Nationwide EAS Test on August 11, 2021
On August 11, 2021, at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). A secondary test date is scheduled for the same time on August 25, 2021 if conditions on August 11 require the test to be rescheduled.
All EAS Participants are required to participate in the EAS test. EAS participants include radio and television stations (including LPFM, Class A, and LPTV stations), cable systems, DBS, and SDARS services.
Subject to the exemptions listed below, all EAS Participants must:
- File a Form One through the EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) on or before July 6, 2021.
- Submit “day-of-test” information by filing a Form Two on or before August 12, 2021.
- Submit detailed post-test data by filing a Form Three on or before September 27, 2021.
The following EAS Participants are exempt from registering and filing in ETRS: LPTV stations that operate as television broadcast translator stations, FM broadcast booster stations and FM translator stations which entirely rebroadcast the programming of other local FM broadcast stations, and broadcast stations that are satellites or repeaters of a hub station and rebroadcast 100 percent of the programming of that primary or hub station.
Broadcasters can file Forms One, Two, and Three through the ETRS system, found here, using their registered FCC Username and password. Filers that do not have an FCC Username can obtain one here. Filers that have forgotten the password associated with their FCC Username can reset it here.
Concurrently with the EAS test, FEMA and the FCC will also conduct a test of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).
If you need assistance filing any forms in the ETRS system, please contact the Wiley attorney who regularly handles your FCC matters or one of the attorneys listed on this client alert.
