNPRM. The 

specific rule changes adopted in the 

Fifth Report and Order are included in 

the rules section. 

9. The rule changes and other 

decisions taken in the Fifth Report and 

Order in response to the Third FNPRM 

are summarized below. Because the 

Fifth Report and Order does not impose 

new obligations but primarily details 

the manner in which EAS Participants 

must implement the CAP requirement, 

the rules and other decisions adopted in 

the Fifth Report and Order impose 

minimal new costs, particularly as many 

EAS Participants have already 

purchased and installed CAPcompatible EAS equipment. In many 

cases, these rule changes will result in 

decreased costs. 

A. Scope of CAP-Related Part 11 

Revisions 

10. The Commission adopts the 

transitional approach for implementing 

CAP within the EAS set forth in the 

Third FNPRM. Specifically, the 

Commission explains that the CAPrelated changes to Part 11 it adopts in 

the Fifth Report and Order are limited 

to ensuring that EAS Participants’ EAS 

equipment will be capable of receiving 

and converting CAP-formatted messages 

into a SAME-compliant message. The 

Commission clarifies that EAS 

Participant stations that are generally 

charged with encoding (or regenerating) 

the EAS Protocol codes (as AFSK tones) 

for the benefit of downstream stations 

monitoring their transmissions will 

continue that function with respect to 

alert messages they receive in the CAP 

format—just as they would for alert 

messages they receive in the SAME 

format. However, the Commission 

explains, they will be generating the 

AFSK tones based upon the relevant 

EAS Protocol codes contained within 

the CAP message, in conformance with 

the ECIG Implementation Guide, 

including the audio message contained 

in the CAP message, to the extent 

required under the Part 11 rules. As part 

of this transitional approach, the 

Commission also requires EAS 

Participants to create video crawls based 

upon the enhanced text contained 

within the CAP message to the extent 

that such text files are provided by the 

alert initiator, in conformance with the 

relevant procedures set forth in the 

ECIG Implementation Guide. 

11. The Commission concludes that 

this transitional approach is warranted, 

primarily because switching over to a 

fully CAP-centric EAS system—where 

EAS messages are inputted and 

outputted in CAP format rather than 

SAME format—at this time is 

technically infeasible and premature, 

because no such CAP-centric system has 

been developed. The Commission 

further concludes that this transitional 

approach makes sense because the many 

benefits of maintaining the legacy EAS 

previously outlined by the Commission 

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16690 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

in the Second Report and Order 

continue to be relevant today. In 

addition, the Commission observes that 

FEMA has indicated that the legacy EAS 

will continue to provide a nationwide 

alerting mechanism as part of its IPAWS 

system, and FEMA’s adoption of the 

standards necessary for formatting alert 

messages into CAP and translating such 

CAP-formatted messages into SAMEcompliant messages establishes the 

groundwork for implementing CAPformatted alert initiation within the 

existing EAS system. The Commission 

further observes that the record 

indicates that EAS equipment 

manufacturers have designed and have 

been marketing CAP-enabled equipment 

that conforms to these FEMA-adopted 

standards, and a significant percentage 

of EAS Participants already have 

procured or contracted for such 

equipment, making this transitional 

approach both practical and costefficient. 

B. Obligation To Accept CAP Messages 

12. CAP-Formatted Message 

Conversion to SAME. The Commission 

adopts its tentative conclusion in the 

Third FNPRM to amend § 11.56 to 

require EAS Participants to convert 

CAP-formatted EAS messages into 

SAME-compliant EAS messages in 

accordance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide, except for its 

provisions on text-to-speech and 

gubernatorial CAP messages. The 

Commission observes that adopting the 

ECIG Implementation Guide as the 

standard for translating CAP-formatted 

messages into SAME-compliant 

messages will harmonize CAP elements 

with the Part 11 rules, thus ensuring 

that CAP-formatted EAS messages are 

converted into SAME-compliant 

messages in a consistent, cost-efficient 

manner across devices and delivery 

platforms. The Commission also 

observes that adoption of this 

requirement has broad support in the 

record. 

13. The Commission notes that FEMA 

has adopted the ECIG Implementation 

Guide as its benchmark for processing 

IPAWS-distributed CAP-formatted 

messages to the EAS, and many 

manufacturers have already designed 

EAS equipment that conforms to the 

ECIG Implementation Guide, as 

demonstrated by their having 

completing requirements of FEMA’s 

IPAWS Conformity Assessment 

Program. The Commission also observes 

that successful completion of FEMA’s 

IPAWS Conformity Assessment Program 

can be used to demonstrate ECIG 

Implementation Guide compliance for 

purposes of obtaining FCC certification. 

Accordingly, the Commission finds that 

the costs of complying with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide are minimal. 

14. The Commission clarifies that it 

will not permit EAS Participants to 

adhere to the ECIG Implementation 

Guide’s provisions on text-to-speech. 

The Commission finds that, although 

use of text-to-speech technology has 

some support in the record, there are 

also concerns in the record about 

whether text-to-speech software is 

sufficiently accurate and reliable to 

deliver consistently accurate and timely 

alerts to the public. The Commission 

also observes that allowing the text-tospeech conversion to be resolved by 

EAS equipment software, as opposed to 

text-to-speech software that the alert 

message originator might employ, could 

result in differing audio messages being 

broadcast for the same EAS message, 

depending upon which software brand 

and version a given equipment 

manufacturer elected to incorporate into 

its EAS equipment. The Commission 

concludes that discussion of text-tospeech and speech-to-text software is 

best reserved for a separate proceeding, 

and therefore defers these issues at this 

time. Finally, the Commission notes that 

because it is eliminating the mandate to 

process CAP-formatted messages 

initiated by state governors, the issue of 

conformance with the provisions in the 

ECIG Implementation Guide to effect 

that mandate are moot. 

15. CAP-Related Monitoring 

Requirements. The Commission amends 

§ 11.52 of its rules to include a 

requirement that EAS Participants’ EAS 

equipment must interface with and 

monitor (whether through ‘‘pull’’ 

interface technologies, such as Really 

Simple Syndication (RSS) and Atom 

Syndication Format (ATOM), or ‘‘push’’ 

interface technologies, such as instant 

messaging and email) the IPAWS system 

to enable distribution of Federal CAPformatted alert messages from IPAWS to 

the EAS Participants’ EAS equipment. 

Whereas the Commission had initially 

proposed in the Third FNPRM to require 

that EAS Participants monitor FEMA’s 

IPAWS RSS feed(s) for Federal CAPformatted messages, it concludes that it 

is unrealistic to require that EAS 

Participants adhere to a specific 

technical standard for CAP monitoring. 

The Commission also observes that the 

technical parameters of the IPAWS 

system are still evolving—and the 

digital world in which that system 

operates is evolving faster still. The 

Commission finds that trying to keep up 

with these changes while specifying the 

technical requirements for Federal CAP 

monitoring in the Part 11 rules is 

neither practical nor administratively 

efficient. In this regard, the Commission 

observes that FEMA changed the 

methodology for distributing CAP 

messages from its IPAWS system to the 

EAS from RSS to ATOM shortly after 

the Third FNPRM’s adoption. The 

Commission also finds that the flexible 

approach to monitoring adopted in the 

Fifth Report and Order will benefit 

equipment manufacturers by allowing 

them to update their equipment designs 

as Federal CAP message delivery 

mechanisms and technology evolve. 

16. Because the Commission in the 

Fifth Report and Order eliminates the 

obligation to receive and process 

gubernatorial CAP-formatted messages, 

it does not establish a generally 

applicable requirement for state CAP 

message monitoring. The Commission 

clarifies that the monitoring 

requirements associated with CAP 

messages initiated via state (and local) 

EAS systems will be determined just as 

the monitoring requirements for SAMEbased EAS message transmissions 

always have been. Specifically, the 

Commission indicates that state (and 

local) alerting authorities, working with 

EAS Participants, will develop state 

(and local) CAP alert monitoring 

requirements and set these forth in their 

State EAS Plans, to be submitted to and 

approved by the Commission. 

17. Next Generation Distribution 

Systems. In the Second Report and 

Order, the Commission stated that 

‘‘should FEMA announce technical 

standards for any Next Generation EAS 

alert delivery system, EAS Participants 

must configure their networks to receive 

CAP-formatted alerts delivered pursuant 

to such delivery system, whether 

wireline, Internet, satellite or other, 

within 180 days after the date that 

FEMA announces the technical 

standards for such Next Generation EAS 

alert delivery.’’ In the Third FNPRM, the 

Commission interpreted this language as 

being intended to put EAS Participants 

on notice that, should FEMA adopt 

technical standards covering delivery of 

CAP-formatted messages to EAS 

Participants over specific platforms, 

such as satellite systems, EAS 

Participants would ultimately need to 

configure their systems to be able to 

interface with such systems to meet 

their existing obligation to process CAPformatted messages. 

18. In the Fifth Report and Order, the 

Commission adopts the interpretation of 

the language from the Second Report 

and Order regarding receipt of CAPformatted messages from Next 

Generation EAS delivery systems that it 

stated in the Third FNPRM. 

Accordingly, the Commission concludes 

that if FEMA were to announce 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16691 

technical standards for any Next 

Generation EAS alert delivery system 

for delivering CAP-formatted alerts, the 

Commission would seek to amend Part 

11 to require that EAS Participants be 

capable of receiving such alerts. The 

Commission observes that it has no 

expectations as to how or whether 

FEMA may adopt standards and 

requirements for new message and 

delivery mechanisms that would modify 

existing requirements. The Commission 

instead merely clarifies that: (i) Any 

such standards or requirements cannot 

be enforced with respect to EAS 

Participants until the requirements are 

formally integrated into the Part 11 rules 

via the rulemaking process, and (ii) it 

would seek to initiate such a rulemaking 

process in a timely manner, with the 

goal of making compliance with such 

standards or requirements effective 

within 180 days of their formal 

adoption. 

19. Equipment Requirements. The 

Fifth Report and Order contains several 

CAP-related decisions related to EAS 

equipment, as summarized below. 

20. Intermediary Devices. The 

Commission explains that intermediary 

devices are stand-alone devices that 

carry out the functions of monitoring 

for, receiving, and decoding CAPformatted messages and converting such 

messages into a format that can be 

inputted into a separate, stand-alone 

legacy EAS device to produce an output 

that complies with the Part 11 rules. 

The Commission observes that the 

record indicates that there are two types 

of intermediary devices, which may 

generally be described as ‘‘universal’’ 

intermediary devices and ‘‘component’’ 

intermediary devices. The Commission 

explains that universal intermediary 

devices monitor, acquire, and decode 

CAP messages, using the relevant CAP 

data to generate (i.e., encode) the EAS 

codes (FSK audio tones) and, if present, 

an audio message, which can be 

inputted into legacy EAS devices. The 

Commission further explains that 

because the SAME-formatted message 

output of the universal intermediary 

device is functionally equivalent to a 

SAME-formatted message delivered over 

the air, it theoretically should be 

interoperable with all or most legacy 

EAS decoders. The Commission adds, 

however, that because the output of the 

universal intermediary device is limited 

to the EAS Protocol—which is all that 

the legacy EAS device can process—the 

configuration of a universal 

intermediary device and legacy EAS 

device can only generate a SAMEcompliant message; it cannot, for 

example, use the enhanced CAP text for 

generating a visual display. 

21. The Commission explains that 

component intermediary devices, by 

contrast, are designed to interoperate 

with specific legacy EAS device models. 

The Commission observes that 

component intermediary devices also 

monitor for, acquire, and decode CAP 

messages, but are designed to enhance 

the function of specific legacy EAS 

devices. As a result, the Commission 

explains, the output of the combined 

system configuration of these devices is 

capable of more than simply generating 

a SAME-compliant message. The 

Commission observes that the record 

indicates that such configurations may 

permit the use of the enhanced CAP text 

to meet the visual display requirements 

in §§ 11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), and (j)(2). 

22. The Commission observes that, 

according to the record, ‘‘integrated 

CAP-capable EAS devices’’—i.e., selfcontained, stand-alone devices that 

combine the CAP-related functions of 

decoding CAP-formatted messages and 

converting such messages into a SAMEcompliant output and processing 

SAME-formatted messages as encoders 

and decoders in accordance with the 

Part 11 rules—can be updated via 

software or firmware to comply with 

any future changes that might be 

incorporated into the Part 11 rules, the 

CAP standard, or the ECIG 

Implementation Guide. The 

Commission also observes, however, 

that it is unclear whether or to what 

extent a combined system configuration 

of a component intermediary device and 

its companion legacy EAS device model 

could be similarly updated. 

23. Based on the record and the 

transitional approach it adopts for this 

proceeding, the Commission concludes 

that it will allow EAS Participants to 

meet the CAP-related obligations 

adopted in the Fifth Report and Order 

by using intermediary devices in 

tandem with their existing legacy EAS 

equipment, provided that such 

configuration can comply with the 

revised certification requirements 

adopted in the Fifth Report and Order 

as well as with any applicable Part 11 

requirements we may adopt in the 

future. The Commission further 

concludes, however, that because it is 

requiring that EAS Participants utilize 

the enhanced text in a CAP message to 

provide a visual display, as set forth in 

§ 3.6 of the ECIG Implementation Guide, 

it will require that any intermediary 

devices provide such functionality by 

June 30, 2015, which is three years from 

the June 30, 2012, deadline for overall 

CAP compliance. 

24. The Commission finds that this 

approach for intermediary devices is 

consistent with its baseline goal of 

ensuring that alert messages formatted 

pursuant to the CAP-related standards 

adopted by FEMA will be converted 

into and outputted as SAME-compliant 

messages. The Commission observes 

that the record indicates that 

intermediary devices offer a less costly 

way to meet the requirements adopted 

in the Fifth Report and Order, and that 

some percentage of EAS Participants 

already have purchased and deployed 

intermediary devices. The Commission 

observes that not authorizing the use of 

intermediary devices would result in 

significant equipment replacement, 

installation, and training costs for these 

EAS Participants. The Commission 

finds that, assuming these intermediary 

devices can meet the certification and 

other requirements adopted in the Fifth 

Report and Order, imposition of the 

costs associated with the purchase of 

replacement EAS equipment is 

unnecessary and unjustified. The 

Commission also observes that 

intermediary devices will be required to 

meet the same requirements and 

provide the same capabilities as 

integrated CAP-capable EAS devices, 

thus putting them on an equal footing. 

25. With respect to its decision to 

require intermediary devices to be 

capable of utilizing the enhanced text in 

a CAP message to provide a visual 

display, as set forth in § 3.6 of the ECIG 

Implementation Guide, by June 30, 

2012, the Commission recognizes that it 

will likely be technically unfeasible for 

universal intermediary devices (and 

possibly some component intermediary 

devices), as well as the legacy EAS 

devices with which they are configured, 

to meet this requirement. The 

Commission acknowledges that, as a 

result, non-conforming equipment 

would have to be replaced, but 

concludes that any costs associated with 

such replacement are consistent with 

those that EAS Participants may expect 

in the normal course of business, 

particularly as much of the underlying 

legacy equipment upon which 

intermediate devices depend is old and 

will soon need to be replaced. The 

Commission finds that the 

approximately three and one half-year 

window it is providing for intermediary 

device users is sufficient to allow EAS 

Participants to finish depreciating and 

then replace this aging legacy EAS 

equipment and to allow equipment 

manufacturers time to develop possible 

workarounds to allow intermediate 

devices to become compliant with the 

revised rules. The Commission also 

observes that among the benefits that 

CAP-compliant equipment will bring is 

an EAS that is more accessible to all 

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16692 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Americans, including Americans with 

disabilities, who will directly benefit 

from this new requirement. 

26. Section 11.32(a). The Commission 

concludes that it is unnecessary to make 

any changes to the minimum encoder 

requirements set forth in § 11.32(a) 

regarding CAP-to-SAME conversion. 

The Commission observes that the 

conversion of CAP-to-SAME is 

primarily a decoding function that CAPcompliant EAS equipment is designed 

to perform. The Commission further 

observes that it is not requiring encoders 

to encode anything other than the 

relevant EAS Protocol elements 

described in § .31 that they have always 

been required to encode, and that this 

is the case regardless of whether the 

relevant EAS Protocol elements are 

derived from a CAP-formatted message 

or a SAME-formatted message. 

27. Section 11.32(a)(2) and (a)(3). The 

Commission revises the encoder input 

port configuration requirements in 

§ 11.32(a)(2) to require that encoders be 

configured with at least one audio input 

port and at least one data input port. 

The Commission also deletes as 

unnecessary references to RS232–C and 

1200 baud rate, which manufacturers 

may continue to make available, if they 

so desire. The Commission concludes 

that decisions concerning the total 

number and types of data input ports 

configured into encoders are best left to 

equipment manufacturers, so that they 

can respond to the monitoring 

requirements of the CAP systems with 

which EAS equipment may interface 

(such as IPAWS and state CAP systems), 

changes in technology, and costs of 

compliance. The Commission also finds 

that, for the sake of consistency with its 

transitional approach, the input 

configuration requirements should 

continue to require audio and data 

connectivity. Finally, the Commission 

applies the minimal requirement of at 

least one audio port and at least one 

data port to the encoder output port 

configuration requirements in 

§ 11.32(a)(3), because it finds that the 

rationale above applies equally to the 

output ports and the record strongly 

supports such application. 

28. Section 11.33(a). The Commission 

revises the minimum requirements for 

decoders in § 11.33(a) of the 

Commission’s rules to include the 

capability to decode CAP-formatted 

messages and convert them into SAME 

protocol-compliant messages, as set 

forth in § 11.56 and clarify that this 

requirement can be met through the 

deployment of an intermediary device. 

The Commission observes that the 

fundamental purpose of decoders is to 

ingest and process EAS messages, 

whether formatted in the SAME or CAP 

protocols, and adding CAP reception to 

§ 11.33(a) will put CAP on the same 

footing as SAME. The Commission also 

finds it appropriate to clarify in 

§ 11.33(a) that intermediary devices may 

be used to meet the fundamental 

decoder requirement of converting CAP 

messages into SAME-compliant 

messages. 

