By Ed Somers and Adena Schutzman, USCM Intern
August 13, 2007

Mayors have much to gain from the 9/11 Bill approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on August 3. The final version of the bill makes available baseline funding to all localities for man-made and natural disaster prevention and response, with additional grants available for cities that demonstrate high risk.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has played an active role in securing disaster preparedness funding for cities. Indeed, several of the homeland security recommendations articulated in the 2007 Mayors’ 10-Point Plan are contained in the final bill, including a new interoperable communications grant program and increased funding for transit security.

However, as under current law, first responder funding will continue to flow through state governments, and then be passed down to cities and counties.

The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) is aimed towards assisting high risk urban areas prevent, prepare, protect against and respond to acts of terrorism. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, $850 million is authorized, with an additional $150 million every year thereafter. Eligible city governments will have the opportunity to provide the relevant information they believe display their city’s threat, vulnerability and consequences of a terrorist attack. In addition to submitting a threat assessment, applications must include a proposal detailing the intended allocation of funds within the local government.

States must reapply on an annual basis within thirty days of receiving the application from the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, the required documents must be sent to the city’s state government first, giving the governor an opportunity to comment and determine whether the risk assessment and grant proposal is consistent with statewide Homeland Security plan. If approved, awards will be distributed to the state, who, within 45 days, must give at least 80 percent of the funds to the appropriate urban area. Any remaining amounts retained by the states must be put towards “items, services, or activities that benefit the high risk urban area.”

Under the new law, the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the U.S. are eligible for UASI grants. If a region is not ranked within the 100 most populous metropolitan areas, the Department of Homeland Security can still determine it to be a high risk urban area based on the risk formula. Additionally the Department can designate regions that consist of more than one metropolitan area into several high risk urban areas. If a high risk urban area is located within two or more states, then the states involved must determine how to manage the region in the application and describe the proposed distribution of funds. The Department will determine how the funds will be allocated if states cannot come to an agreement. Finally, a high risk urban area can, with the permission of the Department, expand its jurisdiction to include additional regions.

All cities can apply to their states for the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which seeks to enhance statewide homeland security management, personnel, training and equipment. The language of the bill reduces the minimum state guarantee from 0.75 percent under current law, to 0.375 percent next year, 0.365 percent for FY 2009, and 0.360 percent for FY 2010 on. Like UASI, the state is responsible for allocating at least 80 percent of the funds to local governments within 45 days of receiving the grant. The factors that will ultimately determine the sums awarded to the states are risk level and the quality of the anticipated effectiveness of the proposal.

Markedly absent from the final version of the bill is a local match requirement, which had been included in earlier versions of the legislation and was opposed by the Conference of Mayors.

The bill also increases the authorization for the Emergency Management Performance Grant program to $400 million for FY 2008, $535 million in FY 2009, $680 million in FY 2010, $815 million in FY 2011 and $950 million in FY 2012.

One of the biggest additions to the final version of the bill is the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program, which seeks to improve local, tribal, statewide, regional, and national interoperable communications including collective response to natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. The Conference of Mayors has been a leading advocate of improving interoperable communications, as articulated in the Mayor’s 2007 10-Point Plan released by the Conference in January of this year.

The bill does not authorize a specific amount for the 2008 fiscal year, but authorizes $400 million each fiscal year between 2009 and 2012. States must submit an Interoperable Communication Plan to be approved by the Director of Emergency Communications on the basis of: 1) risk, including likelihood of a state responding to a nearby jurisdiction, population size and proximity to international borders; and 2) anticipated effectiveness. States that receive the grant must submit an annual progress report to the Director of Emergency Communications and again must distribute at least 80 percent of the awarded funds directly to the state to local governments.

The Conference of Mayors also saw its transit security recommendation in the 10-Point Plan integrated in the final version of the 9/11 Bill. Through a partnership between the Homeland Security Department and Transportation Department, the bill creates the National Strategy for Public Transportation and Security that will seek to minimize security threats to the public transportation system and maximize recovery ability.

To receive funding, the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration of the Department of Transportation must submit all public transportation security assessments to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, who will in turn consider the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, assets and any other weaknesses. Furthermore, the Secretary will require public transportation agencies deemed at high risk to develop a comprehensive security plan, while those at lesser risk can request assistance and guidance to improve security.

The Public Transportation Security Assistance Program also makes grants available for security improvements to transportation agencies that have performed a security assessment or have drawn up a security plan. For FY 2008, $650 million has been authorized, increasing to $750 million for FY 2009, $900 million for 2010 and $1.1 billion for FY 2011.

Grant funds from this program can be put towards physical improvements of transit systems, communication and emergency response equipment, training as well as public awareness campaigns.