Sec. 11.44  EAS message priorities.

    (a) A national activation of the EAS for a Presidential message with 
the Event code EAN as specified in Sec. 11.31 must take priority over 
any other message and preempt it if it is in progress.
    (b) EAS participants should transmit other EAS messages in the 
following order: first, Local Area Messages; second, State Messages; and 
third, National Information Center (NIC) Messages.
    (c) Key EAS sources (NP, LP, SP and SR) and Participating National 
(PN) sources that remain on the air during a National emergency must 
carry Presidential Messages ``live'' at the time of transmission or 
immediately upon receipt. Activation of the National level EAS must 
preempt State and Local Area EAS operation.
    (d) During a national emergency, the radio and television broadcast 
network program distribution facilities must be reserved exclusively for 
distribution of Presidential Messages. NIC messages received from 
national networks which are not broadcast at the time of original 
transmission must be recorded locally by LP sources for transmission at 
the earliest opportunity consistent with the message priorities in 
paragraph (b) of this section.