29. Section 11.33(a)(1) and (a)(7). For 

the same reasons described above with 

respect to encoder input configuration 

requirements, the Commission revises 

the decoder input configuration 

requirements in § 11.33(a)(1) to require 

at least one data input port (this section 

already requires the capability to receive 

‘‘at least two audio inputs’’). The 

Commission also deletes as unnecessary 

any references to RS232–C and 1200 

baud. The Commission revises the 

decoder output configuration 

requirements in § 11.33(a)(7) to reflect 

these changes. 

30. Section 11.33(a)(4). The 

Commission amends § 11.33(a)(4) to 

include selective display and logging of 

the text that was compiled from CAPformatted messages. The Commission 

finds that this revision is necessary to 

harmonize CAP-formatted message 

processing with SAME-formatted 

message processing. The Commission 

observes that its decision is supported 

by EAS equipment manufacturers, the 

industry affected by the rule revision, 

and that the revision imposes no 

additional technical obligations or costs 

either to these manufacturers or to EAS 

Participants. 

31. Section 11.33(a)(10). The 

Commission adopts its tentative 

conclusion set forth in the Third 

FNPRM to decline CSRIC’s 

recommendation to revise § 11.33(a)(10) 

to require use of the CAP-formatted 

message where a duplicate SAMEformatted message was also received. 

The Commission observes that the ECIG 

Implementation Guide includes a 

process for handling CAP messages 

where a duplicate SAME-formatted 

message also has been received, which 

prefers (but does not require) use of the 

CAP version. The Commission also 

observes that it is requiring CAP-toSAME conversion in conformance with 

the ECIG Implementation Guide, which 

should satisfy the underlying thrust of 

CSRIC’s recommendation. 

32. Section 11.33(a)(11). The 

Commission revises § 11.33(a)(11) to 

ensure that EAN messages receive 

priority over all other EAS messages, 

regardless of whether the EAN message 

was received via the audio port or data 

port, or was formatted in SAME or CAP. 

The Commission finds that this action is 

necessary because as currently written, 

§ 11.33(a)(11) could be interpreted to 

require a preference for SAMEformatted EAN messages received via 

over-the-air broadcast monitoring over 

duplicate CAP versions of the same 

message received via the data input 

port. The Commission also finds that 

such action is necessary to ensure that 

EAS equipment consistently gives EANs 

priority, regardless of how it receives 

them. 

33. Miscellaneous Rule Changes 

Related to Fully Implementing CAP. The 

Fifth Report and Order contains several 

CAP-related decisions related to more 

fully implementing CAP within Part 11, 

as summarized below. 

34. Section 11.1. The Commission 

concludes that the existing language 

defining the purpose of the EAS in 

§ 11.1, which covers Federal, state, and 

local government users, and their 

designees, is broad enough to capture all 

authorized users of the EAS, whether 

they initiate SAME-formatted messages 

or CAP-formatted messages. 

Accordingly, the Commission declines 

CSRIC’s recommendation to revise 

§ 11.1 to include new CAP-related alert 

originators. 

35. Section 11.11. The Commission 

amends § 11(a) to delete the reference 

therein to ‘‘analog television broadcast 

stations’’ and to include as a minimum 

requirement compliance with the CAPrelated requirements in § 11.56. The 

Commission observes that the reference 

to ‘‘analog television broadcast stations’’ 

is obsolete in light of the fact that since 

June 13, 2009, all full-power U.S. 

television stations have broadcast overthe-air signals in digital only. The 

Commission also finds that 

incorporating the CAP-related 

obligations in § 11.56 by reference into 

section 11.11(a) is necessary to put CAP 

and SAME on an equal footing in Part 

11. 

36. Section 11.11 equipment 

deployment tables. The Commission 

adopts the revisions to the equipment 

deployment tables in § 11.11 proposed 

in the Third FNPRM. Specifically, the 

Commission amends the equipment 

deployment tables in § 11.11 by adding 

a footnote to the ‘‘EAS decoder’’ entries 

in the tables to clarify that the obligation 

to receive and translate CAP-formatted 

messages may be met by deploying an 

intermediary device. The Commission 

finds that because the tables in § 11.11 

already require deployment of EAS 

decoders, a reference to intermediary 

devices (which are stand-alone 

equipment in their own right) is 

required for consistency in light of its 

decision to permit EAS Participants to 

deploy intermediary devices to meet 

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their CAP-related obligations. The 

Commission also deletes the date 

references in the equipment deployment 

tables in § 11.11 (as well as crossreferences to these dates in other 

sections of Part 11, such as § 11.51(c) 

and (d)), along with the entry for twotone encoders. The Commission finds 

that this action is required for 

consistency and has support in the 

record. 

37. The Commission also concludes 

that incorporating monitoring 

requirements or references thereto into 

§ 11.11 is unnecessary. The Commission 

observes that no party filed comments 

on this issue directly. The Commission 

further observes that decoders already 

are required to meet the monitoring 

requirements in § 11.52, which it is 

amending to include CAP monitoring. 

Accordingly, the Commission concludes 

that the basic requirement to deploy a 

decoder (or intermediary device) 

necessarily triggers CAP monitoring 

obligations. 

38. Section 11.20. The Commission 

concludes that § 11.20 of the 

Commission’s rules need not be revised 

to accommodate the distribution of CAP 

messages, as recommended by CSRIC, or 

to incorporate CAP monitoring, as 

recommended by parties responding to 

the Part 11 Public Notice. Specifically, 

the Commission concludes that the 

language in § 11.20 is broad enough to 

encompass EAS messages originated in 

CAP format, to the extent that a given 

state relay network is involved in the 

distribution of that state’s CAPformatted alert messages. The 

Commission also observes that it does 

not know what role the state relay 

network will or will not play in the 

distribution of CAP messages in each 

state (or locality), or whether these will 

be consistent for all states (and 

localities). The Commission defers 

specifying how state and local SAMEformatted and CAP-formatted EAS 

messages are distributed to state and 

Local Area EAS Plans. 

39. Section 11.21. The Commission 

amends the State Area EAS Plan 

requirements in section 11.21(a) to make 

clear that the State EAS Plans specify 

the monitoring assignments and the 

specific primary and backup path for 

SAME-formatted EANs and that the 

monitoring requirements for CAPformatted EANs are set forth in § 11.52. 

The Commission observes that it does 

not know what role, if any, state alerting 

systems may play in disseminating 

CAP-formatted EANs in the future. 

Accordingly, the Commission also 

includes language that to the extent a 

state may distribute CAP-formatted 

EANs to EAS Participants via its state 

alerting system, its State EAS Plan must 

include specific and detailed 

information describing how such 

messages will be aggregated and 

delivered, just as it must for state CAPformatted non-EAN messages. 

40. The Commission observes that its 

proposal in the Third FNPRM to clarify 

§ 11.21(a) (and 11.55(a)) that the 

mandate to process gubernatorial alerts 

applies to CAP alerts has become moot 

in light of its decision to eliminate the 

obligation that EAS Participants receive 

and process CAP-formatted 

gubernatorial alerts. The Commission 

also observes, however, that detailed 

information describing how stateoriginated CAP-formatted messages will 

be aggregated and distributed to EAS 

Participants, including applicable 

monitoring requirements, must be 

detailed in the State EAS Plans, just as 

the equivalent information for SAMEformatted alerts always has been, and 

amends § 11.21(a) to make this clear. 

41. Section 11.21(c). The Commission 

defers taking any action regarding the 

FCC Mapbook, requirements in 

§ 11.21(c) of the Commission’s rules, 

until, at a minimum, it has completed 

its review of the test data it will be 

receiving from EAS Participants as a 

result of the November 9, 2011, 

Nationwide EAS Test. 

42. Section 11.31(a)(3). In light of its 

decisions to require conversion of CAPformatted messages into the existing 

EAS Protocol for transmission over the 

current EAS architecture, the 

Commission finds that the language in 

§ 11.31(a)(3) limiting the EAS Protocol 

message to audio, video, or text remains 

valid and thus declines to revise the 

language in § 11.31(a) to better reflect 

CAP’s capabilities. 

43. Section 11.35(a). The Commission 

amends sections 11.35(a) and (b) to 

clarify that these sections apply to all 

equipment used as part of the EAS, 

including all equipment that performs 

the functions of decoding and encoding 

messages formatted in the EAS Protocol 

and the Common Alerting Protocol. The 

Commission observes that §§ 11.35(a) 

and (b) apply to EAS Encoders and 

Decoders and have terms that are broad 

enough to capture both integrated CAPcapable EAS devices as well as 

intermediary devices, but nonetheless 

clarifies the language in these sections 

to remove any ambiguity on this issue. 

44. Section 11.45. The Commission 

declines to adopt CSRIC’s 

recommendation to revise § 11.45 to 

prohibit CAP messages lacking ‘‘Actual’’ 

status indicators. The Commission 

observes that the language in § 11.45 

already broadly prohibits the 

transmission of the EAS codes or 

attention signal ‘‘in any circumstances 

other than in an actual National, State 

or Local area emergency.’’ The 

Commission finds that this language is 

sufficiently broad to encompass EAS 

codes and attention signals generated 

from the receipt of a SAME-formatted or 

CAP-formatted message. The 

Commission also observes that the ECIG 

Implementation Guide, which the 

Commission adopts as the standard for 

CAP-to-SAME conversion, already 

requires that CAP messages have an 

‘‘ACTUAL’’ status indicator for EAS 

activation. 

45. Section 11.51. The Commission 

adopts the tentative conclusion in the 

Third FNPRM that there is no basis for 

adopting CSRIC’s recommendation to 

revise the language in section 11.51 of 

the Commission’s rules to state that 

equipment must be capable of 

transmitting (or ‘‘rendering’’) a CAPcompliant message to EAS. The 

Commission observes that to the extent 

CSRIC meant to revise § 11.51 to ensure 

conversion of CAP messages into 

SAME-compliant messages, that 

requirement has been incorporated into 

section 11.56. The Commission also 

observes that this is a fundamental 

requirement that will be crossreferenced in other sections of Part 11. 

46. Section 11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), and 

(j)(2). The Commission amends 

§ 11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), and (j)(2) of the 

Commission’s rules to require EAS 

Participants to derive the visual display 

elements, including the originator, 

event, location and the valid time 

period of the EAS message, from the 

CAP text data as described in section 3.6 

of the ECIG Implementation Guide. The 

Commission observes that every 

commenter addressing this issue 

favored allowing EAS Participants to 

construct the video crawl from the 

enhanced text in CAP per the ECIG 

Implementation Guide. The 

Commission further observes that the 

ECIG Implementation Guide provides 

procedures for deriving the video crawl 

translation of a CAP-formatted message 

to include not only the EAS codes 

required under the Part 11 rules, but 

also additional text relating to the event, 

which it believes would provide more 

visual information to alert message 

viewers. The Commission observes that 

the utility of such additional text has 

never been in question. The 

Commission explains, for example, that 

the ability to provide additional 

descriptive information will make alerts 

more focused, which could be vitally 

important for Amber alerts and other 

alerts that require more specific 

information than the basic who, what, 

when and where that EAS codes 

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provide. The Commission also observes 

that CAP alert originators will also be 

able to include in alerts suggested 

actions to avoid or prepare for the 

emergency condition; identify URLs and 

other sources of additional information; 

or provide a textual translation of the 

audio portion of a message, which 

would be particularly beneficial to the 

deaf and hard of hearing community. 

47. The Commission concludes that 

its concerns expressed in the Third 

FNPRM regarding the potential for 

confusion that might arise if stations 

serving the same geographic area 

displayed differing video crawls (one 

based on the SAME elements only and 

the other based on the enhanced CAP 

text) are outweighed by the benefit that 

the enhanced text provides. The 

Commission observes that such 

scenarios would arise only when one (or 

more) of the stations in the geographic 

area affected by the emergency loses its 

ability to receive CAP messages but 

continues to receive over-the-air SAME 

messages. The Commission also 

observes that the ECIG Implementation 

Guide procedure for displaying 

enhanced CAP text has already been 

adopted by the industry and FEMA. The 

Commission also finds that requiring 

display of enhanced CAP text will 

provide an incentive for state and local 

alert message originators to deploy and 

use CAP-based alert systems and 

integrate such CAP systems with the 

EAS and FEMA’s IPAWS system. 

48. The Commission clarifies that it 

will continue to use the EAS header 

codes as the baseline requirement for 

the visual display. The Commission 

acknowledges that these codes take up 

some portion of the 1800 characters 

available for scrolling and that the EAS 

header codes may not always 

sufficiently describe the alert. However, 

the Commission nonetheless finds that 

some measure of uniformity and 

consistency in how alert messages are 

processed over the EAS is necessary. In 

this regard, the Commission observes 

that the ECIG Implementation Guide 

does not specify minimum descriptive 

information, and thus if the baseline 

requirement to include the EAS header 

codes were eliminated, there is no 

guarantee that such basic information 

would be included by the CAP message 

originator, and descriptive information 

could vary greatly from state to state and 

locality to locality. The Commission 

also finds that ensuring that the EAS 

header codes are included in CAP 

messages is critical because stations 

responsible for regenerating (via the 

AFSK encoding process) a CAP alert 

message that has been converted into a 

SAME-compliant message for the 

benefit of downstream monitoring 

stations can only encode the EAS 

header codes. 

49. Section 11.54. The Commission 

declines to adopt CSRIC’s 

recommendations to mandate that CAPformatted messages be broadcast only if 

the scope of the alert is ‘‘Public,’’ and 

to revise § 11.54(b)(1) to include IPAWS 

monitoring. The Commission observes 

that it is only requiring EAS equipment 

to produce a SAME-compliant output, 

and there is no requirement in the EAS 

Protocol, or more broadly, in the Part 11 

rules, to broadcast only ‘‘Public’’ EAS 

messages. The Commission also 

observes that the ECIG Implementation 

Guide, with which the Commission is 

requiring conformance, already specifies 

that EAS Participants must ignore CAPformatted messages with a value in the 

‘‘scope’’ field other than ‘‘Public.’’ With 

respect to CSRIC’s proposal to revise 

§ 11.54(b)(1) to include IPAWS 

monitoring, the Commission observes 

that it is deleting § 11.54(b)(1), and 

therefore this issue is moot. 

50. Waivers. The Commission 

concludes that it would not be 

appropriate to adopt any form of blanket 

exemption from the basic obligations of 

monitoring for, receiving, and 

processing CAP-formatted messages. 

The Commission finds that waivers or 

exemptions from these requirements are 

best addressed on a case-by-case basis 

under the waiver standard, where the 

facts and circumstances of each 

individual case can be determined on its 

own merits. The Commission observes, 

however, that the primary method of 

distributing CAP messages will be via a 

broadband Internet connection and 

concludes that the physical 

unavailability of broadband Internet 

service offers a presumption in favor of 

a waiver. The Commission clarifies that 

any waiver based on the physical 

unavailability of broadband Internet 

access likely would not exceed six 

months, with the option of renewal if 

circumstances have not changed. The 

Commission also clarifies that questions 

concerning whether the cost of 

broadband Internet access in a given 

geographic area (or other potential 

substitute CAP alert distribution 

mechanisms) would constitute grounds 

for a waiver of the basic CAP-related 

obligations would be relative to the facts 

and circumstances of an individual 

case. The Commission observes that to 

the extent a waiver applies, the affected 

party would be required to continue to 

operate its legacy EAS equipment. 

51. The Commission rejects the 

request of the American Cable 

Association to exempt cable systems of 

500 subscribers or less from the Part 11 

rules, concluding that there is no 

evidence that the costs of meeting the 

CAP-related obligations would 

jeopardize any class of entities subject 

to the Part 11 rules or are otherwise 

unreasonable. The Commission clarifies 

that noncommercial educational 

broadcast satellite stations operating 

pursuant to a ‘‘main studio waiver’’ 

need not deploy CAP-capable EAS 

equipment, provided that the EAS 

equipment deployed at the parent (hub) 

station site meets all applicable CAPrelated and other requirements set forth 

in the Fifth Report and Order. 

C. EAS Equipment Certification 

52. The Commission incorporates 

conformance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide into its existing 

equipment certification process. The 

Commission concludes that EAS 

equipment must be certified as CAP 

compliant because it is amending Part 

11 to require CAP-to-SAME conversion 

in conformance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide, and thus, as part 

of the required Part 11 functions, it 

necessarily falls under Part 11’s 

certification requirements. 

53. In terms of implementation, the 

Commission finds that the test 

procedures developed and utilized in 

FEMA’s IPAWS CA program constitute 

the most logical basis for demonstrating 

compliance with the CAP compliance 

requirements. The Commission further 

finds that integrated CAP-capable EAS 

devices that have passed the 

conformance testing performed under 

FEMA’s IPAWS CA program may use 

the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity 

(SDoC) issued under that program to 

demonstrate CAP-to-SAME conversion 

in conformance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide. The 

Commission also finds that integrated 

CAP-capable EAS devices that have not 

already passed the conformance testing 

performed under FEMA’s IPAWS CA 

program must independently show 

conformance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide through device 

testing pursuant to the test procedures 

developed and utilized in FEMA’s 

IPAWS CA program. The Commission 

indicates that such testing can be 

performed by (i) the National Incident 

Management System (NIMS) Support 

Center—Supporting Technology 

Evaluation Project (STEP), which has 

assumed the role of testing for CAP and 

IPAWS profile compliance for EAS 

devices from the IPAWS CA program, or 

(ii) any other entity. The procedures and 

time periods for all cases described 

above are summarized as follows: 

Æ For integrated CAP-capable EAS 

devices that already have FCC 

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certification, the grantee must submit a 

Class II Permissive Change filing that 

includes: (i) A cover letter explaining 

that the purpose of the filing is to 

apprise the Commission that the device 

has been tested for compliance with the 

ECIG Implementation Guide pursuant to 

the procedures adopted in this order 

and that the filing is being made to 

update the device’s existing certification 

file; (ii) a statement signed by the 

grantee of the device’s underlying FCC 

equipment authorization confirming 

compliance with section 11.56 of the 

Commission’s rules; and (iii) a copy of 

either (a) the IPAWS CA program SDoC, 

if tested under FEMA’s program; (b) the 

NIMS SDoC, if tested under the NIMS 

CAP testing program; or (c) for devices 

tested outside these programs, a copy of 

the test report showing that the device 

passed the test elements. If the 

integrated CAP-capable EAS device has 

already been marketed, the Class II 

Permissive Change filing must be 

submitted by June 30, 2012, the effective 

deadline for overall CAP compliance. 

