Texas EAS

APPENDIX A	List of Officials Designated to Activate the Texas EAS	14
APPENDIX B	Authentication Procedure to Activate the Texas EAS	14
APPENDIX C	Map of Texas Local Operational Areas	15
APPENDIX D	Lists of Counties in 24 Local Operational Areas	16
APPENDIX E	EAS Codes Transmitted by Key EAS Sources	18
APPENDIX F	Texas EAS Local Primary Station	19
APPENDIX G	Broadcast Station Monitoring Assignments	23
APPENDIX H	Diagrams of National and State Message Delivery Paths	27
APPENDIX I	Map of National Weather Service Coverage Areas	29
APPENDIX J	List of National Weather Service Stations serving Texas with frequencies and list of counties covered
APPENDIX K	FCC Rules and Regulations, Part 11
To be added:	Cable Systems Monitoring Assignments (July, 1997) Directory of Stations and Areas FIPS Codes FCC Operations Manual

__________________________ # 1______________# 2______________Alternate_________________
Your EAS Operational Area* ....................Your EAS Monitoring Assignments

____ 1. All personnel trained in EAS procedures and in the use of EAS equipment.

____ 7. Red Authenticator envelope immediately available (broadcasters only).***

____ 9. Copy of FCC EAS Rules and Regulations (Part 11) and, if appropriate, AM
station emergency operation (Section 73.1250 ) available.

The purpose of this document is to establish procedures and delineate responsibilities for the broadcast stations and cable operators and designated government officials in Texas to disseminate emergency information and instructions in threatened or actual emergencies to alert the public, of national, state and local emergencies, and to provide continuous communications services during an emergency.

Title 47 U.S.C. 151, 154 (I) and (o),303 (r),524 (g)and 606; and 47 C.F.R. Part 11, FCC Rules and Regulations, Emergency Alert System (EAS) as pertains to day-to-day emergency operations.

These procedures were prepared by the Texas State Emergency Communications Committee; the Texas Department of Public Safety, Governor’s Division of Emergency Management; the Federal Communications Commission; the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the broadcasters and cable operators of Texas. The plan provides background data and prescribes specific procedures and priorities for the broadcast and cable media to issue emergency information and warning to the general public in the State of Texas or any portion thereof within the broadcast coverage and cable system service area, at the request of designated State and Federal government officials.

Acceptance of, or participation in this plan shall not be deemed as a relinquishment of program control and shall not prohibit a broadcast licensee or cable operator from exercising his/her independent discretion and responsibility in any given situation. The concept of each broadcast station management or cable system management exercising discretion regarding the transmission of emergency messages and instructions to the general public is provided by the FCC Rules and Regulations, Part 11. Broadcast stations and cable systems originating emergency communications shall be deemed to have conferred rebroadcast authority as specified in Section 11.54(d).

Detailed procedures, agreed upon by the broadcast and cable industries and the local area governments, which will permit designated government officials to issue local emergency messages and instructions, via the EAS in threatened or actual emergencies, will be published as separate documents and will be attached as appendices for each EAS local area.

Texas’ EAS State Plan will utilize the resources of the Texas Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management, the two national Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations located in Texas, the National Weather Service, a web of State Relay (SR) entities, and Local Primary (LP) stations in 25 geographic areas to disseminate emergency messages to the public throughout the state’s 254 counties.

The Texas Department of Public Safety /Division of Emergency Management (DPS/DEM) serves as the state Emergency Operations Center and will be the primary source for emergency messages from the governor or other designated state officials. DPS/DEM is located in Austin in an underground facility with back up power and round-the-clock staff operations.

National emergency messages will be disseminated across the state through a web emanating from Texas’ two national Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations, KTRH AM Houston and WBAP AM Dallas/Fort Worth. The PEP stations have hardened sites and direct communications with the White House through special phone lines installed and maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

State Relay(SR) responsibilities (for disseminating national and state emergency messages) will be handled by three broadcast stations, a satellite delivered radio network, and the National Weather Service.
KTRH Houston, WBAP Dallas/Fort Worth and WOAI San Antonio, in addition to alerting their own listeners, also will serve as State Relay (SR) points to disseminate warnings to broadcasters in other areas of the state.

