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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information Contact:
June 27, 2005

Office of The Attorney General
- Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General

 

Roger Shatzkin
609-292-4791

 

Counties Receiving $21.7 Million in 2005 Federal Homeland Security Grants; State Approves Funding for First Responder Equipment, Target Hardening, Other Activities
Additional $8 Million Slated for State-Provided County Services and Initiatives

TRENTON — The state has approved all 21 county plans for spending federal fiscal year (FY) 2005 homeland security grant funds and has begun to release more than $21.7 million to the counties, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey said today. The counties can use the funds to purchase additional first responder equipment, “harden” potential terrorist targets against attack, develop buffer zone protection plans around critical facilities, fund security-related training and exercising and other homeland security and domestic preparedness initiatives.

Attorney General Harvey also noted that an additional $8 million will be provided to underwrite statewide programs and services provided to counties and municipalities, such as improved access to the state’s computerized security information management systems, the state’s regionalized bomb detection and response initiative and participation in federal Citizen Corps programs such as the Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. As part of this $8 million, Harvey said that for the first time the state is also offering a $1.5 million competitive grant program to foster regional planning and preparedness efforts.

“New Jersey has used its share of federal homeland security funding on programs throughout New Jersey to train and equip first responders, secure our infrastructure, and keep our communities and residents as safe as possible,” Acting Governor Richard J. Codey said. “We are making sure every dime awarded to New Jersey is spent. Unfortunately, this funding is still not distributed to New Jersey and other states based on actual risk. We will not rest until the federal government provides the funding New Jersey needs and deserves.”

Expediting “Draw Down”
Governor Codey also noted that his administration was working with representatives of every New Jersey county, the cities of Newark and Jersey City, and the state Attorney General’s Office, and the departments of Community Affairs and Treasury, to solve problems related to “drawing down” federal homeland security grant money more quickly. The “draw down” of federal funds is the final step in the complex grant making and procurement process, but is the only measure by which the federal government considers New Jersey’s funds “spent.” As a result of a meeting convened by the Governor last month, state, county and city officials are developing plans to fast-track their reporting of federal funds spent on homeland security equipment and training.

New Jersey’s Commitment and Risk-Based Funding
Since January 2002, New Jersey has provided approximately $572 million in state funds for homeland security efforts, including $189.7 million in Governor Codey's proposed FY 2006 Budget. While New Jersey continues to spend additional funds to protect its citizens and communities, total federal homeland security funding for first responders to the state was cut more than a third, from $55.4 million last year to $36.6 million this year. New Jersey’s share of federal Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funds for preparedness efforts in the state’s six northeast counties (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Union, as well as Newark and Jersey City) was cut nearly 40 percent, from $32 million in FY 2004 to $19.4 million in FY 2005.

The federal Homeland Security Grant Program currently distributed to states is not based on risk, but rather on a formula that provides all 50 states a guaranteed minimum of funding, Harvey said. Congress is currently considering changes to that formula that would provide a smaller guaranteed minimum to each state and distribute the remaining funds based on risk.

For the past three years of federal funding in New Jersey, the Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force has applied a funding strategy that does link funding to risk, said Harvey. Each county’s allocation is based on the number of critical facilities identified in the county by state and county officials, the Attorney General said, with funding keyed to the added risk factors of hosting facilities that might be the most likely to attract a devastating terrorist attack. Harvey serves as chair of the Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, the cabinet-level body that oversees state homeland security policy and coordination efforts.

“New Jersey’s strategy for protecting its citizens and infrastructure recognizes the necessity for statewide and regional solutions based on principles of mutual aid,” said Harvey. “Additionally, although the federal government is still not distributing the majority of homeland security grants to the states based on a realistic assessment of New Jersey and other state’s security needs, we have recognized the necessity for protecting critical facilities and first responders across the state based on an assessment of potential vulnerability and risk of attack.

County Working Groups and County-Based Decision Making
“Counties and municipalities play a key role in protecting New Jersey citizens,” he said. “The state has developed the overarching strategy for protection, but has relied extensively on the counties, which have a clearer understanding of the strengths and particular vulnerabilities within their borders, to help determine how funds are distributed locally.”

