DHS announces $550M in competitive grants for emergency preparedness, bringing total investment to $2B

Each unprecedented weather event, catastrophic cyberattack and tragic public incident further highlights the importance of emergency preparedness in today’s unpredictable era. In the last decades, pre-planning has become an integral part of every government operation—with the advent of new technologies and the growing threat of climate change—from the local to federal levels.

“As the threats to the homeland evolve, so too must the grant programs intended to prepare communities for those threats,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, announcing $550 million set to be distributed to communities by the homeland security agency through six competitive preparedness grant programs this year. Combined with an estimated $1.5 billion in non-competitive grant funding, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s 2022 investment in preparation for unforeseen emergency situations totals more than $2 billion.

The latest round “will prioritize six critical areas, including cybersecurity, soft targets and crowded places, intelligence and information sharing, domestic violent extremism, community preparedness and resilience, and election security,” Mayorkas said. Recipients will be required to invest 30 percent of their awarded money into these areas. Included in the funding are investments in systems critical for cities and counties, like regional 911 call centers.

Specifically, the money will go toward the competitive grant programs and another five non-competitive programs. A statement about the investment describes each of those programs as follows:

As one of the six competitive programs for emergency preparedness, Operation Stonegarden allocates $90 million to coordinate state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal law enforcement agencies to jointly enhance security along the United States’ land and water borders.

The Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program sets aside $15 million for eligible tribal nations to implement preparedness initiatives, helping to strengthen the country against risk associated with potential terrorist attacks and other hazards.

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides $250 million to support target hardening and other physical security enhancements for nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist attack.; $125 million will be provided to nonprofits in Urban Area Security Initiative-designated areas, and $125 million is provided to nonprofits outside those designated urban areas located in any state or territory.

The Port Security Grant Program gives $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.

The Transit Security Grant Program provides $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. 

The Intercity Bus Security Grant Program invests $2 million to owners and operators of intercity bus systems, to protect surface transportation infrastructure and the public from acts of terrorism, and to harden systems against natural disasters. 

Earlier this year, the five non-competitive grants were awarded to recipients based on a number of factors:

The State Homeland Security Program provides $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.

The Urban Area Security Initiative invests $615 million to enhance regional preparedness and capabilities in 31 high-threat, high-density areas. Awards are based on relative risk as determined by risk methodology.

The Emergency Management Performance Grant provides more than $405.1 million (including funding provided under the American Rescue Plan Act) to assist state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in enhancing and sustaining all-hazards emergency management capabilities. Relative population is considered.

The Intercity Passenger Rail allocates $10 million for Amtrak to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from acts of terrorism and increase the resilience of the Amtrak rail system. Award made per congressional direction.

The Emergency Operations Center Security Grant Program provides more than $49 million to improve emergency management and preparedness capabilities by supporting flexible, sustainable, secure, strategically located, and fully interoperable emergency operations centers with a focus on addressing identified deficiencies and needs.

Further information on preparedness grant programs is available at dhs.gov and fema.gov/grants.