DHS unveils $400 million in infrastructure security grants
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded nearly $400 million in grants as part of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), a comprehensive risk management framework that clearly defines critical infrastructure protection roles and responsibilities for all levels of government, private industry, nongovernmental agencies and tribal partners.
DHS says the NIPP builds on the principles of the President’s National Strategy for Homeland Security and its companion strategies for the physical protection of critical infrastructure and key assets and the securing of cyberspace. “The NIPP is the path forward on building and enhancing protective measures for the critical infrastructure assets and cyber systems that sustain commerce and communities throughout the United States,” says DHS Under Secretary for Preparedness George Foresman. “The NIPP formalizes and strengthens existing critical infrastructure partnerships and creates the baseline for how the public and private sectors will work together.”
The vast majority of the nation’s critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private industry or state, tribal and local governments. The NIPP aims to build an overarching structure that integrates critical infrastructure security efforts, sets protection goals and supporting objectives, and focuses resources according to risk.
Seventeen critical infrastructure and key resource sectors have been identified that require protective actions against a terrorist attack or other hazards. Those sectors include: agriculture and food; energy; public health and healthcare; banking and finance; drinking water and water treatment systems; information technology; telecommunications; postal and shipping; transportation systems including mass transit, aviation, maritime, ground or surface, and rail and pipeline systems; chemical; commercial facilities; government facilities; emergency services; dams; nuclear reactors, materials and waste; the defense industrial base; and national monuments and icons.
The $400 million in infrastructure grants will be divided among seven programs that constitute major critical infrastructure sectors ranging from transportation modes to the nation’s ports. Allocation totals have been determined for five of the programs. They include:
* Transit Security Grant Program: The Infrastructure Protection Grant Program will provide more than $136 million to the owners and operators of the nation’s critical transit infrastructure including rail, intracity bus and ferry systems.
* Buffer Zone Protection Program Grants provide funding to build security and risk-management capabilities at the state and local level to secure critical infrastructure including chemical facilities, nuclear and electric power plants, dams, stadiums, arenas and other high-risk areas.
* Chemical Sector Buffer Zone Protection Grant Program is a targeted effort that provides funds to build security and risk-management capabilities at the state and local level for chemical sector critical infrastructure from acts of terror and other hazards.
* Intercity Passenger Rail Security Grant Program: Amtrak will be awarded more than $7.2 million to continue security enhancements for intercity passenger rail operations in the Northeast Corridor (service between Washington, DC and Boston), Amtrak’s hub in Chicago and to expand these enhancements into the West Coast Service Area in key, high-risk urban areas.
* Trucking Security Program: The American Trucking Association will receive $4.8 million for the Highway Watch program to continue as a sustainable national program to enhance security and overall preparedness on the nation’s highways. The Highway Watch program, managed by the American Trucking Association, recruits and trains highway professionals to identify and report security and safety situations on the nation’s roads.
The infrastructure protection grants consider threat, vulnerability and consequences, and recognize the unique characteristics of the nation’s seaports, transit systems and other critical infrastructure assets. Since its inception, DHS says the Infrastructure Protection Grant Program has awarded more than $1.1 billion to critical infrastructure sectors for protective measures.