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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5430
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to first
responders, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 7, 2004
Mr. Frelinghuysen (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Saxton,
Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Ferguson, and Mr. Garrett of New Jersey) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Select Committee on
Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation
and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to first
responders, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Smarter Funding for all of America's
Homeland Security Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF PRE-9/11 GRANT PROGRAMS FOR TRADITIONAL FIRST
RESPONDER MISSIONS.
(a) In General.--This Act does not affect any authority to make
grants under any Federal grant program in existence immediately prior
to September 11, 2001, that enhance traditional missions of State and
local law enforcement, firefighters, ports, emergency medical services,
or public health missions.
(b) Included Programs.--The programs referred to in subsection (a)
include the following:
(1) Fire grant program.--The Fire Grant Program authorized
by section 1703 of the Defense Authorization Act of 2001
(Public Law 106-398).
(2) Emergency management planning and assistance account
grants.--The Emergency Management Performance Grant program and
the Urban Search and Rescue Grants program authorized by title
VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.); the Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 (113 Stat. 1047
et seq.); and the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42
U.S.C. 7701 et seq.).
(3) Department of justice law enforcement grant programs.--
The Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program of the Department
of Justice.
(4) Byrne memorial formula grants.--The Edward Byrne
Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Programs
authorized by part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.).
(5) COPS.--The Public Safety and Community Policing (``COPS
ON THE BEAT'') grant program authorized by part Q of title I of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.).
(6) Health and human services grant programs.--Grant
programs under the Public Health Service Act regarding
preparedness for bioterrorism and other public health
emergencies (including grants under sections 319C-1, 319C-2,
and 319F), and the emergency response assistance program
authorized by section 1412 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (50 U.S.C. 2312).
SEC. 3. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title VIII of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296; 6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 802. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.
``(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the `Faster and
Smarter Funding for First Responders Act'.
``(b) First Responder Grants Authorized.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a State
and Regional First Responder Grant Program, under which the
Secretary may make grants in accordance with this section to
States and eligible regional entities.
``(2) Application to other grants.--All grants by the
Secretary with amounts made available after the date of the
enactment of this Act for first responders shall be awarded
under the program, and shall be made to either States or
eligible regional cooperatives in accordance with this section.
``(3) Administration.--The Secretary shall administer the
program through the Office for State and Local Government
Coordination.
``(c) Grant Criteria and Eligibility.--
``(1) Grant criteria.--The Secretary shall make grants
under this section on the basis of the threat to a State or
region's population and critical infrastructure, as determined
by the Under Secretary for Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection based on its analysis under
subsection (e) of threat-related information from all sources
pursuant to its authority under section 202 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002.
``(2) Grant eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant under
this section an applicant must be--
``(A) a State; or
``(B) a region.
``(3) Consistency.--Any grant awarded under this section
shall be used to supplement and support, in a consistent and
coordinated manner, activities described under subsection (f)
in accordance with a homeland security plan specified in the
application for the grant.
``(d) Application for Grant.--
``(1) In general.--Any State or eligible regional entity
may apply for a grant under this section by submitting to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably
require.
``(2) Point of contact.--The Office for State and Local
Government Coordination shall be the sole point-of-contact
between the Department and applicants for grants under this
section.
``(3) Contents of application.--Each application for a
grant under this section must include the following:
``(A) Details of the purpose for which grant funds
are sought and the reasons why the applicant needs the
grant, including specification of what the applicant
expects to purchase or accomplish with the grant funds.
``(B) Identification of the entity that will expend
the grant funds.
``(C) A detailed capital budget showing how the
grant funds will be allocated and spent.
``(D) A statement of whether a mutual aid agreement
applies to the use of the grant funds.
``(E) A description of the source of the threat to
which the proposed grant relates, including the type of
attack for which the applicant is preparing for in
seeking the grant funding.
``(F) A statement of why the proposed use of funds
is not a traditional first responder mission.
``(G) A description of how the applicant intends to
meet the matching requirement under subsection (g)(2),
and a statement of whether the applicant will commit to
provide more matching funds than the amount required
under that subsection.
``(e) Threat-Based Evaluation of Grant Applications.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the Under
Secretary, shall evaluate and prioritize applications for
grants under this section based on an objective determination
and exhaustive assessment of the threat to the population or
assets covered by the application.
``(2) Categories of threats to be considered.--In
evaluating and prioritizing applications for grants under this
section, the Under Secretary for Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection's risk analysis shall include
consideration of whether and the degree to which threats within
the following categories are applicable at that time to the
State or region for which the application is made:
``(A) Threats to the population of the State or
region, including military and tourist populations.