Texas State Networks, a Dallas based news & information radio network, is delivered by satellite across the state and will make EAS tests and national and state emergency messages available to its affiliates via its satellite delivery system. TSN will function as the state relay for a number of stations unable to monitor other broadcast sources outside their own area. (TSN will broadcast emergency messages and required tests on their main channel referred to as “Channel 1” or the “A-left” channel.)

The National Weather Service, in a cooperative arrangement set up through the Austin/San Antonio Weather Service Office, also will serve as a State Relay for both national and state emergency messages. The Austin/San Antonio office of the National Weather Service (which is located in New Braunfels, Texas) will accept national or state emergency messages from KTRH and/or WBAP and state emergency messages from the Division of Emergency Management. The weather office will disseminate any national or state emergency messages via its computer system to all National Weather Service offices serving areas of Texas. Meteorologists at each of the 13 offices will be responsible for putting the national and state emergency messages on their respective weather wires and broadcasting the alert on their respective stations. There are 27 stations covering parts of Texas. (See Appendix I for map and Appendix J for list and frequencies.)

Texas’ 254 counties will be divided into 25 Local Primary areas with lines drawn reflecting broadcasters’ and weather service station coverage areas. Two Local Primary (LP) stations or sources will be designated for each of the 25 areas. Where appropriate and available, a Local Primary-Spanish (LP-S) will be designated to disseminate emergency messages in Spanish.

All other broadcast radio and television stations and cable operations will be given at least two monitoring assignments to receive emergency notifications over the airwaves, via satellite or by some other means of communication. The plan also will include a recommendation for a third EAS source for every station capable of monitoring an additional station.

AN EMERGENCY: A situation posing an extraordinary threat to the safety of life and property. Examples are, but not limited to natural situations such as: tornadoes, flash floods, icing conditions, heavy snows, widespread fires, and man-made situations such as: discharge of toxic gases, widespread power failures, industrial explosions, civil disorders and nuclear incidents.

EAS Designations: EAS designations are the FCC's EAS station Designations, reflecting the EAS status of every broadcaster and cable operator.

Primary Entry Points (PEP ) stations - delivery mechanism for national EAS presidential messages and, in Texas, the key State Relay entities for disseminating state emergency messages. In Texas the two PEP Stations are WBAP Dallas and KTRH Houston.

State Relay (SR ) points - in Texas five entities (KTRH Houston, WBAP Dallas/Fort Worth and WOAI San Antonio, the Texas State Networks and the National Weather Service) that will relay national or state emergency messages from the White House or Governor to local areas. Local primary stations will monitor State Relay sources.

Local Primary (LP ) station - the local broadcast station equivalent to the previous CPCS-1 station that will receive emergency messages from the state relay entities and in turn broadcast national and state alerts over the air to the public and other broadcasters. Local Primary stations will be expected to immediately rebroadcast national and state emergency messages. (LP stations may also choose to participate in local EAS plans and relay regional or local emergency messages and alerts.)

Local Primary Spanish (LPS) - in appropriate areas, a station that will receive emergency messages from a State Relay or an English language Local Primary station and will translate the emergency information and broadcast the alerts over the air in Spanish.

Participating National (PN) - broadcasters and cable operators designated as “PN” under FCC rules are committed to remain in operation and disseminate all national emergency messages to the general public.

Non-Participating National (NN) - broadcasters who hold an “NN Authorization” from the FCC will sign off the air during a National Emergency.

Participating or Non-Participating for State and/or Local EAS plans - broadcasters and cable operators will be asked to indicate in advance whether they intend to air state and/or local emergency messages. Each operational area will be encouraged to develop priority designations for anticipated local emergency contingencies. Each station will be responsible for deciding what types of emergency alerts will be aired and under what circumstances they will program their EAS encoder decoder to automatically relay emergency alert notifications.

State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is the anticipated origination point of messages from the Governor or other officials specifically authorized to issue a state emergency alert.

The delivery of all National messages, pursuant to plans established previously by FEMA, will come from the White House to Texas’ two Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations, KTRH Houston, and WBAP Fort Worth/Dallas. From the PEP stations the EAS message will go out in two simultaneous routes.

