August 16, 2024

Dear USET/USET SPF Family,

On August 7, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report & Order (R&O) to establish a dedicated Missing and Endangered Persons (MEP) event code for broadcast over the Emergency Alert System (EAS). This new MEP event code is meant to facilitate efficient and widespread dissemination of alerts to the public and coordinated responses to incidents involving all missing and endangered persons, including Indigenous people, across multiple jurisdictions. In the R&O the FCC acknowledged that individuals from Tribal communities are at a disproportionate risk of violence, murder, or vanishing. Therefore, the FCC agreed with commenters that in adopting a MEP event code it will advance the cause of aiding in the rescue of Native persons by quickly disseminating information pertaining to serious missing and endangered persons cases.

On May 20, 2024, USET SPF submitted comments to the FCC in support of developing a MEP event code to be added to the EAS, as well as broadcast over the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS). We reasoned that adopting such an event code would increase interagency coordination between Tribal and non-Tribal public safety agencies for missing and endangered persons from Tribal communities. USET SPF's comments are referenced several times throughout the FCC's R&O (in paragraph 28, and in footnotes 39, 43, 45, 55, 60, 68, 74, 75) and the FCC determined that Tribal support for developing a MEP event code was, "particularly compelling." USET SPF applauds the FCC's decision to move forward with developing and implementing a MEP event code for broadcast over the EAS and IPAWS and looks forward to monitoring its implementation.

For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.

April 19, 2024

Dear USET/USET SPF Family,

On March 17, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to expand the Emergency Alert System by proposing a new emergency alert code for missing, endangered, and abducted persons in Tribal communities. On April 18, 2024, a Federal Register Notice was published announcing the comment deadlines for the FCC’s NPRM. Comments on the NPRM are due on Monday, May 20, 2024, with Reply Comments due on or before Monday, June 17, 2024. Comments, and/or Reply Comments, must be submitted to the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) under the proceedings identified as PS Docket No. 15-91, and PS Docket No. 15-94.

USET SPF also recommends emailing a copy of your comments to the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy (FCC ONAP) at Native@fcc.gov. USET SPF has also received notification that FCC ONAP intends to initiate Tribal consultation on the NPRM and USET SPF will send an updated Alert once those consultation date(s)/times(s) are announced by FCC ONAP.

Background on EAS and the NPRM

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts system (WEA) are used to distribute tens of thousands of warnings to the public every year, providing critical notice of emergencies ranging from severe weather events, such as tornados and hurricanes, to natural disasters, such as tsunamis and wildfires, to civil emergencies, such as AMBER Alerts and law enforcement warnings. These emergency alerts provide critical information and empower affected communities to take appropriate action and aid public safety officials in efforts to address emergencies. However, in the United States in 2022, approximately 187,000 adults who fell outside of the criteria for either AMBER Alerts or state administered Silver Alerts went missing. This NPRM would propose to facilitate the more efficient and widespread dissemination of alerts and coordinated responses to incidents involving missing and endangered persons.

Specifically, the proposed new MEP event code will allow for the transmission of Ashanti Alerts associated with persons missing or abducted from Tribal communities and states that fall outside of AMBER Alert notification criteria to the public over the EAS. In doing so, the FCC seeks to advance the important public policy objective of encouraging Tribal governments and states to develop or enhance existing missing and endangered person and Ashanti Alert plans to optimize regional and nationwide search efforts for missing, endangered, or abducted persons. The FCC also seeks to facilitate integration of those local plans into the United States Department of Justice’s National Ashanti Alert Network as required by the Ashanti Alert Act in a manner similar to that used for the AMBER Alert and Silver Alert communications networks.

For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.

Established in 2014, the USET Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF) is a non-profit, inter-Tribal organization advocating on behalf of thirty-three (33) federally recognized Tribal Nations from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico. USET SPF is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and advancing the inherent sovereign rights and authorities of Tribal Nations and in assisting its membership in dealing effectively with public policy issues.