The Federal Communication Commission
(“Commission”) is submitting a non-substantive change request to
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to add electronic
reporting fields in the Alert Reporting System (ARS). The ARS was
previously approved by OMB as a part of the Emergency Alert System
(EAS) information collection, 3060-0207, which is approved through
April 30, 2025 (see justification). In the Report and Order, FCC
21-77 (rel. June 17, 2021), the Commission amends Part 11 of its
rules to (i) encourage chief executives of states and territories
to form SECCs if none exist in their states, or if the state has an
SECC, to review its composition and governance criteria; (ii)
include as a required element in the State EAS Plan, a
certification by the SECC Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson that the
SECC met (in person, via teleconference, or via other methods of
conducting virtual meetings) at least once in the twelve months
prior to submitting the annual updated plan to review and update
their State EAS Plan—and incorporate such certification into the
Alert Reporting System (ARS); (iii) require that the Public Safety
and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau) to approve or reject State
EAS Plans submitted for approval within 60 days of receipt—for
those instances in which the Bureau finds defects in a submitted
plan requiring correction by the SECC, that State EAS Plan will be
considered to be temporarily withdrawn, restarting the 60-day
review and approval period anew upon resubmission of the corrected
plan in ARS; (iv) require Bureau to list the approval dates of
State EAS Plans submitted on ARS on the Commission’s website, and
in the event a final decision is made to deny a plan, directly
notify the chief executive of the State to which the plan applies
of that determination and the reasons for such denial within 30
days of such decision; (v) adopt an EAS Plan Content Checklist
composed of the plan content requirements set forth in § 11.21 of
the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 11.21, and direct the Bureau to post
the checklist on the Commission’s website and incorporate it as an
appendix in the ARS user manual; and (vi) enable the Administrator
of FEMA and state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments to
report false EAS and WEA alerts when they occur.
US Code:
47
USC 154(i) Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as
amended
US Code: 47
USC 606 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
ARS Non-substantive Change Request July 2023_final version.docx
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