DHS announces port security grants

DHS announces port security grants The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced how it will distribute $445 million in grants for infrastructure protection in the coming year, including $202 million in federal grants to help 183 public and private entities improve security in and around port facilities.
   The program also includes $171 million for transit security, $11.6 million for intercity buses, $11.6 million for trucking, and $48.5 million for creating buffer zones around infrastructure ranging from chemical plants and nuclear power station and dams to financial institutions and stadiums.
   Most of the $202 million in port funding is concentrated among larger “Tier 1” ports or port regions, which received 60 percent of the funds. The amount of funds those regions will get include:
   * New York-New Jersey, $27.3 million.
   * Los Angeles-Long Beach $15.4 million.
   * Puget Sound, $17.3 million.
   * San Francisco Bay, $14.2.
   * Delaware River, $13.2 million.
   * Houston-Galveston, $15.1 million.
   * Southern Louisiana, $12.8 million.
   * Beaumont/Port Arthur, $5.2 million.
   Additional information about how the funds are divvied up are available at: https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/grants_ippawardsfy07.pdf.
   The American Association of Port Authorities said it welcomed the grants, under a program that began in 2002 after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
   The AAPA noted that unlike the last two rounds, all port areas were eligible to apply, a priority of AAPA’s that was included in last year’s SAFE Port Act. It said preallocation of funds for Tier I ports resulted in a limit on the amount of funds and projects applied for.
   The AAPA noted that like last year, all entities receiving fiscal year 2007 Port Security Grant awards will pay a cost-share amount to participate. Public entities, such as seaport authorities and state and local governments, must pay 25 percent, while private entities, such as sightseeing cruise and petroleum terminals, will have to pay 50 percent.
   It said the grants would assist marine facilities in paying for things like landside surveillance, access controls, communication systems, and systems to prevent and detect improvised explosive device attacks.
   It also said it would “provide much needed funds to pay for training as well as technology and equipment to test and install Transportation
Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card readers for facilities.”
   More funds are needed, said Kurt Nagle, AAPA president and chief executive officer, particularly with facilities facing the extraordinary costs of implementing the TWIC program.
   “Both the administration and Congress acknowledged this fact in approving the SAFE Port Act legislation last year, which authorizes $400 million a year for port facility grants,” Nagle said. “It’s important that the fiscal year 2008 spending bill provide the full $400 million for the Port Security Grant program to help ports pay to install TWIC card readers and other terrorism prevention programs at their facilities.”