11.21—State and Local Area plans and FCC Mapbook.
EAS plans contain guidelines which must be followed by EAS Participants' personnel, emergency officials, and National Weather Service (NWS) personnel to activate the EAS. The plans include the EAS header codes and messages that will be transmitted by key EAS sources (NP, LP, SP and SR). State and local plans contain unique methods of EAS message distribution such as the use of the Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS). The plans must be reviewed and approved by the Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, prior to implementation to ensure that they are consistent with national plans, FCC regulations, and EAS operation.
(a)
The State 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, including mandatory messages initiated by a state governor or his/her designee. The State plan must specify how state-level and geographically targeted EAS messages initiated by a state governor or his/her designee will be transmitted to all EAS Participants who provide services in the state, and must include specific and detailed information describing how such messages will be aggregated, designated as mandatory, and delivered to EAS Participants. State EAS plans should include a data table, in computer readable form, clearly showing monitoring assignments and the specific primary and backup path for the emergency action notification (“EAN”) from the PEP to each station in the plan.
(b)
The Local Area plan contains procedures for local officials or the NWS to transmit emergency information to the public during a local emergency using the EAS. Local plans may be a part of the State plan. A Local Area is a geographical area of contiguous communities or counties that may include more than one state.
(c)
The FCC Mapbook is based on the above plans. It organizes all broadcast stations and cable systems according to their State, EAS Local Area, and EAS designation.
[72 FR 62134, Nov. 2, 2007]