EAS Item Could Be Affected by Eighth-Floor Tension
Though the draft emergency alert system order set for next week's FCC meeting agenda is largely free of provisions that were opposed by Republican commissioners and the pay-TV and broadcast industries, internal tensions on the eighth floor could keep the item from being approved, agency and industry officials told us. The item still includes the provisions that would make state EAS plans more uniform that were proposed in the NPRM, but reporting deadlines and cybersecurity requirements would be relaxed, and a controversial proposal to change the rules for pay-TV “force tuning” would be shifted to a Further NPRM, they said. That still may not leave the item with a clear path to being approved, an FCC official said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
That is due to doubt among the Republican commissioners that Chairman Tom Wheeler is adhering to Congress' “pencils down” request to avoid approving controversial rules in what are likely the waning days of his administration (see 1611160020), said the official. The doubts were stirred by Wheeler's recent action on zero rating, which Commissioner Ajit Pai characterized as “midnight regulation,” the official said. If the Republican commissioners don't support the item, it could mean that it would be pulled from the agenda in line with Congress' directive to avoid non-controversial items, or that the item would be approved by a 3-2 vote, industry officials said. O'Rielly spoke against aspects of the NPRM when it was issued in January. The FCC didn't comment.
The uncertainty on the eighth floor could mean the item is still in flux, said an FCC official. AT&T and Dish Network spoke with an aide to O'Rielly Friday on the EAS item, said a new ex parte filing in docket 15-94. The American Cable Association met with Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson on the matter Friday. The item's fate may not be clear until shortly before commissioners' Dec. 15 meeting, FCC and industry officials said.
The NPRM's requirements that EAS participants certify they have taken steps to protect their networks from cyberattacks attracted industry ire (see 1607110061). The draft item was scaled back so specific certification is no longer required, industry officials said. The item still would require participants to act to prevent such attacks, officials said. NAB and pay-TV groups had called the requirements in the NPRM overly burdensome. The draft also would give industry participants five years to create a digital certification program to prevent false EAS alerts from going out, though an industry official said the provision is light on specifics.
The NPRM proposed deadlines as brief as 15 minutes for EAS participants to report false signals and lockouts, but the draft item lengthened the deadlines to 24 hours, FCC and industry officials said. That's seen as more palatable to EAS participants, industry officials said.
The item would retain provisions from the NPRM that would make state EAS plans more uniform and standardized. There was little pushback on such provisions during the comment phase, and EAS officials have said the changes are seen as minor.
The proposal to limit pay-TV companies' ability to “force-tune” viewers to a central channel displaying EAS information during emergencies was supported by NAB and opposed by pay-TV companies. That aspect of the item would be included in an FNPRM for further comment, FCC and industry officials told us.