The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that $1.6 billion in funding would be made available to state and local governments, nonprofits, transportation authorities and the private sector to bolster terrorism prevention, response, recovery, and mitigation efforts in fiscal year 2018.
The funding will be administered through eight DHS preparedness grant programs. The Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) will provide more than $350 million for state and local governments to sustain or improve “all-hazards” emergency management abilities. The Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) will provide more than $1 billion to help states and urban centers prevent, mitigate, respond to and recover from terrorist threats.
“The administration remains committed to strengthening the security and resilience of our state and local communities,” U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said. “The DHS grant programs are flexible by design and will be used to help address evolving threats. They will go toward building and sustaining capabilities across all levels of government and the whole community to maximize preparedness.”
Individual programs include the State Homeland Security Program, providing $402 million to support state homeland security strategies; the Urban Area Security Initiative, providing $580 million to improve regional preparedness of 32 “high-threat” urban areas; and Operation Stonegarden, providing $85 million to strengthen coordination among federal, state, tribal and territorial law enforcement agencies along borders.
Additional programs include the Port Security Grant Program, providing $100 million for securing critical infrastructure against terror threats, the Transit Security Grant Program, providing $88 million to make public transit systems more safe and secure; and the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, providing $60 million to support “target hardening” and physical security enhancements for high-risk targets.