1. The PEP stations will broadcast the message over the air for their operational areas and for two other State Relay entities - WOAI AM San Antonio and Texas State Networks. The national emergency message (including audio of the President) will be relayed and disseminated across the state by every participating broadcast facility. (After July 1, 1997 all cable operators also will carry national emergency messages.)

2. The PEP stations also will relay the message via phone lines to the National Weather Service office in New Braunfels. The PEP station operator should ask for the lead forecaster. The weather service forecaster may choose to call the PEP station back to verify the source of the emergency information. (Unlisted phone and fax numbers will be provided to KTRH, WBAP and the National Weather Service Office for Austin/San Antonio along with names of key personnel.)

The NWS office will then distribute the message via their computer network to the twelve other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Service Stations in Texas and adjoining states that service portions of Texas.

The Local Primary (LP) stations across the state will receive the national emergency message from either a national weather service station and/or one of the four other State Relay entities (three radio stations - KTRH Houston, WBAP Dallas/Fort Worth and WOAI San Antonio and one satellite systems - the Texas State Networks).

All other broadcast stations and cable operators will be assigned to monitor one of the weather service stations and/or local primary stations and/or other state relay entities.

The initiation of state emergency messages will be the responsibility of the Division of Emergency Management. DEM personnel at the state emergency operations center will disseminate any state emergency message three times - in a phone/fax message to the weather service and in phone calls to KTRH and WBAP. The Division of Emergency Management will use two alternate paths for state emergency messages:

1. The DEM will send a FAX to the Austin/San Antonio National Weather Service (NWS) office which is located in New Braunfels, Texas. Because the weather service will not have an EAS encoder/decoder and is not equipped to receive or transmit audio, the Division of Emergency management will put a state emergency message into written form and fax it to the weather office. Since the weather service fax machine is not in the same room as the meteorologists, the state Division of Emergency management will need to call and alert the meteorologist that a fax message is coming. The weather service office will then distribute the message via their computer network to eleven other NOAA Weather Service Stations throughout Texas and in adjoining states that service portions of Texas. A weather service meteorologist in each weather station will receive the computer message and recode the message for dissemination on the weather wire for that area and broadcast the alert via the weather station transmitter.

2. The DEM also will relay the emergency message by telephone to KTRH Radio in Houston and WBAP Radio in Dallas. The Division of Emergency Management intends to acquire and put into use its own EAS encoder/decoder and will be able to deliver the audio remarks from the governor or other authorized public official along with a properly encoded emergency alert to the two broadcast stations.

In the event the governor or other state official authorized to issue a state emergency message is not able to speak from or connect through the Emergency Operations Center in Austin, an unlisted phone number for KTRH and WBAP will be provided as an alternative procedure for activating the EAS system for a state emergency.

One Local Primary (LP) station will be designated for each local operational area across the state to monitor either a national weather service station if available and/or one of the four other designated State Relay entities (KTRH Houston, WBAP Dallas/Fort Worth and WOAI San Antonio and the Texas State Networks) for emergency messages.

A second Local Primary (LP) station will be designated for each local operational area to monitor a national weather service station if available and/or the first Local Primary station and/or one of the four other designated State Relay entities - KTRH Houston, WBAP Dallas/Fort Worth and WOAI San Antonio and the Texas State Networks for emergency messages.

All other broadcast stations and cable operators will be assigned in turn to monitor a National Weather Service Station and a Local Primary station where possible and/or a State Relay entity.

The delivery path for local emergency messages will be set out in a local EAS plan. Each local area should organize a local emergency communications committee including broadcasters, cable operators and local government officials to draft a plan to submit to the State Emergency Communications Committee. (See also the sections on Emergency Area Notifications - Local areas and on Guidance for Originators of EAS Alerts below.)

Cable systems shall be responsible effective July 1, 1997, as directed by the Federal Communications Commission for inserting emergency messages as video crawls into the programming offered to their subscribers except for the channels retransmitting signals of local broadcast stations that meet the following requirements:

1. Originate local news programs at the studio facility.

2. Have weather equipment at the studio facility to support the stations’ Weather Department to determine severe local weather conditions.

3. Have the ability to run video crawls over network or local programming to advise the public of weather conditions or other public emergencies.

