The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is one of several federally managed
warning systems. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) jointly
administers EAS with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in
cooperation with the National Weather Service (NWS), an organization within the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA/NWS
weather radio system has been upgraded to an all-hazard warning capability. In June
2004, NOAA and the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate
of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed an agreement that will allow
DHS to use the NOAA/NWS network for its alerts and warnings.
Ways to improve the NOAA network and the broader-based EAS are under
discussion but at present the system is inadequate for fully alerting the public about
terrorist attacks or providing information on how to respond. EAS is built on a
structure conceived in the 1950's when over-the-air broadcasting was the bestavailable
technology for widely disseminating emergency alerts. Among the
weaknesses noted in the current systems are: insufficient coordination, dependence
on a limited set of technologies, and diffused administration. Mandatory broadcasts
are triggered only by a national alert, issued through the Office of the President; EAS
has never been used for this purpose. Local and regional announcements regarding
emergencies, natural or manmade, are broadcast voluntarily.

The 9/11 Commission Report discusses the effectiveness of emergency alerts at
the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, but focuses its analysis on
communications systems, not EAS. Other, recent, major studies of warning systems
have concluded that the United States needs a more robust emergency alert system.
Recommendations for improvement include using all available means of
communication, providing a standardized alert protocol and developing infrastructure
for notification to virtual communities. A virtual community in the context of
emergency communications refers to the technical ability to give immediate,
simultaneous alerts to the appropriate community of responders and affected
residents. Before its towers collapsed, the World Trade Center might have benefitted
if virtual community alert technology had been in place and activated.

Several bills were introduced in 2003 relating to emergency warnings, including
The Emergency Warning Act of 2003, (S. 118, Senator Edwards, and its companion
bill, H.R. 2537, Representative Maloney). This act would fund the development of
an all-hazard warning system and a "national backbone" modeled on the
NOAA/NWS system. A bill introduced by Representative Meek of Florida (H.R.
2250) would create a "READICALL" emergency alert system using the resources of
the "national private sector networks" of call centers to provide telephoned warnings.

This report summarizes the technology and administration of EAS and the
NOAA/NWS all-hazard network, and some of the key proposals for change. It will
be updated.