DHS: $2B for FY23 Preparedness Grants

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Feb. 27 reported allocating more than $2 billion in funding for Fiscal Year 2023 preparedness grant programs to help prevent, protect against and respond to “acts of terrorism.” Intercity Passenger Rail is among the non-competitive programs to receive funding.

“As the threats to our homeland continue to evolve, the Department of Homeland Security is fulfilling a key aspect of its mission by equipping state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as transportation authorities and nonprofit organizations, with vital resources to help them strengthen our nation’s preparedness,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said. “The new threat landscape now includes medium- and small-sized jurisdictions and remote locations and encompasses a greater swath of our country than ever before, to include so-called “soft targets” and other targets of opportunity.

“This year, we are therefore expanding the reach of our more than $2 billion in funding by adding four additional urban areas as grant recipients: Austin, Texas; Honolulu; Jacksonville, Florida; and Nashville, Tennessee. This is in addition to the 36 urban areas we continue to support, bringing the total number of funded urban areas to 40.”

The following grants are non-competitive and awarded based on several factors, according to DHS:

• Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP): State Homeland Security Program. Will provide $415 million to support “the implementation of risk-driven, capabilities-based state homeland security strategies to address capability targets.” Awards are based on statutory minimums and relative risk as determined by DHS/FEMA’s risk methodology.
• HSGP: Urban Area Security Initiative. Will provide $615 million to “enhance regional preparedness and capabilities in 36 high-threat, high-density areas.” Awards are based on relative risk as determined by DHS/FEMA’s risk methodology. For both the state homeland and urban area grants, 30% of the awards must address the six priority areas of cybersecurity; soft target and crowded places; information and intelligence sharing; domestic violent extremism; community preparedness and resilience; and election security, according to DHS. Additionally, 35% of these grants must be dedicated to law enforcement terrorism prevention activities, and 80% of these grants must be obligated from the state to local or tribal governments within 45 calendar days of receipt. 
• Intercity Passenger Rail. Will provide $10 million to Amtrak to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from “acts of terrorism” and to “increase the resilience” of the Amtrak rail system. The award is made per congressional direction, according to DHS.
• Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Program. Will provide $355.1 million to assist state, local, tribal and territorial emergency management agencies “in obtaining the resources required to support the National Preparedness Goal’s associated mission areas and core capabilities to build a culture of preparedness.”

Following are among the competitive grants, for which exact award amounts will be announced later this year, DHS reported; they are transit and port-related:

• Port Security Grant Program. Is slated to provide $100 million to help “protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness, improve port-wide maritime security risk management, and maintain or re-establish maritime security mitigation protocols that support port recovery and resiliency capabilities.”
• Transit Security Grant Program. Is slated to provide $93 million to owners and operators of public transit systems to protect critical surface transportation and the traveling public from “acts of terrorism” and to “increase the resilience” of transit infrastructure.
• Intercity Bus Security Grant Program. Slated to provide $2 million to owners and operators of intercity bus systems to protect surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from “acts of terrorism” and to “increase the resilience” of transit infrastructure.