4. The station’s master control center is manned at all times when the station is on-the-air.

5. The station General Manager will certify the above conditions to the individual Cable System that re-transmits their signal to exempt the station form Cable System equipment placing video crawls over their programs.

The National EAS is activated by the White House and communicated through FEMA to PEP stations.

The State EAS is activated by a request from authorized officials such as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Speaker of the House of Representatives to the State EOC. The Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management is expected to be the primary entry point for state messages from the Governor.

Each local area plan will need to specify what entities are authorized to activate the Local EAS and under what circumstances. (See Local Area Activation below.)

1. A National activation of the EAS for a Presidential message with the Event code EAN as specified in FCC Part 11.31 must take priority over any other message and preempt it if it is in progress.

2. EAS participants should transmit other EAS messages in the following order: first, Local Area messages, second, State Messages; and third, National Information Center (NIC) Messages.

3. Key EAS sources (PEP stations, State Relays, Local Primary stations) and Participating National (PN) sources that remain on the air during a National emergency must carry Presidential Messages “live” at the time of transmission or immediately upon receipt. Activation of the National level EAS must preempt State and Local area EAS operation.

4. During a national emergency, the radio and television broadcast network program distribution facilities must be reserved exclusively for distribution of Presidential Messages. NIC messages received from national networks which are not broadcast at the time of original transmission must be recorded locally by Local Primary sources for transmission at the earliest opportunity consistent with the message priorities in paragraph 2 of this section.

A. National Level. The EAN is released at the national level upon request of the White House. The EAN message is disseminated from the origination point on a dedicated network to PEP stations. The EAN is then further disseminated as follows by:

1. The PEP stations broadcast the message to other broadcasters and the public and relay the information to the National Weather Service Office for Austin/San Antonio. (That weather office, located in New Braunfels, is the designated liaison office between Texas entities and National Weather Service operations serving Texas.)

2. State Relays (SRs) transmit the message over the air or via satellite to reach stations not in range of a PEP station.

3. National Weather Service stations serving Texas retransmit the Presidential emergency message received via the Austin/San Antonio weather service office.

Note: Although national networks have indicated a willingness to disseminate presidential messages to their affiliates, the FCC indicates there currently is no mechanism or plan to get a message from White House to the networks, only to the PEP stations.

B. State Level. The dissemination arrangements for the EAN at this level originate from State Emergency Operations Center (Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management). The DPS/DEM will be responsible for arranging for the Governor or other authorized persons to deliver an emergency message in person from the State EOC or via phone line or other method of communications to the Austin headquarters.

1. Activation at the State level will occur for emergencies that pose a threat to the safety of life and property at the State level or a regional area. Examples of these emergency situations, which may warrant either an immediate or delayed response by the licensee, are: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, earthquakes, icing conditions, heavy snows, widespread fires, discharge of toxic gases, widespread power failures, industrial explosions, and civil disorders. (See Activation Guidelines below)

2. The EAS can be activated prior to commencing routine operation or originating any emissions under program or equipment tests, experimental, or other authorizations, or for any other purpose. Broadcast licensees or cable operators shall first ascertain whether the EAS has been activated by one or all of the following methods:

C. Local Area Level. The dissemination arrangements for the EAN at this level originate from Local Area Emergency Communicitaiton Committees that should incorporate suggestions from representatives of local governmental authorities and area broadcasters and cable operators. Once a local committee is organized, the names of the participants and the chair should be submitted to the Texas State Emergency Communications Committee which will in turn submit nominations to the Federal Communications Commission.

Since dissemination of local emergency messages by broadcasters is voluntary, it is the responsibility of concerned governmental representatives to work with media representatives to negotiate an acceptable plan for communicating emergency messages, determine what entities will be permitted to input alerts to the broadcast stations or cable systems, set priorities for what situations warrant automatic emergency activations and establish procedures to make the system work. Note: Broadcasters serving as local primary sources for national and state emergency message dissemination have full discretion to decide whether and how to participate in local EAS dissemination.

Local EAS activations shall be in accordance with the EAS State Plan and Local Area plan.

Local area plans must be submitted to the State Emergency Communications Committee for incorporation in the state EAS Plan.

