FCC Proposes Solution to Expand Multilingual Emergency Alerts

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that would make it easier for emergency managers to send emergency alerts in non-English languages to the public over television and radio. The proposal would remove a key barrier to sending multilingual messages through the Emergency Alert System, which could in turn spur more alerts that are accessible to more people—and potentially save lives. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted February 15, the Commission is seeking comment on proposals to:

• Create template alert scripts in the 13 most commonly spoken non-English languages in the US. These template scripts and audio files would be produced by the Commission and installed in the Emergency Alert System equipment operated by Emergency Alert System participants, such as broadcasters and cable providers.
• Seek comment on the feasibility of developing and implementing American Sign Language (ASL) versions of the template alerts, including how ASL translations of the template scripts would be processed and displayed.
• Establish a process through which emergency managers can initiate template alerts, which Emergency Alert System participants would then be required to transmit on their channel(s) in the template language that corresponds to their programming content.