The Emergency Alert System (EAS)

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system commonly used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as weather and AMBER alerts, to affected communities. EAS Participants – radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers – deliver local alerts on a voluntary basis, but they are required to provide the capability for the President to address the public during a national emergency.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the FCC, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) work collaboratively to maintain the EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are the two main components of the national public warning system and enable authorities at all levels of government to send urgent emergency information to the public.

FEMA is responsible for any national-level activation, tests, and exercises of the EAS.

The FCC's role includes establishing technical standards for EAS Participants, procedures for EAS Participants to follow in the event the system is activated, and testing protocols for EAS Participants.

Alerts are created by authorized federal, state, and local authorities, typically through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.  The FCC does not create or transmit EAS alerts.

The majority of EAS alerts originate from the National Weather Service in response to severe weather events, but an increasing number of state, local, territorial, and tribal authorities also send alerts. In addition, the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards network, the only federally-sponsored radio transmission of warning information to the public, is part of the EAS.

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Bureau/Office:
Public Safety and Homeland Security
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Updated:
Wednesday, December 20, 2023