Goto Section: 11.56 | 11.61 | Table of Contents

FCC 11.61
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 | 2016
§ 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) Required Monthly Tests of the EAS header codes, Attention Signal, Test
   Script and EOM code.

   (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.

   (ii) Effective May 31, 2007, DBS providers must comply with this section by
   monitoring a state or local primary source to participate in testing. Tests
   should  be  performed  on  10%  of  all  channels  monthly  (excluding
   local-into-local channels for which the monthly transmission tests are
   passed through by the DBS provider), with channels tested varying from month
   to month, so that over the course of a given year, 100% of all channels are
   tested.

   (2) Required Weekly Tests:

   (i) EAS Header Codes and EOM Codes:

   (A) Analog and digital AM, FM, and TV broadcast stations must conduct tests
   of the EAS header and EOM codes at least once a week at random days and
   times. Effective December 31, 2006, DAB stations must conduct these tests on
   all audio streams. Effective December 31, 2006, DTV stations must conduct
   these tests on all program streams.

   (B)  Analog cable systems and digital cable systems with 5,000 or more
   subscribers  per headend and wireless cable systems with 5,000 or more
   subscribers must conduct tests of the EAS Header and EOM Codes at least once
   a week at random days and times on all programmed channels.

   (C) Analog cable systems and digital cable systems serving fewer than 5,000
   subscribers per headend and wireless cable systems with fewer than 5,000
   subscribers must conduct tests of the EAS Header and EOM Codes at least once
   a week at random days and times on at least one programmed channel.

   (D) SDARS providers must conduct tests of the EAS Header and EOM codes at
   least once a week at random days and times on all channels.

   (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).

   (iii) The EAS weekly test is not required during the week that a monthly
   test is conducted.

   (iv) EAS Participants are not required to transmit a video message when
   transmitting the required weekly test.

   (3) National tests. (i) All EAS Participants shall participate in national
   tests  as scheduled by the Commission in consultation with the Federal
   Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Such tests will consist of the delivery
   by FEMA to PEP/NP stations of a coded EAS message, including EAS header
   codes,  Attention  Signal,  Test  Script,  and EOM code. All other EAS
   Participants will then be required to relay that EAS message. The coded
   message shall utilize EAS test codes as designated by the Commission's
   rules.

   (ii) A national test shall replace the required weekly and monthly tests for
   all EAS Participants, as set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this
   section, in the week and month in which it occurs.

   (iii) Notice shall be provided to EAS Participants by the Commission at
   least two months prior to the conduct of any such national test.

   (iv) Test results as required by the Commission shall be logged by all EAS
   Participants into the EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) as determined by the
   Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, subject to the
   following requirements.

   (A) EAS Participants shall provide the identifying information required by
   the ETRS initially no later than sixty days after the publication in the
   Federal  Register of a notice announcing the approval by the Office of
   Management and Budget of the modified information collection requirements
   under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and an effective date of the rule
   amendment, or within sixty days of the launch of the ETRS, whichever is
   later, and shall renew this identifying information on a yearly basis or as
   required by any revision of the EAS Participant's State EAS Plan filed
   pursuant to § 11.21.

   (B) “Day of test” data shall be filed in the ETRS within 24 hours of any
   nationwide test or as otherwise required by the Public Safety and Homeland
   Security Bureau.

   (C) Detailed post-test data shall be filed in the ETRS within forty five
   (45) days following any nationwide test.

   (4)  EAS  activations  and special tests. The EAS may be activated for
   emergencies or special tests at the State or Local Area level by an EAS
   Participant instead of the monthly or weekly tests required by this section.
   To substitute for a monthly test, activation must include transmission of
   the EAS header codes, Attention Signal, emergency message and EOM code and
   comply with the visual message requirements in § 11.51. To substitute for the
   weekly test of the EAS header codes and EOM codes in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of
   this section, activation must include transmission of the EAS header and EOM
   codes.  Analog and digital television broadcast stations, analog cable
   systems, digital cable systems, wireless cable systems, and DBS providers
   shall comply with the aural and visual message requirements in § 11.51.
   Special EAS tests at the State and Local Area levels may be conducted on
   daily basis following procedures in State and Local Area EAS plans.

   (b)  Entries shall be made in EAS Participant records, as specified in
   § 11.35(a) and 11.54(a)(3).

   [ 70 FR 71038 , Nov. 25, 2005, as amended at  76 FR 12604 , Mar. 8, 2011;  77 FR 16707 , Mar. 22, 2012;  80 FR 37177 , June 30, 2015]

   Effective Date Note: At  80 FR 37177 , June 30, 2015, § 11.61 was amended by
   revising  paragraph  (a)(3)(iv).  This  paragraph contains information
   collection and recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective
   until approval has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.

   return arrow Back to Top
     _________________________________________________________________

   Need assistance?
   732 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20401-0001     202.512.1800
   Privacy   |   Important Links   |   Accessibility   |   Sitemap   |   COOP


Goto Section: 11.56 | 11.61

Goto Year: 2014 | 2016
CiteFind - See documents on FCC website that cite this rule

Want to support this service?
Thanks!

Report errors in this rule. Since these rules are converted to HTML by machine, it's possible errors have been made. Please help us improve these rules by clicking the Report FCC Rule Errors link to report an error.
hallikainen.com
Helping make public information public