LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS PLAN

FINAL DRAFT REVISION 05 MARCH 1999 SE MN EASP W easp.doc LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS PLAN SOUTH EASTERN MINNESOTA OPERATIONAL AREA The South Eastern Minnesota Operational Area includes the following Counties by mutual agreement: Rice Goodhue Steele Dodge Freeborn Fillmore Houston Mower Winona Wabasha Olmsted

SE MN EASP PAGE 2 1. OVERVIEW The purpose of this plan, written by the South Eastern Minnesota EAS Planning Committee, is to provide procedures agreed upon by the broadcast and cable television industry and regional public safety officials. These procedures will permit regional public safety officials to activate the EAS at a Local/Regional level to issue public warning and emergency public information in times of potential or real emergency, or disaster conditions The plan provides background information and specific OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES for broadcast media and cable operators to rebroadcast public warning and emergency information to the general public within the station or cable system s coverage area. Acceptance and participation in this plan shall NOT be deemed as a relinquishment of program control, and shall NOT prohibit a broadcaster or cable operator from exercising independent discretion in any given situation. 2. DEFINITIONS EMERGENCY: Any natural hazard or man made situation posing a clear threat to the safety of life or property. These situations or EVENTS are clearly identified within the internal programming of FCC approved EAS Encoder/Decoder equipment which has been installed and is fully operational at each broadcast station and cable operation signatory to this plan. Man made emergency events are broadcast by regional public safety officials and are defined by the CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE, or CEM and IMMEDIATE EVECUATION ORDER, or EVI event codes. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS: Public Safety Officials include National Weather Service staff from the La Crosse and Chanhassen Offices, the Minnesota Division of Emergency Management, State Patrol, Department of Transportation, County Sheriff Departments and all Municipal Emergency Response Agencies. The SHERIFF of each County is recognized as the highest-ranking public safety official within each County. Each Sheriff has the jurisdictional responsibility for maintaining a County Warning Point, which is where all LOCAL WARNINGS and emergency messages emanate. Mutual Aid agreements exist between all Sheriff s Departments and between all Emergency Management Agencies that permit any one County to issue warnings and emergency messages on behalf of any other county, should the need arise. Local Police Departments and Fire Departments may also request activation of the EAS either through their

SE MN EASP PAGE 3 County warning point, or another county s warning point under mutual aid agreements. Severe Weather Warnings and Statements will always be coordinated with the La Crosse Wisconsin, or Chanhassen, Minnesota National Weather Service Office (NWSO) which normally issue these warnings. County warning points may rebroadcast these warnings on the EAS using the Emergency Broadcast Network (EBN) repeater system, verbally crediting the NWSO of origin as the issuing agency. This serves as a redundancy to NWSO warning systems and triggers special alert devices that have been purchased by private facilities and individuals that monitor the EBN for EAS broadcasts. Any County Warning point may issue severe Weather Warnings if that jurisdiction is unable to communicate with the NWSO serving its area for any reason. If a County warning point is unable, or is not equipped to activate the EAS by using the EBN repeater system, that County may request activation from any other mutual aid County that is able to do so. In any event, when a County issues a severe weather warning or statement it SHALL identify itself, or the county requesting issuance AS the originator of the message. EBN: The EBN, or Emergency Broadcast Network is an interactive radio communications network licensed to Olmsted County Emergency Management under the radio repeater station call sign: WNKI-511. It provides EMERGENCY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS between All County Warning Points, Municipal Emergency Operations Centers, County and Municipal Emergency Response Agencies and the NWSO s in La Crosse, Wisconsin and Chanhassen, Minnesota. It can also provide emergency communications between all of the above and the State of Minnesota Division of Emergency Management Regional Coordinators as well as the district State Patrol Office. All regional broadcasters and cable operators, signatory to this agreement, are equipped with VHF-High Band Receivers that monitor WNKI/511 for EAS activation signaling and emergency messages. Broadcaster and Cable Operators may program their EAS equipment to AUTOMATICALLY FORWARD such EAS warnings and emergency information messages as described in this plan. LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS: The South Eastern Minnesota Emergency Alert System is composed of all COUNTY WARNING POINTS, Broadcast Media and Cable Operators, signatory to this plan, who have installed approved EAS Encoding/Decoding equipment and VHF-High Band Receivers programmed to monitor WNKI-511. Additional monitoring assignments are described within this plan.

