This enumerated value sets whether a statistical alarm raised when any Section-layer threshold is exceeded is reported as minor or major severity. An admin cares because this determines how loudly a section-layer error-rate excursion gets flagged in the NMS or alarm console, and setting it too low (minor) for a critical circuit risks the alarm being overlooked amid other minor events. For example, an admin managing a revenue-critical leased circuit would set this to major so any threshold breach gets prioritized attention rather than blending in with routine minor alarms.