WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) that would create new rules for emergency alerts that the agency believes will make it easier for emergency managers to send emergency alerts in non-English languages to the public over television and radio.
The agency said that the proposal would remove a key barrier to sending multilingual messages through the Emergency Alert System, which could in turn spur more alerts that are accessible to more people—and potentially save lives.
In January the FCC announced that it would vote in February on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that it said would remove technical and logistical barriers associated with the translation of EAS alerts. It would accomplish this by creating templates or pre-scripted alert messages that have been pre-translated into non-English languages and prerecorded audio files.
The cable operators-backed NCTA has already pushed back against the idea, saying it would pose technical challenges for cable operators.
In a NPR adopted on Feb. 15, the FCC said that it is seeking comment on proposals to:
- Create template alert scripts in the 13 most commonly spoken non-English languages in the U.S. These template scripts and audio files would be produced by the Commission and installed in the Emergency Alert System equipment operated by Emergency Alert System participants, such as broadcasters and cable providers.
- Seek comment on the feasibility of developing and implementing American Sign Language (ASL) versions of the template alerts, including how ASL translations of the template scripts would be processed and displayed.
- Establish a process through which emergency managers can initiate template alerts, which Emergency Alert System participants would then be required to transmit on their channel(s) in the template language that corresponds to their programming content.
In adopting the NPR, the FCC noted that according to U.S. Census data, over 26 million people in the U.S. report that they do not speak English very well or at all.
While the Emergency Alert System currently allows authorities to issue their alerts in languages other than English, the vast majority of these alerts are issued only in English, the FCC said, adding that one of the key multilingual alerting challenges faced by authorities is translating time-sensitive alerts into additional languages during crises.
The Commission’s proposal would address this challenge by presenting emergency managers with pre-scripted, template alert messages and prerecorded audio files in non-English languages as an option for initiating alerts over the Emergency Alert System.
