Emergency alerts in some 13 commonly spoken non-English languages could be on the way for broadcast radio and television stations in the U.S., thanks to proposed rules that were introduced by the Commission at its February Open Meeting on Thursday.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, formally known as PS Docket No. 15-94, is designed to make it easier for emergency managers to send alerts to those who do not understand English over the nation’s broadcast airwaves.
The proposal would remove what the Commission viewers as “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.
While the EAS currently allows authorities to issue their alerts in languages other than English, the vast majority of these alerts are issued only in English, the Commission notes.
“One of the key multilingual alerting challenges faced by authorities is translating time-sensitive alerts into additional languages during crises,” the FCC says.
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.
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.
Specifically, the NPRM would, if approved by the full Commission following a comment period, 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 EAS equipment operated by Emergency Alert System participants, such as broadcasters and cable providers.
The NPRM also seeks 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.
Additionally, the NPRM would 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.
With her approval of the NPRM, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel commented, “When disaster strikes, emergency alerts can save lives. They provide information we need to stay calm, stay safe, and get the resources we require. But these alerts only work if we understand them … Now we turn to another form of emergency alerts—those on radio and television. Here, too, we want to explore what we can do to make essential information available in multiple languages.”
Rosenworcel said she looks forward to the record that develops. “I know if we get creative we can update radio and television alerts just like we are doing with Wireless Emergency Alerts,” she said. “I am convinced that if we do this right we can save more lives.”
Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, with his approval of the NPRM, noted how the FCC “tackled this issue for the Wireless Emergency Alert System.” This item “naturally follows that important mandate. It begins the process of requiring the same for participants in our Emergency Alert System – radio and TV broadcasters and MVPDs.”
To Starks, “This is vital work. As I said to the members of our Disability Advisory Committee a few weeks
ago, by definition, in an emergency, time is of the essence. Alert recipients must be able to receive,
understand, and act upon emergency alerts immediately. We cannot have large swaths of Americans –
whether they are hearing-impaired, or non-English or non-Spanish speakers – getting left behind. I
understand that this will be difficult. It may require substantial updates to participants’ existing systems,
but today we make a start.”
