State Emergency Communications Committees will now be able to file state emergency alert system plans year-round, said updated guidance released by the FCC Public Safety Bureau in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. The changes will “streamline the Bureau’s review and approval process for updated plans,” the public notice said. The PN also provides guidance for SECCs on amending their EAS plans to seek approval for updated assignments on which sources stations monitor for alerts. “Previously, SECCs could file EAS Plans in [the Alert Reporting System] for review and approval only once annually,” the PN said. "Although the traditional monitoring waiver process will continue to be available, the Bureau encourages SECCs to use the newly automated EAS Plan amendment process incorporated into ARS whenever possible,” the PN said. SECCs should configure their monitoring by assigning as many EAS Participants as possible “to directly monitor (with no intermediate links) one or more sources that receive the National Emergency Message (EAN) signal directly from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” the PN said.
The House Commerce Committee’s appetite for advancing the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) proposal to mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future vehicles remains in doubt after multiple Communications Subcommittee members from both parties voiced skepticism during a Tuesday hearing, despite near-unanimous concern about potential public safety implications. House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., told us she’s among those questioning the need for legislation in the short term to prevent AM radio’s removal from future vehicles. Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in an interview he remains undecided on HR-3413/S-1669 (see 2305260034) after the hearing.
The U.S. should push the World Trade Organization to end trade-related intellectual property waiver conditions, experts told a House subcommittee this week, saying the waiver may help China acquire sensitive U.S. technologies and leapfrog American innovation in biopharma. Several experts during the hearing suggested the waivers could act as a loophole to U.S. export controls and allow Chinese companies to better compete with the U.S. in the biotechnology industry.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is “committed to ensuring drivers have access to free, public alerts and safety warnings through” FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) system, but access to emergency alerts “is not limited to one mode of communication” like AM radio, says Vice President-Safety Police Scott Schmidt in written testimony for a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Schmidt’s testimony doesn’t mention the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) proposal to mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future vehicles, but witnesses representing broadcasters and public safety officials strongly endorse the measure in their written responses. House Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, is evaluating whether to back HR-3413/S-1669 (see 2305260034).
Broadcast groups representing all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico urged Congress to pass the AM in Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669), which would mandate automakers retain AM radio capability in all future vehicles (see 2305170051). "AM radio serves as the backbone of the Emergency Alert System ... and is therefore a critical source of information in times of crisis," the groups said in a resolution NAB publicized Friday. "AM radio stations play a crucial role serving as the vast majority of Primary Entry Points (PEPs) across the country, designated radio stations whose signals cover 90% of the American population and have a direct connection to" FEMA and the National Weather Service. It "uniquely can reach listeners in a wide geographic area and is available in urban and rural areas, regardless of internet access and without paid subscriptions" and "plays a vital role in serving minority, non-English-speaking and other underrepresented communities with free, in-language and religious programming," the groups said. The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing Tuesday on the issue, but it's unclear whether there's sufficient appetite for a mandate (see 2305260034).
Senators are working to address civil liberty concerns about a bill that could lead to a TikTok ban in the U.S., Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., told us recently.
The FCC appears headed for approval Thursday of a draft NPRM on facilitating the launch of next-generation 911 with relatively few changes (see 2305180069), industry officials said. APCO asked for added language and NTCA raised small carrier concerns, but otherwise a docket on the NPRM has been quiet since the draft item was circulated two weeks ago. Comments were filed last week in docket 21-479.
The chair of the House Financial Services Committee is asking the Treasury Department for more information about potential outbound investment restrictions in China, including what types of investments in specific technologies would be targeted, whether the Biden administration plans to establish the regime through a national emergency and if the restrictions would be more effective than traditional trade restrictions. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., is concerned outbound investment restrictions “would prove futile,” the lawmaker’s news release said, and would “further serve” China’s goal of “limiting the influence of Western firms in Chinese markets.”
Broadcasters seeking an AM radio requirement for cars are counting on bipartisan support and public safety concerns to carry the day, but opponents argue Ford’s recent reversal (see 2305230047) shows legislation to mandate the technology like the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) isn't needed. It would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a rule mandating AM radio access in new vehicles. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, is withholding deciding on whether such legislation is needed pending the outcome of a planned early June hearing on the issue.
Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan endorsed the House Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) Wednesday in a letter to bill lead sponsors panel Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. The measure, which House Commerce advanced Wednesday on a 55-0 vote (see 2305240069), would renew the FCC’s auction authority through Sept. 30, 2026. It proposes to allocate up to $14.8 billion in future auction proceeds for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and up to $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. “Each of these actions are vital to U.S. competitiveness and national security,” Donovan wrote Rodgers and Pallone. “The lack of spectrum auction authority for the FCC and a strong spectrum pipeline clearly harms CCA members and the customers they serve. Several CCA members are also extremely impacted by the lack of full funding needed” to reimburse providers participating in the rip and replace program. “Beyond the Congressionally-created national security mandate to participate in” rip and replace, “impacted carriers (and the customers and roaming consumers their networks serve) are in imminent jeopardy of network failures and face hard decisions to ‘rip’ but not ‘replace’ due to extreme funding constraints,” Donovan said: The FCC’s upcoming July 15 “deadline to submit a reimbursement claim, triggering the one-year statutory completion timeframe, the continuity of reliable wireless, including emergency services, is at stake in many parts of rural America.”