Beginning at 2 p.m. today Eastern Standard Time, there will be a first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. For 30 seconds, citizens will hear and see "this is a test," during a dry run of the EAS conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission. Initiated in January 1997 to replace the old Emergency Broadcast System, the EAS is a national alert and warning system that allows the president to address the nation during emergencies or disasters.