National EAS Test Reminder
Posted on July 31st, 2019 by adminThe 2019 EAS National Test is scheduled for August 7, 2019 at 2 p.m. EDT. All broadcast stations (except for TV translators and FM translators) are required to have EAS equipment and participate in the national test. Unlike in previous tests, the IPAWS system will not be used to distribute emergency messages. Instead, only the broadcast distribution “daisy chain” will be used. Stations should therefore update and be sure their systems are properly programmed to receive the EAS test message from their LP-1 and LP-2 sources. By 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 7, stations must file ETRS Form Two reporting test receipt and distribution times, as well as the source of the received test message.
No later than September 23, 2019, all EAS participants must file ETRS Form Three to report any issues or problems experienced with the national test.
In connection with the upcoming test, many licensees recently received emails from the FCC alerting system that appeared suspicious, and were later replaced with a more formal email that apologized for the first one. If anything looks odd to you as this test is conducted, we encourage you to contact the FCC at alerting@fcc.gov.