Applications are open for the next round of grants for the Next Generation Warning System. Congress funded $48 million for fiscal 2026.
But the money is for the use of states, territories and tribal nations, not broadcast stations, a change that took effect last year.
From 2022 to 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting handled distribution of NGWS funds. It would disburse the money to broadcasters, often in rural areas, to improve emergency alerting capabilities, which sometimes included transmission infrastructure.
But last year, as we reported, FEMA changed the rules after a “critical evaluation” of grant programs and recipients to “root out waste, fraud and abuse and deliver accountability for the American taxpayer.”
CPB subsequently was shuttered as the Trump administration convinced Congress to discontinue funding for public media.
IPAWS said these grants are intended to support efforts to modernize alerting systems and ensure that communities receive emergency information. It said projects “should address capability gaps and leverage innovative technologies to improve the delivery of timely public alerts and warnings.”
According to an FAQ, “State, territorial and tribal governments are responsible for assessing the needs of their communities and identifying capability gaps and solutions to improve timely warning and emergency information to the public and to protect critical infrastructure.”
The recipients of last year’s grants were agencies in eight states and territories, plus five tribal nations. That list is at the bottom of this FEMA page.
FEMA expects to make five to 10 more awards this year, ranging from $2 million to $10 million, according to its FAQ page.
It also published a list of sample projects that might qualify; see page 3 of the FAQ.
The examples include such things as the installation of IPAWS-compatible sirens and/or “giant-voice systems”; deployment of emergency alert datacasting technology; systems that provide visual and audio alerts such as to digital billboards; integration of IPAWS alerts in Internet of Things devices; integration of satellite-based alert and warning technologies; tools to increase alert and warning coverage to rural areas; and coordination with NOAA to enhance signals for NOAA Weather Radios.
Other than the last item, radio platforms or stations are not mentioned.
IPAWS will hold two webinars this week “to highlight the proposed project list in the funding opportunity as ways grantees can test, pilot and evaluate alerting capabilities.”
The deadline to apply via the FEMA grant page is Aug. 7.
