New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of 18 attorneys general and New York City in demanding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) immediately publish a long-delayed rule that would expand language access for emergency alerts sent to cell phones.
The rule, unanimously adopted by the FCC in January 2025, would add 13 new languages to the Wireless Emergency Alert system, which currently supports only English and Spanish. The alerts provide real-time warnings about severe weather, natural disasters, missing persons, and other emergencies.
Attorney General James says the FCC’s failure to publish the rule for nearly ten months has put lives at risk.
“Language should never be a barrier to life-saving information,” James said. “The FCC’s failure to publish this unanimously adopted rule is unacceptable and puts people at risk.”
The rule—called the Multilingual Alerts Order—was developed after years of advocacy led by James following tragedies like Hurricane Ida in 2021, which claimed 13 lives in New York City, many in communities with low English proficiency. Once published, the rule would give wireless carriers 30 months to implement multilingual alerts in the most commonly spoken non-English languages and American Sign Language.
The attorneys general warn that if the FCC does not submit the rule for publication within 30 days, they are prepared to take legal action.
Without expanded access, an estimated 1.3 million New Yorkers with limited English proficiency and who do not speak Spanish remain without equal access to critical safety information during emergencies.
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