Order Code RL31227
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Terrorism Preparedness: A Catalog of
Federal Assistance Programs
December 27, 2001
Coordinated by Ben Canada
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Terrorism Preparedness: A Catalog of
Federal Assistance Programs
Summary
Congress has authorized a limited number of programs specifically designed to
assist state and local governments with preparing for terrorist attacks, particularly
those involving weapons of mass destruction. Congress also authorizes several
general assistance programs that states and localities may use for terrorism
preparedness.
At present, several agencies administer preparedness programs, including the
Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Justice, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, and others. Congress authorizes the agencies to
provide technical assistance and monetary grants for emergency planning, training,
and equipment acquisition. Federal preparedness programs can be arranged into the
following categories:
! Emergency management and planning,
! Training and equipment for first responders,
! Weapons of mass destruction and hazardous materials,
! Law enforcement, and
! Public health and medical community.
This report will be updated as relevant programs are created, modified, or
terminated.

Contents
Introduction to Preparedness Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
List of Tables
Table 1. Selected Federal Grant Programs for State and Local
Emergency Preparedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Terrorism Preparedness: A Catalog of
Federal Assistance Programs
Introduction to Preparedness Programs
This report lists and describes selected federal programs that assist states and
localities with preparing for terrorist attacks, particularly those involving weapons of
mass destruction. Some of the programs are authorized specifically for this purpose,
while others are general assistance programs that recipients may use for terrorism
preparedness.
Preparedness programs are administered by several agencies, including the
Departments of Defense, Justice, and Health and Human Services, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, and others. These agencies provide technical
assistance and monetary grants for emergency planning, training, and equipment
acquisition. The programs can be arranged into the following categories:
! Emergency management and planning,
! Training and equipment for first responders,
! Weapons of mass destruction and hazardous materials,
! Law enforcement, and
! Public health and medical community.
For each program, Table 1 provides the program title, administering agency,
description (with web site, if available), and CRS contact. For those programs
registered in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), the program
number is provided after the title. For information on a specific program, please see
the CFDA web site at [http://www.cfda.gov], the program web site, or, for the most
up-to-date information, contact the listed CRS analyst.
Several of the listed programs are currently administered by the Department of
Justice’s Office of National Domestic Preparedness.1 Presently, these programs are
in the process of being transferred to FEMA’s Office of National Preparedness. It is
not yet clear whether this new office will assume the overall responsibilities of the
Justice Department's office.2
1See web site at: [http://www.ndpo.gov/].
2For more information on this issue, see the CRS Terrorism Briefing Book page on First
Responder Training: [http://www.congress.gov/brbk/html/ebter77.html].

CRS-2
For more information on state and local emergency preparedness, please see the
following CRS products:
! CRS Terrorism Briefing Book, at
[http://www.congress.gov/brbk/html/ebter1.shtml]; see web pages listed under
the heading “Domestic Emergency Response,” particularly First Responder
Training
.
! CRS Report RS20071, United States Fire Administration: An Overview, by
Len Kruger.
! CRS Report RS20272, FEMA's Mission: Policy Directives for the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, by Keith Bea.
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has published several reports with
evaluations of federal programs for state and local terrorism preparedness. GAO has
listed these reports on its web site, [http://www.gao.gov]. The reports listed below
directly address federal programs for terrorism preparedness:
! Observations on the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Domestic Preparedness
Programs, GAO/T-NSIAD-99-16, October 1998.
! Combating Terrorism: FEMA Continues to Make Progress in Coordinating
Preparedness and Response, GAO-01-15, March 2001.
! Combating Terrorism: Selected Challenges and Related Recommendations,
GAO-01-822, September 2001.
For assistance with any further questions on state and local emergency
preparedness, congressional clients may contact Ben Canada at 7-0632.

