Homeland Security Funding
Triad Associates
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fiscal year 2013 budget request outlines $39.5 billion in net discretionary funding and a separate $5.5 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund. According to a DHS release, the budget would “redirect” more than $850 million from reductions in overhead costs, travel, overtime and duplicative programs into major initiatives.
The budget request includes $769 million for the National Cyber Security Division, which works with state and local government and the critical infrastructure sector to help protect those assets. The budget would increase discretionary funding for Customs and Border Protection to $10.4 billion, FEMA $4.5 billion and the Science and Technology Directorate $831 million.
The DHS says emphasis will be placed on building core capabilities to address “high-consequence events that pose the greatest risk to the security and resilience of the United States”. Further it says, “Grantees will map their proposed investments to one or more specific core capabilities and incorporate effectiveness measures that facilitate accountability”.
Grants will be consolidated (except Emergency Management Performance grants and fire grants) into a comprehensive National Preparedness Grant Program (NPGP) to “enable grantees to develop and sustain core capabilities as outlined in the National Preparedness Goal instead of requiring grantees to meet the mandates from multiple individuals, often disconnected grant programs”.
Grantees will get “multiyear program guidance”, from FEMA to increase the efficiency of the NPGP. Starting in 2013, grant awards will be based on “validated assessments of the needs and gaps for the jurisdiction and region where the project is implemented”. Projects will also be validated by a peer review.
Even with all this funding available, it is unfortunate but little will reach to the municipal level. In the current DHS Notice of Funds Available (NOFA), where most grants are due on May 4, 2012, there are three major grant applications open: Operations Stonegarden ($46.6 million), Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) ($490.4 million) and the State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) ($294 million). For each of the above grant opportunities, local governments are not eligible applicants. If a local government would like to be considered for pass-through grants they need to make a request to the State Administrative Agent (SAA). It is this entity that administers all federal Homeland Security funds entering into a state.
Information about New Jersey’s SAA can be found at: www.firstrespondertraining.gov/content.do?page=saa&state=nj.
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