Although circumstances may vary from one local area to another, each local plan should designate which representatives of local government such as a mayor, county judge, city emergency manager or county emergency manager, will be authorized to issue an emergency alert. The local plan should specify what entity or entities will communicate any emergency message to the broadcast stations as well as which stations will agree to disseminate emergency alerts and under what circumstances.

In general the following conditions should be considered in determining whether an emergency alert is warranted:

Statewide tests of the Texas Emergency Alert System will be conducted during the first full week of each month (the week including the first Sunday in any given month). The statewide test will be the Required Monthly Test for Texas broadcasters and cable operators. In every other week besides the first week of the month each broadcast station and cable system operator will have the option to conduct an independent test or participate in a local area or regional test in order to comply with the FCC’s requirement for the Required Weekly Tests.

For the statewide test during the first week of the month the State Emergency Communications Committee will establish a plan for the two PEP stations (KTRH and WBAP) to initiate the tests simultaneously. Days and times will be selected with an eye to minimizing interference with regular broadcast programs while still achieving a random test sufficient to demonstrate the reliability of the EAS web to disseminate an emergency message across the state. Efforts will be made to coordinate tests on some occasions with the Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service to demonstrate the reliability of their roles in disseminating emergency information.

The following requirements regarding both the Required Weekly Tests (RWT) and the Required Monthly Tests (RMT) apply to all broadcasters, “PN”, as well as “NN” stations and all cable operators. Even stations that have elected not to participate in local EAS alerts, must still rebroadcast their local Required Monthly Test every month.

There are two exceptions to these rules. First, Class “D” FM and LPTV stations need not have an EAS Encoder but they must have an EAS Decoder. Thus, these stations are exempt from running the weekly digital coded Required Weekly Test. However, they must re-transmit the monthly Required Monthly Tests as outlined below, minus the EAS header Codes and Attention Signal. In addition, LPTV stations must present all EAS information visually, just as all other TV stations must do. The second exception is for FM Translator and TV Translator stations, which are not required to have any EAS equipment.

a. Transmission: All broadcasters and cable operators must transmit an RWT once each week at random days and times except for the week of the Required Monthly Test. There are no time-of-day restrictions. This is a 10.5 second test, consisting of only the EAS Header and End-of-Message Codes.

b.Reception:All broadcasters and cable operators receiving a RWT from one of their monitored sources must log receipt of this test. No further action is required.

c.Scheduling: Each broadcast station and cable operator will have the option of deciding when to conduct its own weekly test or electing to carry a test transmitted by the local primary station it is assigned to monitor rather than initiating its own test. The latter may simplify compliance with the FCC requirement for some stations and cable operators.

a.Transmission:Required Monthly Test’s are to be initiated on a statewide basis. The State Emergency Communications Committee will coordinate planning and assign responsibility for initiating the required monthly test to the two PEP stations (KTRH and WBAP). The State Committee will solicit participation from the state Emergency Operations Center (Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management)in a sufficient number of tests to determine the operational effectiveness of the EAS plan for distributing state emergency messages. Similarly efforts will be made to coordinate with the National Weather Service (Austin/San Antonio office) to conduct some tests as appropriate to demonstrate clearly the effective operation of relays of emergency messages through the weather service stations to local broadcasters.

To facilitate planning the SECC will direct the random airing of a required monthly test during the first full week of each month. During the designated week for this test, all other broadcasters and cable operators are to wait for this test and then react as described in (d) below. These test shall always use the Event Code “RMT”, never codes such as “State Test”, or “Local Area Test”, etc.

b. Scheduling of RMTs:Required Monthly Tests shall always occur during the first, full, Sunday through Saturday week of the Month. The State Emergency Communications Committee will ask the chief engineers at the Primary Entry Point Stations, KTRH Houston and WBAP Dallas/Fort Worth to decide the actual time for each monthly test and to initiate the test.

c. Recommended Time Constraints:Judgment will be exercised in the scheduling of times for RMTs. Since all broadcasters and cable operators are required to rebroadcast this test, care will be taken to not put undue hardship on broadcasters in particular, when they are carrying their highest-revenue programming. On a daily basis, these periods would include all major newscasts; early morning, noon-time, evening, and late-evening. In addition, the times of major events are recommended to be avoided, such as: pre-planned Presidential speeches, hours of a major national or local news story carried outside of normal newscast hours, local and national election coverage, and major sporting events like the World Series games and the Super bowl.

