ALABAMA EAS STATE PLAN

VI. EAS TESTS

The following requirements regarding both RWTs (required weekly test) and RMTs (required monthly test) apply to all cable operators and all broadcasters, "PN", as well as "NN" stations. Even stations that have elected not to participate in local EAS alerts, must still rebroadcast their local RMT every month. There are two exceptions to these rules. First, Class "D" FM and LPTV stations need not have an EAS Encoder. They must have an EAS Decoder. Thus, these stations are exempt from running the weekly digital code RWT test. However, they must retransmit monthly RMT tests as outlined below, minus the EAS Header Codes and Attention Signal. In addition, LPTV stations must present all EAS information visually, just as all other TV stations must do. The second exception is for FM Translator and TV Translator stations, which are not required to have any EAS equipment.

A. Required Weekly Test (RWT)

1. Transmission: All broadcasters and cable operators must transmit an RWT once each week at random days and times except for the week of the RMT test. There are no time-of-day restrictions. This is a 10.5-second test, consisting only of the EAS Header and End-of- Message Codes. An appropriate entry regarding transmission must be made in the Station Log.
   
2. Reception: All broadcasters and cable operators receiving a RWT from one of their monitored sources must log receipt of this test. No further action is required.
   

B. Required Monthly Test (RMT)

1. Transmission: RMTs will be initiated by the State of Alabama EOC in all odd numbered months (daytime tests) and by the National Weather Service in all even numbered months (nighttime tests). During the designated week for this test, all other broadcasters and cable operators are to wait for this test and then react as described in (4.) below. These tests will use the Event Code "RMT".
   
2. Scheduling of RMTs / Week and Time-of-Day:
   
RMTs shall always occur during the first, full, Sunday-thru-Saturday week of the month. Time frame and origination of the RMT tests shall adhere to the following format:


MONTH	TIME FRAME	ORIGINATING STATION
JANUARY	DAY / 8:30 AM to Local Sunset	State EOC
FEBRUARY	NITE / Local Sunset to 8:30 AM	NWS-NOAA
MARCH	DAY / 8:30 AM to Local Sunset	State EOC
APRIL	NITE / Local Sunset to 8:30 AM	NWS-NOAA
MAY	DAY / 8:30 AM to Local Sunset	State EOC
JUNE	NITE / Local Sunset to 8:30 AM	NWS-NOAA
JULY	DAY / 8:30 AM to Local Sunset	State EOC
AUGUST	NITE / Local Sunset to 8:30 AM	NWS-NOAA
SEPTEMBER	DAY / 8:30 AM to Local Sunset	State EOC
OCTOBER	NITE / Local Sunset to 8:30 AM	NWS-NOAA
NOVEMBER	DAY / 8:30 AM to Local Sunset	State EOC
DECEMBER	NITE / Local Sunset to 8:30 AM	NWS-NOAA

The Originating Station will send the RMT at its discretion. The SR Stations must then rebroadcast this test within 15 minutes of receiving it.

3. Scheduling of RMTs / Recommended Time Constraints:

The Originating Station is requested to use discretion in scheduling times for RMTs. Since all broadcasters and cable operators are required to rebroadcast this test within 15 minutes of receiving it, care should be taken not to put undue hardship on broadcasters when they are carrying their highest-revenue programming. On a daily basis, these periods would include all major newscasts: early morning, noon-time, evening, and late-evening. In addition, the times of major events should be avoided, such as pre-planned Presidential speeches, hours of a major national or local news story carried outside of normal newscast hours, local and national election coverage, and major sporting events like World Series games and the Superbowl.

Broadcasters and cable operators which have a complaint regarding the scheduling of RMTs in their Area should make their concerns known to their Area Chair (see "The Alabama SECC" section in this Plan for names). If a satisfactory resolution is not reached at that level, the State EAS Chair should be contacted.

4. Reception / Re-transmission of RMTs

All broadcasters and cable operators receiving an RMT test must re-transmit this test within 15 minutes of receiving the test. [For Daytime-only stations receiving a night-time RMT, this test must be re-transmitted within 15 minutes of the Daytime-only station's sign-on.] Transmission of this RMT test takes the place of the Required Weekly Test (RWT). Times should be logged for both the receipt and re-transmission of the RMT test. Broadcast and cable management should impress upon their staff that re-transmission of this test is not an option. It is an FCC violation to fail to re-transmit this test within 15 minutes of receiving it. The best policy may be to set your EAS unit for a 15-minute automatic countdown upon receiving an RMT. If the operator on duty does not send the test manually within that window, the EAS unit will do it when time runs out.

C. Time-Duration and County-Location Codes to be Used

• TIME-DURATION used in the EAS Header Code for all EAS Tests shall be 30 MINUTES.
  
• COUNTY-LOCATION codes used in the EAS Header Code for EAS Tests shall conform to these guidelines:
  

  SR Stations:

  All tests, RWT and RMT, shall use the Location Code for the entire state.

  LP Stations:

  All tests, RWT and RMT, shall include the Location Code for all counties in that LP stations Local Area of responsibility. To determine the counties in their Local Area of responsibility, each LP station should consult the "Boundary Map of Alabama EAS Local Areas", and/or the cover sheet for the "FCC Mapbook", both found in the Appendix E of this Plan.

  PN and NN Stations and Cable Operators:

  RMT tests shall be re-transmitted unchanged, except for the "L-Code". Thus, RMTs will include all counties present in the original message. For the RWT originated each week by each PN and NN station, and each cable operator, the county-location code used shall be the county for the broadcaster's City of License, or cable operator's Community of License. Other counties in the stations/systems service area may be added at management discretion.
  

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