CRS-3
Table 1. Selected Federal Grant Programs for State and Local Emergency Preparedness
Programa
Agency
Description
CRS Contact
Emergency Management and Planning
Emergency Management
Federal Emergency
Training and grants for training to state and local emergency
Keith Bea
Institute (83.527,
Management Agency
response personnel; intended to improve emergency management
7-8672
83.529, 83.530)
(FEMA)
practices among state, local, and tribal government managers, and
federal officials as well, in response to emergencies and disasters;
programs embody the Comprehensive Emergency Management
System by unifying the elements of management common to all
emergencies: preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.
[http://www.fema.gov/emi/]
Emergency Management
FEMA
Grants to states to develop comprehensive emergency management,
Keith Bea
Performance Grants
including terrorism consequence management preparedness, at the
7-8672
(83.552)
state and local level, and to improve emergency planning,
preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery capabilities.
[http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fedguide/ch1-92.htm]
National Fire Academy
U.S. Fire
Training for state and local emergency officials to increase the
Len Kruger
Training Assistance
Administration
professional level of the fire service and others responsible for fire
7-7070
(83.009, 83.010)
(USFA) (FEMA)
prevention and control.
[http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfa/]
Training and Equipment for First Responders
First Responder
USFA (FEMA)
Grants to states to enhance the capabilities of first responders in
Len Kruger
Counter-Terrorism
managing the consequences of terrorist acts; training is provided
7-7070
Training Assistance
through each of the 50 states through individual state fire training
(83.547)
systems; the training is targeted for first responders, those who will
come into contact with, and be forced to manage, the consequences
of terrorist acts.
[http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fedguide/ch1-1.htm]
State Fire Training
USFA (FEMA)
Financial assistance to state fire training systems for the delivery of a
Len Kruger
System Grants
variety of National Fire Academy courses/programs.
7-7070
(83.553)
[http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfa/]

CRS-4
Programa
Agency
Description
CRS Contact
Assistance to Fire
USFA (FEMA)
Grants made directly to fire departments to train and equip
Len Kruger
Fighters Grant Program
firefighting personnel. Activities include: establish wellness and
7-7070
fitness programs for firefighting personnel; buy firefighting vehicles,
including fire trucks (no more than 25% of the total amount
appropriated may be awarded to purchase vehicles); buy firefighting
equipment, including equipment for communications and monitoring;
buy personal protective equipment; fund fire prevention programs
(FEMA is directed to award no less than 5% of the total amount
appropriated in each FY in this category).
[http://www.usfa.fema.gov/grants/factsheet.htm]
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Hazardous Materials
State Domestic
Office for Domestic
Grants to states to provide training to state and local jurisdictions to
Bill Ellis
Preparedness Equipment
Preparedness (DOJ)
respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) domestic terrorist
7-6928
Support Program
incidents involving nuclear, biological, chemical, and explosive
(16.007)
devices, execute a comprehensive threat and needs assessment,
develop a 3-year plan to enhance first responder capabilities, and
provide for equipment purchases and the provision of specialized
training.
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/terrorism/funding.htm]
State and Local
Office for Domestic
Grants to provide training to state and local jurisdictions to respond
Bill Ellis
Domestic Preparedness
Preparedness (DOJ)
to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) domestic terrorist incidents
7-6928
Training Program
involving nuclear, biological, chemical, and explosive devices.
(16.008)
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/]
State and Local
Office for Domestic
Grants to provide exercise planning to state and local jurisdictions
Bill Ellis
Domestic Preparedness
Preparedness (DOJ)
and to conduct national, state, and local exercises for response to
7-6928
Exercise Support
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) domestic terrorist incidents
(16.009)
involving nuclear, biological, chemical, and explosive devices.
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/]

