(1) National-level EAS provides the President & senior officials an assured method for addressing the nation during emergencies (2) Provides unlimited duration audio message; auto-seizes radio/TV networks (3) National-level EAS activation rests solely with President (4) National-level EAS cascades from the FEMA Operations Center (FOC) → Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations → all major radio/TV broadcasters (5) Planned Digital EAS will allow President and senior officials to send text, voice, and video messages; permits a voluntary broadcast option (6) State and local EAS activations permitted/encouraged: (7) Audio message length of up to two minutes; voluntary broadcast 29 Cited: California Government Code, Chapter 7. Emergency Services Act. http: //www.leginfo.ca.gov. Also, State of California. September 2005. Emergency Plan. (8) Used frequently; National Weather Service originates ~ 80% of EAS alerts (9) EAS is also used as the main method to disseminate AMBER Alerts. (FEMA IPAWS Update, 2007, slide 11)