[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 26 (Monday, July 3, 2006)]
[Pages 1226-1228]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Executive Order 13407--Public Alert and Warning System
June 26, 2006
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, including the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), and the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended
(6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.), it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to have an
effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to
alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist
attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to public safety and well-
being (public alert and warning system), taking appropriate account of
the functions, capabilities, and needs of the private sector and of all
levels of government in our Federal system, and to ensure that under all
conditions the President can communicate with the American people.
Sec. 2. Functions of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(a) To implement the policy set forth in section 1 of this order,
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall:
(i) inventory, evaluate, and assess the capabilities and
integration with the public alert and warning system of
Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local public alert
and warning resources;
(ii) establish or adopt, as appropriate, common alerting and
warning protocols, standards, terminology, and operating
procedures for the public alert and warning system to enable
interoperability and the secure delivery of coordinated
messages to the American people through as many
communication pathways as practicable, taking account of
Federal Communications Commission rules as provided by law;
(iii) ensure the capability to adapt the distribution and content
of communications on the basis of geographic location,
risks, or personal user preferences, as appropriate;
(iv) include in the public alert and warning system the
capability to alert and warn all Americans, including those
with disabilities and those without an understanding of the
English language;
(v) through cooperation with the owners and operators of
communication facilities, maintain, protect, and, if
necessary, restore communications facilities and
capabilities necessary for the public alert and warning
system;
(vi) ensure the conduct of training, tests, and exercises for
the public alert and warning system;
(vii) ensure the conduct of public education efforts so that
State, territorial, tribal, and local governments, the
private sector, and the American people understand the
functions of the public alert and warning system and how to
access, use, and respond to information from the public
alert and warning system;
(viii) consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the private sector,
including communications media organizations, and Federal,
State, territorial, tribal, and local governmental
authorities, including emergency response providers, as
appropriate;
(ix) administer the Emergency Alert System (EAS) as a critical
component of the public alert and warning system; and
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(x) ensure that under all conditions the President of the
United States can alert and warn the American people.
(b) In performing the functions set forth in subsection (a) of this
section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate with the
Secretary of Commerce, the heads of other departments and agencies of
the executive branch (agencies), and other officers of the United
States, as appropriate, and the Federal Communications Commission.
(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security may issue guidance to
implement this order.
Sec. 3. Duties of Heads of Departments and Agencies.
(a) The heads of agencies shall provide such assistance and
information as the Secretary of Homeland Security may request to
implement this order.
(b) In addition to performing the duties specified under subsection
(a) of this section:
(i) the Secretary of Commerce shall make available to the
Secretary of Homeland Security, to assist in implementing
this order, the capabilities and expertise of the Department
of Commerce relating to standards, technology,
telecommunications, dissemination systems, and weather;
(ii) the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Secretary of
Homeland Security requirements for the public alert and
warning system necessary to ensure proper coordination of
the functions of the Department of Defense with the use of
such system;
(iii) the Federal Communications Commission shall, as provided by
law, adopt rules to ensure that communications systems have
the capacity to transmit alerts and warnings to the public
as part of the public alert and warning system; and
(iv) the heads of agencies with capabilities for public alert
and warning shall comply with guidance issued by the
Secretary of Homeland Security under subsection 2(c) of this
order, and shall develop and maintain such capabilities in a
manner consistent and interoperable with the public alert
and warning system.
Sec. 4. Reports on Implementation. Not later than 90 days after the
date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to
the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland
Security and Counterterrorism, a plan for the implementation of this
order, and shall thereafter submit reports from time to time, and not
less often than once each year, on such implementation, together with
any recommendations the Secretary finds appropriate.
Sec. 5. Amendment, Revocation, and Transition.
(a) Section 3(b)(4) of Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as
amended, is further amended by striking ``Emergency Broadcast System''
and inserting in lieu thereof ``Emergency Alert System''.
(b) Not later than 120 days after the date of this order, the
Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Assistant to
the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, shall issue
guidance under section 2(c) of this order that shall address the subject
matter of the presidential memorandum of September 15, 1995, for the
Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, on Presidential
Communications with the General Public During Periods of National
Emergency, and upon issuance of such guidance such memorandum is
revoked.
(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure an orderly and
effective transition, without loss of capability, from alert and warning
systems available as of the date of this order to the public alert and
warning system for which this order provides.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented in
a manner consistent with:
(i) applicable law and presidential guidance, including
Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as amended, and
subject to the availability of appropriations; and
(ii) the authorities of agencies, or heads of agencies, vested
by law.
(b) This order shall not be construed to impair or otherwise affect
the functions of the Director of the Office of Management
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and Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative
proposals.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights
or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity
by a party against the United States, its agencies, instrumentalities,
or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
George W. Bush
The White House,
June 26, 2006.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., June 27,
2006]
Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on June
28.