Æ For integrated CAP-capable EAS 

devices that do not already have FCC 

certification, the grantee must include 

with the FCC certification application 

materials: (i) A cover letter explaining 

that the device has been tested for 

compliance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide pursuant to the 

procedures adopted in this order; (ii) a 

statement signed by the grantee 

confirming compliance with section 

11.56 of the Commission’s rules; and 

(iii) a copy of either (a) the IPAWS CA 

program SDoC, if tested under FEMA’s 

IPAWS CA program, (b) the NIMS 

SDoC, if tested under the NIMS CAP 

testing program, or (c) for devices tested 

outside these programs, a copy of the 

test report showing that the device 

passed the test elements. 

54. Intermediary Devices. As a 

preliminary matter, the Commission 

finds that universal intermediary 

devices and component intermediary 

devices perform encoder or decoder 

functions and as such are subject to 

certification under § 11.34 of the 

Commission’s rules. Specifically, the 

Commission observes that universal 

intermediary devices monitor, acquire, 

and decode CAP messages, using the 

relevant CAP data to generate (i.e., 

encode) the EAS codes (FSK audio 

tones) and if present, an audio message, 

which can be received by the audio 

input of a legacy EAS device just as it 

would receive any other over-the-air 

SAME-formatted message. Accordingly, 

the Commission finds that universal 

intermediary devices are subject to 

certification both as decoders and 

encoders under § 11.34(a) and (b) of our 

rules, respectively. 

55. The Commission observes that 

component intermediary devices also 

monitor for, acquire, and decode CAP 

messages, but because they are 

configured to interface with a specific 

legacy EAS device model, they may be 

capable of communicating the extracted 

data to the companion legacy EAS 

device model in a non-AFSK format and 

thus may not themselves be encoding 

the SAME data. The Commission 

concludes that under these 

circumstances, a component 

intermediary device would not be 

subject to certification as an encoder 

under § 11.34(a) in its capacity as a 

stand-alone device. The Commission 

also observes, however, that component 

intermediary devices are designed for 

and intended to be operated with 

specific legacy EAS device models. 

Accordingly, the Commission finds that 

the output of the combined system 

configuration of these devices performs 

encoding functions which subjects such 

configuration to certification under 

§ 11.34(a). In addition, the Commission 

observes that component intermediary 

devices perform decoding functions in 

their capacity as stand-alone devices 

that subject them to certification under 

§ 11.34(b). 

56. With respect to incorporating 

conformance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide for intermediary 

devices into the existing certification 

process, the Commission observes that 

FEMA’s IPAWS CA program tested 

intermediary devices for conformance 

with the ECIG Implementation Guide. 

Given the nature of the two types of 

intermediary devices, the Commission 

concludes that the test procedures 

developed and utilized in FEMA’s 

IPAWS CA program for testing 

intermediary devices constitute a 

sufficient basis for demonstrating 

compliance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide in a way that 

would impose minimal costs on the 

affected parties. Accordingly, the 

Commission concludes that the 

streamlined certification processes 

outlined above for integrated CAPcapable EAS devices are equally 

suitable for intermediary devices. 

However, with respect to certification 

testing for ECIG Implementation Guide 

compliance and Part 11 compliance, the 

Commission concludes that, because 

component intermediary devices are 

designed and intended to be operated 

with specific legacy EAS device models, 

certification testing for ECIG 

Implementation Guide compliance and 

Part 11 compliance of these devices 

must be performed on the combined 

system—i.e., the component 

intermediary device as configured with 

the specific legacy EAS device model(s) 

with which it is marketed and intended 

to be used. The Commission also 

clarifies that universal type 

intermediary devices can be tested as 

stand-alone devices. The procedures 

and time periods for all cases described 

above are summarized as follows: 

Æ For intermediary devices that 

already have FCC certification, the 

grantee must submit a Class II 

Permissive Change filing that includes: 

(i) A cover letter explaining that the 

purpose of the filing is to apprise the 

Commission that the device has been 

tested for compliance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide pursuant to the 

procedures adopted in this order and 

that the filing is being made to update 

the device’s existing certification file; 

and (ii) a copy of either (a) the IPAWS 

CA program SDoC, if tested under 

FEMA’s IPAWS CA program; (b) the 

MINS SDoC, if tested under the NIMS 

CAP testing program; or (c) for devices 

tested outside these programs, a copy of 

the test report showing that the device 

passed the test elements. If the 

intermediary device has already been 

marketed, the Class II Permissive 

Change filing must be submitted by June 

30, 2012, the effective deadline for 

overall CAP compliance. 

Æ For intermediary devices that do 

not already have FCC certification, the 

grantee must include with the FCC 

certification application materials: (i) A 

cover letter explaining that the device 

has been tested for compliance with the 

ECIG Implementation Guide pursuant to 

the procedures adopted in this order; 

and (ii) a copy of either (a) the IPAWS 

CA program SDoC, if tested under 

FEMA’s IPAWS CA program; (b) the 

NIMS SDoC, if tested under the NIMS 

CAP testing program; or (c) for devices 

tested outside these programs, a copy of 

the test report showing that the device 

passed the test elements. 

57. Modified Equipment. The 

Commission concludes that the existing 

requirements governing modifications to 

certified equipment in section 2.1043 of 

the Commission’s rules are sufficient to 

cover CAP-enabled equipment. The 

Commission clarifies that modifications 

to authorized EAS equipment that are 

necessary to implement revisions to the 

EAS event codes, originator codes, or 

location codes set forth in section 11.31 

may be implemented as Class I 

permissive changes. The Commission 

also observes that any future revisions 

to the CAP-related standards adopted by 

FEMA could not become effective in the 

Part 11 rules absent a rulemaking 

proceeding. 

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16696 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

E. CAP Messages Originated by State 

Governors 

58. The Commission concludes that 

the mandate to receive and transmit 

CAP-formatted messages initiated by 

state governors is not necessary at this 

time and is potentially detrimental to 

effective deployment of CAP-based 

alerts. Accordingly, the Commission 

eliminates the mandate from Part 11. In 

arriving at this determination, the 

Commission observes that there are a 

number of practical problems associated 

with implementing the mandate within 

the existing EAS system architecture, 

and overcoming these problems would 

likely impose significant costs on and 

disruption to its transitional approach 

for accommodating CAP within the 

EAS. The Commission points out as 

particularly problematic the issue of 

whether and how the gubernatorial 

CAP-formatted message could be 

converted into an EAS Protocolformatted message for the benefit of 

downstream monitoring stations. The 

Commission observes, for example, that 

the ECIG Implementation Guide 

procedures for identifying a CAP 

message as being from a governor only 

works for an EAS Participant that 

receives the CAP message, as the CAPformatted gubernatorial alert cannot be 

converted and encoded as an existing 

EAS Protocol-formatted message. 

59. The Commission also observes 

that adding a new originator code to 

make the gubernatorial CAP mandate 

operational within the legacy EAS 

domain presents a range of problems. 

The Commission points out, for 

example, that such a revision to the EAS 

Protocol would require updates to every 

integrated CAP-capable EAS device, 

intermediary device, and legacy EAS 

device, the latter of which may not be 

capable of being updated and would 

have to be replaced (along with any 

intermediary device with which they 

might be configured). The Commission 

also points out that implementing the 

mandatory gubernatorial alert within 

the revised EAS rules would present 

other equally troubling issues for which 

there are no ready or obvious technical 

solutions. The Commission observes 

that these problems include 

implementing priority status within 

CAP for a gubernatorial alert and 

mandating broadcast of a category of 

messages that do not specify an actual 

emergency. The Commission further 

observes that such an open ended 

mandate might, in some cases, allow the 

issuance of a mandatory message that 

may be inappropriate for an alert. 

60. The Commission also questions 

whether the mandatory gubernatorial 

alert requirement would provide any 

tangible benefit. The Commission 

observes that while the mandate was 

adopted in 2007 as an incentive to 

encourage and facilitate state use of the 

EAS network, it does not appear that 

this rationale applies today. In this 

regard, the Commission observes that 

approximately twenty-four states 

(including one territory) have either 

deployed CAP systems or are in the 

planning stages of deploying CAP 

systems, and given the current 

economic climate, it seems unlikely that 

states that have not already deployed or 

begun plans to deploy CAP systems will 

do so simply because of an enforceable 

mandate to carry CAP-formatted 

gubernatorial messages. The 

Commission further observes that there 

is near universal voluntary participation 

by EAS Participants in carrying state 

and local EAS messages. Accordingly, 

the Commission concludes that having 

an enforceable means to guarantee 

carriage of gubernatorial CAP alert 

messages seems unnecessary. Finally, 

the Commission observes that FEMA’s 

IPAWS will provide a means for a State 

governor, or the governor’s authorized 

representative, to issue targeted CAPbased alerts, not only over the EAS, but 

over mobile devices. 

F. Revising the Procedures for 

Processing EANs 

61. The Commission amends the Part 

11 EAS rules so that EANs will be 

processed on a message-by-message 

basis, like any other EAS message, only 

on a mandatory and priority basis. As 

part of this rule simplification, the 

Commission eliminates the Emergency 

Action Termination (EAT) event code. 

Under the Commission’s revised 

approach, receipt of an EAN will 

effectively open an audio channel 

between the originating source and the 

EAS Participant’s facilities until the 

EAS Participant receives an End of 

Message (EOM) code. After the EAS 

Participant receives the EOM, the EAS 

equipment will return to regular 

programming until receipt of the next 

EAS message. If that message is another 

EAN, then the process would repeat; if 

that message is a state or local EAS 

message, then that message would be 

aired in accordance with the 

specifications in the State or Local Area 

EAS Plan. The Commission concludes 

that revising the rules governing EAN 

processing is necessary because they 

were designed to accommodate the EAN 

Network, which was phased out in 

1995, and purely manual operation. The 

Commission also observes that the 

current EAN processing rules do not 

translate well for automated operation, 

are confusing, and in some cases, 

inconsistent with other Part 11 rules. 

62. With respect to the question raised 

in the Third FNPRM regarding whether 

to eliminate the option for EAS 

Participants to manually process EANs 

(but not state or local EAS messages), 

the Commission finds that it would be 

premature to take any action on such 

matter until after it has reviewed the test 

data from the November 9, 2011, 

Nationwide EAS Test. Accordingly, the 

Commission defers taking any action on 

this matter at this time. 

63. Revising Section 11.54. The 

Commission deletes §§ 11.54(b)(1), (3), 

(4), (10), and 11.54(c) from the Part 11 

rules. The Commission finds that these 

provisions are superfluous in the 

context of the message-by-message 

processing it is adopting for EANs. 

64. Deleting Section 11.42. The 

Commission deletes § 11.42 from the 

Part 11 rules because it no longer serves 

any purpose. 

65. Eliminating the EAS Operating 

Handbook. With respect to the question 

raised in the Third FNPRM regarding 

whether to eliminate the EAS Operating 

Handbook, the Commission finds that it 

would be premature to take any actions 

on such matter until after it has 

reviewed the test data from the 

November 9, 2011, Nationwide EAS 

Test. Accordingly, the Commission 

defers taking any action on this issue at 

this time. 

66. However, the Commission is 

deleting §§ 11.54(a), (b)(2), and (5)–(8) 

because they serve no purpose under 

the message-by-message processing 

approach it adopts for handling EANs. 

The Commission observes that these 

provisions all refer to procedures set 

forth in the EAS Operating Handbook 

designed to implement the National 

Emergency Condition, which the 

Commission is eliminating. The 

Commission observes that if it elects to 

retain the EAS Operating Handbook, it 

will at most serve as an informational 

document to aid EAS Participant 

personnel in handling EAS messages 

manually and will not itself establish 

any procedures (such as on-air 

announcements) that must be followed. 

67. Non-Participating National (NN) 

Sources. The Commission eliminates 

NN status on the grounds that it is not 

necessary. Accordingly, the Commission 

deletes references to NN status from 

§§ 11.18, 11.41, 11.54, and 11.55 of the 

Commission’s rules, and deletes § 11.19 

altogether. The Commission clarifies 

that any existing stations operating 

under NN status must meet the full 

message-by-message EAN processing 

requirements, and CAP-related 

requirements, by the June 30, 2012, 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16697 

general deadline for processing CAPformatted messages. The Commission 

finds that elimination of NN status is 

warranted because it does not appear to 

serve any purpose today, as NN entities 

already are required to deploy a decoder 

that complies with all EAS message 

processing requirements and follow all 

of the EAN processing requirements, 

except broadcasting the audio message. 

The Commission also observes that 

there are relatively few NN stations, and 

that no entity with or without NN status 

filed comments objecting to the 

proposal to eliminate NN status raised 

in the Third FNPRM. 

68. Deleting Section 11.44. The 

Commission deletes § 11.44 from the 

Part 11 rules on grounds that this 

section is superfluous under the 

message-by-message approach adopted 

by the Commission for processing 

EANs. Although priority for EANs 

already is provided for in the other 

sections of Part 11, the Commission also 

incorporates language on EAN 

preemption and priority into the 

definition of the EAN in section 11.2. 

69. Revising Section 11.53. The 

Commission deletes § 11.53 from the 

Part 11 rules as superfluous in light of 

its decisions to delete almost all of 

§ 11.54 and implement message-bymessage processing for EANs. For 

informational purposes, however, the 

Commission incorporates the relevant 

language in § 11.53(a) and (b), 

describing Federal, State, and local 

origination of the EAN, into the 

definition of EAN in § 11.2 and clarifies 

that such origination applies only to 

EANs formatted and transmitted in 

accordance with the EAS Protocol 

requirements in § 11.31. 

70. Revising Section 11.11(a). The 

Commission revises section 11.11(a) to 

remove the references therein to 

‘‘participating broadcast networks, cable 

networks and program suppliers; and 

other entities and industries operating 

on an organized basis during 

emergencies at the National, State and 

local levels’’ on grounds that these 

references are a holdover from the 

Emergency Broadcasting System (EBS) 

rules and serve no purpose under the 

message-by-message approach adopted 

by the Commission for processing 

EANs. 

71. Deleting Section 11.16. With 

respect to the question raised in the 

Third FNPRM regarding whether to 

delete § 11.16, the Commission observes 

that the test data from the November 9, 

2011, Nationwide EAS Test, which is 

under review, may provide insight on 

this matter. Accordingly, the 

Commission defers taking any action on 

this issue at this time. 

72. However, the Commission is 

deleting § 11.54(b)(12) and 

incorporating that section’s requirement 

for Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations to 

follow the National Control Point 

Procedures into § 11.16. 

G. Miscellaneous Part 11 Revisions Not 

Related to CAP 

73. LP–1 Definition. The 

Commission’s assessment of State EAS 

Plans confirms that there are both radio 

and TV stations serving as LP–1 stations 

and it therefore revises the definition for 

LP–1 stations in section 11.2(b) to 

reflect that these stations can be a radio 

or a TV station. 

74. PEP Definition. The Commission 

deletes section 11.14, which describes 

PEP stations, from the Part 11 rules 

because it mirrors the definition of PEP 

stations in section 11.2(a) and is 

therefore superfluous. The Commission 

also revises section 11.2(a) to delete the 

numerical reference to the actual 

number of PEP stations in existence, 

and clarify that the PEP stations 

distribute EAS messages in accordance 

with the EAS Protocol requirements in 

section 11.31. 

75. EAN and EAT Definitions. The 

Commission deletes section 11.13 from 

the Part 11 rules and folds the definition 

for the EAN currently in section 11.13 

into section 11.2. The Commission 

observes that the proper location in Part 

11 for the EAN definition, currently at 

section 11.13(a), is the definitions 

section in section 11.2. Because the 

Commission also is deleting the EAT, 

the remaining subsection in section 

11.13, section 11.13(b), which describes 

the EAT, is superfluous, leaving no 

purpose for retaining section 11.13 in 

Part 11. 

76. Geographic Codes. The 

Commission changes the references to 

the Federal Information Processing 

Standard (FIPS) numbers (as described 

by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology publication FIPS PUB 6– 

4.FIPS number codes) in sections 11.31 

and 11.34(d) of the Commission’s rules 

to reflect the American National 

Standards Institute (ANSI) Codes 

INCITS 31.200x (Formerly FIPS 6–4), 

Codes for the Identification of Counties 

and Equivalent Entities of the United 

States, its Possessions, and Insular 

Areas standard that superseded it. The 

Commission observes that the FIPS 

standard is outdated and requires 

revision to keep the Part 11 rules 

current. 

77. LPTV and LPFM. The Commission 

revises the analog and digital broadcast 

station equipment deployment table in 

section 11.11(a) of the Commission’s 

rules to correctly identify ‘‘LPFM’’ (Low 

Power FM) and ‘‘LPTV’’ (Low Power 

TV) in their respective columns. The 

Commission also revises sections 

11.61(a)(1)(i) and 11.61(a)(2)(ii) to 

include LPFM stations. The 

Commission observes that these 

corrections are necessary to ensure that 

the rules reflect prior decisions. 

78. Attention Signal. The Commission 

concludes that the Attention Signal 

continues to serve a useful purpose in 

the EAS framework as an audio 

notification to the general public that an 

alert is about to be aired, and therefore 

will retain the Attention Signal in the 

Part 11 rules. However, the Commission 

revises section 11.32(a)(9)(iv) to require 

that the Attention Signal be set to eight 

seconds in duration, which reflects 

what has become common practice and 

ensures that when the signal is aired, it 

is done in a consistent manner. In 

addition, the Commission deletes 

section 11.33(b), which establishes 

Attention Signal requirements for 

decoders, because these requirements 

were used for demuting and activation 

functions that do not apply to the EAS. 

