CPB sue the FEMA for the “illegal” possession on the NGWS funds

The CPB on Thursday filed a federal process, requesting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would raise its break on the Finance approved by Congressive for the next generation warning system.

According to the complaint, filed at the US District Court for Colombia District, FEMA has maintained about $ 38 million in subsidies awarded for the first time By the Department of Internal Security through the Fiscal Year Congress 2022 is “illegal”. The NGWS program received additional money in FY23 and FY24 and received a total of $ 136 million. So far, the CPB has approved the NGWS subsidies for 42 stations, which are reimbursed after spending their own projects.

“The FEMA has not identified any reason for this” restraint “, and the adverse effects of the Fema Failure to process presentations within the NGWs grant severely and negatively on the ability of federal, state and local authorities to issue emergency alerts,” the process shows. “Owning the FEMA on these funds is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, in violation of the law and undermines the emergency alert system based throughout the country by millions whose access to emergency information is through public alerts by public broadcasting positions.”

The process says that the Fema actions prevented CPB from reimbursing the stations in the program. “Indeed, Fema did not even try to explain his unilateral conduct before imposing” Hold “, nor did he try to explain the basis of his action,” says the process.

Fema interrupted funding on February 18 and CPB later told stations to stop NGWS work because he sought to regain access to financing.

In a separate statement, Kathy Merritt, the head of the CPB station and system strategies, said: “In order to protect the public media from financial damages, the CPB has no appeal to act in justice against the FEMA in accordance with the law of the administrative procedure. We seek to honor the contract on the FEMA and immediately raise the detention, offering the reimbursement of the stations that have incurred costs for related equipment and services, as well as CPB for its administrative expenses. “

President Trump has authorized the Government’s efficiency department to reduce the Fema staff and other federal agencies. In November, Elon Musk, Doge’s boss, co-written a editorial in Wall Street Journal Calling on CPB discounts. The representatives of the FEMA, who are part of the Department of Internal Security, did not respond to the current comment applications.

The financing holdup has caused stations like KBRW in Utqiaţvik, Alaska, which serves an Eskimo population at the northerniest peak of the state, which is due about $ 65,000 in NGWS. KBRW is the only broadcast entity that serves almost 95,000 miles-mile, a northern slope in Alaska, where most of the 12,000 people have limited access.

In total, the process says that the stations are due to $ 1.88 million incurred expenses that need to be reimbursed. Some stations said currently that they avoided a financial bullet by not starting their work yet.

The CPB process says that Fema’s actions have provided additional challenges to the corporation. The CPB has at least five employees whose salaries are fully or partially funded by the FEMA subsidy, so Hold forced the CPB to use other funds to pay the workers, endanger or end their employment.

Also, restraint puts CPB at legal risk, says the process. “Even if the FEMA had directed the CPB to cancel the existing contracts – which is not clear that the legal authority to do – CPB could still be contractual necessary to pay stations for already purchased equipment, but it could not legally make these payments. This is due to the fact that CPB receives appropriate funds and cannot use adequate Congress funds for a purpose to pay obligations for another purpose. Only, only NGWS funding funds can be used to pay NGWS funding obligations. “