The FCC will be issuing a national test of the Emergency Alert System today at 2:20 p.m. Eastern.
Please be prepared to file the Form Two in ETRS immediately after the test has been broadcast. The FCC requires this form to be filed before 11:59 p.m., Eastern, the same evening, though there could be issues with the FCC’s servers with so many users logging in at once. To maximize the resources available to process Form Two filings, the FCC recommends that EAS Participants file Form Two in accordance with the following schedule:
- Facilities in Eastern Time Zone – 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT
- Facilities in Central Time Zone – 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT (4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. CDT)
- Facilities in Mountain Time Zone – 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT (5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. MDT)
- Facilities in Pacific Time Zone – 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EDT (5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT)
- Facilities in all other time zones – 9:30 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. EDT
If you cannot file for your facilities at the recommended time, you may file at any other time.
A copy of Form Two can be found on page 28 of the ETRS User Manual, and only includes the following yes/no questions:
- “Did the facility receive the EAS message?”
- “Did the facility retransmit the EAS message?”
A Form Two needs to be filed for each facility that filed a Form One (i.e., any originating stations, or any repeating satellites that filed a separate Form One).
Form Three will need to be filed within 45 days of the test and can be found on page 29 of the attached guide. This form allows stations to explain any problems they had in receiving or retransmitting the EAS message, and requires each station to submit the date, time and source from which they received the EAS message. All EAS Participants are urged to submit Form Three no earlier than September 29.
In the event that the test is canceled for any reason, the backup date will be October 5.
