Using the FCC’s new ETRS EAS reporting system – Help for Form 1 filing questions

posted on 7.12.2016

It was just a week ago that TAB told member stations about the FCC’s new EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS), and the need for stations to create an ETRS account and submit Form 1 by Aug. 26.

It didn’t take long for Texas stations to run into problems with filling out the form.

Here are a three of the most commonly asked questions we’ve received at TAB and the answers we’ve helped wrangle for member stations from our TAB Associate member law firms, other state broadcast associations and the FCC itself.

Who can I talk to at the FCC?

The FCC has appointed a point person to take station calls with questions on ETRS Form 1.

Austin Randazzo is his name and if you don’t reach him when calling, leave a message because he will call you back promptly, usually within the hour.

Randazzo can be reached at 202-418-1462 or by email, Austin.Randazzo@fcc.gov.

Form 1 asks the legal name of the EAS participant, first and last name, so what if it’s a corporation?

Most EAS participants have a legal entity such as a corporation, rather than an individual, who holds the license.

In such cases, list the corporation’s name in the “first name” space.

Further into the form, it asks for the first and last name of a person in-house who is responsible for EAS.

This is where the FCC really does need the first and last name of a living person!

Form 1 asks for the LP-2 for my EAS district.  There isn’t one listed in the Texas State EAS Plan.  What does one list in this box?

This is a dilemma facing stations in two Texas EAS regions, EAS District #9: Texarkana and EAS District #17: Brownsville/McAllen.  It turns out there is a simple four-letter answer that works for this box:

N-O-N-E.  

TAB is seeking replacement second local primary (LP-2) stations for both the Rio Grande Valley and the Texarkana area. 

If your station is interested in becoming the second local primary in either of these two areas, please contact the TAB staff!

Form 1 asks for the “geographic zones of service” of the station (for EAS purposes).  What does the FCC mean?

Intrepid early form filers discovered that the FCC hadn’t come up with a list of operational areas, such as EAS districts spelled out in a state’s EAS plan, or populated that information in a pull down tab for that portion of the form.

So, some Texas stations just created their own figuring the FCC wanted a description of the regional area of the state in which the station was located.

At least three Texas stations intuited the FCC meant EAS districts and listed those.

Thanks to Scott and Laurie Flick, two attorneys with TAB’s FCC legal counsel Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, the names of all 25 Texas EAS districts will now pop up in this part of the form. 

Note that they will not be in order, because of the earlier entries by some stations, but your EAS district will be available as a choice.

In which Texas EAS District is my station located?

EAS is very much a “set and forget” proposition. 

Once a station programs the EAS endec with the local primaries that are listed for a specific EAS district in the Texas State EAS Plan, it is quickly forgotten.

Texas’ 25 EAS districts are grouped by county.

If one wants to know the sure-fire way to determine a station’s Texas EAS district, just look for the county in which the station is physically located below.

• Texas EAS District #1: Amarillo includes Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman and Wheeler counties.
• Texas EAS District #2: Lubbock includes Bailey, Briscoe, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Garza, Hall, Hale, Hockley, Kent, King, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Parmer, Stonewall, Swisher, Terry and Yoakum counties.
• Texas EAS District #3: Wichita Falls includes Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Wichita and Wilbarger counties.
• Texas EAS District #4: Midland/Odessa includes Andrews, Borden, Crane, Dawson, Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Howard, Loving, Martin, Midland, Mitchell, Reagan, Reeves, Scurry, Upton, Ward and Winkler counties.
• Texas EAS District #5: Abilene includes Callahan, Fisher, Jones, Nolan, Shackelford and Taylor counties.
• Texas EAS District #6: Brownwood includes Brown, Coleman, McCulloch and San Saba counties.
• Texas EAS District #7: Dallas/Fort Worth includes Comanche, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Grayson, Haskell, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant, Throckmorton, Young and Wise counties.
• Texas EAS District #8: Waco includes Anderson, Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Henderson, Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, McLennan, Mills, Navarro, Rains and Van Zandt counties.
• Texas EAS District #9: Texarkana includes Bowie, Camp, Cass, Harrison, Marion, Morris, and Titus counties.
• Texas EAS District #10: Tyler includes Gregg, Smith, Upshur and Wood counties.
• Texas EAS District #11: Lufkin includes Angelina, Cherokee, Houston, Nacogdoches, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Trinity and Tyler counties.
• Texas EAS District #12: Beaumont includes Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton and Orange counties.
• Texas EAS District #13: Houston includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Waller and Wharton counties.
• Texas EAS District #14: Bryan-College Station includes Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Walker and Washington counties.
• Texas EAS District #15: Austin includes Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Gillespie, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis and Williamson counties.
• Texas EAS District #16: San Antonio includes Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Real, Uvalde, Wilson and Zavala counties.
• Texas EAS District #17: Brownsville/McAllen includes Brooks, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Starr and Willacy counties.
• Texas EAS District #18: Del Rio includes Edwards, Kinney, Maverick and Val Verde counties.
• Texas EAS District #19: Alpine includes Brewster, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio and Terrell counties.
• Texas EAS District #20: El Paso includes El Paso and Hudspeth counties.
• Texas EAS District #21: Laredo includes Duval, La Salle, McMullen, Webb and Zapata counties.
• Texas EAS District #22: Corpus Christi includes Aransas, Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio counties.
• Texas EAS District #23: San Angelo includes Coke, Concho, Crockett, Irion, Kimble, Mason, Menard, Runnels, Schleicher, Sterling, Sutton and Tom Green counties.
• Texas EAS District #24: Victoria includes Calhoun, Dewitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria counties.
• Texas EAS District #25: Paris includes Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Hopkins, Hunt, Lamar and Red River counties.

Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.

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