DHS makes new port security grants available

DHS makes new port security grants available

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The Port of New York and New Jersey will receive $14.9 million of $88 million available under the latest round of port security grants issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday.
   Eight port regions determined at highest risk will split $66 million and a second tier of 17 port communities will receive a combined $22 million out of a supplemental appropriation of $110 million loaded in an Iraq war bill earlier this year. An additional $16.5 million will be made available for Tier 3 projects not previously funded under the regular 2007 award. The department will also award $5.5 million for Tier 4 port areas that submit applications to help fund implementation of the pending Transportation Worker Identification Credential or for security training initiatives.
   Following, New York-New Jersey, the largest recipients of federal aid under the risk-based formula were:
   * New Orleans: $9.5 million.
   * Houston-Galveston: $8.6 million.
   * Los Angeles-Long Beach: $8.1 million.
   * Puget Sound (Seattle-Tacoma area): $6.7 million.
   * Delaware Bay (Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., and Southern New Jersey): $6.2 million.
   * San Francisco Bay: $6.1 million.
   * Sabine-Neches River (Port Arthur-Beaumont, Texas): $6.0 million.
   In a break from the past, the distribution of the money will be controlled at the local level rather than by Washington through the Area Maritime Security Committees. The local committees and the U.S. Coast Guard’s port captain are to select a “fiduciary agent” to formally apply for the grant awards rather than having local facilities each apply for funding.
   Tier 1 and 2 ports must move quickly to name their agents and apply for funds because the grants must be issued by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
   Under the rules, 20 percent of the federal money can be applied to security projects such as access control, interoperable communications, personnel training, and marine patrols without a local match. The remaining money must be disbursed to fulfill needs identified in the port area’s security plan. As such private facilities only have to provide a 25 percent match instead of the 50 percent match required in the previous two rounds of grants.