FCC 19-57 (Sirius Recon Order) Supporting Statement_NCR_v2

Emergency Alert System (EAS), 3060-0207

Order, FCC 19-57 April 2020

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

A. Justification:

Part 11 contains rules and regulations addressing the nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS provides the President with the capability to provide immediate communications and information to the general public at the national, state and local area level during periods of national emergency. The EAS also provides state and local governments and the National Weather Service with the capability to provide immediate communications and information to the general public concerning emergency situations posing a threat to life and property. State and local use of the EAS is required to be described in State EAS Plans that are administered by State Emergency Communications Committees (SECC) and submitted to the FCC for approval.

Non-Substantive Change Request:

The FCC is proposing non-substantive updates to previously approved collections represented by the forms associated with the mandatory electronic EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) that EAS Participants must utilize to file identifying and test result data as part of their participation in any authorized nationwide EAS tests (3060-0207). The collections in the modified ETRS forms are consistent with those approved by the Office of Management and Budget in the 2011 and 2017 revisions to the EAS PRA collection set forth in the FCC’s EAS Third Report and Order and in the related 2011 emergency request (and subsequent standard request) for approval of the electronic version of that previously approved collection (and the PRA filing made for the ETRS when it became a mandatory filing mechanism in 2015).

The current modification to the ETRS is to improve and clarify the filing experience. Every change requested either improves efficiency or clarifies previously unclear points for the user. In some cases, we are proposing to implement changes that users requested. The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB or Bureau), working with the ETRS developers, has made every effort to draft these modifications to be minimal, non-material changes, consistent with previous OMB approvals.

The updates to this collection will cause no change in the burden estimates or reporting and record keeping requirements that the Commission submitted (and which OMB subsequently approved) for the 2011 and 2017 systems.

Summary of Proposed Changes:

1. Add a search feature under “My Filings.”

Enable a search function within the “My Filings” icon (i.e., by name, call sign, and/or FRN). Once a filer clicks on “My Filings,” the filer sees a table listing the ETRS filer’s previous filings submitted in past test cycles (See Figure 1). While typically individual EAS Participants will only have three previous filings listed (one for each test cycle filed in the current ETRS system), some filers are authorized to file on behalf of several different EAS Participants, thereby listing ETRS records in the tens and hundreds. As the website is currently configured, those filers cannot easily find a particular Participant’s previous filings in the lengthy list. This solution will allow filers to access previously filed ETRS records more effectively and efficiently by searching based on relevant criteria (i.e., call sign or test year). Adding this function could reduce filing time. We propose to add an open-text field, or a similar function like a drop-down menu, to input search terms for each column in Figure 2. This will allow filers to access previously filed ETRS records based on relevant search criteria (i.e., call sign or test year).

2. Extra Batch Filing Instructions

We propose to include batch filing request instructions clarifying that any field that contains a drop-down option must be filled in by the drop-down response, rather than a typed-in response. The information filers provide is the same, but we propose that the filing system give additional instructions. Currently, if a filer submitting a batch filing request types in a response where selection from a drop-down list of responses is required, the filer will receive an error message, and the batch filing request will not be processed in ETRS. To reduce the number of filings that are rejected by ETRS, we propose to add language to the batch filing instructions clarifying that for fields with a drop-down option, filers must select from the drop-down list.

The additional instructional language to be added to the ETRS batch filing instructions, set forth in green, in Figure 3, and as indicated by the yellow arrow, is essentially as follows: When a drop-down list of responses is provided, please select a data entry from the drop-down list. Do not attempt to edit or type in your response in lieu of a selection from the drop-down list or your filing will be rejected.