The Commission also deletes section 

11.12, which specifies that EBS 

Attention Signal encoders and decoders 

can remain in operation until January 1, 

1998, because this section is obsolete. 

79. Section 11.33(a)(9). With respect 

to the decoder reset requirements 

specified in section 11.39(a)(9) of the 

Commission’s rules, the Commission 

finds that EAS Participants should be 

allowed to relay, for the benefit of 

downstream monitoring stations, 

messages they received that did not 

include an EOM within the reset time 

limit set on their decoder (presumably, 

two minutes). More specifically, the 

Commission finds that when a non-EAN 

alert exceeds that two minute mark, the 

EAS Participant’s EAS device should be 

allowed to generate an EOM to make up 

for the EOM that was not received with 

the original message. The Commission 

observes that the record indicates that 

current EAS equipment already 

functions in this manner, and that there 

are many reasons why an EOM might 

not arrive before the reset value triggers 

that have nothing to do with the 

reliability of the message. The 

Commission further observes that the 

only way to ensure that an EOM did 

arrive for a given EAS message prior to 

the reset value would be to delay relay 

of that message until the entire message 

and its EOM has been received, which 

could take up to two minutes (or more), 

which it concludes is not in the public 

interest. 

80. Section 11.33(a)(3)(ii). The 

Commission declines to eliminate the 

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16698 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

requirement in section 11.33(a)(3)(ii) to 

delete messages upon expiration of their 

time periods, as proposed in the Third 

FNPRM. The Commission concludes 

that the valid time period should 

continue to be set by the message 

originator, which is the party most 

responsible for the public’s safety. The 

Commission also observes that EAS 

Participants have repeatedly stressed 

that they do not want the responsibility 

of alert origination, and allowing them 

to air expired alerts would effectively 

put them in that role. 

81. Training. The Commission 

reiterates that it lacks the authority to 

raise or distribute funds for EAS-related 

purposes and therefore cannot provide 

training for state and local emergency 

managers. The Commission observes, 

however, that it can hold workshops 

and summits as part of its outreach 

mission. The Commission also observes 

that it intends to examine the relative 

merits of making the FCC Mapbook and 

EAS Operator Handbook more 

informative and useful for EAS 

Participants and their personnel. 

82. Persons with Disabilities. The 

Commission observes that its decision 

to require EAS Participants to meet the 

video display requirements in sections 

11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), and (j)(2) by using 

the enhanced text in the CAP message 

will enable CAP alert message 

originators to provide a transcript of the 

audio message, which helps harmonize 

the EAS rules with the requirements of 

section 79.2 of the Commission’s rules. 

The Commission also observes that 

requiring display of enhanced CAP text 

will provide an incentive for state and 

local alert message originators to deploy 

and use CAP-based alert systems. The 

Commission believes that providing 

state and local alert message originators 

with a conduit for the transmission of 

transcripts of the audio portions of their 

messages should encourage alert 

originators to craft messages that will 

provide accessible alerting for persons 

with hearing and vision disabilities. 

83. Proposals Beyond the Scope of the 

Fifth Report and Order. The 

Commission identifies several issues 

raised by comments responding to the 

Third FNPRM that were not raised in 

the Third FNPRM. Because these issues 

were not raised in the Third FNPRM, the 

Commission does not resolve them in 

the Fifth Report and Order. 

III. Procedural Matters 

A. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

84. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, see 5 U.S.C. 603, 

the Commission has prepared a Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) 

of possible significant economic impact 

on small entities of the policies and 

rules addressed in this document. The 

FRFA is set forth in Appendix A. 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis 

85. This Fifth Report and Order 

adopts modified information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public 

Law 104–13. These modified 

requirements will be submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under an emergency request for 

review under Section 3507(d) of the 

PRA. OMB, the general public, and 

other Federal agencies are 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), 

it previously sought specific comment 

on how the Commission might further 

reduce the information collection 

burden for small business concerns with 

fewer than 25 employees. 

86. In this present document, the 

Commission has assessed the effects of 

revisions to current Part 11 reporting, 

recordkeeping, or compliance 

requirements as set forth in this Fifth 

Report and Order, and does not expect 

these revisions to alter the 

recordkeeping burden of any EAS 

Participants to any appreciable degree. 

There are no results specific to 

businesses with fewer than 25 

employees. 

C. Congressional Review Act 

87. The Commission will send a copy 

of this Fifth Report and Order to 

Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act (‘‘CRA’’), see 

5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). 

IV. Ordering Clauses 

88. Accordingly, it is ordered that 

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

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

624(g), 706, and 715 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 615, this Fifth 

Report and Order is adopted. 

89. It is further ordered that the rules 

adopted herein will become effective 

thirty (30) days after the date of their 

publication in the Federal Register, 

except for any reporting, recordkeeping 

or third-party collection requirements 

that contain new or modified 

information collections. Those rules 

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. 

90. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Fifth Report and Order, including 

the Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 11 

Incorporation by reference, Radio, 

Television. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

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. Revise § 11.2 to read as follows: 

§ 11.2 Definitions. 

The definitions of terms used in part 

11 are: 

(a) Emergency Action Notification 

(EAN). The Emergency Action 

Notification is the notice to all EAS 

Participants and to the general public 

that the EAS has been activated for a 

national emergency. EAN messages that 

are formatted in the EAS Protocol 

(specified in § 11.31) are sent from a 

government origination point to 

broadcast stations and other entities 

participating in the PEP system, and are 

subsequently disseminated via EAS 

Participants. Dissemination 

arrangements for EAN messages that are 

formatted in the EAS Protocol (specified 

in § 11.31) at the State and local levels 

are specified in the State and Local Area 

plans (defined at § 11.21). A national 

activation of the EAS for a Presidential 

message with the Event code EAN as 

specified in § 11.31 must take priority 

over any other message and preempt it 

if it is in progress. 

(b) Primary Entry Point (PEP) System. 

The PEP system is a nationwide 

network of broadcast stations and other 

entities connected with government 

activation points. It is used to distribute 

EAS messages that are formatted in the 

EAS Protocol (specified in § 11.31), 

including the EAN and EAS national 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16699 

test messages. FEMA has designated 

some of the nation’s largest radio 

broadcast stations as PEPs. The PEPs are 

designated to receive the Presidential 

alert from FEMA and distribute it to 

local stations. 

(c) Local Primary One (LP–1). The LP– 

1 is a radio or TV station that acts as a 

key EAS monitoring source. Each LP–1 

station must monitor its regional PEP 

station and a back-up source for 

Presidential messages. 

(d) EAS Participants. Entities required 

under the Commission’s rules to comply 

with EAS rules, e.g., analog radio and 

television stations, and wired and 

wireless cable television systems, DBS, 

DTV, SDARS, digital cable and DAB, 

and wireline video systems. 

(e) Wireline Video System. The system 

of a wireline common carrier used to 

provide video programming service. 

(f) Participating National (PN). PN 

stations are broadcast stations that 

transmit EAS National, state, or local 

EAS messages to the public. 

(g) National Primary (NP). Stations 

that are the primary entry point for 

Presidential messages delivered by 

FEMA. These stations are responsible 

for broadcasting a Presidential alert to 

the public and to State Primary stations 

within their broadcast range. 

(h) State Primary (SP). Stations that 

are the entry point for State messages, 

which can originate from the Governor 

or a designated representative. 

(i) Intermediary Device. An 

intermediary device is a stand-alone 

device that carries out the functions of 

monitoring for, receiving and/or 

acquiring, and decoding EAS messages 

formatted in the Common Alerting 

Protocol (CAP) in accordance with 

§ 11.56, and converting such messages 

into a format that can be inputted into 

a separate EAS decoder, EAS encoder, 

or unit combining such decoder and 

encoder functions, so that the EAS 

message outputted by such separate 

EAS decoder, EAS encoder, or unit 

combining such decoder and encoder 

functions, and all other functions 

attendant to processing such EAS 

message, comply with the requirements 

in this part. 

■ 3. Amend § 11.11 by revising 

paragraphs (a) and (d) to read as follows: 

§ 11.11 The Emergency Alert System 

(EAS). 

(a) The EAS is composed of analog 

radio broadcast stations including AM, 

FM, and Low-power FM (LPFM) 

stations; digital audio broadcasting 

(DAB) stations, including digital AM, 

FM, and Low-power FM stations; Class 

A television (CA) and Low-power TV 

(LPTV) stations; digital television (DTV) 

broadcast stations, including digital CA 

and digital LPTV stations; analog cable 

systems; digital cable systems which are 

defined for purposes of this part only as 

the portion of a cable system that 

delivers channels in digital format to 

subscribers at the input of a 

Unidirectional Digital Cable Product or 

other navigation device; wireline video 

systems; wireless cable systems which 

may consist of Broadband Radio Service 

(BRS), or Educational Broadband 

Service (EBS) stations; DBS services, as 

defined in § 25.701(a) of this chapter 

(including certain Ku-band FixedSatellite Service Direct to Home 

providers); and SDARS, as defined in 

§ 25.201 of this chapter. These entities 

are referred to collectively as EAS 

Participants in this part, and are subject 

to this part, except as otherwise 

provided herein. At a minimum EAS 

Participants must use a common EAS 

protocol, as defined in § 11.31, to send 

and receive emergency alerts, and 

comply with the requirements set forth 

in § 11.56, in accordance with the 

following tables: 

TABLE 1—ANALOG AND DIGITAL BROADCAST STATION EQUIPMENT DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS

EAS equipment requirement AM & FM Digital AM & 

FM 

Analog & digital FM class 

D 

Analog & 

digital LPFM DTV 

Analog & 

digital class 

A TV 

Analog & 

digital LPTV 

EAS decoder 1 ............................ Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 

EAS encoder .............................. Y Y N N Y Y N 

Audio message .......................... Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 

Video message .......................... N/A N/A N/A N/A Y Y Y 

1EAS Participants may comply with the obligations set forth in § 11.56 to decode and convert CAP-formatted messages into EAS Protocolcompliant messages by deploying an Intermediary Device, as specified in § 11.56(b). 

Analog Cable Systems 

Analog cable systems are subject to 

the requirements in Table 2 below. 

Analog cable systems serving fewer than 

5,000 subscribers from a headend may 

either provide the National level EAS 

message on all programmed channels 

including the required testing, or 

comply with the requirements in 

Table 2. 

TABLE 2—ANALOG CABLE SYSTEM EQUIPMENT DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS

EAS equipment requirement ≥5,000 

subscribers 

<5,000 

subscribers 

EAS decoder 1 ............................................................................................................................................. Y Y 

EAS encoder ................................................................................................................................................ Y Y2

Audio and Video EAS Message on all channels ........................................................................................ Y N 

Video interrupt and audio alert message on all channels;3 Audio and Video EAS message on at least 

one channel .............................................................................................................................................. N Y 

1EAS Participants may comply with the obligations set forth in § 11.56 to decode and convert CAP-formatted messages into EAS Protocolcompliant messages by deploying an Intermediary Device, as specified in § 11.56(b). 2Analog cable systems serving <5,000 subscribers are permitted to operate without an EAS encoder if they install an FCC-certified decoder. 

3The Video interrupt must cause all channels that carry programming to flash for the duration of the EAS emergency message. The audio alert 

must give the channel where the EAS messages are carried and be repeated for the duration of the EAS message. [Note: Programmed channels do not include channels used for the transmission of data such as interactive games.] 

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16700 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Wireless Cable Systems (BRS/EBS 

Stations) 

Wireless cable systems are subject to 

the requirements in Table 3 below. 

Wireless cable systems serving fewer 

than 5,000 subscribers from a single 

transmission site must either provide 

the National level EAS message on all 

programmed channels including the 

required testing, or comply with the 

requirements in Table 3. 

TABLE 3—WIRELESS CABLE SYSTEM EQUIPMENT DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS

EAS equipment requirement ≥5,000 

subscribers 

<5,000 

subscribers 

EAS decoder 1 ............................................................................................................................................. Y Y 

EAS encoder ................................................................................................................................................ Y Y2

Audio and Video EAS Message on all channels 3 ...................................................................................... Y N 

Video interrupt and audio alert message on all channels; 4 Audio and Video EAS message on at least 

one channel .............................................................................................................................................. N Y 

1EAS Participants may comply with the obligations set forth in § 11.56 to decode and convert CAP-formatted messages into EAS Protocolcompliant messages by deploying an Intermediary Device, as specified in § 11.56(b). 2Wireless cable systems serving <5,000 subscribers are permitted to operate without an EAS encoder if they install an FCC-certified decoder. 

3All wireless cable systems may comply with this requirement by providing a means to switch all programmed channels to a predesignated 

channel that carries the required audio and video EAS messages. 4The Video interrupt must cause all channels that carry programming to flash for the duration of the EAS emergency message. The audio alert 

must give the channel where the EAS messages are carried and be repeated for the duration of the EAS message. [Note: Programmed channels do not include channels used for the transmission of data services such as Internet.] 

Digital Cable Systems and Wireline 

Video Systems 

Digital cable systems and Wireline 

Video Systems must comply with the 

requirements in Table 4 below. Digital 

cable systems and Wireline Video 

Systems serving fewer than 5,000 

subscribers from a headend must either 

provide the National level EAS message 

on all programmed channels including 

the required testing, or comply with the 

requirements in Table 4. 

TABLE 4—DIGITAL CABLE SYSTEM AND WIRELINE VIDEO SYSTEM EQUIPMENT DEPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS

EAS equipment requirement ≥5,000 

subscribers 

<5,000 

subscribers 

EAS decoder 1 ............................................................................................................................................. Y Y 

EAS encoder ................................................................................................................................................ Y Y2

Audio and Video EAS Message on all channels 3 ...................................................................................... Y N 

Video interrupt and audio alert message on all channels; 4 Audio and Video EAS message on at least 

one channel .............................................................................................................................................. N Y 

1EAS Participants may comply with the obligations set forth in § 11.56 to decode and convert CAP-formatted messages into EAS Protocolcompliant messages by deploying an Intermediary Device, as specified in § 11.56(b). 2 Digital cable systems and wireline video systems serving <5,000 subscribers are permitted to operate without an EAS encoder if they install 

an FCC-certified decoder. 3All digital cable systems and wireline video systems may comply with this requirement by providing a means to switch all programmed channels to a predesignated channel that carries the required audio and video EAS messages. 4The Video interrupt must cause all channels that carry programming to flash for the duration of the EAS emergency message. The audio alert 

must give the channel where the EAS messages are carried and be repeated for the duration of the EAS message. [Note: Programmed channels do not include channels used for the transmission of data services such as Internet access.] 

SDARS AND DBS 

EAS equipment requirement SDARS DBS 

EAS decoder 1 ............................................................................................................................................. Y Y 

EAS encoder ................................................................................................................................................ Y Y 

Audio message on all channels 2 ................................................................................................................ Y Y 

Video message on all channels 2 ................................................................................................................ N/A Y 

1EAS Participants may comply with the obligations set forth in § 11.56 to decode and convert CAP-formatted messages into EAS Protocolcompliant messages by deploying an Intermediary Device, as specified in § 11.56(b). 2All SDARS and DBS providers may comply with this requirement by providing a means to switch all programmed channels to a 

predesignated channel that carries the required audio and video EAS messages or by any other method that ensures that viewers of all channels 

receive the EAS message. 

* * * * * 

(d) Local franchise authorities may 

use any EAS codes authorized by the 

FCC in any agreements. 

* * * * * 

§ 11.12 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 4. Remove and reserve § 11.12. 

§ 11.13 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 5. Remove and reserve § 11.13. 

§ 11.14 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 6. Remove and reserve § 11.14. 

§ 11.18 [Amended] 

■ 7. Amend § 11.18 by removing 

paragraph (f). 

§ 11.19 [Removed] 

■ 8. Remove § 11.19. 

■ 9. Amend § 11.21 by revising 

paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16701 

§ 11.21 State and Local Area plans and 

FCC Mapbook. 

* * * * * 

(a) The State EAS Plan contains 

procedures for State emergency 

management and other State officials, 

the NWS, and EAS Participants’ 

personnel to transmit emergency 

information to the public during a State 

emergency using the EAS. State EAS 

Plans should include a data table, in 

computer readable form, clearly 

showing monitoring assignments and 

the specific primary and backup path 

for emergency action notification (EAN) 

messages that are formatted in the EAS 

Protocol (specified in § 11.31), from the 

PEP to each station in the plan. If a 

state’s emergency alert system is capable 

of initiating EAS messages formatted in 

the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), 

its State EAS Plan must include specific 

and detailed information describing 

how such messages will be aggregated 

and distributed to EAS Participants 

within the state, including the 

monitoring requirements associated 

with distributing such messages. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Amend § 11.31 by revising 

paragraphs (c), (e) and (f) to read as 

follows: 

§ 11.31 EAS protocol. 

* * * * * 

(c) The EAS protocol, including any 

codes, must not be amended, extended 

or abridged without FCC authorization. 

The EAS protocol and message format 

are specified in the following 

representation. 

Examples are provided in FCC Public 

Notices. 

[PREAMBLE]ZCZC-ORG-EEEPSSCCC+TTTT-JJJHHMM-LLLLLLLL- 

(one second pause) 

[PREAMBLE]ZCZC-ORG-EEEPSSCCC+TTTTpJJJHHMMLLLLLLLL-(one second pause) 

[PREAMBLE]ZCZC-ORG-EEEPSSCCC+TTTT-JJJHHMM-LLLLLLLL- 

(at least a one second pause) 

(transmission of 8 to 25 seconds of 

Attention Signal) 

(transmission of audio, video or text 

messages) 

(at least a one second pause) 

[PREAMBLE]NNNN (one second pause) 

[PREAMBLE]NNNN (one second pause) 

[PREAMBLE]NNNN (at least one second 

pause) 

[PREAMBLE] This is a consecutive 

string of bits (sixteen bytes of AB 

hexadecimal [8 bit byte 10101011]) 

sent to clear the system, set AGC and 

set asynchronous decoder clocking 

cycles. The preamble must be 

transmitted before each header and 

End of Message code. 

