Director Paulison announced this week that "...improvements at the agency will benefit communities that can justify a need for grants under the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)."
According to CQ, Paulison touted the “new” FEMA and stressed the importance of the Department of Homeland Security’s grant programs, which are now part of FEMA.
CQ Homeland Security TRacker reports that "the 46 designated UASI regions are submitting proposals to compete for $746.9 million in urban area grants, and the intent is to award the grants based on common sense and less “bean-counting” DHS Secretary
Michael Chertoff
has said. This year, the department will consider thousands of less critical assets, or “beans,” than last year when it determines the exact amount of each award. The 2,100 critical assets it is considering include power plants and dams, whereas last year it considered 200,000, among them popcorn factories and hot dog stands. The grant guidelines were developed when the grants were still being run out of the Preparedness Directorate, which has since been dissolved."
The UAIS is part of a package of five grant initiatives at DHS. For more information: DHS Grant Information
