TL;DR: A FEMA Alerting Authority is the jurisdiction empowered to warn the public about an impending disaster, threat, or dangerous or missing person, and its designated Alert Originator sends those warnings through IPAWS.
What An Alerting Authority Is
According to Alerting Authorities | FEMA.gov, an Alerting Authority holds designated power for a jurisdiction to notify residents when a natural or human-made disaster, threat, or dangerous or missing person situation is approaching.
Duties vary from agency to agency. The same FEMA source explains that an Alert Originator is the individual person operating the keyboard or screen to compose and issue the alert, working under the plans, policies and procedures set by that Alerting Authority.
FEMA created the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System in 2006 following Executive Order 13407. That page reports more than 1,600 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial authorities now use the system for critical alerts in their jurisdictions, with more than 100 additional agencies and organizations working toward authorization.
A separate FEMA directory, IPAWS Alerting Authorities - Agencies and Organizations, reports the total has grown past 2,000 authorities, and notes that all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands maintain a state-level or equivalent authorized authority.
How IPAWS Delivers A Single Message Everywhere
According to Frequently Asked Questions About IPAWS | FEMA.gov, IPAWS is FEMA's national system for local alerting that supplies authenticated emergency and life-saving information through mobile phones with Wireless Emergency Alerts, through radio and television with the Emergency Alert System, and over National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio.
Transmission through IPAWS can go out simultaneously across multiple communication pathways to reach the largest possible audience. The Alerting Authorities page states that IPAWS supplements rather than replaces local alerting methods, adding capability to methods a jurisdiction already uses.
That simultaneous distribution is enabled by the Common Alerting Protocol. The FAQ page describes that protocol as a digital format for exchanging emergency alerts that permits one consistent message to travel over many pathways at once.
FEMA developed the IPAWS standard with the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, then added a supplemental IPAWS Profile specification to maintain compatibility with warning systems in use in the United States. The agency has formally adopted both the basic standard and the Profile for IPAWS operation.
What WEA And EAS Mean For Residents
Wireless Emergency Alerts are brief emergency messages from authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial authorities that broadcast from cell towers to any enabled mobile device inside a targeted local area, according to the FAQ page.
The page states that wireless providers primarily employ cell broadcast technology for delivery, through a public-safety partnership involving FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission and wireless providers.
According to Emergency Alerts | Ready.gov, those mobile alerts resemble text messages but use a distinctive sound and vibration repeated twice to capture attention.
The same Ready.gov source reports that the mobile alerts continue to function without disruption from network congestion and do not interrupt texts, calls or active data sessions. Reception is free, requires no subscription, and travels through FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.
Children with enabled mobile devices also receive the alerts. Ready.gov advises parents and guardians to discuss the alerts and emergency safety with children.
The Emergency Alert System operates on a different set of outlets. Ready.gov explains that the system uses broadcast television and radio, satellite digital audio services, direct broadcast satellite providers, cable television systems and wireless cable systems.
At the national level, the FAQ page states that radio and television broadcasters, cable television, wireless cable systems, satellite and wireline operators must provide the President with the ability to address the American people within 10 minutes during a national emergency. Broadcast, cable and satellite operators serve as stewards of that public service in partnership with state, local, tribal and territorial authorities, while FEMA implements, maintains and operates the federal portion jointly with the Federal Communications Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ready.gov adds that the President alone determines when national-level activation occurs, while other authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial authorities may use the system for weather information, imminent threats, AMBER alerts and local incidents directed to specific areas.
Who May Become An Alerting Authority
According to the Alerting Authorities page, federal agencies and state, local, tribal and territorial governments qualify to send alerts through IPAWS. Certain other public or private organizations also may qualify based on their public-safety mission.
A federal, state, local, tribal or territorial authority that seeks authorization is designated as a Collaborative Operating Group, or COG. The FAQ page states that COGs vary widely in size, structure and governance style, and that one COG may include members from multiple jurisdictions, with each individual account administered through its software system.
FEMA advises prospective applicants to consult the State IPAWS representative, usually located in the State Emergency Management Agency, about eligibility, according to Sign Up to Use IPAWS to Send Public Alerts and Warnings | FEMA.gov.
That sign-up source states that IPAWS recognizes the sovereign rights, authority and unique status of Tribal Governments. Tribes are not required to obtain state approval, although cross-jurisdictional collaboration is strongly encouraged to prevent over-alerting or conflicting information.
The Four Steps To Authorization
Step 1 — Complete Web-Based Training
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute provides independent-study course IS-247, Integrated Public Alert and Warning System for Alert Originators. The sign-up page lists its goals as greater awareness of benefits, stronger skill in drafting appropriate, effective and accessible messages, deeper understanding of training, testing and exercising, and best practices for reaching the public.
