The Department of Homeland Security announced that it has
awarded over $2.5 billion in grants – $1.66 for states and
$855 million for urban areas — for first responders “to
prevent, respond and recover from acts of terrorism and
other disasters,” adding to the $9 billion already
distributed since the department was founded.
DHS claims its grants program is maturing and becoming more
streamlined and more accountable and stated it will be
doling out even more in the coming months to state and
local jurisdictions in grants for port and mass transit
security as well as fire fighter assistance.
It will divide the billions in grant money by calculating
a baseline amount with the population of the state or
territory, and that the resulting figure would be
supplemented with a related “urban areas security
initiative” that factors criteria such as critical
infrastructure and threat information.
Under new measures designed to expedite the flow of
funds, recipients now “have up to 120 days to draw down
funds in advance of purchase and investments, as
compared to the three to five days allowed previously,
so that even small localities have the buying power to
purchase expensive or backordered equipment,” said DHS.