ZCZC—This is the identifier, sent as 

ASCII characters ZCZC to indicate the 

start of ASCII code. 

ORG—This is the Originator code and 

indicates who originally initiated the 

activation of the EAS. These codes are 

specified in paragraph (d) of this 

section. 

EEE—This is the Event code and 

indicates the nature of the EAS 

activation. The codes are specified in 

paragraph (e) of this section. The 

Event codes must be compatible with 

the codes used by the NWS Weather 

Radio Specific Area Message Encoder 

(WRSAME). 

PSSCCC—This is the Location code and 

indicates the geographic area affected 

by the EAS alert. There may be 31 

Location codes in an EAS alert. The 

Location code uses the codes 

described in the American National 

Standards Institute (ANSI) standard, 

ANSI INCITS 31–2009 (‘‘Information 

technology—Codes for the 

Identification of Counties and 

Equivalent Areas of the United States, 

Puerto Rico, and the Insular Areas’’). 

Each state is assigned an SS number 

as specified in paragraph (f) of this 

section. Each county and some cities 

are assigned a CCC number. A CCC 

number of 000 refers to an entire State 

or Territory. P defines county 

subdivisions as follows: 0 = all or an 

unspecified portion of a county, 1 = 

Northwest, 2 = North, 3 = Northeast, 

4 = West, 5 = Central, 6 = East, 7 = 

Southwest, 8 = South, 9 = Southeast. 

Other numbers may be designated 

later for special applications. The use 

of county subdivisions will probably 

be rare and generally for oddly shaped 

or unusually large counties. Any 

subdivisions must be defined and 

agreed to by the local officials prior to 

use. 

+TTTT—This indicates the valid time 

period of a message in 15 minute 

segments up to one hour and then in 

30 minute segments beyond one hour; 

i.e., +0015, +0030, +0045, +0100, 

+0430 and +0600. 

JJJHHMM—This is the day in Julian 

Calendar days (JJJ) of the year and the 

time in hours and minutes (HHMM) 

when the message was initially 

released by the originator using 24 

hour Universal Coordinated Time 

(UTC). 

LLLLLLLL—This is the identification of 

the EAS Participant, NWS office, etc., 

transmitting or retransmitting the 

message. These codes will be 

automatically affixed to all outgoing 

messages by the EAS encoder. 

NNNN—This is the End of Message 

(EOM) code sent as a string of four 

ASCII N characters. 

* * * * * 

(e) The following Event (EEE) codes 

are presently authorized: 

Nature of activation Event codes 

National Codes (Required): 

Emergency Action Notification 

(National only).

EAN. 

National Information Center .... NIC 

National Periodic Test ............. NPT. 

Required Monthly Test ............ RMT. 

Required Weekly Test ............ RWT. 

State and Local Codes (Optional): 

Administrative Message .......... ADR. 

Avalanche Warning ................. AVW 1. 

Avalanche Watch .................... AVA1. 

Blizzard Warning ..................... BZW. 

Child Abduction Emergency ... CAE1. 

Civil Danger Warning .............. CDW 1. 

Civil Emergency Message ...... CEM. 

Coastal Flood Warning ........... CFW 1. 

Coastal Flood Watch .............. CFA1. 

Dust Storm Warning ............... DSW 1. 

Earthquake Warning ............... EQW 1. 

Evacuation Immediate ............ EVI. 

Fire Warning ........................... FRW 1. 

Flash Flood Warning ............... FFW. 

Flash Flood Watch .................. FFA. 

Flash Flood Statement ............ FFS. 

Flood Warning ......................... FLW. 

Flood Watch ............................ FLA. 

Flood Statement ...................... FLS. 

Hazardous Materials Warning HMW 1. 

High Wind Warning ................. HWW. 

High Wind Watch .................... HWA. 

Hurricane Warning .................. HUW. 

Hurricane Watch ..................... HUA. 

Hurricane Statement ............... HLS. 

Law Enforcement Warning ..... LEW 1. 

Local Area Emergency ........... LAE1. 

Network Message Notification NMN 1. 

911 Telephone Outage Emergency.TOE1. 

Nuclear Power Plant Warning NUW 1. 

Practice/Demo Warning .......... DMO. 

Radiological Hazard Warning RHW 1. 

Severe Thunderstorm Warning SVR. 

Severe Thunderstorm Watch .. SVA. 

Severe Weather Statement .... SVS. 

Shelter in Place Warning ........ SPW 1. 

Special Marine Warning .......... SMW 1. 

Special Weather Statement .... SPS. 

Tornado Warning .................... TOR. 

Tornado Watch ....................... TOA. 

Tropical Storm Warning .......... TRW 1. 

Tropical Storm Watch ............. TRA1. 

Tsunami Warning .................... TSW. 

Tsunami Watch ....................... TSA. 

Volcano Warning ..................... VOW 1. 

Winter Storm Warning ............ WSW. 

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16702 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Nature of activation Event codes 

Winter Storm Watch ................ WSA. 

1Effective May 16, 2002, analog radio and 

television broadcast stations, analog cable 

systems and wireless cable systems may upgrade their existing EAS equipment to add 

these event codes on a voluntary basis until 

the equipment is replaced. All models of EAS 

equipment manufactured after August 1, 2003 

must be capable of receiving and transmitting 

these event codes. EAS Participants that install or replace their EAS equipment after February 1, 2004 must install equipment that is 

capable of receiving and transmitting these 

event codes. 

(f) The State, Territory and Offshore 

(Marine Area) ANSI number codes (SS) 

are as follows. County ANSI numbers 

(CCC) are contained in the State EAS 

Mapbook. 

ANSI No. 

State: 

AL ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 01 

AK ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 02 

AZ ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 04 

AR ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 05 

CA ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 06 

CO ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 08 

CT ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 09 

DE ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 

DC ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 

FL .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12 

GA ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 

HI .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 

ID .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 16 

IL ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 

IN .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18 

IA .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 

KS ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 20 

KY ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 

LA ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 22 

ME ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 23 

MD ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 24 

MA ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 25 

MI .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 26 

MN ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 27 

MS ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 28 

MO ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 

MT ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 30 

NE ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 31 

NV ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 32 

NH ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 33 

NJ ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 34 

NM ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 35 

NY ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 36 

NC ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 37 

ND ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 38 

OH ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 39 

OK ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 40 

OR ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 41 

PA ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 42 

RI .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 44 

SC ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 45 

SD ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 46 

TN ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 47 

TX ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 48 

UT ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 49 

VT ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 50 

VA ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 51 

WA ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 53 

WV ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 54 

WI ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 55 

WY ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 56 

Terr.: 

AS ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 60 

FM ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 64 

GU ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 66 

MH ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 68 

MH ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 68 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16703 

ANSI No. 

PR ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 72 

PW ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 70 

UM ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 74 

VI .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 78 

Offshore (Marine Areas)1: 

Eastern North Pacific Ocean, and along U.S. West Coast from Canadian border to Mexican border ...................................... 57 

North Pacific Ocean near Alaska, and along Alaska coastline, including the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska .................... 58 

Central Pacific Ocean, including Hawaiian waters ...................................................................................................................... 59 

South Central Pacific Ocean, including American Samoa waters ............................................................................................... 61 

Western Pacific Ocean, including Mariana Island waters ............................................................................................................ 65 

Western North Atlantic Ocean, and along U.S. East Coast, from Canadian border south to Currituck Beach Light, N.C ........ 73 

Western North Atlantic Ocean, and along U.S. East Coast, south of Currituck Beach Light, N.C., following the coastline into 

Gulf of Mexico to Bonita Beach, FL., including the Caribbean ................................................................................................ 75 

Gulf of Mexico, and along the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Mexican border to Bonita Beach, FL ................................................. 77 

Lake Superior ............................................................................................................................................................................... 91 

Lake Michigan .............................................................................................................................................................................. 92 

Lake Huron ................................................................................................................................................................................... 93 

Lake St. Clair ................................................................................................................................................................................ 94 

Lake Erie ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 96 

Lake Ontario ................................................................................................................................................................................. 97 

St. Lawrence River above St. Regis ............................................................................................................................................ 98 

1Effective May 16, 2002, analog radio and television broadcast stations, analog cable systems and wireless cable systems may upgrade their 

existing EAS equipment to add these marine area location codes on a voluntary basis until the equipment is replaced. All models of EAS equipment manufactured after August 1, 2003, must be capable of receiving and transmitting these marine area location codes. EAS Participants that 

install or replace their EAS equipment after February 1, 2004, must install equipment that is capable of receiving and transmitting these location 

codes. 

■ 11. Amend § 11.32 by revising 

paragraphs (a)(2), (a)(3) and (a)(9)(iv) to 

read as follows: 

§ 11.32 EAS Encoder. 

(a) * * * 

(2) Inputs. The encoder shall have at 

least one input port used for audio 

messages and at least one input port 

used for data messages. (3) Outputs. The 

encoder shall have at least one audio 

output port and at least one data output 

port. 

* * * * * 

(9) * * * 

(iv) Time Period for Transmission of 

Tones. The encoder shall have timing 

circuitry that automatically generates 

the two tones simultaneously for a time 

period of 8 seconds. 

* * * * * 

■ 12. Amend § 11.33 by: 

■ a. Revising paragraphs (a) 

introductory text, (a)(1), (a)(4), (a)(7), 

and (a)(11); and 

■ b. Removing paragraph (b) and redesignating paragraph (c) as paragraph 

(b). 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 11.33 EAS Decoder. 

(a) An EAS Decoder must at a 

minimum be capable of providing the 

EAS monitoring functions described in 

§ 11.52, decoding EAS messages 

formatted in accordance with the EAS 

Protocol described in § 11.31, and 

converting Common Alerting Protocol 

(CAP)-formatted EAS messages into EAS 

alert messages that comply with the 

EAS Protocol, in accordance with 

§ 11.56(a)(2), with the exception that the 

CAP-related monitoring and conversion 

requirements set forth in §§ 11.52(d)(2) 

and 11.56(a)(2) can be satisfied via an 

Intermediary Device, as specified in 

§ 11.56(b), provided that all other 

requirements set forth in this part are 

met. An EAS Decoder also must be 

capable of the following minimum 

specifications: 

(1) Inputs. Decoders must have the 

capability to receive at least two audio 

inputs from EAS monitoring 

assignments, and at least one data input. 

The data input(s) may be used to 

monitor other communications modes 

such as Radio Broadcast Data System 

(RBDS), NWR, satellite, public switched 

telephone network, or any other source 

that uses the EAS protocol. 

* * * * * 

(4) Display and logging. For received 

alert messages formatted in both the 

EAS Protocol and Common Alerting 

Protocol, a visual message shall be 

developed from any valid header codes 

for tests and national activations and 

any preselected header codes received. 

The message shall at a minimum 

include the Originator, Event, Location, 

the valid time period of the message and 

the local time the message was 

transmitted. The message shall be in the 

primary language of the EAS Participant 

and be fully displayed on the decoder 

and readable in normal light and 

darkness. The visual message developed 

from received alert messages formatted 

in the Common Alerting Protocol must 

conform to the requirements in 

§§ 11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), and (j)(2) of 

this part. All existing and new models 

of EAS decoders manufactured after 

August 1, 2003 must provide a means to 

permit the selective display and logging 

of EAS messages containing header 

codes for state and local EAS events. 

Effective May 16, 2002, analog radio and 

television broadcast stations, analog 

cable systems and wireless cable 

systems may upgrade their decoders on 

an optional basis to include a selective 

display and logging capability for EAS 

messages containing header codes for 

state and local events. EAS Participants 

that install or replace their decoders 

after February 1, 2004 must install 

decoders that provide a means to permit 

the selective display and logging of EAS 

messages containing header codes for 

state and local EAS events. 

* * * * * 

(7) Outputs. Decoders shall have at 

least one data port where received valid 

EAS header codes and received 

preselected header codes are available, 

at least one audio port that is capable of 

monitoring each decoder audio input, 

and an internal speaker to enable 

personnel to hear audio from each 

input. 

* * * * * 

(11) A header code with the EAN 

Event code specified in § 11.31(c) that is 

received through any of the audio or 

data inputs must override all other 

messages. 

* * * * * 

■ 13. Amend § 11.34 by revising 

paragraph (d) to read as follows: 

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16704 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

§ 11.34 Acceptability of the equipment. 

* * * * * 

(d) Manufacturers must include 

instructions and information on how to 

install, operate and program an EAS 

Encoder, EAS Decoder, or combined 

unit and a list of all State and county 

ANSI numbers with each unit sold or 

marketed in the U.S. 

* * * * * 

■ 14. Amend § 11.35 by revising 

paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as follows: 

§ 11.35 Participation in EAS. 

(a) EAS Participants are responsible 

for ensuring that EAS Encoders, EAS 

Decoders, Attention Signal generating 

and receiving equipment, and 

Intermediate Devices used as part of the 

EAS to decode and/or encode messages 

formatted in the EAS Protocol and/or 

the Common Alerting Protocol are 

installed so that the monitoring and 

transmitting functions are available 

during the times the stations and 

systems are in operation. Additionally, 

EAS Participants must determine the 

cause of any failure to receive the 

required tests or activations specified in 

§ 11.61(a)(1) and (2). Appropriate entries 

indicating reasons why any tests were 

not received must be made in the 

broadcast station log as specified in 

§§ 73.1820 and 73.1840 of this chapter 

for all broadcast streams and cable 

system records as specified in 

§§ 76.1700, 76.1708, and 76.1711 of this 

chapter. All other EAS Participants 

must also keep records indicating 

reasons why any tests were not received 

and these records must be retained for 

two years, maintained at the EAS 

Participant’s headquarters, and made 

available for public inspection upon 

reasonable request. 

(b) If an EAS Encoder, EAS Decoder 

or Intermediary Device used as part of 

the EAS to decode and/or encode 

messages formatted in the EAS Protocol 

and/or the Common Alerting Protocol 

becomes defective, the EAS Participant 

may operate without the defective 

equipment pending its repair or 

replacement for 60 days without further 

FCC authority. Entries shall be made in 

the broadcast station log, cable system 

records, and records of other EAS 

Participants, as specified in paragraph 

(a) of this section, showing the date and 

time the equipment was removed and 

restored to service. For personnel 

training purposes, the required monthly 

test script must still be transmitted even 

though the equipment for generating the 

EAS message codes, Attention Signal 

and EOM code is not functioning. 

* * * * * 

■ 15. Revise § 11.41 to read as follows: 

§ 11.41 Participation in EAS. 

All EAS Participants specified in 

§ 11.11 are categorized as Participating 

National (PN) sources, and must have 

immediate access to an EAS Operating 

Handbook. 

§ 11.42 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 16. Remove and reserve § 11.42. 

§ 11.44 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 17. Remove and reserve § 11.44. 

■ 18. Amend § 11.51 by revising 

paragraphs (a), (c), (d), (g)(3), (h)(3), (i) 

introductory text, (j) introductory text, 

(j)(2), paragraph (m) introductory text, 

and adding paragraph (p) to read as 

follows: 

§ 11.51 EAS code and Attention Signal 

Transmission requirements. 

(a) Analog and digital broadcast 

stations must transmit, either 

automatically or manually, national 

level EAS messages and required tests 

by sending the EAS header codes, 

Attention Signal, emergency message 

and End of Message (EOM) codes using 

the EAS Protocol. The Attention Signal 

must precede any emergency audio 

message. 

* * * * * 

(c) All analog and digital radio and 

television stations shall transmit EAS 

messages in the main audio channel. All 

DAB stations shall also transmit EAS 

messages on all audio streams. All DTV 

broadcast stations shall also transmit 

EAS messages on all program streams. 

(d) Analog and digital television 

broadcast stations shall transmit a visual 

message containing the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of an EAS message. Effective 

June 30, 2012, visual messages derived 

from CAP-formatted EAS messages shall 

contain the Originator, Event, Location 

and the valid time period of the message 

and shall be constructed in accordance 

with § 3.6 of the ‘‘ECIG 

Recommendations for a CAP EAS 

Implementation Guide, Version 1.0’’ 

(May 17, 2010), except that if the EAS 

Participant has deployed an 

Intermediary Device to meet its CAPrelated obligations, this requirement 

shall be effective June 30, 2015, and 

until such date shall be subject to the 

general requirement to transmit a visual 

message containing the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the EAS message. If the 

message is a video crawl, it shall be 

displayed at the top of the television 

screen or where it will not interfere with 

other visual messages. 

* * * * * 

(g) * * * 

(3) Shall transmit a visual EAS 

message on at least one channel. The 

visual message shall contain the 

Originator, Event, Location, and the 

valid time period of the EAS message. 

Effective June 30, 2012, visual messages 

derived from CAP-formatted EAS 

messages shall contain the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the message and shall be 

constructed in accordance with § 3.6 of 

the ‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP 

EAS Implementation Guide, Version 

1.0’’ (May 17, 2010), except that if the 

EAS Participant has deployed an 

Intermediary Device to meet its CAPrelated obligations, this requirement 

shall be effective June 30, 2015, and 

until such date shall be subject to the 

general requirement to transmit a visual 

message containing the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the EAS message. If the visual 

message is a video crawl, it shall be 

displayed at the top of the subscriber’s 

television screen or where it will not 

interfere with other visual messages. 

* * * * * 

(h) * * * 

(3) Shall transmit the EAS visual 

message on all downstream channels. 

The visual message shall contain the 

Originator, Event, Location, and the 

valid time period of the EAS message. 

Effective June 30, 2012, visual messages 

derived from CAP-formatted EAS 

messages shall contain the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the message and shall be 

constructed in accordance with § 3.6 of 

the ‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP 

EAS Implementation Guide, Version 

1.0’’ (May 17, 2010), except that if the 

EAS Participant has deployed an 

Intermediary Device to meet its CAPrelated obligations, this requirement 

shall be effective June 30, 2015, and 

until such date shall be subject to the 

general requirement to transmit a visual 

message containing the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the EAS message. If the visual 

message is a video crawl, it shall be 

displayed at the top of the subscriber’s 

television screen or where it will not 

interfere with other visual messages. 

