Emergency Alerting: Agencies Need to Address Pending Applications and Monitor Industry Progress on System Improvements
Fast Facts
Emergency alerts can provide lifesaving information. FEMA manages the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, allowing public safety agencies to send alerts to cell phones, radios, and TVs during natural disasters or other emergencies.
FEMA has begun to modernize alerting capabilities with help from the FCC. However, some state and local public safety agencies cannot access the system and others have low confidence in using it. Also, without goals and performance measures for improvements made to wireless emergency alerts, the FCC can’t ensure the system is working as intended.
We are making 3 recommendations to address these concerns.
Cell phone with test emergency alert displayed.
Cell phone showing a test presidential alert on the screen
Highlights
What GAO Found
Use of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) has increased since its launch in 2012. IPAWS enables authorized federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local alerting authorities to send a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) to mobile devices, such as cell phones and an Emergency Alert System (EAS) alert to media platforms, such as radios and television. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) operates IPAWS and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) establishes rules for telecommunications providers to deliver WEA and EAS alerts. A public safety agency must submit an application and receive approval from FEMA to become an IPAWS alerting authority. In September 2019, more than 1,400 alerting authorities had access to IPAWS, up from fewer than 100 authorities in 2013. All states have at least one state alerting authority, but gaps in local authority access remain (see figure) that could limit the timeliness of alerts as emergencies occur at the local level. GAO found 430 pending IPAWS applications as of September 2019, some of which dated back to 2012. FEMA has not established procedures to prioritize and follow up with applicants and FEMA officials acknowledged that doing so would be beneficial.
Areas Covered by Local and Tribal Authorities That Can Send Wireless Emergency Alerts and Use the Emergency Alert System, as of September 2019
FEMA and FCC have taken steps to modernize IPAWS and improve alerting. For example, FEMA has made system upgrades and FCC has made various WEA improvements, such as requiring wireless phone carriers to provide more precise geographic targeting of alerts. Prior to these improvements, officials from many alerting authorities said the inability to geographically target alerts with accuracy made the officials reluctant to send WEA messages. FCC intends to partner with certain localities to test geographic targeting and, according to FCC officials, plans to use other tests to learn about how the improvements perform during emergencies. However, FCC has not developed goals and performance measures for these efforts. Doing so would help FCC more clearly assess whether the WEA improvements are working as intended. Furthermore, having specific performance information could increase alerting authorities' confidence in and use of IPAWS.
Why GAO Did This Study
Public alerts and warnings are critical to protect lives and provide information during emergencies, such as wildfires and floods. The IPAWS Modernization Act, enacted in 2016, required FEMA, in consultation and coordination with FCC, to enhance and test the capabilities of IPAWS and increase its adoption among state and local public safety agencies.
GAO was asked to review the federal response to recent natural disasters. This report examines, among other things: (1) trends in the use of IPAWS and (2) actions that FEMA and FCC have taken to modernize IPAWS and increase its adoption.
GAO analyzed relevant data and documentation and assessed FCC's efforts against leading government performance management practices and FEMA and FCC's efforts against internal control standards. GAO interviewed federal officials involved in emergency alerting. GAO also interviewed a non-generalizable selection of IPAWS alerting authorities and applicants, local governments, public safety and industry associations, and communications companies. GAO selected alerting authorities that experienced different types of disasters and threats to public safety from 2017 to 2019.
