FLORIDA TO RECEIVE $100 MILLION IN FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS

The state of Florida is scheduled to receive no less than $100 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 federal grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), officials from the Florida Division of Emergency Management announced today. The federal preparedness grants in 13 program areas are designed to enhance the ability of states, territories, and urban areas to prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks and other disasters.

“Florida is better prepared today to handle all hazards, both natural and man-made, because of the ongoing partnership and unified efforts between local, state and the federal government,” said Ruben D. Almaguer, interim director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are grateful to Secretary Napolitano and our DHS colleagues for their commitment to sustaining the state’s domestic security programs.”

Federal preparedness grant programs may fund a variety of activities including planning, organization, equipment purchases, training and exercises. For FY 2010 Florida is set to receive:

State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) — $33,011,575 to build capabilities at the state and local levels to implement the state homeland security goals and objectives. The 9/11 Act requires the state to dedicate 25 percent of SHSP funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention-oriented planning, organization, training, exercise and equipment activities. ($9,213,444)

Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) — $35,367,406 to enhance regional preparedness by strengthening capabilities in five high-threat, urban areas. The 9/11 Act requires the state to dedicate 25 percent of UASI funds to law enforcement terrorism prevention-oriented activities.

Miami: $11,039,650
Ft Lauderdale: $6,067,168
Orlando: $5,090,188
Tampa: $7,815,050
Jacksonville: $5,355,350

· Metropolitan Medical Response System Program (MMRS) — $2,221,933 to enhance and sustain regional mass casualty incident response and preparedness capabilities. The grant is divided evenly among 7 jurisdictions: $317,419 for Miami, Hialeah, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale.

· Citizen Corps Program (CCP) — $538,587 to engage Floridians in community preparedness, planning, mitigation, response and recovery activities.

· Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) Program —$14,226,919 to assist state and local governments in enhancing and sustaining all-hazards emergency management capabilities.

· Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program (IECGP) —$2,243,500 to assist governments in carrying out Statewide Communication Interoperability Plans and improve interoperable emergency communications used to respond to natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

· Buffer Zone Protection Program (BZPP) — $2,400,000 to increase preparedness capabilities for safeguarding critical infrastructure sites and key resources, such as chemical facilities and nuclear power plants.

· Driver’s License Security Grant Program (DLSGP) — $1,605,120 to help the state improve security of driver’s licenses and identification cards in order to prevent terrorism, reduce fraud and enhance the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents.

· Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) — $12,280,905 to help protect port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness and strengthen risk management capabilities. Conduct training exercises and implement the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).


Jacksonville: $3,137,877
Port Everglades: $2,221,586
Miami: $1,718,156
Tampa/ Manatee: $1,692,578
Port Canaveral: $1,510,215
Panama City: $1,000,761
Pensacola: $1,000,732


Additionally, Florida will be eligible to compete nationally for over $133 Million in funds for emergency operations centers, non-profit organization security and transit security grants in FY 2010.

Including this funding, Florida has received over $1.4 Billon in local planning, organization, equipment, training, and exercises for state and local governments since September 11, 2001. The total award for the State of Florida for FY09 was $73,769,337.

For more information on federal DHS grant programs, visit http://www.dhs.gov/. For information of Florida’s Domestic Security programs go to http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/.or http://www.floridadisaster.org/.