USDA Rural Development-UTP Weather Radio

The Rural Utilities Service Weather Radio Transmitter Grant Program provides grant funds to finance the installation of new transmitters to extend the coverage of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Radio system (NOAA Weather Radio) in rural America.

Grant funds are available to facilitate the expansion of NOAA Weather Radio system coverage into rural areas that are not covered or are poorly covered. Grant funds are extremely limited. The amount of funds remaining for Weather Radio Transmitter grants likely would not finance a complete weather radio transmitter system. The grant recipient would have to supplement the grant with additional funds of its own.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be non-profit corporations or associations (including Rural Utilities Service electric and telecommunications borrower cooperatives), units of local or state government, or Federally-recognized Indian tribes.

This program provides grant funds for use in rural areas and communities of 50,000 or less inhabitants. An area's need for a new NOAA Weather Radio transmitter is determined by its inherent risk of hazardous weather and the absence of adequate coverage by an existing transmitter.
The Rural Utilities Service, in consultation with the National Weather Service, developed a list of proposed rural transmitter sites that are eligible for funding under this program.
The list of eligible proposed rural transmitter sites was published in the Federal Register on April 4, 2001, and updated on October 16, 2001, December 24, 2002, and April 8, 2005.

Applications:

Completed applications that propose to cover sites on the eligible proposed rural transmitter site list and meet all other requirements will be funded on a noncompetitive basis.

Fund Uses:

Grant funds must be used to purchase and install NOAA Weather Radio transmitters and antennas, plus certain associated facilities that will be combined with donated tower space and other site resources to establish new rural NOAA Weather Radio transmitter sites.