Judge declines to force FEMA to release funds to upgrade US emergency alert system
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday declined to force the Trump administration to immediately reimburse dozens of public broadcasting stations for upgrades to the nation’s emergency alert system.
The nonprofit Corporation for Public Broadcasting sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency last Thursday, claiming the agency had unlawfully held up nearly $2 million in grant money for modernizing the alert system. The lawsuit says the delay in reimbursements is hampering the ability of federal, state and local authorities to issue real-time emergency alerts.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied a request for a court order and ruled that the CPB failed to carry its legal burden for showing how it has been irreparably harmed. The corporation hasn’t demonstrated that the alert system will stop working if the grant funding doesn’t start flowing right away, Kelly concluded as he rejected the CPB’s request for a temporary restraining order.
“This circuit has set a high standard for irreparable injury,” Kelly said. “I don’t think CPB has satisfied that high standard on the record here.”
The lawsuit is one of several cases in which Trump’s administration has been accused of illegally withholding funds for a host of programs and services.
The national Emergency Alert System helps government officials issue alerts about disasters, including flash floods, blizzards, tornados and hurricanes. The CPB, which is the federal government’s steward of funding for hundreds of public radio and television stations, says FEMA is pretending that it isn’t holding onto the grant money.
The CPB says the Feb. 18 hold prevents it from submitting requests for reimbursement under the $40 million grant program for the Next Generation Warning System. The grants help pay for public media stations to upgrade their emergency alerting equipment. The program has over 40 grant recipients.
Government lawyers deny that FEMA is withholding any program funding.
“Rather, the Agency has modified its process for the review of payment requests — a process that is consistent with its authority to protect the public fisc and ensure grant programs are free from waste, fraud, and abuse,” they wrote in a court filing.
The CPB’s attorneys say FEMA has presented no evidence of waste, fraud or abuse in the program.
“For close to three years, FEMA has been intimately involved every step of the way in terms of the specific sites receiving new emergency broadcast equipment, creating a FEMA pre-approved equipment list, receiving monthly and quarterly reports on the expenses incurred and the progress of the grant,” they wrote.
Congress created the CPB in 1967. The private corporation says it distributes over 70% of its funding to more than 1,500 public radio and television stations.
President Donald Trump nominated Kelly to the bench during his first term.
