FY2004 Appropriations for First Responder Preparedness: Fact Sheet

FY2004 Appropriations for First Responder Preparedness: Fact Sheet

Order Code RS21650
Updated July 24, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
FY2004 Appropriations for First Responder
Preparedness: Fact Sheet
Shawn Reese
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
FY2004 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations (P.L. 108-90)
provided approximately $4.180 billion to several grant programs that assist state and
local first responders, including law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical
service, and emergency managers. The appropriations measure did not create a first
responders block grant, as proposed by the Administration and some Members of
Congress. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant.
This report provides an overview of FY2004 appropriations for state and local
terrorism preparedness. Preparedness may be defined as enhancing a state or local
government’s capability to respond effectively to a terrorist attack, particularly one
involving a weapon of mass destruction (WMD). The programs1 identified assist first
responders, including firefighters, emergency medical personnel, emergency managers,
and law enforcement officers. There is no consensus on which federal grant programs
should be included in a definition of state and local terrorism preparedness programs.
This report tracks appropriations for selected programs whose goals are related to
homeland security and whose funds may be used for terrorism preparedness activities.
The programs tracked in this report include the following:
First Responder Programs.
! Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) — within the Border and
Transportation Security (BTS) directorate of DHS;
! Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — within the
Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) directorate of DHS;
1 This report uses the term “program” to refer to selected federal entities, accounts, and grants.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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Analysis
Of the appropriations for these selected terrorism preparedness programs, roughly
$4.180 billion was allocated to ODP and FEMA (see Table 1). These two programs
arguably corresponded to the President’s proposed First Responder Initiative.2 The
Administration requested $3.558 billion for ODP for FY2004, which is roughly $418
million more than the office’s FY2003 amount of $3.23 billion. The request called for
selected terrorism preparedness programs to be integrated into ODP as part of the First
Responder Initiative, including current ODP programs, the Assistance to Firefighters
program, and selected terrorism preparedness activities in FEMA.3 The combined
appropriations for these programs within ODP and FEMA in P.L. 108-90 (Department
of Homeland Security Appropriations) was roughly $532 million more than the Bush
Administration’s proposal for the First Responder Initiative. Congress transferred the
Assistance to Firefighters and the Citizen Corps programs from FEMA to ODP, which
was similar to what the Administration’s budget proposed.
Specific Activities Funded
FY2004 DHS appropriations (P.L. 108-90) provided funds for the following
activities:
First Responder Assistance.
Office for Domestic Preparedness
! State Homeland Security Grants;
! Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Grants;
! High Threat Urban Area Grants;
! Assistance to Firefighters;
! Citizen Corps;
! National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (a national network of
training and research facilities);
! National Exercise program;
! Competitive Training Grants.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
! Emergency Management Performance Grants4; and,
! Urban Search and Rescue.
What Other Programs Might Be Considered? The programs discussed above
do not include general assistance grant programs that are authorized for a broad range of
public safety activities. These programs include the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant
2 The Administration initially proposed the First Responder Initiative in its FY2003 budget. For
more information on this proposal, see CRS Report (archived) RL31475, First Responder
Initiative: Policy Issues and Options, by Ben Canada, available from the author.
3 U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2004 Budget of the U.S. Government,
Appendix (Washington: GPO, Feb. 2003), pp. 456-457.
4 Transferred to ODP in Mar. 2004.

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(LLEBG), the Byrne Memorial Formula Grant5, and Community-Oriented Policing
Services (COPS). States and localities that receive funds through these programs may use
a portion of the funds for homeland security activities. While some observers believe
these programs should not be considered terrorism preparedness programs due to their
wide range of eligible activities, other observers believe they are a critical element of the
federal government’s overall effort to better prepare states and localities for terrorism.
What Is Not Tracked. This report does not track appropriations for critical
infrastructure protection programs,6 National Guard funding, or emergency management
appropriations for the District of Columbia.
5 LLBG and the Byrne formula grants were consolidated into a single program — Justice
Assistance Grants (JAG) — in FY2005.
6 For more information on these programs, see CRS Report RL31465, Protecting Critical
Infrastructure from Terrorist Attack: A Catalog of Selected Federal Assistance Programs,
coordinated by John Moteff.

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Table 1. FY2004 Appropriations: Terrorism Preparedness
Assistance Programs
(all amounts in millions of dollars)
FY2003
FY2004
Program
Appropriations
Appropriations
Office for Domestic Preparedness
State Homeland Security Grants
$1,870
$1,700
High Threat Urban Area Grants
$800
$725
Critical Infrastructure Protection
$200
— A.
Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention
— B. $500
Grants
Assistance to FirefightersC.
$750
$750
Citizen CorpsD.
$30
$40
National Domestic Preparedness Consortium
$125
$135
Competitive Training Grants
$30
$60
National Exercise Program
$100
$30
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Emergency Management Performance Grants
$165
$180
Urban Search and Rescue
$60
$60
Interoperable Communications Grants
$54.8
— E.
Emergency Operations Centers
$25
— F.
“First Responder” Assistance Total
$4,206.8
$4,180
Source: CRS calculations based on amounts from P.L. 108-7, P.L. 108-11, and P.L. 108-90.
A. This grant program received no specific line item in FY2004 DHS appropriations.
B. This program is a new grant to be administered by ODP in FY2004.
C. Prior to FY2004, this program was administered by FEMA.
D. Prior to FY2004, this program was administered by FEMA.
E. This grant program received no specific line item in FY2004 DHS appropriations.
F. Congress did not appropriate funds for this program in FY2004.