3. Revise Language in Form Three Regarding Accessibility

We seek to refine language on accessibility in two locations. First, we revise the clarifying information that appears when a filer elects to fill the Form Three receipt explanation text box (Figure 4). We propose to do the same for the Form Three retransmission explanation text box (Figure 5). It would read essentially as follows, with additional language in italics, and removed language in strikethrough: If appropriate, please include technical information on equipment performance, as well as information regarding accessibility of the test alert to non-English speakers and people with disabilities. (For example, the text crawl must be fully accessible readily readable and understandable (i.e. font size, color, contrast, location, and speed) and not interfere with closed captioning or other visual messages, and the audio portion of the EAS message must play in full at least once during any EAS message.) If you wish to attach a document or image, you can do so by clicking on the paperclip icon at the top of this form.

4. Add Language to ETRS Form One Clarifying How to Pre-Populate Data.

We seek to clarify the ETRS system’s instructions on how a filer may pre-populate the data within Form One from data submitted in previous years. We propose to add language to the instructions section at the beginning of ETRS Form One clarifying how to pre-populate the data. We will use the following proposed language, or something essentially the same. It will be added to the existing information about reviewing pre-populated information and accuracy and updating data through the OPIF (see Figure 6 at yellow arrow): Broadcasters can pre-populate Form One by completing the FRN, EAS Participant Type, and Facility ID fields. Cable systems can pre-populate Form One by completing the FRN, EAS Participant Type, and PSID fields.

5. Enable Access Within ETRS to Spanish-language Preparation Sheets

Although Spanish-language “prep sheets” are available on the FCC’s ETRS website to help Spanish-speaking filers file ETRS forms, adding access to translated prep sheets for the ETRS forms within the database would enable Spanish-speaking filers to directly access that resource when submitting in ETRS. FCC Licensing Support representatives informed the Bureau that a “high volume” of Spanish filers have requested assistance when filing forms in ETRS. The additional translated instructions, taken from the FCC webpage, will be available through hyperlinks or a similar vehicle using the following language, or something similar, to indicate where filers can access information in Spanish: Aquí encontrará información en español para completar el Fomulario Uno (Form One). Aquí encontrará información en español para completar el Formulario Dos (Form Two) y el Formulario Tres (Form Three).

6. Add language clarifying how to manually add missing call signs in ETRS Form One.

The ETRS database pulls call sign information nightly from the Online Public Inspection File (OPIF), which pulls call sign data from the Consolidated Database System (CBDS) and updates the available options within Form One. However, some filers’ call signs of their monitoring assignments did not automatically populate. Currently, EAS Participants can manually add missing call signs, but it is not clear or intuitive how to do so. We propose to add clarifying language to the instructions currently provided for the “Other Monitored Sources” field to instruct filers how to manually add missing call signs. The additional instructional language, to be added to existing instructions for completing the “Other Monitored Sources” field (see Figure 7 at yellow arrow), is as follows: EAS Participants may manually add missing call signs by inputting them into the “Other Monitored Sources” field in Form One.

Revisions to Information Collection Requirements Which Require OMB Approval

The FCC is submitting this information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a revision of the previously approved information collection that established EAS testbug requirements for Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) providers. Specifically, this information collection amends the Part 11 EAS rules to (i) eliminate requiring SDARS providers to transmit weekly tests in favor of requiring them to only log receipt of the weekly test, and (ii) eliminate the requirement that SDARS providers transmit monthly test on all channels in favor of requiring them to transmit the monthly test on 10% of all of their channels, with channels tested varying from month to month, so that over the course of a given year, 100% of all of its channels are tested. This action harmonizes the EAS testing requirements applied to SDARS service with those applied to the similarly situated Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service.