* * * * * 

(i) SDARS licensees shall transmit 

national audio EAS messages on all 

channels in the same order specified in 

paragraph (a) of this section. 

* * * * * 

(j) DBS providers shall transmit 

national audio and visual EAS messages 

on all channels in the same order 

specified in paragraph (a) of this 

section. 

* * * * * 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16705 

(2) The visual message shall contain 

the Originator, Event, Location, and the 

valid time period of the EAS message. 

Effective June 30, 2012, visual messages 

derived from CAP-formatted EAS 

messages shall contain the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the message and shall be 

constructed in accordance with § 3.6 of 

the ‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP 

EAS Implementation Guide, Version 

1.0’’ (May 17, 2010), except that if the 

EAS Participant has deployed an 

Intermediary Device to meet its CAPrelated obligations, this requirement 

shall be effective June 30, 2015, and 

until such date shall be subject to the 

general requirement to transmit a visual 

message containing the Originator, 

Event, Location and the valid time 

period of the EAS message. If the visual 

message is a video crawl, it shall be 

displayed at the top of the subscriber’s 

television screen or where it will not 

interfere with other visual messages. 

* * * * * 

(m) EAS Participants are required to 

transmit all received EAS messages in 

which the header code contains the 

Event codes for Emergency Action 

Notification (EAN) and Required 

Monthly Test (RMT), and when the 

accompanying location codes include 

their State or State/county. These EAS 

messages shall be retransmitted 

unchanged except for the LLLLLLLLcode which identifies the EAS 

Participant retransmitting the message. 

See § 11.31(c). If an EAS source 

originates an EAS message with the 

Event codes in this paragraph, it must 

include the location codes for the State 

and counties in its service area. When 

transmitting the required weekly test, 

EAS Participants shall use the event 

code RWT. The location codes are the 

state and county for the broadcast 

station city of license or system 

community or city. Other location codes 

may be included upon approval of 

station or system management. EAS 

messages may be transmitted 

automatically or manually. 

* * * * * 

(p) The standard required in this 

section is incorporated by reference into 

this section with the approval of the 

Director of the Federal Register under 5 

U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. To 

enforce any edition other than that 

specified in this section, the Federal 

Communications Commission must 

publish notice of change in the Federal 

Register and the material must be 

available to the public. All approved 

material is available for inspection at 

the Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC (Reference Information 

Center) and is available from the source 

indicated below. It is also available for 

inspection at the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA). For 

information on the availability of this 

material at NARA, call 202–741–6030 or 

go to http://www.archives.gov/ 

federal_register/ 

code_of_federal_regulations/ 

ibr_locations.html. 

(1) The following standard is available 

from the EAS–CAP Industry Group 

(ECIG), 21010 Southbank Street, #365, 

Sterling, VA, 20165, go to http:// 

www.eas-cap.org. 

(i) ‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP 

EAS Implementation Guide, Version 

1.0’’ (May 17, 2010). 

(ii) [Reserved]. 

■ 19. Amend § 11.52 by revising 

paragraphs (a) introductory text, (d), (e) 

introductory text and (e)(2) to read as 

follows: 

§ 11.52 EAS code and Attention Signal 

Monitoring requirements. 

(a) EAS Participants must be capable 

of receiving the Attention Signal 

required by § 11.31(a)(2) and emergency 

messages of other broadcast stations 

during their hours of operation. EAS 

Participants must install and operate 

during their hours of operation, 

equipment that is capable of receiving 

and decoding, either automatically or 

manually, the EAS header codes, 

emergency messages and EOM code, 

and which complies with the 

requirements in § 11.56. 

* * * * * 

(d) EAS Participants must comply 

with the following monitoring 

requirements: 

(1) With respect to monitoring for 

EAS messages that are formatted in 

accordance with the EAS Protocol, EAS 

Participants must monitor two EAS 

sources. The monitoring assignments of 

each broadcast station and cable system 

and wireless cable system are specified 

in the State EAS Plan and FCC 

Mapbook. They are developed in 

accordance with FCC monitoring 

priorities. 

(2) With respect to monitoring EAS 

messages formatted in accordance with 

the specifications set forth in 

§ 11.56(a)(2), EAS Participants’ EAS 

equipment must interface with the 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency’s Integrated Public Alert and 

Warning System (IPAWS) to enable 

(whether through ‘‘pull’’ interface 

technologies, such as Really Simple 

Syndication (RSS) and Atom 

Syndication Format (ATOM), or ‘‘push’’ 

interface technologies, such as instant 

messaging and email) the distribution of 

Common Alert Protocol (CAP)-formatted 

alert messages from the IPAWS system 

to EAS Participants’ EAS equipment. 

(3) Monitoring specifications 

associated with the distribution of CAPformatted alert messages by state alert 

message systems are described in the 

State EAS Plan, as set forth in § 11.21(a). 

(4) If the required EAS message 

sources cannot be received, alternate 

arrangements or a waiver may be 

obtained by written request to the Chief, 

Public Safety and Homeland Security 

Bureau. In an emergency, a waiver may 

be issued over the telephone with a 

follow up letter to confirm temporary or 

permanent reassignment. 

(5) The management of EAS 

Participants shall determine which 

header codes will automatically 

interrupt their programming for State 

and Local Area emergency situations 

affecting their audiences. 

(e) EAS Participants are required to 

interrupt normal programming either 

automatically or manually when they 

receive an EAS message in which the 

header code contains the Event codes 

for Emergency Action Notification 

(EAN) or the Required Monthly Test 

(RMT) for their State or State/county 

location. 

* * * * * 

(2) Manual interrupt of programming 

and transmission of EAS messages may 

be used. EAS messages with the EAN 

Event code must be transmitted 

immediately and Monthly EAS test 

messages within 60 minutes. All actions 

must be logged and recorded as 

specified in §§ 11.35(a) and 11.54(a)(3). 

Decoders must be programmed for the 

EAN Event header code and the RMT 

and RWT Event header codes (for 

required monthly and weekly tests), 

with the appropriate accompanying 

State and State/county location codes. 

§ 11.53 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 20. Remove and reserve § 11.53. 

■ 21. Revise § 11.54 to read as follows: 

§ 11.54 EAS operation during a National 

Level emergency. 

(a) Immediately upon receipt of an 

EAN message, EAS Participants must 

comply with the following 

requirements, as applicable: 

(1) Analog and digital broadcast 

stations may transmit their call letters 

and analog cable systems, digital cable 

systems and wireless cable systems may 

transmit the names of the communities 

they serve during an EAS activation. 

State and Local Area identifications 

must be given as provided in State and 

Local Area EAS Plans. 

(2) Analog and digital broadcast 

stations are exempt from complying 

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16706 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

with §§ 73.62 and 73.1560 of this 

chapter (operating power maintenance) 

while operating under this part. 

(3) The time of receipt of the EAN 

shall be entered by analog and digital 

broadcast stations in their logs (as 

specified in §§ 73.1820 and 73.1840 of 

this chapter), by analog and digital cable 

systems in their records (as specified in 

§ 76.1711 of this chapter), by subject 

wireless cable systems in their records 

(as specified in § 21.304 of this chapter), 

and by all other EAS Participants in 

their records as specified in § 11.35(a). 

(b) EAS Participants originating 

emergency communications under this 

section shall be considered to have 

conferred rebroadcast authority, as 

required by section 325(a) of the 

Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 

325(a), to other EAS Participants. 

(c) During a national level EAS 

emergency, EAS Participants may 

transmit in lieu of the EAS audio feed 

an audio feed of the President’s voice 

message from an alternative source, 

such as a broadcast network audio feed. 

■ 22. Amend § 11.55 by revising 

paragraph (a) introductory text, 

paragraph (c) introductory text, and 

paragraphs (c)(3), (4), (7), and (8) and 

add paragraph (d) to read as follows: 

§ 11.55 EAS operation during a State or 

Local Area emergency. 

(a) The EAS may be activated at the 

State and Local Area levels by EAS 

Participants at their discretion for dayto-day emergency situations posing a 

threat to life and property. Examples of 

natural emergencies which may warrant 

state EAS activation are: Tornadoes, 

floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, heavy 

snows, icing conditions, widespread 

fires, etc. Man-made emergencies 

warranting state EAS activation may 

include: Toxic gas leaks or liquid spills, 

widespread power failures, industrial 

explosions, and civil disorders. 

* * * * * 

(c) Immediately upon receipt of a 

State or Local Area EAS message that 

has been formatted in the EAS Protocol, 

EAS Participants participating in the 

State or Local Area EAS must do the 

following: 

* * * * * 

(3) Participating National (PN) sources 

monitor the Local Area LP sources for 

instructions. 

(4) EAS Participants participating in 

the State or Local Area EAS must 

discontinue normal programming and 

follow the procedures in the State and 

Local Area Plans. Analog and digital 

television broadcast stations must 

transmit all EAS announcements 

visually and aurally as specified in 

§ 11.51(a) through (e) and 73.1250(h) of 

this chapter, as applicable; analog cable 

systems, digital cable systems, and 

wireless cable systems must transmit all 

EAS announcements visually and 

aurally as specified in § 11.51(g) and (h); 

and DBS providers must transmit all 

EAS announcements visually and 

aurally as specified in § 11.51(j). EAS 

Participants providing foreign language 

programming should transmit all EAS 

announcements in the same language as 

the primary language of the EAS 

Participant. 

* * * * * 

(7) The times of the above EAS 

actions must be entered in the EAS 

Participants’ records as specified in 

§§ 11.35(a) and 11.54(a)(3). 

(8) Use of the EAS codes or Attention 

Signal automatically grants rebroadcast 

authority as specified in § 11.54(b). 

(d) Immediately upon receipt of a 

State or Local Area EAS message that 

has been formatted in the Common 

Alerting Protocol, EAS Participants 

must do the following: 

(1) EAS Participants participating in 

the State or Local Area EAS must follow 

the procedures for processing such 

messages in the State and Local Area 

Plans. 

(2) Analog and digital television 

broadcast stations must transmit all EAS 

announcements visually and aurally as 

specified in § 11.51(a) through (e) and 

73.1250(h) of this chapter, as applicable; 

analog cable systems, digital cable 

systems, and wireless cable systems 

must transmit all EAS announcements 

visually and aurally as specified in 

§ 11.51(g) and (h); and DBS providers 

must transmit all EAS announcements 

visually and aurally as specified in 

§ 11.51(j). EAS Participants providing 

foreign language programming should 

transmit all EAS announcements in the 

same language as the primary language 

of the EAS Participant. 

(3) Resume normal operations upon 

conclusion of the message. 

(4) The times of the above EAS 

actions must be entered in the EAS 

Participants’ records as specified in 

§§ 11.35(a) and 11.54(a)(3). 

■ 23. Revise § 11.56 to read as follows: 

§ 11.56 Obligation to Process CAPFormatted EAS Messages. 

(a) On or by June 30, 2012, EAS 

Participants must have deployed 

operational equipment that is capable of 

the following: 

(1) Acquiring EAS alert messages in 

accordance with the monitoring 

requirements in § 11.52(d)(2); 

(2) Converting EAS alert messages 

that have been formatted pursuant to the 

(i) ‘‘Common Alerting Protocol Version 

1.2’’ (July 1, 2010), and (ii) ‘‘Common 

Alerting Protocol, v. 1.2 USA Integrated 

Public Alert and Warning System 

Profile Version 1.0’’ (Oct. 13, 2009), into 

EAS alert messages that comply with 

the EAS Protocol, such that the 

Preamble and EAS Header Codes, audio 

Attention Signal, audio message, and 

Preamble and EAS End of Message 

(EOM) Codes of such messages are 

rendered equivalent to the EAS Protocol 

(set forth in § 11.31), in accordance with 

the technical specifications governing 

such conversion process set forth in the 

‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP EAS 

Implementation Guide, Version 1.0’’ 

(May 17, 2010) (except that any and all 

specifications set forth therein related to 

using text-to-speech technology and 

gubernatorial ‘‘must carry’’ shall not be 

followed); and 

(3) Processing such converted 

messages in accordance with the other 

sections of this part. 

(b) EAS Participants may comply with 

the requirements of this section by 

deploying an Intermediary Device. If an 

EAS Participant elects to meet the 

requirements of this section by 

deploying an Intermediary Device, it 

shall be required to construct visual 

messages from CAP-formatted EAS 

messages in accordance with § 3.6 of the 

‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP EAS 

Implementation Guide, Version 1.0’’ 

(May 17, 2010), as set forth in 

§§ 11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), and (j)(2) of 

this part, on or by June 30, 2015. 

(c) The standards required in this 

section are incorporated by reference 

into this section with the approval of 

the Director of the Federal Register 

under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. 

To enforce any edition other than that 

specified in this section, the Federal 

Communications Commission must 

publish notice of change in the Federal 

Register and the material must be 

available to the public. All approved 

material is available for inspection at 

the Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street SW., 

Washington, DC (Reference Information 

Center) and is available from the sources 

indicated below. It is also available for 

inspection at the National Archives and 

Records Administration (NARA). For 

information on the availability of this 

material at NARA, call 202–741–6030 or 

go to http://www.archives.gov/ 

federal_register/ 

code_of_federal_regulations/ 

ibr_locations.html. 

(1) The following standard is available 

from the EAS–CAP Industry Group 

(ECIG), 21010 Southbank Street, #365, 

Sterling, VA 20165, or go to http:// 

www.eas-cap.org. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16707 

(i) ‘‘ECIG Recommendations for a CAP 

EAS Implementation Guide, Version 

1.0’’ (May 17, 2010). 

(ii) [Reserved]. 

(2) The following standards are 

available from Organization for the 

Advancement of Structured Information 

Standards (OASIS), 25 Corporate Drive, 

Suite 103, Burlington, MA 01803–4238, 

call 781–425–5073, or go to http:// 

www.oasis-open.org. 

(i) ‘‘Common Alerting Protocol 

Version 1.2’’ (July 1, 2010). 

(ii) ‘‘Common Alerting Protocol, v. 1.2 

USA Integrated Public Alert and 

Warning System Profile Version 1.0’’ 

(Oct. 13, 2009). 

■ 24. Amend § 11.61 by revising 

paragraphs (a) introductory text, 

(a)(1)(i), (a)(2)(ii) and (b) to read as 

follows: 

§ 11.61 Tests of EAS procedures. 

(a) EAS Participants shall conduct 

tests at regular intervals, as specified in 

paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this 

section. Additional tests may be 

performed anytime. EAS activations and 

special tests may be performed in lieu 

of required tests as specified in 

paragraph (a)(4) of this section. 

(1) * * * 

(i) Tests in odd numbered months 

shall occur between 8:30 a.m. and local 

sunset. Tests in even numbered months 

shall occur between local sunset and 

8:30 a.m. They will originate from Local 

or State Primary sources. The time and 

script content will be developed by 

State Emergency Communications 

Committees in cooperation with affected 

EAS Participants. Script content may be 

in the primary language of the EAS 

Participant. These monthly tests must 

be transmitted within 60 minutes of 

receipt by EAS Participants in an EAS 

Local Area or State. Analog and digital 

class D non-commercial educational 

FM, analog and digital LPFM stations, 

and analog and digital LPTV stations are 

required to transmit only the test script. 

* * * * * 

(2) * * * 

(ii) DBS providers, analog and digital 

class D non-commercial educational FM 

stations, analog and digital LPFM 

stations, and analog and digital LPTV 

stations are not required to transmit this 

test but must log receipt, as specified in 

§ 11.35(a) and 11.54(a)(3). 

* * * * * 

(b) Entries shall be made in EAS 

Participant records, as specified in 

§ 11.35(a) and 11.54(a)(3). 

The following appendix will not be 

published in the Code of Federal 

Regulations. 

Appendix A 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

1. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), an Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was 

incorporated into the Third Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (Third FNPRM) in this 

proceeding. The Commission sought written 

comment on the proposals in the Third 

FNPRM, including comment on the IRFA. 

This Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(FRFA) conforms to the RFA. 

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the Fifth 

Report and Order 

2. This Fifth Report and Order adopts 

changes to the Commission’s Part 11 rules 

governing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) 

to codify the obligation to process alert 

messages formatted in the Common Alerting 

Protocol (CAP) and to streamline and clarify 

these rules generally to enhance their 

effectiveness. 

3. Specifically, the Fifth Report and Order: 

• Clarifies that the scope of the CAPrelated obligations addressed in this order are 

limited to those necessary to ensure that 

CAP-formatted alert messages distributed to 

EAS Participants will be converted into and 

processed in the same way as messages 

formatted in the current EAS Protocol. 

• Amends § 11.56 of the Commission’s 

rules to require EAS Participants to convert 

CAP-formatted EAS messages into messages 

that comply with the EAS Protocol 

requirements, following the procedures for 

such conversion set forth in the EAS–CAP 

Industry Group’s (ECIG) ECIG 

Implementation Guide. 

• Amends § 11.52 of the Commission’s 

rules to require that EAS Participants 

monitor FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and 

Warning System (IPAWS) for Federal CAPformatted alert messages using whatever 

interface technology is appropriate. 

• Clarifies that the language from the 

Second Report and Order (Second Report 

and Order) in this docket regarding receipt of 

CAP-formatted messages from Next 

Generation EAS delivery systems was 

intended to put EAS Participants on notice 

that, should FEMA adopt technical standards 

covering delivery of CAP-formatted messages 

to EAS Participants over specific platforms, 

such as satellite systems, EAS Participants 

would ultimately need to configure their 

systems to be able to interface with such 

systems to meet their existing obligation to 

process CAP-formatted messages. 

• Permits EAS Participants to use 

intermediary devices to meet their CAPrelated obligations, provided that all 

intermediary devices must provide that 

capability of utilizing the enhanced text in a 

CAP message to meet the visual display 

requirements in section 11.51(d), (g)(3), 

(h)(3), and (j)(2) of the Commission’s rules, as 

set forth in section 3.6 of the ECIG 

Implementation Guide, by June 30, 2015. 