SE MN EASP PAGE 4. EAS ALERT DEVICES: EAS alert radios and Cable alert devices have been purchased and installed in many public and private facilities, places of business, schools and homes through the South Eastern Minnesota EAS Region. The alert radio devices monitor the WNKI/511 EBN Radio Repeater system and receive and decode regional and local EAS messages directly. The Cable Alert Devices monitor a special 53.9 MHz signal that is delivered to cable operators who are part of the Bresnan Communications Group. Other cable operators may monitor the EBN through typical VHF-High Band Receivers programmed to 155.760 MHz. This local network of individual EAS alert devices is dependent on the EBN communications system for it s operation. All County Warning Points in the region may use the EBN communications system to activate such devices on their own behalf, or for other Counties under existing mutual aid agreements. 3. MONITORING ASSIGNMENTS All participating EAS Broadcasters and Cable Operators SHALL monitor for EAS messages in the following manner: EAS Decoder Input 1 KLSE FM @ 91.7 MHz EAS Decoder Input 2 KZSE FM @ 90.7 MHz. EAS Decoder Input 3 NOAA Weather Radio serving their County EAS Decoder Input 4 WNKI/511 @ 155.760 MHz. (Regional EBN) 4. EVENT/LOCATIONS/AUTO FORWARD ASSIGNMENTS All Broadcasters and Cable Operators signatory to this plan agree to program their EAS Encoder/Decoders to accept and AUTO-FORWARD the following EVENTS and LOCATIONS: EVENTS LOCATIONS RMT-Required Monthly Test Olmsted 027109 SVS-Severe Weather Statement Dodge 027039 SVR-Severe Thunderstorm Warning Goodhue 027049 TOR-Tornado Warning Wabasha 027157 FFW-Flash Flood Warning Rice 027131 FLW-Flood Warning Steele 027147 WSW-Winter Storm Warning Freeborn 027047 BZW-Blizzard Warning Winona 027169 CEM-Civil Emergency Message Houston 027055 EVI-Immediate Evacuation Order Fillmore 027045 DMO-Practice Demo/Warning Mower 027099

SE MN EASP PAGE 5. NOTES: Broadcasters and Cable Operators may OMIT location codes that are not served by their facility. Event codes for an RWT-Required Weekly Test and an ADM- Administrative Message will be received by the EAS equipment but should not be programmed to auto-forward. All National Level Messages should also be programmed to auto-forward in accordance with the State EAS Plan and applicable FCC regulations. 5. GENERAL PROCEDURES A. All Emergency messages concerning the Events listed in part 4 of this plan will be rebroadcast by all participating media and cable operators. B. Events covering man-made emergencies will be re-broadcast on the EAS under the CEM or EVI event codes. They include, but are not limited to: >Haz-Mat Incidents >Civil Riots >Dam Failures >Terrorist Incidents >Mass Power Outages >Mass Health Risks >Train Derailments >Mass Transportation Accidents >Extreme Hazardous Travel Conditions >Wild Fire Events >Mass Phone Outages >All Other Life Threatening Events C. All Natural Hazard emergencies will be broadcast on the EAS as issued by the NWSO serving the Counties affected, and/or by the respective County Warning Points, or Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) via the EBN. D. For extremely localized emergency events EAS Sub-Division Codes may be broadcast on the EBN, enabling Cable Operators to activate CHADs and re-broadcast these messages only if their station or cable operation serves the affected area. The county subdivision codes are divided into nine equal geographical areas, defined in the header message as follows: SUB-DIVISION NUMBER SUB-DIVISION LOCATION #1 North West County #2 North Central County #3 North East County #4 West Central County #5 Central County #6 East Central County #7 South West County #8 South Central County #9 South East County

