[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 80780-80781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33154]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 11

[EB Docket No. 04-296; FCC 11-136]


Review of the Emergency Alert System

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission amends its rules governing 
the Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules to extend the deadline for EAS 
Participants to be able to receive Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)-
formatted EAS alerts to no later than June 30, 2012. This is intended 
to provide EAS Participants with time to comply with any new CAP-based 
revisions to the Commission's rules.

DATES: Effective December 27, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Fowlkes, Deputy Bureau Chief, 
Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, at (202) 418-7452, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Fourth 
Report and Order in EB Docket No. 04-296, FCC 11-136, adopted on 
September 15, 2011, and released on September 16, 2011. The full text 
of this document is available for inspection and copying during normal 
business hours in the FCC Reference Center (Room CY-A257), 445 12th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. The complete text of this document 
also may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, Best Copy 
and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street SW., Room, CY-B402, Washington, DC 
20554. The full text may also be downloaded at: www.fcc.gov.

[[Page 80781]]

    1. This Fourth Report and Order is one of two orders in which the 
Commission will take additional steps to integrate CAP into its part 11 
rules governing the EAS. In this Fourth Report and Order, the 
Commission amends Sec.  11.56 of its EAS rules to require EAS 
Participants to be able to receive CAP-formatted EAS alerts as required 
by part 11 no later than June 30, 2012. The Commission anticipates that 
it will adopt the CAP-based revisions to its part 11 EAS rules in a 
subsequent order stemming from its Third Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (Third FNPRM), 76 FR 35810-01, June 20, 2011, in this docket 
sufficiently in advance of June 30, 2012, to allow EAS Participants 
ample time to comply with the new part 11 rules. In this subsequent 
order, the Commission will also address the many remaining non-CAP 
related issues raised in its Third FNPRM. This amendment of Sec.  11.56 
of the Commission's rules moots the Petition for an Expedited Further 
Extension of the 180-Day ``Cap'' Compliance Deadline, EB Docket 04-296 
(filed July 29, 2011) (Joint Petition) filed jointly by 46 state 
broadcasters associations, NAB, NCTA, the Society of Broadcast 
Engineers, ACA, the Association for Maximum Service Television, 
National Public Radio, the Association of Public Television Stations, 
and the Public Broadcasting Service for extension of the 180-day CAP 
compliance deadline.
    2. In the Third FNPRM, the Commission noted that some equipment 
vendors may be marketing equipment--intermediary devices--that connects 
in some fashion with previously certified EAS equipment to allow that 
equipment to receive CAP-formatted alerts in the legacy EAS format. The 
Commission sought comment on a number of issues regarding these 
devices, including whether they must be certified under current EAS 
rules and whether they satisfy the Commission's 2007 CAP-related 
requirements. Although the Commission intends to address these issues 
in a subsequent order, it notes that, based on the record, it appears 
that some EAS Participants may have purchased such equipment. In this 
Fourth Report and Order, the Commission reminds EAS Participants that 
equipment that meets the definition of an encoder or a decoder under 
Commission rules must be certified under Sec.  11.34 of the 
Commission's current rules. In addition, equipment used to receive CAP-
formatted EAS alerts must, at a minimum, comply with the CAP 
requirements the Commission adopted in the Second Report and Order in 
this docket. While the Commission does not decide today whether 
intermediary devices comply with these requirements, it is unclear 
whether any equipment that does not meet these current baseline 
requirements will be able to satisfy any CAP-related rules we may adopt 
in the future. Consequently, the Commission urges EAS Participants that 
have purchased or are considering purchase of any type of EAS equipment 
to verify with manufacturers and/or vendors that the equipment complies 
with current FCC rules.

I. Procedural Matters

A. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis

    3. This document contains no modified information collection 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 
104-13.

B. Congressional Review Act

    4. The Commission will send a copy of this Fourth Report and Order 
in a report to be sent to Congress and the Government Accountability 
Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (``CRA''), see 5 U.S.C. 
801(a)(1)(A).

II. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    5. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires that agencies 
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for notice-and-comment 
rulemaking proceedings, unless the agency certifies that ``the rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities.'' In this Fourth Report and Order, we have revised the 
rules to extend the date by which EAS Participants must be able to 
receive CAP-formatted EAS alert to June 30, 2012. We hereby certify 
that this rule revision will not have a significant economic impact on 
a substantial number of small entities, because the action merely 
maintains the status quo regarding CAP compliance. The Commission will 
send a copy of this Fourth Report and Order, including this 
certification, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration. In addition, the Fourth Report and Order (or a summary 
thereof) and certification will be published in the Federal Register.

III. Ordering Clauses

    6. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to sections 1, 2, 
4(i), 4(o), 301, 303(r), 303(v), 307, 309, 335, 403, 624(g), 706, and 
715 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 
154(i) and (o), 301, 303(r), 303(v), 307, 309, 335, 403, 544(g), 606, 
and 615, this Fourth Report and Order is adopted;
    7. It is further ordered that part 11 of the Commission's rules, 47 
CFR part 11, is amended. The Order shall become effective December 27, 
2011;
    8. It is further ordered that the Joint Petition for Further 
Extension of the CAP Compliance Deadline is dismissed as moot;
    9. It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a 
copy of this Fourth Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 11

    Radio, Television.


Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 11 as follows:

PART 11--EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS)

0
1. The authority citation for part 11 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i) and (o), 303(r), 544(g) and 
606.


0
2. Revise Sec.  11.56 to read as follows:


Sec.  11.56  EAS Participants receive CAP-formatted alerts.

    All EAS Participants must be able to receive CAP-formatted EAS 
alerts as required by this part no later than June 30, 2012.

[FR Doc. 2011-33154 Filed 12-23-11; 8:45 am]
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