FEMA Port Security Grants Down 18 Percent

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it plans to disburse $235 million for port security grants in the 2011 fiscal year, an 18 percent drop for 2010 funding.  

This is the 12th round of grants since the Department of Homeland Security began making them available in 2002 for ports to bolster their defenses against terrorist attacks. The money available for 2011 is down 18 percent from 2010.

FEMA, which manages all DHS grant programs, established the tier system to allocated port security grants to the locations that face the highest risk for terrorist incursions. FEMA said that the seven Tier I ports and 48 Tier II ports are eligible for grants.

Security news from JOC:
Security Not in the Cards

In 2010 the Tier 1 ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach together, San Francisco Bay, Delaware Bay (Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del.), New York-New Jersey, Puget Sound (Seatle and Tacoma, Wash.) Houston-Galveston, received a total of $173 million in port security grants.

Congress is still debating the program for 2012, but Susan Monteverde, vice president of government relations for the American Association of Port Authorities, said that a House panel is poised to slash the entire grant program by 55 to 60 percent.

--Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.