SE MN EASP PAGE 6 6. INTRA-AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS A. Two-way radio and/or telephone communications exist between all South Eastern Minnesota Warning points and/or EOCs, the State Patrol District Office in Rochester and the NWSO s in La Crosse, Wisconsin and Chanhassen, Minnesota. EBN radio repeater WNKI/511 is capable of providing radio communications between all PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES in the eleven county SE Minnesota EAS Region and the LA CROSSE AND CHANHASSEN NWSOs. B. The NWSO s serving the region also operate NOAA Weather Radio Stations that are monitored by all broadcasters and cable operators. C. Olmsted County maintains an EOC emergency communications center with a protection factor of PF-100 that is the control point for WNKI-511 and is equipped with additional radio communications capable of operations on the following communications channels/frequencies: >State Wide Police Emergency channel >State Wide Fire Channel >Olmsted County Fire Channel >Gold Cross Ambulance Channel >Olmsted County Law Enforcement Channels >Olmsted County public Works Channel >Rochester Public Works Channel >State Patrol Channels (programmable on demand) >All Amateur Radio Repeater Channels within 120 miles >All local Amateur Radio repeater Channels >All Amateur Radio Simplex Frequencies >All Amateur Radio Television Frequencies >All Amateur Radio Packet Frequencies >All Amateur Radio APRS Frequencies D. The Olmsted EOC has wide area paging capability through it s Alpha- Numeric telco-paging system, which is capable of delivering up to 204 character messages to anyone in the eleven county region who is equipped with a personal pager operating on the system. E. The Olmsted EOC has a Real Time Doppler Weather Radar Receive Site that retrieves data from the La Crosse and Chanhassen NWSO s radar sites. The EOC also has an electronic connection to the NOAA Weather Wire Service.

SE MN EASP PAGE 7. 7. PROCEDURES TO ACTIVATE THE LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS A. The NWSO s in La Crosse and Chanhassen will activate the Local/Regional EAS by using the appropriate EAS codes for all Severe Weather Warnings and Statements. The EBN will also activate the EAS in order to activate individual alert devices that monitor WNKI-511. B. Regional/Local Public Safety Officials will activate the Local/Regional EAS for all other emergencies, using the appropriate EAS codes transmitted on the EBN WNKI/511 radio repeater system. C. All Warning Events will be transmitted with an Auto-Forward code in the headers to permit automatic and instantaneous re-broadcast of the message by participating broadcast media and cable operators. Note: Events that do not contain an auto-forward code may be rebroadcast by the broadcast media and cable operators at their discretion, by using the manual forward process. 8. FORMAT FOR LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS BROADCAST BY PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS USING WNKI/511: A. Transmit appropriate header codes followed by 8-second attention tone. B. Read the following script filling in the blanks with pertinent details: THIS IS THE SOUTH EASTERN MINNESOTA EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. A STATE OF EMERGENCY EXISTS DUE TO A (type of event, or warning) ISSUED BY THE (agency name). WE HAVE INTERRUPTED THIS BROADCAST TO ACTIVATE THE EAS AND TO ISSUE A (type of event or warning) VALID FROM THE PRESENT TIME UNTIL (end time) FOR (list locations or counties). (Additional information and specific details may be inserted here) FOR THE SOUTH EASTERN MINNESOTA EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM THIS HAS BEEN (insert name) REPORTING. C. End of Message (EOM) signal is then transmitted. D. Additional warnings, statements and event termination announcements may be broadcast throughout the duration of the warning time frame in the same manner using a header code that is most appropriate to the broadcast