For the decisions adopted in the Order, EB Docket No. 04-296, PS Docket No. 15-94, FCC 19-57, the Commission assumes annual in-house cost burdens will be unchanged or be lessened by a de minimis amount. Specifically, the modified monthly test requirements for SDARS do not eliminate monthly testing but likely make such testing less burdensome to administer and schedule. The weekly test requirement for SDARS of substituting logging of receipt of a weekly test for conducting the weekly test, represents a reduced burden, as EAS equipment automatically records when weekly tests are received. Further, not having to transmit the EAS header codes and End of Message (EOM) code on all channels randomly once per week relieves the SDARS provider from having to coordinate and administer such testing. The burden for conducting weekly tests has been established at 0.017 hours per week, for 40 weeks (weekly tests are not required for the week in which a monthly test is conducted); thus, the annual burden for SDARS providers to conduct weekly tests is 0.68 hours, at an estimated annual in-house cost of $26 ((0.68) x ($38 per hour)). While it seems likely that this annual cost will be lessened under the modified weekly testing requirement – to some figure between $0 and $26 – given that there is only one SDARS provider, that amount will be de minimis relative to the total estimated in-house cost to all respondents (currently approved at 42,840 hours at an aggregate cost of $1,627,920). Accordingly, we are not changing the burden inventory contained in the current information collection.

Current Information Collection Requirements Previously Approved by OMB:

In the Alerting Reliability Order,¹ the Commission amended the Part 11 EAS rules to, among other things, (i) require EAS Participants to notify the Commission (via email to the FCC Ops Center at FCCOPS@fcc.gov) within twenty-four (24) hours of the EAS Participant’s discovery that it has transmitted or otherwise sent a false alert to the public, and (ii) include “Live Code Tests” of the EAS as a separate category of alerting exercise that EAS Participants may undertake voluntarily, provided such live code tests are conducted in accordance with specific parameters.

The Commission concluded that the annual in-house cost burden of reporting false alerts will be $11,600 per year. This figure is based upon following costs: (1/4 hour) x ($80 hourly salary) x (an estimated 2 incidents per year based on receiving reports of two false alerts in 2013, and one in 2014 and in 2015) x (290 entities estimated to file, which is based on the results of a widely reported false alert in which 290 entities would have been required to file a report, assuming all 290 entities had actual knowledge they had transmitted a false alert) = $11,600. The Commission concluded that the codification of “Live Code Tests” of the EAS as a separate category of alerting exercise that EAS Participants may undertake voluntarily, in accordance with the codified parameters, does not impose any new costs. Rather, this rule change codified requirements that were previously imposed on waivers granted by the Commission, thus, eliminating any legal or administrative costs that were associated with filing waiver requests.

In the State EAS Plan Order,² the Commission revised the information rquired to be reported in State EAS Plans, and required that SECCs file the State EAS Plans online in the Alert Reporting System (ARS). The Commission concluded that producing State EAS Plans consistent with the rules will result in approximately $235,000 as a one-time recordkeeping cost. This figure was based on an assessment of 100 hours per 54 SECCs to prepare their plans from scratch, at a quantified hourly rate of $43.50 ((100 hours) x ($43.50 per hour) x (54 SECCs)). The Commission also concluded that SECC representatives will incur a one-time estimated $1,000 reporting cost to file their revised State EAS Plans in the ARS. This figure was based on an estimated time burden of one hour, for each of the 54 SECCs at an hourly cost estimate of approximately $19 per hour ((1 hour) x ($19 per hour) x (54 SECCs)).

In the Third Report and Order, the FCC adopted rules establishing a regulatory structure for a national test of the EAS.³ In order for the FCC to determine the extent to which the test, and by extension the EAS, was successful, the FCC adopted rules requiring EAS Participants, within forty five (45) days of the date of the first national EAS test, to record and submit to the FCC the following test-related diagnostic information for each alert received from each message source monitored at the time of the national test:

• Whether they received the alert message during the designated test;

• Whether they retransmitted the alert;

• If they were not able to receive and/or transmit the alert, their ‘best effort’ diagnostic analysis regarding the cause(s) for such failure;

• A description of their station identification and level of designation (PEP, LP-1, etc.);

• The date/time of receipt of the EAN message by all stations; the date/time of PEP station acknowledgement of receipt of the EAN message to FOC;

• The date/time of initiation of actual broadcast of the Presidential message;

• The date/time of receipt of the EAT message by all stations;

• Who they were monitoring at the time of the test, and the make and

• Model number of the EAS equipment that they utilized.