Broadcasters and cable operators with a complaint regarding the scheduling of RMTs in their Area should make their concerns known to their Local Area EAS Chair. If a satisfactory resolution is not reached at that level, the State EAS Chair should be contacted.

The following test formats and scripts shall be used by all Texas broadcasters, cable operators, and emergency agencies when originating EAS tests.

No script is used for the regular weekly test. The Federal Communications Commission suggests broadcast stations may want to give listeners some explanation before or after the test, however, to let their audiences know what the unusual sounds are. A script similar to the following text for the Required Monthly Test would be appropriate with the insertion of the name of the local area, the city of license or the market served by the station or cable operator in front of the word, “Texas.”

2.) Required Monthly Test: Anyone originating this test should use the following format. All other broadcasters and cable operators will receive the test in this format and must re-transmit it within 15 minutes in the same format. Format is as follows:

“This is a test of the Texas Emergency Alert System. In the event of an emergency, this system would bring you important information. This test is now concluded.”

Timing Note: The script above can be read in 9-10 seconds. All other elements of the Required Monthly Test (the Header Codes and an 8-second Attention Signal) take from 19-21 seconds to complete (length depending on the number of county codes contained in the Header). The goal of writing this short script was to fit the entire test into 30-second time period. State Relay and Local Primary stations and emergency agencies should make every attempt to complete this test in 30 seconds. Pre-recording the script at the length needed to achieve this goal would probably be helpful.

1.) STATE ACTIVATION
The State Emergency Operations Center shall transmit the following messages to all Texas broadcasters and cable operators via the State Relay Network Plan, Appendix H. The format is as follows:

Areas which have developed a specific Local Area EAS Plan (which should be attached to the State Plan) will have their own Activation Format presented in their Local Area Plan. The following is suggested Local Area Activation Format for general use by Areas which have not developed a specific EAS Plan:

NWS personnel should issue EAS Weather Alerts via the Weather Teletype, and on NOAA Weather Radio using the NOAA-SAME/EAS Codes. NWS procedures should be followed relating to the transmission of the SAME/EAS Codes, the 1050 Hz Alert Tone, and the reading of the weather bulletin script.

Since NOAA Weather Radio is being envisioned in the future as an "All-Hazards” Radio network, NWS personnel soon may be able to originate alerts for other than weather emergencies. Specific station staffing limitations, however, will make it difficult for NWS to handle large numbers of alerts or, in some cases, to accept anything other than a national or state emergency message. Local authorities should negotiate in advance and make arrangements with the appropriate NWS personnel about having NWS issue alerts to any hazards besides weather and national and state emergency messages. In the event that NWS personnel originate non-weather EAS Alerts, procedures found in this Plan (and its associated Local Area EAS Plans) regarding those alerts should be followed.

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is designed so that agencies with an emergency message need to give that message only once, and it will be received by all area broadcasters and cable operators simultaneously. A local plan is essential to establish the most efficient and effective way to communicate with the Local Primary stations or other broadcasters and cable operators in each area.
In order to generate this EAS message for transmission to broadcast and cable operators, a device called an EAS Encoder is needed. This unit can be connected to broadcasters via two-way radio or phone lines or some other mechanism. The Federal Communications Commission has prescribed operation standards for the equipment.

Each broadcast station by Jan. 1, 1997, and each cable operator by July 1, 1997, will have installed an FCC-approved encoder/decoder device capable of receiving the specially digitally coded emergency messages. The device can be automatically triggered to receive and disseminate national, state and local emergency messages. The equipment will make it possible to interrupt programming and disseminate an emergency message even if the station or system is not staffed full time.

A WORD OF CAUTION: Emergency Services agencies have acquired a valuable new tool in gaining access to all area broadcasters and cable operators via the EAS. However, if not used prudently, you put yourself in danger of losing this tool. Broadcasters and cable operators are expecting the EAS to be used only for life-threatening emergencies. Keep in mind two things.

