WASHINGTON-A revised, $250 million emergency alert system bill set to be introduced would give the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-not the Department of Homeland Security-the lead in modernizing the nation’s Cold War-era disaster warning regime by taking advantage of wireless and other digital technologies.
“The Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act” could be introduced later today by a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on disaster prevention and prediction.
The legislation comes in the deadly and destructive aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and as an even more powerful hurricane-Rita-takes aim over Texas.
The bill would create a national program office in NOAA whose director would provide a progress report to the president and Congress within 15 months after the enactment of the measure. Participation in the revamped emergency alert system would continue to be voluntary, but the legislation requires mobile-phone carriers electing not to participate in the transmission of alerts to disclose that fact to potential customers at the point of sale.
The bill makes provisions for disabled individuals and establishes a grant program to help citizens living in areas without mobile-phone or broadcast technologies to be able to receive emergency warnings.
Meantime, Airadigm Communications is set to announce later today it will become the first wireless phone carrier in the nation to offer cellular emergency alert service warnings to its customers and roaming subscribers over their cell phones in Appleton, Wis.
“This is a significant step for the United States, and we applaud Airadigm for its leadership,” said Mark Wood, head of the international Cellular Emergency Alert Services Association, which certifies the operation of the demonstration as compliant with international CEASa standards. “The Cellular EAS2 system can be deployed quickly and inexpensively on most wireless phone networks,” explained Wood. “We look forward to the time when all cell-phone customers have this life-saving feature available.”
