FEMA Releases Upgrade Money To Some Public Stations

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted its “hold” on grant money for some public broadcast stations to upgrade their infrastructure.

According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, FEMA “lifted a 65-day hold on $38 million in contract reimbursements to CPB for public media stations seeking to update their equipment to create a more resilient and secure public alerting system.”

The news comes a little more than a week after two U.S. senators — one from each major political party — urged FEMA to release the grant money.

CPB in March brought a complaint in federal district court against FEMA over access to the money. It said that FEMA, without explanation, had placed a purported “hold” on the funds despite the intentions of Congress and its own prior commitments.

Among other goals, the grant program is intended to help TV stations upgrade to ATSC 3.0; enable radio stations to upgrade to digital capabilities to enable the broadcast of IPAWS alerts; help stations alert individuals with disabilities or limited English; and improve warning coverage in remote rural areas.

According to a timeline from CPB, in 2022 Congress directed FEMA to set up the grant program, and CPB over three years CPB has been awarded $136 million to administer it for FEMA.

To date about $24.9 million has been awarded to 45 organizations in 24 states from the initial round of funding, which drew from $40 million allocated by Congress for FY22. Congress also appropriated $56 million for FY23 and $40 million for FY24.

In the latest round, CPB has issued five grants totaling $9.65 million to statewide public broadcasting networks in Louisiana, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, Colorado