WASHINGTON-Key GOP and Democratic senators said they are close to introducing legislation to overhaul the nation’s emergency-alert system to take advantage of cell phones, the Internet and other widely used digital communications technologies.
The lead sponsor, according to lawmakers, will be Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), whose Senate Commerce subcommittee on disaster prevention and prediction held a hearing Tuesday on the government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina even as another major hurricane-Rita-was gathering force in the Gulf of Mexico.
Panel members appeared satisfied with the National Weather Service’s tracking and warning of Hurricane Katrina, but were unanimous in their views that preparation, warning and response were sorely lacking.
“Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and I have been working very closely with Sen. DeMint and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) getting ready to put in a bill that deals with a new national alert system. We hope that we’ll get bipartisan support and active support from the whole Congress on that,” said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the parent Senate Commerce Committee.
Later, Stevens told RCR Wireless News-which first reported on cellular-industry efforts to help draft the “National Alert System Act of 2005”-the legislation could be introduced this week.
“It’s [the bill] more than general alerting; it’s specific alerting,” said Nelson, referring to how a modernized alert system would exploit new technologies to deliver targeted warnings in connection with emergencies such as natural disasters and terrors.
The current emergency-alert system-largely unchanged since its development during the Cold War-depends significantly on voluntary efforts of radio stations, television broadcasters and cable TV operators. Some lawmakers have voiced anger about why improvements to the nation’s emergency alert have not been made during the four years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Federal Communications Commission launched a rulemaking last year on possible changes to the emergency-alert system, but the agency has yet to issue a ruling. Meantime, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with public TV operators, cell-phone carriers and others to develop a national digital emergency warning platform
A recent draft of the DeMint bill tends to incorporate several of the wireless industry’s recommendations.
While the new bill likely will incorporate cellular, landline telephone satellite and Internet distribution channels into a revamped national alert system, participation still would be mostly voluntary. Wireless carriers, vendors and company personnel would be free of any liability due to any failure or malfunction in delivering emergency warnings.
The federal government-which could end up spending $200 billion to repair Katrina’s destruction-would provide millions of dollars, via the Department of Homeland Security, for research, development and deployment of a modern public-warning system, according to the recent draft bill. Moreover, federal, state and local officials would be precluded from mandating technical specifications and system design of the next-generation emergency-alert system. There is a lack of consensus over an optimal wireless solution, with some in industry backing short message service and others touting cell-broadcast technology.
Wireless carrier Airadigm Communications, which has been testing a cell-broadcast system, plans to begin offering the capability to subscribers in Appleton, Wis., as early as next week.
One version of the DeMint draft calls for a working group to oversee planning and establishment of a new national alert system. The group would include heads of the FCC, FEMA and the National Communications System. The group also would have representation from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and state and local governments. Membership would be open to telecom carriers, manufacturers and other industry players.
CTIA, the cell-phone trade group, previously said it made a strategic decision to remove from a previous version of the draft bill a notice provision. The provision would have required telecom carriers choosing not to participate in the national alert system to inform potential subscribers of that factor prior to entering into service contracts. Also crossed out was additional language requiring nonparticipating service providers to notify existing subscribers they would not be linked the national alert system.
It is unclear to what extent the wireless industry’s recommendations will be reflected in the bill that ultimately is introduced.
“The majority of states and counties do not have an operational EAS tied to their governor, county management, or any state or local emergency operations center. It is time to do so,” said Mr. C. Patrick Roberts, president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters.
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) was even more direct: “This [Hurricane Katrina] was not only predictable. It was predicted,” he said.
