READI Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4856 To improve oversight by the Federal Communications Commission of the wireless and broadcast emergency alert systems. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. GABBARD, and Mr. OLSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transpor- tation and Infrastructure, and Homeland Security, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To improve oversight by the Federal Communications Com- mission of the wireless and broadcast emergency alert systems. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reliable Emergency 4 Alert Distribution Improvement Act of 2019’’ or ‘‘READI 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4856 IH (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 1 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 2 Agency; 3 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 4 Communications Commission; 5 (3) the term ‘‘Emergency Alert System’’ means 6 the national public warning system, the rules for 7 which are set forth in part 11 of title 47, Code of 8 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation); 9 and 10 (4) the term ‘‘Wireless Emergency Alert Sys- 11 tem’’ means the wireless national public warning 12 system established under the Warning, Alert, and 13 Response Network Act (47 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.), the 14 rules for which are set forth in part 10 of title 47, 15 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu- 16 lation). 17 SEC. 3. WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM OFFERINGS. 18 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 602(b)(2)(E) of the 19 Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act (47 U.S.C. 20 1201(b)(2)(E)) is amended— 21 (1) by striking the second and third sentences; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4856 IH (2) by striking ‘‘other than an alert issued by 1 the President.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘other 2 than an alert issued by— 3 ‘‘(A) the President; or 4 ‘‘(B) the Administrator of the Federal 5 Emergency Management Agency.’’. 6 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, in con- 8 sultation with the Administrator, shall adopt regulations 9 to implement the amendment made by subsection (a)(2). 10 SEC. 4. STATE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM PLANS AND 11 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMIT- 12 TEES. 13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 14 (1) the term ‘‘SECC’’ means a State Emer- 15 gency Communications Committee; 16 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the 17 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com- 18 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 19 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common- 20 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 21 possession of the United States; and 22 (3) the term ‘‘State EAS Plan’’ means a State 23 Emergency Alert System Plan. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4856 IH (b) STATE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COM- 1 MITTEE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact- 2 ment of this Act, the Commission shall adopt regulations 3 that— 4 (1) encourage the chief executive of each 5 State— 6 (A) to establish an SECC if the State does 7 not have an SECC; or 8 (B) if the State has an SECC, to review 9 the composition and governance of the SECC; 10 (2) provide that— 11 (A) each SECC, not less frequently than 12 annually, shall— 13 (i) meet to review and update its 14 State EAS Plan; 15 (ii) certify to the Commission that the 16 SECC has met as required under clause 17 (i); and 18 (iii) submit to the Commission an up- 19 dated State EAS Plan; and 20 (B) not later than 60 days after the date 21 on which the Commission receives an updated 22 State EAS Plan under subparagraph (A)(iii), 23 the Commission shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4856 IH (i) approve or disapprove the updated 1 State EAS Plan; and 2 (ii) notify the chief executive of the 3 State of the Commission’s findings; and 4 (3) establish a State EAS Plan content check- 5 list for SECCs to use when reviewing and updating 6 a State EAS Plan for submission to the Commission 7 under paragraph (2)(A). 8 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall consult 9 with the Administrator regarding the adoption of regula- 10 tions under subsection (b)(3). 11 SEC. 5. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS- 12 TEM GUIDANCE. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 14 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall de- 15 velop and issue guidance on how State, Tribal, and local 16 governments can participate in the integrated public alert 17 and warning system of the United States described in sec- 18 tion 526 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 19 321o) (referred to in this section as the ‘‘public alert and 20 warning system’’) while maintaining the integrity of the 21 public alert and warning system, including— 22 (1) guidance on the categories of public emer- 23 gencies and appropriate circumstances that warrant 24 an alert and warning from State, Tribal, and local 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4856 IH governments using the public alert and warning sys- 1 tem; 2 (2) the procedures for State, Tribal, and local 3 government officials to authenticate civil emer- 4 gencies and initiate, modify, and cancel alerts trans- 5 mitted through the public alert and warning system, 6 including protocols and technology capabilities for— 7 (A) the initiation, or prohibition on the ini- 8 tiation, of alerts by a single authorized or unau- 9 thorized individual; 10 (B) testing a State, Tribal, or local govern- 11 ment incident management and warning tool 12 without accidentally initiating an alert through 13 the public alert and warning system; and 14 (C) steps a State, Tribal, or local govern- 15 ment official should take to mitigate the possi- 16 bility of the issuance of a false alert through 17 the public alert and warning system; 18 (3) the standardization, functionality, and inter- 19 operability of incident management and warning 20 tools used by