AG James Leads Coalition Calling for FCC to Stop Unlawfully Delaying Life-Saving Alert Rule
New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 18 other attorneys general and New York City in demanding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) immediately publish a long-delayed rule that would substantially expand language access for critical government emergency alerts sent to cell phones. The emergency alerts, which are currently only sent in English and Spanish, can be lifesaving during disasters such as the floods in New York City that claimed two lives last week. A new rule, finalized and unanimously adopted by the FCC in January 2025, plans to expand the alerts to 13 additional languages. However, for the last ten months, the FCC has refused to move to implement it. In a letter to the FCC, Attorney General James and the coalition warn that if the rule is not submitted for publication within 30 days, they are prepared to take legal action. The rule is the result of a years-long advocacy effort led by Attorney General James to ensure that everyone can receive and understand potentially life-saving emergency alerts.
“Language should never be a barrier to life-saving information,” said Attorney General James. “Every New Yorker, regardless of language, deserves to know what to do when danger strikes. The FCC’s failure to publish this unanimously adopted rule is unacceptable and puts people at risk. We are demanding immediate action by the FCC to ensure that no community is left in the dark during future hurricanes, wildfires, or floods.”
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are short, text message-like alerts sent by government agencies through cell carriers to warn the public of imminent threats such as severe weather, natural disasters, missing persons, or public safety emergencies. These alerts are among the most widely used and effective public warning tools in the United States, but have historically been issued only in English, with Spanish alerts being supported only in recent years.
Following Hurricane Ida in 2021, which claimed 13 lives in New York City – most in neighborhoods with low rates of English proficiency – Attorney General James brought the disparity in emergency alerting to the FCC’s attention and later led a coalition of states urging the FCC to expand multilingual access to emergency alerts. In 2023, the FCC voted to move forward with the expansion, and in January 2025, it formally adopted the Multilingual Alerts Order, which requires the implementation of pre-translated alert templates in the 13 most commonly spoken non-English languages and American Sign Language. The order dictates that once the rule is published in the Federal Register, wireless carriers will have 30 months to update their systems to support multilingual alerts.
Nearly ten months after adopting the order, however, the FCC has yet to officially publish it, an unexplained delay that has prevented the new multilingual system from taking effect. Because the 30-month implementation period begins only upon publication, the FCC’s inaction has stalled nationwide efforts to modernize the emergency alert system and ensure that more non-English-speaking communities receive timely, life-saving information during disasters or other emergencies. Without expanded language accessibility for WEAs, immigrant communities nationwide, including an estimated 1.3 million New Yorkers statewide who have limited English proficiency and do not speak Spanish, lack access to critical information to protect themselves and their families from severe weather and other emergencies.
Attorney General James and the coalition note that the Administrative Procedure Act and the FCC’s own regulations require the agency to publish adopted rules in the Federal Register. By refusing to do so, the coalition argues, the FCC is violating federal law. The demand letter notes that the agency remains obligated to perform this non-discretionary duty even during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
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