The shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, triggered by the Rescissions Act of 2025, is raising alarms over the future of the Emergency Alert System in rural and disaster-prone regions. CPB announced it cannot continue operating the Next Generation Warning System grant program, which has been central to expanding and modernizing public stations’ emergency alert capabilities.
Launched by Congress in 2022 with $136 million over three years, the NGWS program was created to bolster public safety in partnership with FEMA. Managed by CPB, the initiative has prioritized vulnerable regions such as Alaska and the Adirondacks, providing staff support, technical assistance, and application processing for stations nationwide.
Since its first round of grants in 2022, CPB has allocated $21.6 million to 44 stations. Yet demand has far exceeded available funds. In the second round, CPB fielded $110 million in requests from 175 stations, the majority of which have yet to receive any funding.
With CPB’s closure imminent, FEMA is under pressure to assume responsibility for distributing the program’s remaining funds. If FEMA does not step in, millions from the 2022–2024 appropriations could remain frozen, preventing the purchase of critical alerting equipment and leaving communities exposed without the upgrades Congress mandated.
CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison stressed the stakes, saying, “CPB has been fully invested in the NGWS program and its mission to protect the American public. This is one more example of rescission consequences impacting local public media stations and the communities they serve – in this case, weakening the capacity of local public media stations to support the safety and preparedness of their communities.”
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