In the last three weeks, we have noted three cases where the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau granted waivers to broadcast stations to temporarily disconnect their EAS equipment while changing tower sites (see decisions here, here, and here).  FCC rules require stations to have operating EAS equipment during all hours of operation to receive or relay emergency alerts.  In each of the recent cases, the FCC granted waivers that allowed stations to operate for a few hours without operational EAS equipment (where the stations agreed to avoid doing the moves during periods of possible emergencies).  After noting these decisions, several broadcast engineers have asked why a waiver was required, as the FCC rules permit stations to operate without EAS equipment for up to 60 days without prior approval when their EAS equipment is defective.  Why, asked these engineers, did the FCC have to grant waivers when the EAS outages were far shorter than the 60 days provided by Section 11.35(b) of the rules?

The Bureau actually explained in one of the recent decisions (here, at paragraph 8) why the waivers were necessary.  In that decision, the Bureau said that Section 11.35(b) provides only for the continued operation of stations that are EAS Participants without any required FCC approvals when EAS equipment becomes “defective.”  In each of the recent cases, which only involved a relocation of the equipment, the Bureau found that the equipment was not “defective” (i.e., the equipment itself had not become unable to exercise its monitoring or transmission functions).  Instead, that equipment was in good operating condition and was being taken offline only so that it could be relocated.  The Bureau, citing some past cases, concluded that simply removing otherwise fully functioning EAS equipment from operation does not make it defective for purposes of Section 11.35(b).   Because it was not defective as defined by the Bureau, a waiver was needed to voluntarily take the equipment out of service to relocate it to a new site.

These decisions send a message to all broadcasters that, if they take a voluntary action to remove functioning EAS equipment from service, even for a short period in connection with a move or for some other purposes, they need to request a waiver of the rules requiring broadcast stations to have a functional EAS system during all hours of operation.  And, as stated in one of the decisions (here, at paragraph 11), any requested waiver should be filed early enough so that the Bureau has time to consider it before the planned move.  Station personnel take note – get prior approvals for voluntarily disabling functional EAS equipment.