The Third Report and Order indicates that the national tests of EAS, and related information collections will likely be carried out on an annual basis. On March 10, 2010, OMB approved the collection as indicated by the related Notice of Office of Management and Budget Action notification.

In the Second Report and Order, the FCC adopted rules that require states to file new EAS plans with the FCC under certain circumstances, expand the number of private entities covered by EAS, and impose new obligations on private entities.⁴ These rules may impact currently existing paperwork collection requirements as discussed below.

In the Second Report and Order, the FCC adopted a rule obligating EAS Participants to accept a message using a common EAS messaging protocol, the Common Alerting Protocol v1.1 (CAP), no later than 180 days after FEMA publicly publishes its adoption of such standard; requires EAS Participants to adopt Next Generation EAS delivery systems no later than 180 days after FEMA publicly releases standards for those systems; expands the number of EAS Participants by including wireline common carriers providing video programming (“wireline video systems”); and requires 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 FCC-approved EAS state plan that provides for delivery of such alerts.

The following information collection contained in Part 11 may be impacted by these rule amendments:

Section 11.61 contains test requirements for radio and television broadcast stations, cable systems, SDARS providers, DBS providers and other regulated service providers subject to the EAS rules.

Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. sections 154(i) and 606 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

This information collection does not affect individuals or households; thus, there are no impacts under the Privacy Act.

2. The Commission revised the SDARS EAS testing requirements to make them symmetrical to the DBS testing requirements based on its finding that SDARS and DBS services are similarly situated. This action should reduce the economic impact for SDARS providers associated with compliance with the general monthly and weekly testing requirements previously applied to them. The substitution of logging receipt of a weekly test for conducting the weekly test represents a reduced burden, as EAS equipment automatically records when weekly tests are received. In addition, not having to transmit the EAS header codes and EOM on all channels randomly once per week relieves the SDARS provider from having to coordinate and administer such testing.

3. Automated logging devices are used by entities to record entries in the station log. In addition, EAS alerts are received electronically via advanced digital signaling equipment.

4. This agency does not impose a similar information collection on the respondents. There is no similar data available.

5. Part 11 was designed to minimize the burden for all respondents regardless of size.

6. The EAS requirements are designed to benefit the EAS Participants and the people of their community, not the federal government. Any reduction in the frequency of this activity would

result in a proportional loss of benefit and would cause a delay in the detection of equipment failures that would cause the loss of national, state and local emergency messages to the public and could cause loss of life and property.

7. This collection of information is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. The Commison published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on September 12, 2019 (84 FR 48142). No comments were received.

9. No payment or gift was provided to the respondents.

10. EAS Participants required to log receipt of weekly tests in lieu of transmitting them, must retain such logged information for two years at the EAS Participant’s headquarters, and make such information available for public inspection upon reasonable request.

11. This collection of information does not address any private matters of a sensitive nature.

12. The following is provided for burden estimates. As explained above, the revised testing requirements affect only SDARS providers, of which there is only one, and because the net change to the current ionformation collection is de minimis, relative to the total estimated in-house cost to respondents, we have left the burden estimates in the currently approved burden inventory (below) unchanged.