The course requires approximately two hours and serves as a prerequisite for full access to IPAWS-OPEN for public alerting. After completion, students submit IS-247 certificates to IPAWS. FEMA does not train users on third-party origination software; vendors handle those support questions.
An optional course, IS-251 for Alerting Administrators, covers developing policies, plans and procedures, defining the approval process, defining the importance of training, practice and exercising, and illustrating best practices and effective public reach.
Step 2 — Select Compatible Software
Access to IPAWS itself is free. The organization nevertheless must obtain its own IPAWS-compatible software, according to the sign-up source and the Alerting Authorities page.
Software should have completed successful testing in the IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency Networks test environment and should meet capabilities recommended by FEMA. Agencies are directed to work with the software developer to confirm compatibility and required functions. Sending messages carries no charge, although acquiring compliant origination software that satisfies IPAWS requirements may involve expense.
Step 3 — Execute A Memorandum Of Agreement
To receive COG status, the sponsoring organization must sign a Memorandum of Agreement with FEMA governing interoperability and security across emergency-response organizations and systems. Each agreement is tailored to the sponsor and its interoperable software system.
The process starts with registration on the IPAWS User Portal. After approval by an IPAWS team member, the applicant files an MOA application through the portal. The Customer Support Branch then prepares the agreement for signature and assigns a COG Identification number.
Step 4 — Apply For Public Alerting Permissions
Authorities that plan to warn the public must file an application describing the categories of alerts they intend to issue and the boundaries of their geographic warning area. The filing goes through the IPAWS User Portal.
To maintain consistency with state, tribal and territorial alerting plans, the application must be reviewed and signed by a designated state official or tribal leadership. IPAWS forwards the filing to that official or leadership, and all parties receive a signed copy after approval.
What Happens After Approval
A copy of the signed agreement returns to the sponsoring organization with a digital certificate required to configure the compatible software, according to the sign-up source.
Completion of the first three steps provides the ability to exchange messages and content between COGs, but does not yet permit public alerting through IPAWS.
Once the public-alerting application is processed, the specific permissions are implemented in IPAWS-OPEN. Members identified by the COG may then send public alerts and warnings inside their prescribed geographic areas.
Initial capability includes the Emergency Alert System, Wireless Emergency Alerts subject to local commercial mobile implementation, NOAA Weather Radio, and Internet-based services and unique systems.
Support, Drafting Tools And Monthly Testing
The IPAWS Technical Support Services facility provides a closed demonstration environment for alert creation and dissemination across all pathways, including the Emergency Alert System, Wireless Emergency Alerts, Non-Weather Emergency Messages and the IPAWS All-Hazards Information Feed.
The Alerting Authorities page describes the facility as staffed around the clock every day of the year by subject-matter experts and analysts available to assist authorities. It supports in-person and virtual seminars, training initiatives, exercise support, demonstrations and other warning efforts.
The toll-free contact is 1-84-IPAWSLAB or 1-844-729-7522 for both business hours and after-hours use, with calls answered or routed to staff at all times.
The Assistive Tools Platform supplies one login for the Message Design Dashboard, the Message Viewer and future proficiency aids. Current authorities can establish a preferred identifier so utilities load profile information automatically, while dashboard drafts save to user profiles for rapid reloading or editing.
The Message Design Dashboard helps authorities draft messages that are complete, clear, certain and consistent and capable of motivating action. Users enter emergency details, and the tool generates draft 90-character and 360-character alerts grounded in crisis psychology and social-science research.
The dashboard draws on material covering more than 50 hazards across multiple domains, including impact statements and protective-action guidance vetted by subject-matter experts and reviewed by communication scholars. Version 2.0, released in April 2025, added categories for missing and endangered persons and for all-clear messages, alongside improved desktop and mobile operation.
The Message Viewer verifies tests and exercises in the demonstration environment, returning status to the tester with visual confirmation and status codes.
Every enabled authority under an IPAWS agreement must complete a proficiency demonstration each month by composing and sending a successful message through the IPAWS-OPEN Training and Demonstration environment, known as the IPAWS Lab Cloud. The initiative is intended to build proficiency and reduce errors.
COGs, another name for Alerting Authorities, may conduct that demonstration on any date and time within a calendar month at their discretion. The message must cover EAS or WEA according to approved permissions; a COG approved for both channels must test both at once when its software allows. The demonstration message must carry Actual status, because Test or Exercise status prevents posting to the simulated feeds.