Emergency Alerting: Capabilities Have Improved, but Additional Guidance and Testing Are Needed
Highlights
What GAO Found
Since 2009, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has taken actions to improve the capabilities of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and to increase federal, state, and local capabilities to alert the public, but barriers remain to fully implementing an integrated system. Specifically, IPAWS has the capability to receive and authenticate Internet-based alerts from federal, state, and local public authorities and disseminate them to the public through multiple systems. For example, since January 2012, publicalerting authorities can disseminate Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages through IPAWS to television and radio stations. Beginning in April 2012, alerting authorities have used IPAWS to transmit alerts via the Commercial Mobile Alert System interface to disseminate text-like messages to mobile phones. FEMA also adopted alert standards and increased coordination efforts with multiple stakeholders. Although FEMA has taken important steps to advance an integrated system, state and local alerting authorities we contacted cited a need for more guidance from FEMA on how to integrate and test IPAWS capabilities with their existing alerting systems. For example, an official with a state alerting authority said that additional guidance from FEMA is needed to determine what systems and policies should be put in place before integrating and testing IPAWS with other public alerting systems in the state's 128 counties and cities. In the absence of sufficient guidance from FEMA, states we contacted are reluctant to fully implement IPAWS. This reluctance decreases the capability for an integrated, interoperable, and nationwide alerting system.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required all EAS participants (e.g., broadcast radio and television, cable operators, satellite radio and television service providers, and wireline video-service providers) to submit a report to FCC by December 27, 2011, on the results of the nationwide EAS test. As of January 2013, 61 percent of broadcasters and cable operators had submitted the required report. Of those, 82 percent reported receiving the nationwide test alert, and 61 percent reported successfully retransmitting the alert to other stations, as required. Broadcasters' and cable operators' reception of the alert varied by state, from 6 percent in Oregon to 100 percent in Delaware. Key reasons for reception or retransmission difficulties included poor audio quality, outdated broadcaster-monitoring assignments, and equipment failure. For example, poor audio quality of the test alert resulted in some broadcasters' receiving a garbled and degraded audio message and others' receiving a duplicate alert that caused equipment to malfunction. According to FEMA officials, the poor audio quality is being addressed, in part, with the deployment of a dedicated satellite network that will become fully operational by fall 2013. However, at the time of our review, FEMA and FCC had taken few steps to address other problems identified in the nationwide test. Furthermore, while FCC rules call for periodic nationwide EAS testing, it is uncertain when the next test will occur. Without a strategy for regular nationwide testing of the relay distribution system, including developing milestones and timeframes and reporting on after-action plans, there is no assurance that EAS would work as intended should the President need to activate it to communicate with the American people.
Why GAO DId This Study
An effective system to alert the public during emergencies can help reduce property damage and save lives. In 2004, FEMA initiated IPAWS with the goal of integrating the nation's EAS and other public-alerting systems into a comprehensive alerting system. In 2009, GAO reported on long-standing weaknesses with EAS and FEMA's limited progress in implementing IPAWS. Subsequently, FEMA and FCC conducted the first-ever nationwide EAS test in November 2011. GAO was asked to review recent efforts to implement IPAWS and improve EAS. GAO examined: (1) how IPAWS capabilities have changed since 2009 and what barriers, if any, affect its implementation and (2) results of the nationwide EAS test and federal efforts to address identified weaknesses. GAO reviewed FEMA, FCC, and other documentation, and interviewed industry stakeholders and alerting authorities from six locations that were selected because they have public-alerting systems in addition to EAS and experienced problems during the nationwide EAS test.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that FEMA work in conjunction with FCC to establish guidance for states to fully implement and test IPAWS components and implement a strategy for regular nationwide EAS testing. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concurred with GAO's recommendations and provided examples of actions aimed at addressing the recommendations. DHS, FCC, and the Department of Commerce also provided technical comments, which have been incorporated as appropriate.
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
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Department of Homeland Security | To ensure that IPAWS is fully functional and capable of distributing alerts through multiple pathways as intended, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA, in conjunction with FCC, to establish guidance (e.g., procedures, best practices) that will assist participating state and local alerting authorities to fully implement and test IPAWS components and ensure integration and interoperability. | An effective system to alert the public during emergencies can help reduce property damage and save lives. FEMA, in partnership with FCC and NOAA, is responsible for operating and maintaining the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at the federal level. In 2004, FEMA initiated the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) with the goal of integrating EAS and other public-alerting systems into a comprehensive alerting system. In April 2013, GAO reported that since its 2009 report, FEMA had taken actions to improve IPAWS capabilities and to increase federal, state, and local capabilities to alert the public, but barriers remain to fully implementing an integrated system. In particular,... state and local alerting authorities GAO contacted cited a need for more guidance from FEMA on how to integrate and test IPAWS capabilities with their existing alerting systems. For example, an official with a state alerting authority said that additional guidance from FEMA is needed to determine what systems and policies should be put in place before integrating and testing IPAWS with the state's other public alerting systems. In the absence of sufficient guidance from FEMA, state officials GAO contacted were reluctant to fully implement IPAWS. GAO recommended that FEMA, in conjunction with FCC, establish guidance (e.g., procedures, best practices) to assist participating state and local alerting authorities to fully implement and test IPAWS components and ensure integration and interoperability. In 2017, GAO confirmed that FEMA has provided independent test and evaluation capabilities as well as technical support to public safety officials so that the officials could test their local alerting tools in a safe environment that would not impact the public. FEMA also hosted webinars for alerting authorities, which demonstrated successful connections to IPAWS and verified interoperability of alerting capabilities employed by state and local governments with IPAWS. Working in conjunction with FCC, FEMA participated in an FCC-sponsored workshop focused on ensuring that emergency alert and warning systems are effective and available to all. In particular, the workshop explored (1) how to improve the usefulness of EAS for emergency managers at the state and local levels and (2) how to improve the accessibility of alerts for people with disabilities. Additionally, FEMA authored a white paper, Alerting the Whole Community: Removing Barriers to Alerting Accessibility, which stresses the importance of alerting authorities to be able to communicate with the entire population within their jurisdiction, including people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs. FEMA has released the IPAWS Toolkit for Alerting Authorities, available on the IPAWS website at www.fema.gov/informational-materials, which aims to support emergency management officials to adopt IPAWS and inform the public about how to access, use, and respond to public alerts and warnings. Finally, FEMA has released an on-line course designed to provide alerting authorities with the skills to draft appropriate, effective, and accessible warning messages. As a result of these efforts, state and local alerting authorities now have specific information on how to integrate and test their public-alerting systems with IPAWS components, which helps to ensure the interoperability and effectiveness of IPAWS and facilitate its implementation.
