By Ed Somers
November 4, 2002

Included in the FY 2002 supplemental appropriations bill is new funding for emergency operations planning. The major components of the funding include:

Resources Emergency Operations Planning - State Allocations ($100 million) Citizens Corps and CERT - State Allocations ($21 million) State Contacts

• $100 million in comprehensive planning assistance to conduct Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) updating for all hazards with special emphasis on incidents of terrorism including use of weapons of mass destruction. There is no match on this funding, it will be allocated to the states based on population, and 75 percent must be suballocated to local governments. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has said that he hopes this funding will be used to prepare to spend the $3.5 billion in first responder funding if approved by Congress.

• $21 million to form Citizen Corps Councils ($4 million) and expand Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training ($17 million) that will supplement emergency and disaster response capabilities. There is no match on this funding, it will be allocated to the states based on population, and 75 percent must be suballocated to local governments.

• $56 million for state and local Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) under a two-phased approach that will provide each state with $50,000 to assess hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks to existing EOCs, with the remaining funds distributed to the states based on a competitive grant process.

In a meeting with top officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on October 25, it was stated that the states have until November 8 to submit their plans for this funding. FEMA will verify that the states are meeting the requirement, such as agreeing to suballocate the required funding, and then obligate the funds to the states by mid-December.

No Suballocation Deadline

FEMA has said that there will be no 30 day suballocation requirement on the states once they get the funding. Instead, the grant agreement says, "States shall follow State law and procedures when awarding and administering subgrants; but when possible, the Grantee shall process subgrants awards to local communities within 90 days from the date of this award." As the language says, the 90 day limit is simply a recommendation, not a requirement.

A complete breakdown of the funding available to each state, and the point-of-contact for each state is available at usmayors.org.