?tamed Emits Earned WASHINGTON, DC 20510 October 17, 2017 The Honorable Aj it Pai Chairman Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Dear Chairman Pai: As we write, massive, uncontrolled wild?res continue to sweep through Northern California. More than 40 Californians have lost their lives, over 40,000 residents have been evacuated, and over 5,700 homes and buildings have been destroyed. We are shocked and saddened by the devastation, and we will do everything in our power to help Californians recover and rebuild? and to make sure this never happens again. in a crisis like this, receiving a timely emergency alert on your mobile phone can be the difference between life and death. Families may have more minutes to evacuate. That?s why, over ten years ago, a bipartisan group of legislators developed the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act.1 That law requires the FCC to adopt technical standards for wireless providers to transmit emergency alerts to their subscribers. President Bush, who signed the WARN Act into law, declared that is the policy of the United States to have an effective, reliable, integrated, ?exible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to public safety and well- being.?2 In the intervening years, the FCC has worked with the wireless industry to develop a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system for mobile phones.3 These short messages provide essential and time-sensitive public safety information?without requiring any advance planning by subscribers. In theory, the WEA system enables state, county, and municipal authorities to instantly warn their residents. We, like millions of Californians, count on the WEA system to keep us safe. Recent news reports have indicated that emergency services in Northern California were not able to transmit lifesaving WEA messages, because of signi?cant technical de?ciencies in the 3 Exec. Order No. 13,407 (2006). 3 FCC, WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS (2016), Wireless Emergency Alerts Rule, C.F.R. pt. 10. WEA system. Specifically, because the WEAI system does not enableIprecise Ig'eotargeting?a feature that has been standardin- mobile applications for yeai'se?emer'gency Services cannot 'send' an. evacuation message without reaching a- large number of unaffected residents. These- emergency 'Servi'ces are caught in a bind between. notifying individuals in imminent danger'and risking r'nasspanicfl As a result,- these services arecornpelled to rely systems with far'l'ess reach and far. less In September 2016, the FCC proposed new. ..ru_1es that would require Wireless carriers to enable prec'i se Igeotargetingof WEA warriir-rgs.5 We-are heartened that you and your- colleagues voted in favor of that proposal. You even: wrote separately in a. concurring opinion, emphasizing the importance 'of geotargeted alerts, 'We are disappointed, though, that under your leadership the FCC has not 'eitecuted on its proposal with a ?nal rule. We are also concerned that thc?F CC has granted a temporary Waiver of the. ex-iStin'g, requirement-Simcertain carriers?6 We-ask for you to respond to the following questions about the..ii1ture.z-ofthe WEA system: 1. Have you 'soli'cited'feedback from emergency services. in Northern CalifOrnia about whether the WEA System is meeting their needs and what improvements are necessary? If you have, what feedback have you re'ceived? if you have. ',not will you commit to seeking that feedback. and informing as about what you learn? 2. California .isz'notralone in experiencing. a. naturaldisaster this year. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and J. o'sehave also been tragedies; for our fellow Americans. Have you solicited feedback from emergency services in the jurisdiction'saffected byathose incidents to See, sag. State (if-California, Governor?sOf?c'e of'Emergency Services, Comment on Wireless {Emergency Alerts (Dec. 15' 2016) ffecfsapi t?cc. govf? itsr 12 163 625082 orcamzooesm [iconiments%2 Prop osed% 8-. 1.6. public 3 trust in e?ieienCy. bene?ts further from the. .pre'cisibn- City and County of- 8am Francisco, Department of Emergency Management, Comment on Improving Wireless Emergency Alerts (Dec- 2,016) 16- 1221311 261612.02 pdf' City strongly believes the commission should adopt 1n tandem the commercially available technologies utilised by countless- 'applications' 1n. everyday use. .More targeted, location based ale1ting will increase adoption by public safety entities and prevent Warning fatigue by eliminating over alerting. City of Los' Angeles, Emel gency Management Department Comment on Support to improve Wireless Emergency Alerts (Sept. 2'2, .211 1 6), govf?lef ants-pdf (?The WEA system should be" ableto send out me?ssagesit'o more-targeted areas as opposed to. a wider area which 1's not to an. impacted 2on'e.. .We need to be able to send out more precise messaging to. areas which are directly impacted by an incident inStead ofbeing forced to include the wider. general population. The lack of ih1s capability causes confusion and discredits the use of messaging in this form. . '5 FCC, Report and Order and Further Notice of Prompos'ed' RulemaIking (Sept 29, 20156), Happs .fcc- u1?1v'1?eciocs l6 12719111.pdf. I '5 FCCI I-Public- Safety and Homeland. Security Bureau, Order (Sept, 15-, 201?), 1 69fDA?l 1.903151 1 2 understand how the WEA system is meeting their needs and what improvements are necessary? If you have, what feedback have you received? If you have not, will you commit to seeking that feedback and informing us about what you learn? 3. Do you intend to proceed with the WEA rulemaking that the FCC initiated over a year ago? If you do, will you commit to expeditiously completing the rulemaking? If you do not, why not? 4. Several technology vendors have taken the position that incorporating precise geolocation into the WEA system is technically infeasible or excessively burdensome. Our assessment, confirmed by experts we have consulted, is that these technical objections are unfounded. Have you evaluated the technical feasibility of incorporating precise geolocation into the WEA system, and if you have, what have you concluded? In light of the ongoing emergency in our state, we request your reply by October 24, 2017. Sincerely, Wmala D. Harris lanne Feinstein United States Senator United States Senator Cc: The Honorable John Thune, Chairman, United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation The Honorable Bill Nelson, Ranking Member, United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Lisa Fowlkes, Bureau Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, Federal Communications Commission