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Department of Homeland Security | To ensure that IPAWS is fully functional and capable of distributing alerts through multiple pathways as intended, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA, in conjunction with FCC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to conduct coordinated outreach to educate the American public on IPAWS capabilities, especially the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). | An effective system to alert the public during emergencies can help reduce property damage and save lives. FEMA, in partnership with FCC and NOAA, is responsible for operating and maintaining the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at the federal level. In 2004, FEMA initiated the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) with the goal of integrating EAS and other public-alerting systems into a comprehensive alerting system. In April 2013, GAO reported that since its 2009 report, FEMA has taken actions to improve IPAWS capabilities and to increase federal, state, and local capabilities to alert the public, but barriers remain to fully implementing an integrated system. One such barrier...
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Department of Homeland Security | To ensure that IPAWS is fully functional and capable of distributing alerts through multiple pathways as intended, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to develop a plan to disseminate a national-level alert via IPAWS to increase redundancy and communicate presidential alerts through multiple pathways. | In 2004, FEMA initiated the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) with the goal of integrating the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and other public-alerting systems into a comprehensive alerting system. In April 2013, GAO reported that there are long-standing weaknesses that limit the effectiveness of the national-level EAS, including a lack of redundancy in how national-level EAS messages are disseminated to the public. GAO noted that FEMA relies solely on radio and television broadcast for a national-level EAS alert because the national-level EAS is not currently integrated with IPAWS capabilities. Furthermore, because a national-level alert would be provided in English and...
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Department of Homeland Security | To ensure that IPAWS is fully functional and capable of distributing alerts through multiple pathways as intended, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA, in conjunction with FCC, to develop and implement a strategy for regularly testing the national-level EAS, including examining the need for a national test code, developing milestones and time frames, improving data collection efforts, and reporting on after-action plans. | The Emergency Alert System (EAS) serves as the nation's primary alerting system. It provides the President the capability to issue alerts and communicate to the public in response to emergencies. Presidential EAS alerts, also known as national-level alerts, use a hierarchical broadcast-based distribution system to relay emergency messages. Broadcasts of national-level alerts are relayed by primary entry point stations across the country to radio and television stations that rebroadcast the audio and visual message to other broadcast stations, cable systems, and other EAS participants until all participants have been alerted. This retransmission of alerts from EAS participant to EAS...
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Federal Communications Commission | To ensure that CMAS is effectively used and that the EAS relay distribution network is capable of reliably communicating national-level alerts, the Chairman of FCC should, in conjunction with FEMA, review and update rules governing CMAS, including those related to geo-targeting, character limitations, and testing procedures. | An effective system to alert the public during emergencies can help reduce property damage and save lives. FEMA, in partnership with FCC and NOAA, is responsible for operating and maintaining the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at the federal level. In 2004, FEMA initiated the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) with the goal of integrating EAS and other public-alerting systems into a comprehensive alerting system. Starting in April 2012, public-alerting authorities could use IPAWS to transmit wireless alerts via the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), which are geo-targeted, text-like messages to mobile phones. In April 2013, GAO reported that FCC rules dictated the...
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Federal Communications Commission | To ensure that CMAS is effectively used and that the EAS relay distribution network is capable of reliably communicating national-level alerts, the Chairman of FCC should, in conjunction with FEMA, provide states with additional guidance (e.g., templates of EAS plan) to facilitate completion of updated state EAS plans that include IPAWS-compatible equipment. | The Emergency Alert System (EAS) serves as the nation's primary alerting system. It provides the President the capability to issue alerts and communicate to the public in response to emergencies. Presidential EAS alerts, also known as national-level alerts, use a hierarchical broadcast-based distribution system to relay emergency messages. Broadcasts of national-level alerts are relayed by primary entry point stations across the country to radio and television stations that rebroadcast the audio and visual message to other broadcast stations, cable systems, and other EAS participants until all participants have been alerted. States may maintain EAS plans that contain procedures for the...
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