• Declines to make any changes to the 

minimum encoder requirements set forth in 

section 11.32(a) regarding CAP-to-EAS 

Protocol conversion. 

• Revises the input and output 

configuration requirements in §§ 11.32(a)(2) 

and (a)(3) of the Commission’s rules to 

require at least one audio port and at least 

one data port, and to delete references to 

RS232–C and 1200 baud rate. 

• Revises the minimum requirements for 

decoders in section 11.33(a) to include the 

capability to decode CAP-formatted messages 

and convert them into EAS Protocolcompliant messages, as set forth in section 

11.56 and clarifies that this requirement can 

be met through the deployment of an 

intermediary device. 

• Revises the input and output 

configuration requirements in §§ 11.33(a)(1) 

and (a)(7) of the Commission’s rules to 

require at least one audio port and at least 

one data port, and to delete references to 

RS232–C and 1200 baud rate. 

• Amends section 11.33(a)(4) of the 

Commission’s rules to include selective 

display and logging of text that was compiled 

from CAP-formatted messages be added to 

the EAS device log. 

• Declines to revise § 11.33(a)(10) of the 

Commission’s rules to require processing of 

CAP-formatted message by default when 

duplicate messages are received in both the 

EAS Protocol and CAP formats, as 

recommended in the Communications 

Security, Reliability, and Interoperability 

Council (CSRIC) Final Report (CSRIC Final 

Report). 

• Revises section 11.33(a)(11) of the 

Commission’s rules to ensure that Emergency 

Action Notification (EAN) messages receive 

priority over all other EAS messages, 

regardless of whether the EAN message was 

received via the audio port or data port, or 

was formatted in EAS Protocol or CAP. 

• Declines to revise section 11.1 of the 

Commission’s rules to include new CAPrelated alert originators, as recommended in 

the CSRIC Final Report. 

• Revises the text of § 11.11(a) of the 

Commission’s rules to include as a minimum 

requirement compliance with the CAPrelated requirements in § 11.56 of the 

Commission’s rules, and to delete the 

reference to ‘‘analog television broadcast 

stations.’’ 

• Revises the equipment deployment 

tables in § 11.11 of the Commission’s rules by 

adding a footnote to the ‘‘EAS decoder’’ 

entries in the tables to clarify that the 

obligation to receive and translate CAPformatted messages may be met by deploying 

an intermediary device, and by deleting the 

date references in the equipment deployment 

tables in section 11.11 (as well as crossreferences to these dates in other sections of 

Part 11, such as section 11.51(c) and (d)), 

along with the entry for two-tone encoders. 

Declines to incorporate references to the 

monitoring requirements in section 11.52 in 

section 11.11. 

• Declines to revise the language of § 11.20 

of the Commission’s rules to require a 

specific reference to CAP alerts, CAP relay 

networks, or CAP monitoring requirements. 

• Revises § 11.21(a) of the Commission’s 

rules to make clear that the State EAS Plans 

specify the monitoring assignments and the 

specific primary and backup path for EAS 

Protocol-formatted EANs and that the 

monitoring requirements for CAP-formatted 

EANs are set forth in section 11.52, and to 

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16708 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

make clear that to the extent a state may 

distribute CAP-formatted EANs to EAS 

Participants via its state alerting system, its 

State EAS Plan must include specific and 

detailed information describing how such 

messages will be aggregated and delivered, 

just as it must for state CAP-formatted nonEAN messages. 

• Defers taking any action with respect to 

revising § 11.21(c) of the Commission’s rules 

until, at a minimum, review of the test data 

received from EAS Participants as a result of 

the November 9, 2011, nationwide EAS test 

has been completed. 

• Declines to revise the language in 

§ 11.31(a) of the Commission’s rules to better 

reflect CAP’s capabilities. 

• Amends sections 11.35(a) and (b) of the 

Commission’s rules to clarify that these 

subsections apply to all equipment used as 

part of the EAS, including all equipment that 

performs the functions of decoding and 

encoding messages formatted in the EAS 

Protocol and the Common Alerting Protocol. 

• Declines to revise § 11.45 of the 

Commission’s rules to prohibit CAP messages 

lacking ‘‘Actual’’ status indicators, as 

recommended in the CSRIC Final Report. 

• Declines to revise § 11.51 of the 

Commission’s rules to require EAS 

Participants to transmit (or ‘‘render’’) a CAPcompliant message, as recommended in the 

CSRIC Final Report. 

• Amends sections 11.51(d), (g)(3), (h)(3), 

and (j)(2) of the Commission’s rules to 

require EAS Participants to derive the visual 

display elements, including the originator, 

event, location and the valid time period of 

the EAS message, from the CAP text data as 

described in section 3.6 of the ECIG 

Implementation Guide (intermediary devices 

must provide for such functionality by June 

30, 2015). 

• Declines to revise section 11.54(b) of the 

Commission’s rules to mandate that CAPformatted messages be broadcast only if the 

scope of the alert is ‘‘Public,’’ and to include 

IPAWS monitoring, as recommended in the 

CSRIC Final Report. 

• Clarifies that it would be inappropriate 

to adopt any form of blanket exemption from 

the basic obligations of monitoring for, 

receiving, and processing CAP-formatted 

messages, but concludes that the physical 

unavailability of broadband Internet service 

offers a presumption in favor of a waiver. 

• Incorporates conformance with the ECIG 

Implementation Guide into the Commission’s 

existing certification scheme. 

• Amends section 11.55 of the 

Commission’s rules to eliminate the 

requirement that EAS Participants receive 

and transmit CAP-formatted messages 

initiated by state governors. 

• Amends the procedures for processing 

EANs set forth in § 11.54 of the Commission’s 

rules and related Part 11 rule sections so that 

EAS Participants process EANs like any other 

EAS message, only on a mandatory and 

priority basis. To effect these changes, deletes 

§§ 11.16, 11.42, 11.44, 11.53, 11.54(a), (b)(1)– 

(8), (b)(10), (b)(12) and (c) of the 

Commission’s rules, as well as the 

Emergency Action Termination (EAT) event 

code. 

• Eliminates Non-Participating National 

(NN) deleting references to status, and in this 

regard, revise sections 11.18, 11.41, 11.54, 

and 11.55 of the Commission’s rules to 

remove references to NN status, and deletes 

section 11.19 altogether. 

• Seeks comment on whether the option 

for EAS Participants to manually process 

EANs (but not state or local EAS messages) 

should be eliminated. 

• Defers taking any action with respect to 

the EAS Operating Handbook until, at a 

minimum, review of the test data received 

from EAS Participants as a result of the 

November 9, 2011, nationwide EAS test has 

been completed. 

• Revises section 11.11(a) of the 

Commission’s rules to remove the references 

therein to ‘‘participating broadcast networks, 

cable networks and program suppliers; and 

other entities and industries operating on an 

organized basis during emergencies at the 

National, State and local levels.’’ 

• Revises the definition for LP–1 station in 

§ 11.2(b) of the Commission’s rules to reflect 

that these stations can be a radio or TV 

station. 

• Deletes § 11.14 of the Commission’s 

rules. 

• Revises section 11.2(a) to delete the 

numerical reference to the actual number of 

Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations in 

existence, and to clarify that PEP stations 

distribute EAS messages in accordance with 

the EAS Protocol requirements in section 

11.31. 

• Deletes section 11.13 of the 

Commission’s rules and folds the definition 

for the EAN currently in section 11.13 into 

section 11.2. 

• Revises §§ 11.31 and 11.34(d) of the 

Commission’s rules to replace the references 

to the Federal Information Processing 

Standard (FIPS) numbers with references to 

the American National Standards Institute 

(ANSI) Codes INCITS 31.200x (Formerly 

FIPS 6–4), Codes for the Identification of 

Counties and Equivalent Entities of the 

United States, its Possessions, and Insular 

Areas standard. 

• Revises the analog and digital broadcast 

station equipment deployment table in 

§ 11.11(a) of the Commission’s rules so that 

‘‘LPFM’’ and ‘‘LPTV’’ are identified with the 

columns listing the requirements for those 

categories, and revises §§ 11.61(a)(1)(i) and 

11.61(a)(2)(ii) of the Commission’s rules to 

include ‘‘LPFM’’ stations. 

• Revises section 11.32(a)(9)(iv) of the 

Commission’s rules to limit the duration of 

the Attention Signal to no more than eight 

seconds, and deletes as obsolete sections 

11.33(b) and 11.12. 

• Clarifies that EAS Participants may relay, 

for the benefit of downstream monitoring 

stations, messages they received that did not 

include an End of Message (EOM) code 

within the reset time limit set on their 

decoder. 

• Declines to revise § 11.33(a)(3)(ii) of the 

Commission’s rules to eliminate the 

requirement to delete messages upon 

expiration of their time periods, thus 

allowing EAS Participants to air alert 

messages after expiration of the effective time 

period set by the alert message originator. 

• Reiterates that the Commission lacks the 

authority to raise or distribute funds for EASrelated purposes and therefore cannot 

provide training for state and local 

emergency managers. 

• Observes that the decision to require 

EAS Participants to meet the video display 

requirements in section 11.51(d), (g)(3), 

(h)(3), and (j)(2) by using the enhanced text 

in the CAP message, as outlined in the ECIG 

Implementation Guide, will help harmonize 

the EAS rules with the requirements of 

section 79.2. 

• Identifies several proposals raised in the 

comments submitted in response to the Third 

FNPRM as being outside the scope of the 

Third FNPRM and thus not taken up by the 

Fifth Report and Order. 

B. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by 

Public Comments in Response to the IRFA 

4. SBA filed no comments in this 

proceeding, and there were no other 

comments specifically addressed to the IRFA. 

C. Description and Estimate of the Number 

of Small Entities to Which Rules Will Apply 

5. 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 Small Business 

Administration (SBA). 

6. Small Businesses, Small Organizations, 

and Small Governmental Jurisdictions. The 

Commission’s action may, over time, affect 

small entities that are not easily categorized 

at present. The Commission therefore 

describe here, at the outset, three 

comprehensive, statutory small entity size 

standards. First, nationwide, there are a total 

of approximately 27.5 million small 

businesses, according to the SBA. In 

addition, 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 

2007, there were approximately 1,621,315 

small organizations. Finally, the term ‘‘small 

governmental jurisdiction’’ is defined 

generally as ‘‘governments of cities, towns, 

townships, villages, school districts, or 

special districts, with a population of less 

than fifty thousand.’’ Census Bureau data for 

2011 indicate that there were 89,476 local 

governmental jurisdictions in the United 

States. The Commission estimates that, of 

this total, as many as 88, 506 entities may 

qualify as ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdictions.’’ Thus, the Commission 

estimates that most governmental 

jurisdictions are small. 

7. Television Broadcasting. The SBA 

defines a television broadcasting station as a 

small business if such station has no more 

than $14.0 million in annual receipts. 

Business concerns included in this industry 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 16709 

are those ‘‘primarily engaged in broadcasting 

images together with sound.’’ The 

Commission has estimated the number of 

licensed commercial television stations to be 

1,390. According to Commission staff review 

of the BIA Kelsey Inc. Media Access Pro 

Television Database (BIA) as of January 31, 

2011, 1,006 (or about 78 percent) of an 

estimated 1,298 commercial television 

stations in the United States have revenues 

of $14 million or less and, thus, qualify as 

small entities under the SBA definition. The 

Commission has estimated the number of 

licensed noncommercial educational (NCE) 

television stations to be 391. 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 its 

action, because the revenue figure on which 

it is based does not include or aggregate 

revenues from affiliated companies. 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. 

8. In addition, an element of the definition 

of ‘‘small business’’ is that the 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 station is 

dominant in its field of operation. 

Accordingly, the estimate of small businesses 

to which rules may apply do not exclude any 

television station from the definition of a 

small business on this basis and are therefore 

over-inclusive to that extent. Also, as noted, 

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 overinclusive to this extent. 

9. Radio Stations. The rules and policies 

adopted in the Fifth Report and Order 

potentially will apply to all AM and FM 

radio broadcasting applicants, and 

proponents for new FM allotments, who 

qualify for the Tribal Priority adopted in the 

First Report and Order in this proceeding. 

The ‘‘Radio Stations’’ 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, which is: Such firms having 

$7 million or less in annual receipts. 

According to BIA/Kelsey, MEDIA Access Pro 

Database on January 13, 2011, 10,820 (97%) 

of 11,127 commercial radio stations have 

revenue of $7 million or less. Therefore, the 

majority of such entities are small entities. 

The Commission notes, however, that in 

assessing whether a business concern 

qualifies as small under the above size 

standard, business affiliations must be 

included. In addition, to be determined to be 

a ‘‘small business,’’ the entity may not be 

dominant in its field of operation. The 

Commission notes that it is difficult at times 

to assess these criteria in the context of 

media entities, and its estimate of small 

businesses may therefore be over-inclusive. 

10. Cable and Other Program Distribution. 

Since 2007, these services have been defined 

within the broad economic census category 

of Wired Telecommunications Carriers; that 

category 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.’’ The SBA has developed a 

small business size standard for this category, 

which is: All such firms having 1,500 or 

fewer employees. According to Census 

Bureau data for 2007, there were a total of 

955 firms in this previous category that 

operated for the entire year. Of this total, 939 

firms had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and 16 firms had employment of 

1000 employees or more. Thus, under this 

size standard, the majority of firms can be 

considered small entities. 

11. Cable System Operators (Rate 

Regulation Standard). 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, of 1,076 cable 

operators nationwide, all but eleven are small 

under this size standard. In addition, under 

the Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small system’’ is 

a cable system serving 15,000 or fewer 

subscribers. Industry data indicate that, of 

7,208 systems nationwide, 6,139 systems 

have under 10,000 subscribers, and an 

additional 379 systems have 10,000–19,999 

subscribers. Thus, under this second size 

standard, most cable systems are small and 

may be affected by the rules adopted in the 

Fifth Report and Order. 

12. Cable System Operators (Telecom Act 

Standard). The Act also contains 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 1 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.’’ The Commission has 

determined that an operator serving fewer 

than 677,000 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. Industry data indicate that, 

of 1,076 cable operators nationwide, all but 

ten are small 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, 

and therefore it is unable to estimate more 

accurately the number of cable system 

operators that would qualify as small under 

this size standard. 

13. Open Video Services. The open video 

system (‘‘OVS’’) framework was established 

in 1996, and is one of four statutorily 

recognized options for the provision of video 

programming services by local exchange 

carriers. The OVS framework provides 

opportunities for the distribution of video 

programming other than through cable 

systems. Because OVS operators provide 

subscription services, OVS falls within the 

SBA small business size standard covering 

cable services, which is ‘‘Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers.’’ The SBA has 

developed a small business size standard for 

this category, which is: All such firms having 

1,500 or fewer employees. According to 

Census Bureau data for 2007, there were a 

total of 3,188 firms in this previous category 

that operated for the entire year. Of this total, 

3,144 firms had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and 44 firms had employment of 

1000 employees or more. Thus, under this 

size standard, most cable systems are small 

and may be affected by the rules adopted in 

the Fifth Report and Order. In addition, we 

note that the Commission has certified some 

OVS operators, with some now providing 

service. Broadband service providers 

(‘‘BSPs’’) are currently the only significant 

holders of OVS certifications or local OVS 

franchises. The Commission does not have 

financial or employment information 

regarding the entities authorized to provide 

OVS, some of which may not yet be 

operational. Thus, again, at least some of the 

OVS operators may qualify as small entities. 

14. Wired Telecommunications Carriers. 

The 2007 North American Industry 

Classification System (‘‘NAICS’’) defines 

‘‘Wired Telecommunications Carriers’’ 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. 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 wireline firms 

within the broad economic census category, 

‘‘Wired Telecommunications Carriers.’’ 

Under this category, the SBA deems a 

wireline business to be small if it has 1,500 

or fewer employees. Census data for 2007, 

which supersede data from the 2002 Census, 

show that 3,188 firms operated n 2007 as 

Wired Telecommunications Carriers. 3,144 

had 1,000 or fewer employees, while 44 

operated with more than 1,000 employees. 

15. Broadband Radio Service and 

Educational Broadband Service (FCC 

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16710 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Auction Standard). The established rules 

apply to Broadband Radio Service (‘‘BRS,’’ 

formerly known as Multipoint Distribution 

Systems, or ‘‘MDS’’) operated as part of a 

wireless cable system. The Commission has 

defined ‘‘small entity’’ for purposes of the 

auction of BRS frequencies as an entity that, 

together with its affiliates, has average gross 

annual revenues that are not more than $40 

million for the preceding three calendar 

years. The SBA has approved this definition 

of small entity in the context of MDS 

auctions. The Commission completed its 

MDS auction in March 1996 for 

authorizations in 493 basic trading areas. Of 

67 winning bidders, 61 qualified as small 

entities. At this time, the Commission 

estimates that of the 61 small business MDS 

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. In 2009, the 

Commission conducted Auction 86, which 

offered 78 BRS licenses. Auction 86 

concluded with ten bidders winning 61 

licenses. Of the ten, two bidders claimed 

small business status and won 4 licenses; one 

bidder claimed very small business status 

and won three licenses; and two bidders 

claimed entrepreneur status and won six 

licenses. 

16. The rules and policies adopted in the 

Fifth Report and Order would also apply to 

Educational Broadband Service (‘‘EBS,’’ 

formerly known as Instructional Television 

Fixed Service, or ‘‘ITFS’’) facilities operated 

as part of a wireless cable system. The SBA 

definition of small entities for pay television 

services, Cable and Other Subscription 

Programming, also appears to apply to EBS. 

There are presently 2,032 EBS licensees. All 

but 100 of these licenses are held by 

educational institutions. Educational 

institutions are included in the definition of 

a small business. However, the Commission 

does not collect annual revenue data for EBS 

licensees and is not able to ascertain how 

many of the 100 non-educational licensees 

would be categorized as small under the SBA 

definition. Thus, the Commission tentatively 

concludes that at least 1,932 are small 

businesses and may be affected by the rules 

and policies adopted in the Fifth Report and 

Order. 