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations, including that FEMA establish procedures to prioritize and address pending IPAWS applications and that FCC develop goals and performance measures to monitor the WEA improvements. FEMA concurred with GAO's recommendations. FCC stated it was taking steps to gather data to inform the development of metrics as GAO recommended.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Communications Commission | The Chairman of FCC should develop specific, measurable goals and performance measures for its efforts to monitor the performance of new WEA capabilities, such as enhanced geo-targeting and expanded alert message length. (Recommendation 1) |
In December 2023, FCC officials told us that FCC is seeking comment on ways to improve WEAs, specifically by establishing benchmarks and minimum performance requirements for WEA's reliability, accuracy, and speed. FCC's notice of proposed rulemaking states that the public will benefit from improved and targeted usage of WEA alert messages, and that greater accuracy in sending alert messages will result in less overshoot, which in turn will mean that fewer people will receive alert messages not intended for them. We will continue to monitor FCC's efforts to implement this recommendation and provide updated information when it is received.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The Director of the IPAWS program should document how it plans to address key actions needed to educate alerting authorities in their use of IPAWS and implement a mechanism that will allow FEMA to regularly and systematically obtain and analyze feedback on alerting authorities' educational needs. (Recommendation 2) |
Public alerts and warnings can serve to protect lives and provide critical information during emergencies. Various "alerting authorities" such as federal, state, or county officials can issue public alerts via FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which is a comprehensive public-alerting system that provides alerts through broadcast media and wirelessly to mobile devices. FEMA is required by law to instruct and educate the alerting authorities in the use of IPAWS. In 2020, we reported that FEMA assessed alerting authorities' educational needs and found that these alerting authorities need more training and practice in using IPAWS and experienced challenges with using their alerting software. Our interviews with selected alerting authorities revealed similar concerns, including that a lack of confidence is a potential barrier in the alerting authorities using IPAWS. Although FEMA officials told us they intend to periodically obtain information from alerting authorities about their needs, these plans have not been documented. We also found that less than 20 percent of state, territorial, and local alerting authorities had sent a wireless emergency alert through IPAWS as of October 1, 2019. Therefore, we recommended that FEMA document how it plans to educate alerting authorities in their use of IPAWS and implement a mechanism that will allow FEMA to obtain and analyze feedback on alerting authorities' educational needs. In 2021, we confirmed that FEMA documented its plans to educate alerting authorities and assess their educational needs by establishing the IPAWS Program Planning Toolkit. In doing so, FEMA identified gaps in the current available IPAWS training information and developed comprehensive guidelines with input from alerting authorities. FEMA officials said the team establishing the toolkit worked closely with stakeholders from across the alerting ecosystem and sought input from a range of state, local, tribal, and territorial public safety agencies; academics; broadcasters; and industry. In developing materials for the toolkit, the team frequently checked in with stakeholders to ensure the materials were on track or if they needed modification to meet the needs of the alerting authorities. FEMA also established mechanisms for obtaining feedback from the alerting authorities. According to FEMA officials, all IPAWS outreach engagements include opportunities for the alerting community to provide feedback, share concerns or issues, and make recommendations for needed information. FEMA officials said they also include a solicitation for feedback along with a hyperlink to the IPAWS mailbox on all communication sent to alerting authorities and during webinars and day-to-day activities working with alerting authorities. The FEMA officials said all avenues for feedback are monitored and the responses influence the development of future content that is shared in a variety of interactive and educational distribution formats. As a result of these efforts, FEMA is helping alerting authorities increase their proficiency and confidence in using IPAWS. In addition, by implementing a mechanism to regularly obtain and analyze alerting authorities' needs, FEMA is better positioned to understand if these needs are changing and develop educational efforts to address them.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The Director of the IPAWS program should establish procedures to prioritize pending IPAWS applications and to follow up with applicants to address these applications. (Recommendation 3) |
Federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local alerting authorities can issue public alerts via FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). Such alerts are critical to protect lives and provide information during emergencies, such as wildfires and floods. The IPAWS Modernization Act, enacted in 2016, required FEMA to increase the adoption of IPAWS among state and local public safety agencies. These agencies must submit an application and receive approval from FEMA to become an IPAWS alerting authority. Furthermore, FEMA identified increasing IPAWS adoption and assisting authorities in gaining access to IPAWS as strategic goals. In 2020, we reported that FEMA had taken various steps to increase the adoption of IPAWS, for example, by informing local public safety agencies about IPAWS at conferences and encouraging them to apply for access to the system. However, our analysis of FEMA data found that hundreds of IPAWS applications were pending as of September 2019, some of which dated back to 2012. In addition, some applicants had yet to complete the key initial steps in the process. FEMA officials said that once a completed application is received, approving it should take about 30 days but that factors outside FEMA's control can contribute to processing delays and thereby increase the number of pending applications. Although delays involving certain applications might be out of FEMA's control, we reported that FEMA provided no evidence that it had followed up with applicants, when it had last contacted them, or how follow up should be prioritized. Further, the agency had not established procedures to prioritize and follow up with applicants. FEMA officials acknowledged that establishing procedures to prioritize and follow up on the in-process applications would be beneficial. Therefore, we recommended that FEMA establish procedures to prioritize pending IPAWS applications and to follow up with applicants to address these applications. In 2023, we confirmed that FEMA established a new web-based platform to efficiently process IPAWS applications. This new platform enables public safety agencies to apply for access to IPAWS through a two-step process. First, the public safety agency signs a memorandum of agreement, and second, a state-level official provides approval that the public safety agency is authorized to send emergency alerts. The platform makes use of standardized documents and electronic signatures to increase the efficiency of the application process. For example, FEMA officials indicated that application steps, which used to take weeks or months to complete, can now be completed in minutes with the new platform. FEMA officials said the new platform eliminates the need for additional follow-up with applicants and that they have received positive feedback from state and local officials regarding the platform's ease of use. As a result of FEMA's new IPAWS application platform, FEMA can more readily meet its strategic goal of increasing IPAWS adoption and expand alerting coverage.
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