Harvey said the Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force required that each county form a County Multi-Disciplinary Working Group and charged the working group with developing funding plans centered on protecting — and responding to potential incidents at — sites where threats or hazards had been identified within the county. At a minimum, he said, the county working group includes the county office of emergency management coordinator, county freeholder director or county administrator or executive, county fiscal officer, county prosecutor or designee, county police chiefs’ association representative, county fire coordinator or fire marshal, county emergency medical services coordinator, and county hazmat team representative. Beginning with the FY 2005 grant, the working group has been expanded to include the county’s medical examiner, health officer, critical infrastructure coordinator, domestic preparedness planner, as well as representatives from county healthcare institutions and from the county’s cities with the two largest populations.

During the FY 2005 grant process, the state worked directly with representatives of the county working groups to review and approve the specific spending plan for each county’s share of funding.

In addition to the Governor’s task force to expedite the state’s draw down of federal funds, the state has implemented a new Web-based “eGrants” management system for the FY 2005 federal homeland security grant cycle. Since each of the counties must enter all their grant programming and procurement information into this system, Harvey said that it too should speed up both the grant making and procurement process by providing real-time reporting to the state.

State Share of 2005 Homeland Grant
In addition to the $29.7 million going directly to the counties or being returned to them in the form of services provided by the state, the state is receiving $6.9 million as its share of the total federal FY 2005 grant of $36.6 million from ODP. These funds will be used for such state activities as implementing the Governor’s School Security Initiative, improved access to the state’s emergency preparedness information network, improved protection against cyberterrorism, additional support to the state’s exercise team that coordinates readiness drills and exercises statewide, as well as providing for the purchase of two mobile command centers and four boats designed to respond to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) events on state waterways.

# # #

New Jersey’s Federal FY 2005 Homeland Security Grant Program*
Direct and Indirect Allocations to Counties

Funding by County** Totals

  • ATLANTIC $ 1,191,054
  • BERGEN $ 1,387,027
  • BURLINGTON $ 881,215
  • CAMDEN $ 1,109,399
  • CAPE MAY $ 211,642
  • CUMBERLAND $ 472,939
  • ESSEX $ 2,072,480
  • GLOUCESTER $ 1,044,527
  • HUDSON $ 2,007,607
  • HUNTERDON $ 832,222
  • MERCER $ 1,338,485
  • MIDDLESEX $ 1,681,437
  • MONMOUTH $ 734,235
  • MORRIS $ 750,115
  • OCEAN $ 619,918
  • PASSAIC $ 1,942,284
  • SALEM $ 554,594
  • SOMERSET $ 701,574
  • SUSSEX $ 358,622
  • UNION $ 1,272,710
  • WARREN $ 538,263

    SUBTOTAL $ 21,702,349

Initiatives Supporting County Programs

  • Overtime Reserve for Periods of Raised Homeland Security Alerts $ 1,936,447
  • Detect and Render Safe Task Force (9 County and Municipal Bomb Squads) $ 1,179,900
  • Statewide Security Information Management Initiatives $ 3,400,000
  • Competitive Grants for Regions? $ 1,500,000

    SUBTOTAL $ 8,016,347
    TOTAL $ 29,718,696

    * Funding from Office for Domestic Preparedness, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) also includes Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP) and Citizen Corps Program funding. This total does not include (1) $19,353,418 in Urban Area Security Initiative funds for the core cities of Newark and Jersey City and Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Union counties, and (2) $455,184 in Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) Program funds provided to Office of the Attorney General for pass through to Newark and Jersey City. This total does include $672,000 ($32,000 to each county) out of a total of $4,356,164 in Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Program funds. The remaining $3,684,164 in EMPG funds goes directly to municipal and state emergency planning councils.

    **Allocations to counties are based on presence of critical infrastructure sites identified by counties and state.

Four of the state’s five homeland security regions, which were designated by the New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, are eligible to compete for this grant money. The regions are: Northwest Region (Sussex, Warren and Hunterdon counties); Central Region (Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer and Monmouth counties); Delaware River Region (Burling-ton, Camden, Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties); and Shore Region (Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties). The Northeast Urban Area Security Initiative Region, or UASI Region (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Union Counties, as well as Newark and Jersey City), receives separate funding and is not eligible for this competitive program.

NJ Office of the Attorney General, June 2005

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