[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3238 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3238

 To improve oversight by the Federal Communications Commission of the 
            wireless and broadcast emergency alert systems.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2018

 Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Thune) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve oversight by the Federal Communications Commission of the 
            wireless and broadcast emergency alert systems.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reliable Emergency Alert 
Distribution Improvement Act of 2018'' or ``READI Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
        the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
            (2) the term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Communications Commission;
            (3) the term ``Emergency Alert System'' means the national 
        public warning system, the rules for which are set forth in 
        part 11 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 
        successor regulation); and
            (4) the term ``Wireless Emergency Alert System'' means the 
        wireless national public warning system established under the 
        Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act (47 U.S.C. 1201 et 
        seq.), the rules for which are set forth in part 10 of title 
        47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).

SEC. 3. WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM OFFERINGS.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 602(b)(2)(E) of the Warning, Alert, and 
Response Network Act (47 U.S.C. 1201(b)(2)(E)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the second and third sentences; and
            (2) by striking ``other than an alert issued by the 
        President.'' and inserting the following: ``other than an alert 
        issued by--
                    ``(A) the President; or
                    ``(B) the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the 
Administrator, shall adopt regulations to implement the amendment made 
by subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 4. STATE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM PLANS AND EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS 
              COMMITTEES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``SECC'' means a State Emergency 
        Communications Committee;
            (2) the term ``State'' means any State of the United 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 
        the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 
        possession of the United States; and
            (3) the term ``State EAS Plan'' means a State Emergency 
        Alert System Plan.
    (b) State Emergency Communications Committee.--Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
adopt regulations that--
            (1) encourage the chief executive of each State--
                    (A) to establish an SECC if the State does not have 
                an SECC; or
                    (B) if the State has an SECC, to review the 
                composition and governance of the SECC;
            (2) provide that--
                    (A) each SECC, not less frequently than annually, 
                shall--
                            (i) meet to review and update its State EAS 
                        Plan;
                            (ii) certify to the Commission that the 
                        SECC has met as required under clause (i); and
                            (iii) submit to the Commission an updated 
                        State EAS Plan; and
                    (B) not later than 60 days after the date on which 
                the Commission receives an updated State EAS Plan under 
                subparagraph (A)(iii), the Commission shall--
                            (i) approve or disapprove the updated State 
                        EAS Plan; and
                            (ii) notify the chief executive of the 
                        State of the Commission's findings; and
            (3) establish a State EAS Plan content checklist for SECCs 
        to use when reviewing and updating a State EAS Plan for 
        submission to the Commission under paragraph (2)(A).
    (c) Consultation.--The Commission shall consult with the 
Administrator regarding the adoption of regulations under subsection 
(b)(3).

SEC. 5. EMERGENCY ALERT BEST PRACTICES.

    (a) Guidance.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop and 
        issue guidance for State, Tribal, and local governments 
        regarding policies and procedures relating to emergency alerts.
            (2) Contents.--The guidance developed under paragraph (1) 
        shall include best practices and recommendations for--
                    (A) the processes and procedures that a State, 
                Tribal, or local government official should use to 
                issue an alert that will use the Emergency Alert System 
                or Wireless Emergency Alert System, including 
                information about the technology used to issue such an 
                alert;
                    (B) steps that a State, Tribal, or local government 
                official should take to mitigate the possibility of the 
                issuance of a false alert through the Emergency Alert 
                System and related emergency alerting systems;
                    (C) the process that a State, Tribal, or local 
                government official should adopt to retract a false 
                alert in the case of the issuance of such an alert;
                    (D) the annual training of State, Tribal, and local 
                alert origination staff related to the--
                            (i) issuance of alerts;
                            (ii) avoidance of false alerts; and
                            (iii) retracting of false alerts; and
                    (E) a plan by which participants in the Emergency 
                Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alert System 
                and other relevant State, Tribal, and local government 
                officials may, during an emergency, contact each other, 
                as well as Federal officials, when appropriate and 
                necessary, by telephone, text message, or other means 
                of communication, regarding an alert that has been 
                distributed to the public.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection (a) shall be 
construed to amend, supplement, or abridge the authority of the 
Commission under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 
or in any other manner give the Administrator authority over 
communications service providers participating in the Emergency Alert 
System or the Wireless Emergency Alert System.

SEC. 6. FALSE ALERT REPORTING.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Commission, in consultation with the Administrator, shall complete 
a rulemaking proceeding to establish a system to receive from the 
Administrator or State, Tribal, or local governments reports of false 
alerts under the Emergency Alert System or the Wireless Emergency Alert 
System for the purpose of recording such false alerts and examining 
their causes.

SEC. 7. REPEATING EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM MESSAGES FOR NATIONAL 
              SECURITY.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Commission, in consultation with the Administrator, shall complete 
a rulemaking proceeding to modify the Emergency Alert System to provide 
for repeating Emergency Alert System messages while an alert remains 
pending that is issued by--
            (1) the President;
            (2) the Administrator; or
            (3) any other entity under specified circumstances as 
        determined by the Commission, in consultation with the 
        Administrator.

SEC. 8. ONLINE STREAMING SERVICES EMERGENCY ALERT EXAMINATION.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Commission shall complete an inquiry to examine the 
feasibility of establishing systems and signaling to offer Emergency 
Alert System alerts to audio and video streaming services delivered 
over the internet.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after completing the inquiry 
under subsection (a), the Commission shall submit a report on the 
findings and conclusions of the inquiry to--
            (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
        of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives.
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