State, Tribal, and local governments to 21 notify the public of an emergency through the public 22 alert and warning system; 23 (4) the annual training and recertification of 24 emergency management personnel on requirements 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4856 IH for originating and transmitting an alert through 1 the public alert and warning system; 2 (5) the procedures, protocols, and guidance con- 3 cerning the protective action plans that State, Trib- 4 al, and local governments should issue to the public 5 following an alert issued under the public alert and 6 warning system; 7 (6) the procedures, protocols, and guidance con- 8 cerning the communications that State, Tribal, and 9 local governments should issue to the public fol- 10 lowing a false alert issued under the public alert and 11 warning system; 12 (7) a plan by which State, Tribal, and local 13 government officials may, during an emergency, con- 14 tact each other as well as Federal officials and par- 15 ticipants in the Emergency Alert System and the 16 Wireless Emergency Alert System, when appropriate 17 and necessary, by telephone, text message, or other 18 means of communication regarding an alert that has 19 been distributed to the public; and 20 (8) any other procedure the Administrator con- 21 siders appropriate for maintaining the integrity of 22 and providing for public confidence in the public 23 alert and warning system. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4856 IH (b) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL ADVISORY 1 COUNCIL REPORT.—The Administrator shall ensure that 2 the guidance developed under subsection (a) do not con- 3 flict with recommendations made for improving the public 4 alert and warning system provided in the report submitted 5 by the National Advisory Council under section 2(b)(7)(B) 6 of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Mod- 7 ernization Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–143; 130 Stat. 8 332). 9 (c) PUBLIC CONSULTATION.—In developing the guid- 10 ance under subsection (a), the Administrator shall ensure 11 appropriate public consultation and, to the extent prac- 12 ticable, coordinate the development of the guidance with 13 stakeholders of the public alert and warning system, in- 14 cluding— 15 (1) appropriate personnel from Federal agen- 16 cies, including the National Institute of Standards 17 and Technology, the Federal Emergency Manage- 18 ment Agency, and the Commission; 19 (2) representatives of State and local govern- 20 ments and emergency services personnel, who shall 21 be selected from among individuals nominated by 22 national organizations representing those govern- 23 ments and personnel; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4856 IH (3) representatives of federally recognized In- 1 dian Tribes and national Indian organizations; 2 (4) communications service providers; 3 (5) vendors, developers, and manufacturers of 4 systems, facilities, equipment, and capabilities for 5 the provision of communications services; 6 (6) third-party service bureaus; 7 (7) the national organization representing the 8 licensees and permittees of noncommercial broadcast 9 television stations; 10 (8) technical experts from the broadcasting in- 11 dustry; 12 (9) educators from the Emergency Management 13 Institute; and 14 (10) other individuals with technical expertise 15 as the Administrator determines appropriate. 16 (d) INAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Advi- 17 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 18 the public consultation with stakeholders under subsection 19 (c). 20 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub- 21 section (a) shall be construed to amend, supplement, or 22 abridge the authority of the Commission under the Com- 23 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) or in 24 any other manner give the Administrator authority over 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4856 IH communications service providers participating in the 1 Emergency Alert System or the Wireless Emergency Alert 2 System. 3 SEC. 6. FALSE ALERT REPORTING. 4 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 5 of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Ad- 6 ministrator, shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to es- 7 tablish a system to receive from the Administrator or 8 State, Tribal, or local governments reports of false alerts 9 under the Emergency Alert System or the Wireless Emer- 10 gency Alert System for the purpose of recording such false 11 alerts and examining their causes. 12 SEC. 7. REPEATING EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM MES- 13 SAGES FOR NATIONAL SECURITY. 14 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 15 of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Ad- 16 ministrator, shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to 17 modify the Emergency Alert System to provide for repeat- 18 ing Emergency Alert System messages while an alert re- 19 mains pending that is issued by— 20 (1) the President; 21 (2) the Administrator; or 22 (3) any other entity under specified circum- 23 stances as determined by the Commission, in con- 24 sultation with the Administrator. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4856 IH SEC. 8. INTERNET AND ONLINE STREAMING SERVICES 1 EMERGENCY ALERT EXAMINATION. 2 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 3 of enactment of this Act, and after providing public notice 4 and opportunity for comment, the Commission shall com- 5 plete an inquiry to examine the feasibility of updating the 6 Emergency Alert System to enable or improve alerts to 7 consumers provided through the internet, including 8 through streaming services. 9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after com- 10 pleting the inquiry under subsection (a), the Commission 11 shall submit a report on the findings and conclusions of 12 the inquiry to— 13 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 14 Transportation of the Senate; and 15 (2) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 16 the House of Representatives. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4856.IH H4856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS