Office for Domestic Preparedness 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

Washington, DC 20531

ODP Information Bulletin 

No. 169 May 19, 2005 

TO: Captains of the Ports (COTPs) 

 MARAD Region Directors 

 SAAs, SAA POCs 

 SLGCP All

FROM: Matt A. Mayer 

 Acting Executive Director 

SUBJECT: FY 2005 Port Security Grant Program Release 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of State and Local Government 

Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP) is pleased to announce its Fiscal Year (FY) 

2005 Port Security Grant (PSG) Program. The FY 2005 PSG Program is a competitive 

grant that provides over $140 million in funding directly to eligible port entities to 

secure the nation’s ports against potential terrorist attacks. This information bulletin 

contains the following details about the PSG Program: 

 Program Overview 

 Applicant Eligibility 

 Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities 

 Teleconference Logistics 

PSG Program Overview

The FY 2005 PSG Program directly addresses two of the national priorities listed in the 

National Preparedness Goal: 1) Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and 

Explosive (CBRNE) detection and response capabilities; and, 2) National Infrastructure 

Protection Plan (NIPP) implementation. 

The Port Security Grant Program represents funds provided through the FY 2005 DHS 

Appropriations Act to address physical security enhancements for critical national 
seaports and provides follow-on funding for the previous four rounds of Port Security 

Grants. Following risk-based national port security priorities, the FY 2005 PSG Program 

will place a strong emphasis on prevention and detection against improvised explosive 

devices (IEDs). Of great concern are IEDs delivered via small craft, underwater and in 

vehicles on ferries. 

PSG Applicant Eligibility 

Eligible applicants for this competitive grant program were identified through a 

collaborative review process completed by the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), 

the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and the Information Analysis and Infrastructure 

Protection (IAIP) Directorate within DHS. A risk-based formula comprised of 

consequence, vulnerability, and threat factors was developed and utilized to determine 

eligibility to apply for the PSG Program. The formula resulted in the selection of 66 port 

areas. 

Eligible Applicants Within the Identified Port Areas 

Owners/operators of federally regulated ports, terminals, facilities, U.S. inspected 

passenger vessels, or ferries as defined in the Maritime Transportation Security Act 

(MTSA) 33 CFR Parts 101, 104, and 105 

Port authorities or other State and local agencies that provide layered security protection 

to federally regulated facilities (layered security means an approach that utilizes 

prevention and detection capabilities of organizations within a port-wide area to 

provide complete security solutions to regulated entities) 

Consortia composed of local stakeholder groups (i.e., river groups, ports, and terminal 

associations) representing federally regulated ports, terminals, U.S. inspected passenger 

vessels, or ferries 

Private companies are eligible to apply for funding under the FY 2005 PSG Program. 

However, applications from private entities must demonstrate a cash match of at least 

50% of the total amount requested in Federal funding in order to be considered. 

Applications may not be submitted on behalf of a private company by a public entity 

and sub-awarded back to the private company to avoid the cash match requirement. 

PSG PROGRAM STAKEHOLDER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

The Port Security Grant (PSG) Program will be managed through the Transportation 

Infrastructure Security Division (TISD) within the Preparedness Programs Division 

(PPD) of SLGCP. The PSG Program mission is to create a sustainable, risk-based effort 

for the protection of critical infrastructure from terrorism, especially explosives and 

non-conventional threats that would cause major disruption to commerce and 

significant loss of life. 
Program Process Description 

Grant Application 

and Administration 

Eligible applicants in each eligible port area may submit one 

application for funding of up to five (5) individual projects. 

Funding may be awarded for all, some or none of the projects 

submitted based on the outcome of the evaluation process. 

Initial Application 

Review Process 

ODP staff will receive and conduct an initial review of all FY 2005 

PSG applications. Ineligible, incomplete and duplicate 

applications will be eliminated from further consideration. 

Applications passing this review will be grouped by port area 

and provided to the applicable USCG COTP for further review. 

Field Review Process 

Field level reviews will be managed by the applicable USCG 

COTP in coordination with the MARAD Region Director and 

applicable State Administrative Agency or Agencies (where 

feasible). Each COTP will review the applications provided by 

ODP for their port area against the criteria listed in the PSG 

Program Guidance. After completing their field reviews, the 

COTPs will submit a prioritized listing of projects for each port 

area to ODP for the national review process. 

National Review 

Process 

Following the field review, a national review panel will be 

convened. Members will include representatives from ODP, 

USCG, BTS (TSA, CBP, etc.), IAIP and MARAD. The national 

review panel will conduct an initial review of the prioritized 

project listings for each port area submitted by the COTPs to 

ensure that the proposed projects will accomplish the intended 

risk mitigation goal. Following this initial meeting, ODP will 

evaluate the top projects from each COTP list for each port area 

against criteria listed in the PSG Program Guidance. 

The national review panel will then be asked to evaluate and 

validate the consolidated and ranked project list resulting from 

this process. Awards will be made based on the final ranked list 

of projects identified by the this panel. 

PSG Program Application Review and Selection Process

PSG App.

Due in

GMS

66 Eligible

Port Areas

Initial

Screening

Process

SLGCP

Field

Review

Panel

USCG

COTP,

MARAD,

SAA

July

5th –20th

June 20th -

July 1st

June

13th -17th

June

10th

Federal

Partners

National

Review

Panel

Selections

to OC

SLGCP

September

30th

OJP OC

and

SLGCP

PSG

Awards

Made

August

1st
PSG PROGRAM TELECONFERENCES 

TISD hosted three application teleconferences during the launch of the PSG Program for 

the SAA, USCG and MARAD. To obtain a copy of the briefing presented during these 

teleconferences please send an email request to portsecuritygrants@dhs.gov. 

Two teleconferences will be held to provide a detailed overview of the application 

review and screening processes, including roles and responsibilities for all PSG 

Program stakeholders. Official invitations and details for connecting to the meetings 

will be distributed to COTPs, MARAD, and SAAs in separate communications. The 

schedule is as follows: 

Program Date Call Information 

Atlantic Region USCG, 

MARAD, SAA Field Review 

Process Teleconference 

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 

1:00 PM (EST) 

Call in: 800-860-2442 

Participant Code: 4713 

Pacific Region USCG, 

MARAD, SAA Field Review 

Process Teleconference 

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 

3:00 PM (EST) 

Call in: 800-860-2442 

Participant Code: 4713 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For your convenience, a Fact Sheet containing additional information about the PSG 

Program is attached. For specific information concerning eligibility and grant 

guidelines, please refer to the PSG Program application kit at 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/fundopps.htm

Questions related to this grant program may be directed to portsecuritygrants@dhs.gov

or the SLGCP Centralized Scheduling and Information Desk at askcsid@dhs.gov, 1-800-

368-6498. 

Attachment: PSG Program Fact Sheet