David Oxenford

By: David Oxenford, Wilkinson Barker Knauer

With a number of upcoming regulatory deadlines approaching, including regulatory fees that will likely be announced in the next two weeks with a payment deadline before October 1, we thought that this would be a good time to remind broadcasters of EAS filing obligation that they may have missed as there has not been the widespread publicity that comes with the announcement of a Nationwide EAS test.  While there is apparently no plan to conduct a Nationwide Test this year, broadcasters still must file their EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) Form One by October 4, 2024.  Filing instructions were provided in the Public Notice issued by the FCC earlier this month (see also our articles here, here and here about past deadlines for filing of the form).  All EAS Participants with limited exceptions are required to register and file in ETRS – including Low Power FM stations (LPFM), Class D non-commercial educational FM stations, and stations that are silent pursuant to a grant of Special Temporary Authority.  The only broadcast exemptions are LPTV stations that operate as television broadcast translator stations, FM broadcast booster stations and FM translator stations that entirely rebroadcast the programming of other local FM broadcast stations, and analog and digital broadcast stations that operate as satellites or repeaters of a “hub” station (or common studio or control point if there is no hub station) and rebroadcast 100 percent of the programming of the hub station (the hub station itself of course having an obligation to file the form).

This form provides basic information about EAS participants to the FCC. The form requests contact persons at a station, the model of EAS equipment used, and monitoring assignments under the legacy EAS system. In effect, it registers all EAS users in the ETRS system so that they can file reports (using ETRS Forms Two and Three) about the performance of Nationwide EAS tests that are periodically conducted.  For prior filers, much of the information can be pre-filled from prior Form One submissions.  While there is no Nationwide Test scheduled, the FCC still requires this information to track EAS performance of all EAS participants, and the rules require that the form be submitted each year.  We have previously expressed concern about the FCC taking enforcement actions against broadcasters who don’t submit this required form.  So, we are reminding you to file – and carefully read the Public Notice and the form to make sure that all necessary information is properly uploaded by the October 4 deadline.

David Oxenford is MAB’s Washington Legal Counsel and provides members with answers to their legal questions with the MAB Legal Hotline. Access information here. (Members only access). There are no additional costs for the call; the advice is free as part of your MAB membership.