CRS-5
Programa
Agency
Description
CRS Contact
State and Local
Office for Domestic
Technical assistance grants to state and local jurisdictions in
Bill Ellis
Domestic Preparedness
Preparedness (DOJ)
enhancing their capacity and preparedness to respond to Weapons of
7-6928
Technical Assistance
Mass Destruction (WMD) domestic terrorist incidents involving
(16.010)
nuclear, biological, chemical, and explosive devices. The program
goals are to enhance the ability of state and local jurisdictions to
develop, plan, and implement a program for WMD preparedness,
and to sustain and maintain specialized equipment.
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/]
State and Local Anti-
Office for Domestic
Training and technical assistance for specialized, multiagency
Bill Ellis
Terrorism Training
Preparedness (DOJ)
anti-terrorism preparedness courses; while state and local law
7-6928
(16.614)
enforcement preparation and readiness issues addressed in this
project are tailored to interventions in domestic terrorism, major
portions of the programs’ preparedness and operational readiness
outcomes are equally applicable to any terrorist threat or incident,
whether domestically or internationally inspired.
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/]
Hazardous Materials
FEMA
Grants provide technical and financial assistance through the states
Keith Bea
Assistance Program
to support state, local, and Indian tribal governments in oil and
7-8672
(83.012)
hazardous materials emergency planning and exercising; to enhance
state, tribal, and local governments' capabilities to inter-operate with
the National Response System (NRS); to support the Comprehensive
Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Emergency Response – Capability
Assessment Program (CHER-CAP) Activities
[http://www.fema.gov]
Law Enforcement
Edward Byrne Memorial
Office of Justice
Discretionary and formula grants to develop and implement
Garrine Laney
State and Local Law
Programs (DOJ)
antiterrorism training and to obtain equipment for local law
7-2518
Enforcement Assistance
enforcement personnel.
(16.579)
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA]

CRS-6
Programa
Agency
Description
CRS Contact
Local Law Enforcement
Office of Justice
Formula grant program to support: purchasing of equipment,
Garrine Laney
Block Grant
Programs (DOJ)
technology, and other material directly related to basic law
7-2518
(16.592)
enforcement functions; hiring and training additional law
enforcement officers and necessary support personnel; enhancing
security in and around schools and other facilities or locations that
are considered a special risk for incidents of crime; and establishing
multijurisdictional task forces composed of local and federal law
enforcement officials to prevent and control crime.
[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA]
Law Enforcement
Federal Bureau of
To develop the professional skills of non-federal law enforcement
Garrine Laney
Assistance – FBI Field
Investigation (DOJ)
personnel. Courses available from FBI instructors range from basic
7-2518
Police Training (16.302)
recruit training to specialized instruction in such areas as
fingerprinting, legal topics, police-community relations, hostage
negotiation, white collar crime, organized crime, computer fraud,
management techniques, investigative support, criminal investigative
analysis, etc.
Public Health and Medical Community
Metropolitan Medical
Office of Emergency
HHS/OEP technical assistance to states and localities to develop a
Pamela Smith
Response Systems
Preparedness
coordinated systems (fire, police, EMS, hospital, public health, etc.)
7-7048 or
(MMRS)
(Department of
response to WMD incidents. HHS/OEP approaches MMRS
Steve Redhead
Health and Human
development from two perspectives, chemical and biological. The
7-2261
Services)
assistance is primarily for planning activities, such as planning for
mass prophylaxis of exposed and potentially exposed populations,
mass patient care, mass fatality management, and environment
surety.
[http://mmrs.hhs.gov/] or
[http://ndms.dhhs.gov/CT_Program/MMRS/mmrs.html]

CRS-7
Programa
Agency
Description
CRS Contact
Centers for Disease
Centers for Disease
Grants and technical assistance to enhance capacity of state and local
Pamela Smith
Control and Prevention
Control and
public health departments to deal with bioterror events. Activities
7-7048 or
– State and Local
Prevention (HHS)
include developing statewide bioterrorism preparedness plans;
Steve Redhead
Programs
assessments of capabilities and needs; detection and investigation of
7-2261
infectious disease outbreaks; upgrading public health laboratory
capacity to deal with biological and chemical agents; further
developing the Health Alert Network for information exchange;
technology improvements.
[http://www.bt.cdc.gov/]
USAMRIID Training
U.S. Army Medical
Training opportunities for public health professionals. Courses
Steve Bowman
for Public Health
Research Institute of
focus on recognizing signs of bioterror attack, planning and
7-7613
Professionals
Infectious Diseases
preparation for treating casualties, and preventing spread of disease.
(DOD)
[http://www.usamriid.army.mil/education/index.html]
a. Most federal assistance programs are listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). The CFDA number has been provided
for all programs registered in the catalog. The CFDA is online at [http://www.cfda.gov].