FY2009 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security

FY2009 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security

Order Code RS22805
Updated October 10, 2008
FY2009 Appropriations for State and Local
Homeland Security
Shawn Reese
Analyst in Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Government and Finance Division
Summary
Congress appropriated, in P.L. 110-329, approximately $4.36 billion for state and
local homeland security assistance programs. This is approximately $135 million more
than was appropriated in FY2008 ($4.22 billion). Congress chose not to fund the Real
ID program in FY2009, however, it did appropriate funding ($2 million) for a new
assistance program titled the Center for Counterterrorism and Cyber Crime at Norwich
University in Northfield, Vermont. This report will not be updated.
This report is an overview of the FY2009 appropriations for the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) programs for states and localities that are designed to provide
assistance to state and local governments. The assistance is primarily used by first
responders, which include firefighters, emergency medical personnel, emergency
managers, and law enforcement officers.
The Office of Grant Programs within the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) is responsible for facilitating and coordinating DHS state and local assistance
programs. The office administers formula and discretionary grant programs to further
state and local homeland security capabilities. As a result of the reorganization mandated
by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-295), the
work of the Office of Grant Programs was separated from FEMA training activities.
FEMA’s National Integration Center within the agency’s National Preparedness
Directorate administers training, exercises, and technical assistance for states and
localities. In FY2009, DHS’s assistance programs for states and localities include:
! State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP);
! Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI);
! Port Security Program;
! Transit Security Program;
! Bus Security Program;
! Trucking Security Program;
! Buffer Zone Protection Program (BZPP);
! Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE);

CRS-2
! Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG);
! Citizen Corps Program (CCP);
! Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS);
! Training, technical assistance, exercises, and evaluations;
! Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP);
! Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program (PSIC);
! Center for Counterterrorism and Cyber Crime;
! Emergency Operations Centers (EOC); and
! Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grants.
Table 1. FY2008 and FY2009 Appropriations for State and Local
Homeland Security Assistance Programs
(Amounts in millions)
FY2008
FY2009
Program
Appropriation
Appropriation
State Homeland Security Grant Program
$950
$950a
Urban Area Security Initiative
$820
$838b
Port Security
$400
$400
Transit Security
$400
$400c
Bus Security
$12
$12
Trucking Security
$16
$8
Emergency Operations Centers
$15
$35
Buffer Zone Protection Program
$50
$50
Assistance to Firefighters
$750
$775
Emergency Management Performance Grants
$300
$315
Citizen Corps Programs
$15
$15
Metropolitan Medical Response System
$41
$41
Training, technical assistance, exercises, and
$299
$429d
evaluations
Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance
$25
$8
Program
Public Safety Interoperable Communications
$50
$50
Grant Program
Real ID Grants
$50
—
Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grants
$35
$35
Center for Counterterrorism and Cyber Crime
—
$2e
Total
$4,228
$4,363
Source: P.L. 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008) and P.L. 110-329 (FY2009
DHS appropriations).

CRS-3
a. Of the $950 million for SHSGP, 25% must be used for law enforcement terrorism prevention
activities and $60 million for Operation Stone Garden.
b. Of the $838 million for UASI, 25% must be used for law enforcement terrorism prevention
activities and $15 million for non-profit organization security.
c. Of the $400 million for transit security, $25 million must be used for Amtrak security.
d. Of the $429 million for training, exercises, and evaluations, $165 million must be used for the
National Domestic Preparedness Consortium institutions.
e. The Center for Counterterrorism and Cyber Crime at Norwich University, Northfield,
Vermont, is a new grant program in FY2009.
Allocation of Funding. One area of continued congressional interest is DHS’s
allocation of funding to states and localities for homeland security assistance. P.L. 110-
329 requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress on the
data, assumptions, and methodology that DHS uses to assess risk in determining SHSGP
and UASI allocations. Specifically, this report is to include information on the reliability
and validity of the data used, the basis for the assumptions used, how the methodology
is applied to determine the risk scores for individual locations, an analysis of the
usefulness of placing states and cities into tier groups, and the allocation of grants to
eligible recipients.1 Additionally, the Congressional Record version of the DHS
explanatory statement states that FEMA is “expected to continue to fully engage agencies
with subject matter expertise within the Department, when appropriate, in the
development of grant guidance and the determination of awards.”2
1 P.L. 110-329, Title III.
2 Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 152, September 24, 2008, p. H9804.