First, some broadcasters and cable operators may have their EAS Decoders set to the Automatic Mode. There is no one there to screen your message and decide if it should be aired. They are depending on you to only send an EAS Alert for a very serious emergency. The first time you trigger the system for a frivolous event, you will lose the confidence of your area broadcasters and cable operators.

The second thing to remember is that broadcasters and cable operators decide to participate in the local-level EAS on a voluntary basis. No one can force them to carry your EAS Alerts.

All broadcast stations are required to transmit national emergency messages or - with FCC permission - to go off the air in the event of a national emergency. Although broadcasters’ equipment can monitor state and local emergency messages, stations are not required to air any messages besides those of the President.

Plans will need to be worked out with cooperating broadcast stations and cable operators to secure their agreement to program their equipment to automatically or on a delayed basis interrupt programming with local emergency messages.

Maintain a good relationship with your local broadcasters and cable operators, and they will come through for you in a crisis.

Nuclear Plants and certain Industrial Plants are the only non-governmental entities that have been given the authority to issue an EAS Alert. The caution given to Emergency Services agencies in section (B.) above should be reviewed by Nuclear and Industrial Plant personnel as well. EAS Alert Warnings should only be issued for life-threatening emergencies. Alerts for less-serious conditions could compromise the confidence of your local broadcasters and cable operators, all of whom are carrying your alerts on a voluntary basis.

This section is provided to aid users of the EAS, primarily broadcasters and cable operators, in programming the Event Codes, County-Location Codes, and Modes of Operation into their EAS Decoder. This information can also be of value to Emergency Services and Nuclear/Industrial Plant personnel who are making use of the Decoder section in their EAS gear.

Each EAS Alert that you want to program your EAS gear to respond to will require that you tell it those three elements: which Event Code you want it to respond to, which County that event should apply to, and what Mode of Operation you want it to respond in.

A. Modes of Operation
All EAS Decoders must be capable of at least Manual and Automatic Operation. Some manufacturers also offer a Semi-Automatic Mode.

Manual Operation: Your EAS gear will only notify you of any incoming EAS Alert that you have programmed it to respond to. Your operator must push a button to cause the Alert to be re-transmitted on your station/cable system.

Automatic Operation: This type of operation would normally be used with a Program Interrupt connection on the EAS Unit. Your on-air audio and/or video is "looped through" the EAS Unit so that the unit can interrupt the audio/video when necessary. In the Automatic mode, when the EAS Decoder receives an EAS Alert that you have programmed it to respond to, it immediately interrupts your programming to transmit the EAS Alert.
Semi-Automatic Operation: Under this mode of operation, when the EAS Decoder receives an EAS Alert that you have programmed it to respond to, it will begin a preset countdown to automatic interrupt. The idea is for your operator to run the EAS Alert on the air manually at his/her earliest convenience. If the Alert is not run by the time the preset countdown time expires, the EAS gear will take over and do it for your operator. The same could apply to a broadcast automation system where the automation system should insert the received Alert in the next commercial break. If it fails do that, the EAS gear will put to the Alert at the end of the time-out.

You can program your EAS gear to respond to different Alerts in different Modes, such as responding to all Weather Watches in Manual Mode, and all Weather Warnings in the Automatic Mode. The Required Monthly Test (RMT), which must be re-transmitted within 15 minutes of receipt, could be programmed for Semi-Automatic Mode with a 15-minute countdown. This would give your operator the opportunity to run the RMT him/herself at a break in the show. However, if he/she forgets, the EAS gear would then do it to prevent you from committing an FCC Violation.

Broadcasters using “Unattended Operation” must run their EAS gear in the Automatic Mode.

There are certain events which you will receive for your County of License that you must program your EAS gear to respond to. A list of those events are shown in (C.) below. When programming your EAS gear for other optional EAS alerts, you will want to include any other counties in your “service area” for which you wish to provide Alerts to your listeners/viewers. Again, each type of alert can be whatever counties you wish to alert. You can tell your EAS gear to notify you in the Manual Mode of any EAS Alert received for your county of license. In this way, you do not have to program all events separately. You can program separately the events for which you actually want the EAS unit to take over the stations/system in the Automatic Mode.

