Year After Hawaii's False Missile Alert, Officials See Mixed Record on Fixes

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, intends to reintroduce both the bills he previously bowed last year in response to the false alert -- the Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (Alert) Act and Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act. The Alert Act would give the federal government sole authority to issue missile threat alerts and pre-empt state and local governments' role (see 1802070052). The READI Act would require the FCC set best practices for delivering emergency alert system messages, to streamline the alerting process. It would update the process for creating and approving state plans and examine the feasibility of expanding EAS to also distribute warnings to online streaming services (see 1807180053).

“We're going to make another run” at both bills this year, Schatz said. The Senate passed both bills in 2018 under unanimous consent; the House didn't act (see 1812180046). “We still think we can pass” both bills given their past popularity in the Senate, he said: “We think we've worked out some of the challenges” identified by DHS and the House Homeland Security Committee that blocked the Alert Act's path in that chamber. Refiled versions of both will likely be otherwise identical to what was proposed last year, he said.

Senate Communications Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us he's interested in again partnering with Schatz on the READI Act. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, told us she plans to again join Schatz in refiling the Alert Act. Aides to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, didn't comment on whether she plans to again sponsor the House version of the Alert Act.

Former FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson believes Congress' failure to pass the Alert Act last year is a top reason why progress to correct the issues the led to the false warning has been a “mixed bag.” The measure would have been the “most important legislative fix” to address “the root cause,” said Simpson, now a Virginia Tech College of Business IT professor.

“We've got to clarify the federal role and the state and local role” in the emergency alert process “and ensure that … each echelon is ready and competent to execute their function,” Simpson said. A refiled version of the Alert Act could go “even further … to prescribe the right interface between” DOD and DHS because DHS doesn't have its own technology to “detect ballistic missiles” nor to “determine the probable impact point.” DOD “has those systems” but during incident “didn't perceive that it was their responsibility to help recall” the false alarm “or issue a clarifying message,” he said.

Hawaii

Simpson and others gave mixed ratings to fixes instituted by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. HI-EMA “certainly has improved some of their internal procedures and made clear their goals and responsibilities,” Simpson said. It's “added internal protections to prevent” a situation similar to the false alarm from occurring again and is rewriting its state EAS plan to clearly define all EAS participants' roles and address other procedural issues, said Hawaii Association of Broadcasters President Chris Leonard. The FCC found a lack of safeguards and human error at HI-EMA contributed to the incident (see 1801300053).

Hawaii State Emergency Communications Committee Chair Courtney Harrington told us he's “a little bit disappointed” in the pace of state-level actions in response to the false alert, though he emphasized “that's not to say we're not moving forward.” HI-EMA “has made internal changes,” but other changes like development of the revised state EAS plan have been a “very slow and arduous process.” If “everything had fallen together as I hope it would, the” revised EAS plan “would have been approved and put in place about six months ago,” he said. “We are addressing that and I have full confidence the plan will be completed and submitted for government approval soon.”

HI-EMA contends its fixes over the past year have made it generally more prepared for future incidents, including an improved process for more quickly withdrawing false alerts, a spokesperson said. The agency has shelved its tests of missile alerts for now unless changes in the international situation warrant their return.

Simpson and Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance Executive Director John Lawson gave high marks to California for making changes to its emergency alerts processes over the past year. They noted that came in response to in-state issues rather than the false alert in Hawaii. Lawson pointed to California's bid to “standardize the way local jurisdictions handle alerting” as an important development, though those recommendations are “still in development.” Alaska has also “done a lot of good work” over the past year, but progress in other states is spottier, Simpson said.

FCC, FEMA

Simpson cited recent FCC actions, including the agency's active role in evaluating recent wireless emergency alert system tests and its passage last year of new WEA rules as a bright spot. The order imposed a Nov. 30 deadline for carriers to more accurately “geotarget” WEAs (see 1801300027). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in February called for carriers and other private sector stakeholders to also take further action on WEA standards, including those for standards for improved geotargeting. Another Special Report article examines such FCC actions: 1904240039.

“All alerting stakeholders have an ongoing role to play in preventing false alerts,” an FCC spokesperson emailed. “The FCC continues to work with FEMA and other stakeholders to share lessons learned and best practices to strengthen alerting.”

Simpson said he would like to see a federal agency create an emergency communications coordinator equivalent with the state-level coordinators. “You would think it would be” within DHS or possibly FEMA “but right now it's not a designated function and there's no integrated plan for the federal government's role as an alert originator,” he said. “At least 40 percent of lands across the nation are administered” by the federal government, “but there's no affirmative effort that I can tell that anyone in the federal government is working to make clear alert origination responsibilities among agencies and then expectations and best practices” for those agencies.

Lawson believes the federal government should play a bigger role in emergency alerts “beyond actually managing the alerting system,” including funding more research into the social science on alerting and developing better alert communication for persons with disabilities and non-English speakers. He also noted the FEMA National Advisory Council's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System's February report to Congress, which included recommendations to the agency. Another Special Report article examines how stakeholders can improve multilingual EAS: 1904240021.