Homeland Security unveils 2006 strategy for awarding urban grants

The Homeland Security Department is requiring urban communities to form regional bodies and submit unified spending plans to get a share of nearly $800 million in grants this year.

The department on Tuesday announced the metropolitan regions eligible for the 2006 Urban Areas Security Initiative grants program. The biggest change is that cities and counties in a designated region now must pull together and submit an "investment justification" to get funding. Previously, communities that made the eligibility list were guaranteed at least some funding.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the change is intended to ensure that grants are spent wisely. Regional spending plans must be aligned with the department's National Preparedness Goal, which lists the capabilities and equipment communities need to fight terrorism.

"[R]egions are going to have to get together, and they're going to have to come up with a system that allows them to determine what their priorities are going to be and what their investment justifications are going to be," Chertoff said during a press conference Tuesday. "Hopefully, they will figure out a way to allocate votes among themselves or [to develop a] decision-making process on their own. If they don't, we will."

He added: "If we're not using the money for critical capabilities, then the money is being wasted."

The department has identified 35 urban areas that are eligible for 2006 grants, down from 50 in 2005. Overall, $765 million will be distributed through the program, a drop from $830 million allocated in 2005. The department requested $1 billion for the program in 2006, but Congress cut the funding.

Regions have 60 days to submit their spending plans. DHS will assemble a panel of experts to make funding allocations by the beginning of June.

The grants must be spent for anti-terrorism purposes. The department recognizes, however, that some funds can be used to mitigate both terrorism and other hazards, such as natural disasters, according to a spokesman.

An additional 11 metropolitan areas that received UASI grants in 2005 also are eligible for grants in 2006 to complete projects that were started but not yet finished.

Chertoff said some areas should eventually be dropped from the list as they become secure or as threat information changes.

"Whenever an urban area falls off the list … we hear, obviously, outcries and complaints," Chertoff said. "I have to be very clear about this. The purpose of the UASI program -- indeed, the purpose of all homeland security funding -- is not to generate popularity for the secretary or for the Department of Homeland Security. It is to address the highest priorities, driven by an analytic, risk-based process."

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Governor's Association could not be reached for comment.