The FCC requires that broadcasters and cable operators program their EAS Decoders for the following events:

“EAN” (National EAS Activation) = Must be re-transmitted immediately.
“EAT” (National EAS Termination) = Must be re-transmitted immediately.
“RMT” (Required Monthly Test) containing your County of License code =
Must be re-transmitted within 15 minutes of receipt.
“RWT” (Required Weekly Test) containing your County of License code =
This received test need only be logged.. No re-broadcast required.

APPENDIX A
LIST OF OFFICIALS DESIGNATED TO ACTIVATE THE TEXAS EAS
Governor, State of Texas

The authentication to be used for activation will be determined by the management of the Texas Department of Public Safety/Division of Emergency Management with the advice of the State Emergency Communications Committee.

Note: National Weather Service (NWS) warnings received via NOAA Weather Radio, NOAA Wire or AP, Reuters and UPI wire services do not need additional authentication.

District 1: Amarillo includes Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman and Wheeler counties.

District #2: Lubbock includes Bailey, Briscoe, Castro, Cochran, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Garza , Hall, Hale, Hockley, King, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Stonewall, Swisher, Terry and Yoakum counties.

District #3: Wichita Falls includes Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Hardeman, Knox,Wichita and Wilbarger counties.

District #4: Midland/Odessa includes Andrews, Borden, Crane, Dawson, Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Howard, Loving, Martin, Midland, Mitchell, Reagan, Reeves, Scurry, Upton, Ward and Winkler counties.

District #5: Abilene includes Callahan, Fisher, Jones, Nolan, Shackelford and Taylor counties.

District #6: Brownwood includes Brown, Coleman, McCulloch and San Saba counties.

District #7: Dallas/Fort Worth includes Comanche, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Grayson, Haskell, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant Throckmorton, Young and Wise counties.

District #8: Waco includes Anderson, Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Henderson, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan, Mills, Navarro, Rains and Van Zant counties.

District #9: Texarkana includes Bowie, Camp, Cass, Harrison, Marion, Morris, and Titus counties.

District #11: Lufkin includes Angelina, Cherokee, Houston, Nacogdoches, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine , Shelby, Trinity and Tyler counties.

District #12: Beaumont includes Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton and Orange counties.

District #13: Houston includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Waller and Wharton counties.

District #14: Bryan-College Station includes Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Walker and Washington counties.

District #15: Austin includes Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Gillespie, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis, and Williamson counties.

District #16: San Antonio includes Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Real, Uvalde, Wilson and Zavala counties.

District #17: Brownsville includes Brooks, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Starr and Willacy counties.

District #18: Del Rio includes Edwards, Kinney, Maverick and Val Verde counties.

District #19: Alpine includes Brewster, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio and Terrell counties.

District #21: Laredo includes Duval, LaSalle, McMullen, Webb and Zapata counties.

District #22: Corpus Christi includes Aransas, Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio counties.

District #23: San Angelo includes Coke, Concho, Crockett, Irion, Kimble, Mason, Menard, Runnels, Schleicher, Sterling, Sutton and Tom Green counties.

District #24: Victoria includes Calhoun, Dewitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria counties.

District #25: Paris includes Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Hopkins, Hunt, Lamar and Red River

APPENDIX F
Texas EAS Local Primary(LP) Stations
*stations have monitoring problems and/or are not signed up as LPs

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Checklist		i
Signatures		ii
PURPOSE		1
AUTHORITY		1
GENERAL		1
CONCEPT OF OPERATION		1
DELIVERY OF EMERGENCY MESSAGES		2
DEFINITIONS		3
ACTIVATION		5
PRIORITIES		5
EMERGENCY ACTION NOTIFICATIONS (EANs)		5
IMPLEMENTATION		7
I. EAS Test		7
II. Guidance for Originators of EAS Alerts		11
III.Guidance for All Users in Programming Their Decoders in Texas		12

________________________ (Bill Arnold)	___________________ (date)	Vice Chair, State Emergency Communications Committee
________________________ (name)	___________________ (date)	Defense Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission

________________________ (Tom Millwee)	___________________ (date)	State Coordinator, Division of Emergency Management
________________________ (Jane Wallace)	___________________ (date)	President, Texas Association of Broadcasters
________________________ (Jake Landrum)	___________________ (date)	Chairman of the Board, Texas Cable Association