Hearing to Discuss Port Security Grant Program
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will meet on March 18 where the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management will conduct an oversight hearing into homeland security emergency preparedness program budgets. Among other things, the Subcommittee will examine the proposed transfer of the port security grant program from the Transportation Security Administration to the newly-created Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness and the proposed reduction of port security grant funding from $124.5 million in FY2004 to only $46 million in FY2005. The witness will be the Honorable Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security. (Source: HK Law)
$17.1M for Container Cargo Security Program
The Department of Homeland Security announced a $17.1 million award to the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey and to the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Seattle/Tacoma to strengthen the security of container cargo moving through three of the nation’s largest load centers. These grants were awarded under the third phase of Operation Safe Commerce, a program through which ports, federal, state, and local governments, and private businesses work together to identify, test, and share information about commercially available technologies and best business practices to improve the security of the supply chain. “Operation Safe Commerce takes a partnership approach to developing innovative new ways for ports to track and protect cargo entering the United States from all over the world…
$140M in Port Security Grants Issued
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today announced $140,857,128 in port security grants. The FY 2005 Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) uses a risk-based formula to allocate funds to protect our ports from acts of terrorism. The program fortifies security at our nation’s ports by providing funding to increase protection against potential threats from small craft, underwater attacks and vehicle borne improvised explosives, and to enhance explosive detection capabilities aboard vehicle ferries and associated facilities. The new risk-based formula considers three elements: threat, vulnerability, and consequence. As part of this risk-management approach, the port security grant program will ensure federally regulated ports, terminals, and U.S.