17. Wireless Telecommunications Carriers 

(except Satellite). Since 2007, the Census 

Bureau has placed wireless firms within this 

new, broad, economic census category. Prior 

to that time, such firms were within the nowsuperseded categories of ‘‘Paging’’ and 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications.’’ Under the present 

and prior categories, the SBA has deemed a 

wireless business to be small if it has 1,500 

or fewer employees. For the category of 

Wireless Telecommunications Carriers 

(except Satellite), Census data for 2007, 

which supersede data contained in the 2002 

Census, show that there were 1,383 firms that 

operated that year. Of those 1,383, 1,368 had 

fewer than 100 employees, and 15 firms had 

more than 100 employees. Thus under this 

category and the associated small business 

size standard, the majority of firms can be 

considered small. Similarly, according to 

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) 

Telephony services. Of these, an estimated 

261 have 1,500 or fewer employees and 152 

have more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission estimates that 

approximately half or more of these firms can 

be considered small. Thus, using available 

data, the Commission estimates that the 

majority of wireless firms can be considered 

small. 

18. Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers 

(LECs). The Commission has included small 

incumbent LECs in this IRFA analysis. As 

noted above, a ‘‘small business’’ under the 

RFA is one that, inter alia, meets the 

pertinent small business size standard (e.g., 

a telephone communications business having 

1,500 or fewer employees) and ‘‘is not 

dominant in its field of operation.’’ The 

SBA’s Office of Advocacy contends that, for 

RFA purposes, small incumbent LECs are not 

dominant in their field of operation because 

any such dominance is not ‘‘national’’ in 

scope. The Commission has therefore 

included small incumbent local exchange 

carriers in this RFA analysis, although the 

Commission emphasizes that this RFA action 

has no effect on its analyses and 

determinations in other, non-RFA contexts. 

Neither the Commission nor the SBA has 

developed a small business size standard 

specifically for incumbent local exchange 

services. The appropriate size standard under 

SBA rules is for the category Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. Under that 

size standard, such a business is small if it 

has 1,500 or fewer employees. According to 

Commission data, 1,303 carriers have 

reported that they are engaged in the 

provision of incumbent local exchange 

services. Of these 1,303 carriers, an estimated 

1,020 have 1,500 or fewer employees, and 

283 have more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission estimates that 

most providers of incumbent local exchange 

service are small businesses that may be 

affected by the rules and policies adopted in 

the Fifth Report and Order. 

19. Competitive (LECs), Competitive Access 

Providers (CAPs), ‘‘Shared-Tenant Service 

Providers,’’ and ‘‘Other Local Service 

Providers.’’ Neither the Commission nor the 

SBA has developed a small business size 

standard specifically for these service 

providers. The appropriate size standard 

under SBA rules is for the category Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. Under that 

size standard, such a business is small if it 

has 1,500 or fewer employees. According to 

Commission data, 769 carriers have reported 

that they are engaged in the provision of 

either competitive access provider services or 

competitive local exchange carrier services. 

Of these 769 carriers, an estimated 676 have 

1,500 or fewer employees, and 93 have more 

than 1,500 employees. In addition, 12 

carriers have reported that they are ‘‘SharedTenant Service Providers,’’ and all 12 are 

estimated to have 1,500 or fewer employees. 

In addition, 39 carriers have reported that 

they are ‘‘Other Local Service Providers.’’ Of 

the 39, an estimated 38 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees, and one has more than 1,500 

employees. Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that most providers of competitive 

local exchange service, competitive access 

providers, ‘‘Shared-Tenant Service 

Providers,’’ and ‘‘Other Local Service 

Providers’’ are small entities. 

20. Satellite Telecommunications 

Providers. Two economic census categories 

address the satellite industry. The first 

category has a small business size standard 

of $15 million or less in average annual 

receipts, under SBA rules. The second has a 

size standard of $25 million or less in annual 

receipts. 

21. The category of Satellite 

Telecommunications ‘‘comprises 

establishments 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.’’ Census Bureau data 

for 2007 show that 512 Satellite 

Telecommunications firms operated for that 

entire year. Of this total, 464 firms had 

annual receipts of under $10 million, and 18 

firms had receipts of $10 million to 

$24,999,999. Consequently, the majority of 

Satellite Telecommunications firms can be 

considered small entities. 

22. The second category, i.e. ‘‘All Other 

Telecommunications’’ comprises 

‘‘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 client-supplied 

telecommunications connections are also 

included in this industry.’’ For this category, 

Census Bureau data for 2007 show that there 

were a total of 2,383 firms that operated for 

the entire year. Of this total, 2,347 firms had 

annual receipts of under $25 million and 12 

firms had annual receipts of $25 million to 

$49,999,999. Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of All Other 

Telecommunications firms are small entities 

that might be affected by the rules and 

policies adopted in the Fifth Report and 

Order. 

23. 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, by exception, is 

now included in the SBA’s broad economic 

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census category, ‘‘Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers,’’ which was 

developed for small wireline firms. Under 

this category, the SBA deems a wireline 

business to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees. To gauge small business 

prevalence for the DBS service, the 

Commission relies on data currently 

available from the U.S. Census for the year 

2007. According to that source, there were 

3,188 firms that in 2007 were Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. Of these, 3,144 

operated with less than 1,000 employees, and 

44 operated with more than 1,000 employees. 

However, as to the latter 44 there is no data 

available that shows how many operated 

with more than 1,500 employees. Based on 

this data, the majority of these firms can be 

considered small. Currently, only two 

entities provide DBS service, which requires 

a great investment of capital for operation: 

DIRECTV and EchoStar Communications 

Corporation (‘‘EchoStar’’) (marketed as the 

DISH Network). Each currently offers 

subscription services. DIRECTV and EchoStar 

each report annual revenues that are in 

excess of the threshold for a small business. 

Because DBS service requires significant 

capital, the Commission believes it is 

unlikely that a small entity as defined by the 

SBA would have the financial wherewithal to 

become a DBS service provider. 

D. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements 

24. There are revisions to current Part 11 

reporting, recordkeeping, or compliance 

requirements set forth in the Fifth Report and 

Order. Specifically, the Fifth Report and 

Order: 

• Revises section 11.21(a) to make clear 

that the State EAS Plans specify the 

monitoring assignments and the specific 

primary and backup path for SAMEformatted EANs. This revision merely applies 

a current reporting requirement to a new 

technical protocol and the Commission does 

not expect it to alter the reporting burden to 

any appreciable degree. The revision will 

ensure the accuracy of EAS operational 

documents and thus contributes to public 

safety. Accordingly, the Commission believes 

the revision to be necessary. 

• Revises section 11.33(a)(4) to require that 

if an alert message is derived from a CAPformatted message, the contents of the text, 

assembled pursuant to ECIG Implementation 

Guide, should be added to the EAS device 

log. This revision merely applies a current 

reporting requirement to a new technical 

protocol and the Commission does not expect 

it to alter the reporting burden to any 

appreciable degree. 

• Eliminates Non-Participating National 

source (NN) status and thus deletes all 

references to NN status from section 11.41 

(and other sections) of the Part 11 rules. 

Obtaining NN status required the submission 

of paperwork to the FCC, thus, eliminating 

such status eliminates a potential paperwork 

requirement. Because NN stations were 

otherwise required to meet the same logging 

and reporting requirements of non-NN 

stations, the elimination of this status did not 

impact other logging or reporting 

requirements to which NN stations are 

subject. 

• Deletes section 11.42 in its entirety, 

which set forth certain reporting 

requirements for common carrier stations 

involved in national level EAS operations. 

Like all of the provisions in section 11.42, the 

provisions related to common carriers 

facilitated EAS operations that were phased 

out in 1995. Accordingly, deleting section 

11.42 formally eliminates reporting 

requirements that were effectively eliminated 

long ago. 

• Revises section 11.54(b)(13) to eliminate 

the requirement that EAS Participants enter 

into their logs/records the time of receipt of 

EAT messages during a national level 

emergency. This action is necessary because 

the Fifth Report and Order eliminates the 

EAT from the Part 11 rules, and 

incrementally lessens the logging/recording 

requirements associated with EANs. 

• Revises section 11.55 section to clarify 

that the time of receipt of CAP-formatted 

emergency alert messages must be entered 

into the stations/systems’ logs/records. The 

requirement in section 11.55 directing 

stations/systems to enter into their logs/ 

records the time of receipt of an emergency 

alert message already broadly applies to any 

emergency alert message, regardless of how 

it is formatted; this revision merely makes 

this point clearer. 

• Adopts, in paragraphs 164–167, 170–171 

and 175–176, streamlined procedures for 

equipment certification that take into account 

standards and testing procedures adopted by 

FEMA. This revision merely applies a current 

certification requirement to equipment that 

complies with a new technical protocol and 

the Commission does not expect it to alter 

the certification burden to any appreciable 

degree. 

25. These requirements are intended to 

advance our public safety mission and 

enhance the performance of the EAS while 

reducing regulatory burdens wherever 

possible. 

E. Steps Taken To Minimize the Significant 

Economic Impact on Small Entities, and 

Significant Alternatives Considered 

26. The RFA requires an agency to describe 

any significant alternatives that it has 

considered in developing 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 and reporting 

requirements under the rule for such small 

entities; (3) the use of performance rather 

than design standards; and (4) an exemption 

from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, 

for such small entities.’’ 

27. EAS Participants currently are required 

to receive and process CAP-formatted alert 

messages, as set forth in section 11.56. The 

Fifth Report and Order adopts dozens of 

revisions to Part 11 of the Commission’s rules 

that are necessary in order for EAS 

Participants to meet this obligation and, more 

generally, to streamline and make more 

efficient the operation of the EAS. The 

majority of the rule revisions are not 

designed to introduce new obligations that 

do not already exist, but rather, more clearly 

identify and effect within Part 11 the CAP 

obligations previously adopted in the Second 

Report and Order. In many cases, the rule 

revisions eliminate or reduce recordkeeping 

and reporting requirements. In all instances, 

the Commission chose the least costly, 

technically feasible option. In this regard, 

these revisions are designed to minimally 

impact all EAS Participants, including small 

entities, to the extent feasible, while at the 

same time protecting the lives and property 

of all Americans. This confers a direct benefit 

on small entities. For example, the rule 

revisions maintain the existing EAS 

architecture and permit affected parties to 

meet their CAP-related obligations via 

intermediary devices, which potentially may 

alleviate the need to obtain new EAS 

equipment for many EAS Participants. 

Similarly, the revisions to EAN processing 

make the Part 11 rules simpler both to 

understand and implement within 

equipment designs. 

28. Removing redundant or obsolete 

sections from the EAS rules not only 

streamlines EAS operation, but also 

decreases costs to all involved in the 

functioning of the EAS. Moreover, the CAPrelated amendments that the Commission 

makes to its EAS rules are designed to 

minimize costs. For example, the Fifth Report 

and Order removes the obligation to receive 

and process CAP-formatted alerts messages 

initiated by state governors. This will 

eliminate the costs of upgrading EAS 

equipment to comply with this requirement. 

29. Commenters were invited to suggest 

steps that the Commission may take to 

further minimize any significant economic 

impact on small entities. When considering 

proposals made by other parties, commenters 

were also invited to propose alternatives that 

serve the goal of minimizing the impact on 

small entities. Virtually all commenters 

agreed that incorporation of CAP into the 

Part 11 rules will significantly benefit both 

public safety officials and the public by 

creating a more efficient, reliable and 

effective EAS. The new rules require EAS 

Participants to monitor FEMA’s IPAWS 

system for Federal CAP-formatted alert 

messages using whatever interface 

technology is appropriate. This approach 

marks an alternative from the Commission’s 

proposal in the Third FNPRM and is in 

response to comments received in response 

to the Third FNPRM that advocated for more 

flexibility for this requirement. Moreover, the 

new rules permit, with certain limitations, 

EAS Participants to use intermediary devices 

to meet their CAP-related obligations. The 

approach taken in the Fifth Report and Order 

strikes a balance by allowing use of these 

devices by EAS Participants—many of whom 

are small or are non-commercial—but only to 

the extent such devices can comply with the 

rules adopted today by June 30, 2015. This 

is a significantly less costly alternative to 

requiring immediate compliance. 

30. Report to Congress: The Commission 

will send a copy of the Fifth Report and 

Order, including this FRFA, in a report to be 

sent to Congress and the Government 

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16712 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 56 / Thursday, March 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act. In addition, the 

Commission will send a copy of the Fifth 

Report and Order, including this FRFA, to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. 

A copy of the Fifth Report and Order and 

FRFA (or summaries thereof) will also be 

published in the Federal Register. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6601 Filed 3–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2011–0034; 

FXES11130900000C3–123–FF09E32000] 

RIN 1018–AX79 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Establishment of a 

Nonessential Experimental Population 

of American Burying Beetle in 

Southwestern Missouri 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), will 

reestablish the American burying beetle, 

a federally listed endangered insect, into 

its historical habitat in Wah’kon-tah 

Prairie in southwestern Missouri. We 

will reestablish the American burying 

beetle under section 10(j) of the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act), and will classify that 

reestablished population as a 

nonessential experimental population 

(NEP) within St. Clair, Cedar, Bates, and 

Vernon Counties, Missouri. This rule 

provides a plan for establishing the NEP 

and provides for allowable legal 

incidental taking of the American 

burying beetle within the defined NEP 

area. 

DATES: This final rule is effective April 

23, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: This final rule is available 

on http://www.regulations.gov and 

available from our Web site at http:// 

www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered. 

Comments and materials received, as 

well as the supporting file for this final 

rule will be available for public 

inspection, by appointment, during 

normal business hours, at the Columbia, 

Missouri Ecological Services Office, 101 

Park DeVille Dr., Suite B, Columbia, MO 

65203; telephone 573–234–2132. 

Persons who use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 

Federal Information Relay Services 

(FIRS) at 800–877–8339. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Hamilton, Fish and Wildlife 

Biologist, at the Columbia, Missouri 

Ecological Services Office, 101 Park 

DeVille Dr., Suite B, Columbia, MO 

65203, telephone 573–234–2132; 

facsimile 573–234–2181. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Regulatory Background 

The American burying beetle 

(Nicrophorus americanus, ABB) was 

listed as endangered throughout its 

range on July 13, 1989 (54 FR 29652), 

under the Endangered Species Act of 

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.), without critical habitat (USFWS 

2008, p. 2). The Act provides that 

species listed as endangered are 

afforded protection primarily through 

the prohibitions of section 9 and the 

requirements of section 7. Section 9 of 

the Act, among other things, prohibits 

the take of endangered wildlife. ‘‘Take’’ 

is defined by the Act as to harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. Section 7 

of the Act outlines the procedures for 

Federal interagency cooperation to 

conserve federally listed species and 

protect designated critical habitat. It 

mandates that all Federal agencies use 

their existing authorities to further the 

purposes of the Act by carrying out 

programs for the conservation of listed 

species. It also states that Federal 

agencies must, in consultation with the 

Service, ensure that any action they 

authorize, fund, or carry out is not likely 

to jeopardize the continued existence of 

a listed species or result in the 

destruction or adverse modification of 

designated critical habitat. Section 7 of 

the Act does not affect activities 

undertaken on private land unless they 

are authorized, funded, or carried out by 

a Federal agency. 

Under section 10(j) of the Act, the 

Secretary of the Interior can designate 

reestablished populations outside the 

species’ current range, but within its 

historical range, as ‘‘experimental.’’ 

With the experimental population 

designation, the relevant population is 

treated as threatened for purposes of 

section 9 of the Act, regardless of the 

species’ designation elsewhere in its 

range. Threatened designation allows us 

discretion in devising management 

programs and special regulations for 

such a population. Section 4(d) of the 

Act allows us to adopt whatever 

regulations are necessary and advisable 

to provide for the conservation of a 

threatened species. In these situations, 

the general regulations that extend most 

section 9 prohibitions to threatened 

species do not apply to that species, and 

the 10(j) rule contains the prohibitions 

and exemptions necessary and 

appropriate to conserve that species. 

Based on the best scientific and 

commercial data available, we must 

determine whether the experimental 

population is essential or nonessential 

to the continued existence of the 

species. The regulations (50 CFR 

17.80(b)) state that an experimental 

population is considered essential if its 

loss would be likely to appreciably 

reduce the likelihood of survival of that 

species in the wild. All other 

populations are considered 

nonessential. We have determined that 

this experimental population will not be 

essential to the continued existence of 

the species in the wild. This 

determination has been made because, 

since the time the species was listed, 

wild populations of the ABB are now 

found in seven additional States, three 

of which are considered robust and 

suitable for donor populations (USFWS 

2008, p. 14). Therefore, the Service will 

designate a nonessential experimental 

population (NEP) for the species in 

southwestern Missouri. 

When NEPs are located outside a 

National Wildlife Refuge or National 

Park Service unit, then, for the purposes 

of section 7, we treat the population as 

proposed for listing and only section 

7(a)(1) and section 7(a)(4) of the Act 

apply. In these instances, NEPs provide 

additional flexibility because Federal 

agencies are not required to consult 

with us under section 7(a)(2). Section 

7(a)(4) requires Federal agencies to 

confer (rather than consult) with the 

Service on actions that are likely to 

jeopardize the continued existence of a 

species proposed to be listed. The 

results of a conference are in the form 

of conservation recommendations that 

are optional as the agencies carry out, 

fund, or authorize activities. Because 

the NEP is, by definition, not essential 

to the continued existence of the 

species, the effects of proposed actions 

affecting the NEP will generally not rise 

to the level of jeopardizing the 

continued existence of the species. As a 

result, a formal conference will likely 

never be required for ABBs established 

within the NEP area. Nonetheless, some 

agencies voluntarily confer with the 

Service on actions that may affect a 

proposed species. Activities that are not 

carried out, funded, or authorized by 

Federal agencies are not subject to 

provisions or requirements in section 7 

of the Act. 

American burying beetles used to 

establish an experimental population 

will come from a captive-rearing facility 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES