The Department of Homeland Security this week released its notice of funding opportunities under its various preparedness grant programs for state, local, territorial and tribal governments, with $1.6 billion available in fiscal year 2018 for strengthening non-federal capabilities in preparing for and responding to terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
The FY ’18 grant funding available is about $200 million more than Congress appropriated for the preparedness efforts in FY ’17.
As always, guidance for the grants is focused on the highest risk areas. The largest bucket for grant funding is $1.1 billion for the Homeland Security Grant Program, which includes $580 million for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), $402 million for the State Homeland Security Program, and $85 million for Operation Stonegarden.
The UASI grants are focused on 32 high-threat, high-density areas where states and localities are required to commit 25 percent of the funds to law enforcement for terrorism prevention activities. The State Homeland Grants also include a 25 percent requirement for law enforcement terrorism prevention activities and are in support of risk and capabilities-based homeland security strategies at the state level.
“The administration remains committed to strengthening the security and resilience of our state and local communities,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, said in a statement on Monday. “The DHS grant programs are flexible by design and will be used to help address evolving threats. They will go toward building and sustaining capabilities across all levels of government and the whole community to maximize preparedness.”
DHS has allotted $350 million in potential funding for the Emergency Management Performance Grant, which is aimed at helping with all-hazard emergency management capabilities.
For the Port Security Grant Program, $100 million is available. These funds are used by ports to protect their critical infrastructure, provide port-wide security, and enhance maritime domain awareness. The Transit Security Grant Program, which is for owners and operators of transit systems to protect their infrastructure and the traveling public, has $88 million available.