	# of Respondents	# of Responses per Respondent	Total Responses	Burden per Response	Total Burden	Est. Hourly Wage of Respondent	Total Est. In-House Cost to Respondent
Section 11.15	63,000	1	63,000	0.1 hours	6,300 hours	$38	$239,400
Section 11.21	50 (states)	1	50	20 hours	1,000 hours	$25	$25,000
11.21	54 (SECCs)	1	54	100 hours	5,400 hours	$43.50	$235,000
11.21	54 (SECCs)	1	54	1 hour	54 hours	$19	$1,026
Section 11.21	27,468	1	27,468	1 hour	27,468 hours	$38	$1,043,784
Section 11.34	10 (manufacturers)	1	10	20 hours	200 hours	$25	$5,000
Section 11.35	400	1	400	0.017 hours	7 hours	$38	$266
Section 11.35	300	1	300	0.5 hours	150 hours	$38	$5,700
Section 11.41	10	1	10	0.5 hours	5 hours	$38	$190
Section 11.42	10 (common carriers)	1	10	1 hour	10 hours	$38	$380
Section 11.43	10 (voluntary entities)	1	10	0.5 hours	5 hours	$38	$190
Section 11.45	290	2	580	0.25 hours	145 hours	$80	$11,600
Section 11.51	4,373	1	4,373	0.17 hours	743 hours	$38	$28,234
Section 11.51	63,000	1	63,000	0.017 hours	1,071 hours	$38	$40,698
Section 11.52	20	1	20	0.5 hours	10 hours	$38	$380
Section 11.52	5	1	5	1.0 hour	5 hours	$38	$190
Section 11.54	63,000	1	63,000	0.017 hours	1,071 hours	$38	$40,698
Section 11.55	63,000	1	63,000	0.017 hours	1,071 hours	$38	$40,698
Section 11.55	8	1	8	3 hours	24 hours	$25	$600
Section 11.61	63,000	40	2,520,000	0.017 hours	42,840 hours	$38	$1,627,920
Section 11.61	63,000	12	756,000	0.034 hours	25,704 hours	$38	$976,752
Section 11.61*	27, 468	1	27, 468	1 hour	27,468 hours	$38	$1,043,784
Section 11.61	10	1	10	0	0	0	0
Totals	63,084		3,588,830		140,751 hours		$5,367,490

13. Annual Cost Burden to the Respondent. The FCC does not anticipate that respondents will need to incur capital or start-up costs, or operation and maintenance and purchase of services costs to respond to these information collections.

14. Cost to the Federal Government: The revised testing requirements for SDARS providers do not alter the current total cost to the Federal Government in OMB’s burden inventory for the 3060-0207 information collection. The Commission uses GS-13, Step 5, locality adjusted for the pay area of Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA in 2019 ($53.85/hour) to process the information submitted to the Commission in connection with sections 11.21, 11.35, 11.41, 11.43, and 11.52.

50 x 6 hours x $53.85 = $16,155

300 x 0.5 hours x $53.85 = $8,077.50

10 x 0.5 hours x $53.85 = $269.25

10 x 1.0 hours x $53.85 =$538.50

20 x 0.5 hours x $53.85 = $538.50

5 x 1.0 hours x $53.85 = $269.25

580 x 0.5 hours x $53.85 = $15,616.50

54 x 1 hour x $53.85 = $2,907.90

Current Total Cost to the Federal Government: $44,372.40

15. There are no program changes/increases to this information collection, as a result of the reporting requirements adopted in the Orders.

16. The results of this collection are publicly available. Specifically, EAS Participants required to log receipt of weekly tests in lieu of transmitting them, must retain such logged information for two years at the EAS Participant's headquarters, and make such information available for public inspection upon reasonable request.

17. The Commission is requesting a waiver of displaying the OMB control number on the on-line application screens because that would require updating each time this collection was submitted to OMB for review and approval. The Commission displays the OMB expiration date, title and OMB control number in 47 CFR 0.408 of the Commission’s rules.

18. There are no exceptions to the Certification Statement.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods:

No statistical methods are employed.

1 Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System; Wireless Emergency Alerts, PS Docket Nos. 15-94, 15-91, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 33 FCC Rcd 7086 (2018) (Alerting Reliability Order).

2 Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System, PS Docket No. 15-94, Report and Order, 33 FCC Rcd 3627 (2018) (State EAS Plan Order).

3 Review of the Emergency Alert System, EB Docket No. 04-296, Third Report and Order, 26 FCC Rcd 1460 (2011) (Third Report and Order).

4 Review of the Emergency Alert System; Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, Petition for Immediate Relief, EB Docket No. 04-296, Second Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 22 FCC Rcd 13275 (2007) (Second Report and Order).