``(B) Threats to specific economic sectors or
private sector facilities.
``(C) Threats to major communications nodes,
including cyber and telephonic nodes.
``(D) Threats to specific elements of the Nation's
food supply.
``(E) Threats to the water supply.
``(F) Threats to the energy supply, including to
electrical, petroleum, and nuclear sources.
``(G) Threats to civic infrastructure and emergency
response capabilities, including threats that would--
``(i) substantially eliminate the
government of the State or region;
``(ii) materially degrade the ability of
first responders serving the State or region to
communicate or to provide assistance during and
in the aftermath of an act of terrorism,
including a chemical, biological, radiological,
or nuclear attack; and
``(iii) curtail the availability or
effectiveness of emergency medical services,
including hospital-based services, needed to
serve the population of the State or region
during such a terrorist-induced mass-medical
emergency.
``(H) Threats to specific national monuments or
structures of symbolic national importance,
particularly those that routinely attract large numbers
of tourist visitors.
``(I) Threats to significant concentrations of
natural resources on which major economic sectors or
population centers depend.
``(J) Threats to major transportation systems or
nodes.
``(3) Specific threats.--In addition to the categories of
threats under paragraph (2), the Under Secretary shall consider
any other specific threat to a critical vulnerability that the
Department's Directorate of Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection has determined exists within the
applicant State or region.
``(4) Identification of threat required.--The Secretary may
not make a grant to an applicant under this section unless the
Under Secretary identifies a specific vulnerability that is
subject to a present or analytically projected threat of an act
of terrorism.
``(5) Prioritization.--The Under Secretary shall prioritize
applications according to the most current analysis by the
Department's Directorate of Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection of the terrorist threat.
``(A) The Under Secretary shall prioritize threats
listed under paragraph (2) according, first, to their
specificity and tactical immediacy.
``(B) The Under Secretary shall, next, prioritize
threats according to--
``(i) first, whether they pose a risk of
significant loss of human life;
``(ii) second, whether they pose a risk of
large-scale denial of the means of human
subsistence, including food or water supply;
and
``(iii) third, whether they pose a risk of
massive disruption to one or more sectors of
the economy of the United States.
``(f) Use of Funds.--
``(1) In general.--Grants under this section may be used
for--
``(A) the purchase or upgrading of equipment;
``(B) exercises to strengthen emergency response;
``(C) training in the use of equipment; and
``(D) training for prevention (including detection)
of, preparedness for, or response to attacks involving
weapons of mass destruction, regardless of their
perpetrators or sponsorship, including exercises to
strengthen emergency preparedness of State, regional,
and local first responders.
``(2) Prohibited uses.--Grant funds under this section may
not be used to supplant State or local funds that would, in the
absence of Federal aid, be available for homeland security or
other first responder related projects.
``(A) Construction.--Grants awarded under this
section may not be used to construct buildings or other
physical facilities, except those described in section
611 of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.
5196), or to acquire land.
``(B) Cost sharing.--Grant funds provided under
this section shall not be used for any State or local
government cost sharing contribution request under this
section.
``(3) Flexibility in unspent homeland security grant
funds.--Upon request by a grantee under this section, the
Secretary may authorize the grantee to transfer all or part of
funds provided as a grant under this section, from uses
specified in the grant to other uses authorized under this Act,
if the Secretary determines that such transfer is in the
interests of homeland security.
``(g) State and Regional Responsibilities.--
``(1) Pass-through.--The Secretary shall require a
recipient of a grant under this section that is a State or
multi-State entity to provide to local governments, first
responders, and other local groups, consistent with homeland
security plans specified in the application for the grant, not
less than 80 percent of the grant funds, resources purchased
with the grant funds having a value equal to at least 80
percent of the amount of the grant, or a combination thereof,
by not later than the end of the 45-day period beginning on the
date the grant recipient receives the grant funds.
``(2) Cost sharing.--
``(A) In general.--The Federal share of the costs
of an activity carried out with a grant to a State or
region under this section shall not exceed 75 percent.
``(B) Effective date.--The matching requirement
under subparagraph (A) shall take effect 2 years after
the date of enactment of this Act.
``(3) Report on homeland security spending.--Each recipient
of a grant under this section shall annually submit a report to
the Secretary that contains the following information:
``(A) The amount and the dates of receipt of all
grant funds received.
``(B) The amount and the dates of disbursements of
all funds expended in compliance with subsection (g)(1)
or pursuant to mutual aid agreements or other sharing
arrangements that apply within a region.
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