SE MN EASP PAGE 8. content. The term All Clear will never be used on the EBN as part of any additional EAS transmission due to liability concerns. 9. TESTING THE LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS BY PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES RWTs, or required weekly test will be preformed by All Public Safety Agencies to assure dependable input to the system and to assure activation of special EAS Alert Devices that monitor WNKI/511 for alert messages. Because the end users of the special alert devices must have a reasonable assurance of operational performance, RWTs performed by local public safety agencies will be scheduled at specified times and will include a brief voice message. Example: The Olmsted County EOC will transmit a RWT between 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM each Wednesday. 10. DMOs, or Practice Demo-Warnings will be transmitted between 9:30 AM and 1030 AM on the first Wednesday of each month by the Olmsted County EOC. The DMO will also be transmitted on the assigned date and times prescribed by the State Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management s annual Tornado Drill Day, which is part of the annual Severe Weather Awareness week in Minnesota. 11. All of the above Test procedures will contain brief voice message announcements. The purpose of voice message announcements is to inform owners of special EAS alert devices that the activation of the device is in fact only a test and should not be considered an emergency. 12. The State of Minnesota and the United States Government will also test the EAS according to procedures established in their State and National Plans. Broadcasters and Cable Operators will also test the EAS in accordance with applicable FCC rules and regulations.

SE MN EASP PAGE 9. ATTACHMENT TO THE PLAN SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS 1. Current listing of signatory Broadcasters and Cable Operators 2. Current Listing of SE MN EAS Planning Committee Members 3. Memorandum of understanding with the National Weather Service 4. South Eastern Minnesota Emergency Management Mutual Aid Agreement 5. Excerpts from Olmsted EOP Annex A Warning and Notification 6. Excerpts from Local Cable Franchise Agreement relating to Cable EAS 7. Current Olmsted County EOC Y2K Compliance checklist and EAS Encoder/Decoder proof of performance

SOUTH EASTERN MINNESOTA LOCAL/REGIONAL EAS PLANNING COMMITTEE (UPDATED FEBRUARY 1999) PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS NAME AGENCY TITLE Dave Carr/Co-Chair Olmsted County EOC Director Todd Shea NWS La Crosse Office WCM Craig Strand Minnesota DEM So. Region Regional Coordinator Barbara Reiland Minnesota State Patrol Comm. Supervisor Mike Sundee Minnesota State Patrol Communications Robert Bilder Winona County EOC Director Gary Fried Goodhue County EOC Director Al Holtan Wabasha County EOC Director Blaine Hentz Wabasha Sheriff Dept. Comm. Supervisor Jerry Rosendahl Steele County EOC Director Tom Nelson Steele County PSAP Supervisor Rick Rabenek Rice County EOC Director Larry Hunt Fillmore County EOC Director Gary Peterson Minnesota ARES State Emergency Coordinator

SE MN EAS PLANNING COMMITTEE PAGE 2. Bob Nelson Mower County EOC Director Gary Hodge Dodge County EOC Director Don Ellestad Houston County EOC Director Red Haines Houston County ARES Emergency Coordinator BROADCASTERS NAME STATION TITLE Jeff Hoffman/Co-Chair KAAL TV 6 Austin Chief Engineer Bill Davis KROC AM/FM, KYBA FM Chief Engineer Joe O Brien KROC AM Program Manager Pat Papenfuss KAGE AM/FM Operations Manager KWNO AM/FM John Wilcox KMSQ TV Austin Chief Engineer Barb Leining KMSQ TV Austin Engineering Mike Martin KQAL FM Chief Engineer Bob Jacobsen KHME FM Program Director Tom Nelson WCAL FM Chief Engineer Craig Erpested KRCH FM, KWEB AM, Chief Engineer KNFX FM, KMFX AM, KNFX AM Michael Sveen KFIL AM/FM Chief Engineer Marvin Olson KAUS AM/FM Manager VP Engineering Ron Gruber KTTC TV Rochester Program Manager Tim Morgan KTTC TV Rochester Chief Engineer

SE MN EAS PLANNING COMMITTEE PAGE 3. Mike Hintz KTTC TV Rochester Engineering Denny Foster KWWK/KOLM Program Director CABLE OPERATORS NAME CABLE COMPANY TITLE Darryl Glassmaker Bresnan Cable Rochester Operations Manager Tom Sufferins Bresnan Cable Rochester Head End Technician Mark Tamke Bresnan Communications Area Tech. Manager