[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81925-81927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23365]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID: FEMA-2024-0027]


MSA Delineations Used in FEMA's Grant Programs

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the Metropolitan Areas Protection and 
Standardization Act of 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) requests public comment on the adoption of updated Metropolitan 
Statistical Area delineations for use in certain of FEMA's grant 
programs.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 9, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID: FEMA-2024-
0027, via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edgardo Santos, Risk Methodology 
Branch Chief, Federal Emergency Management Agency, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a3c3f373b5737293b572a0815191f09093a1c1f171b541e1209541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3177747c701c7c62701c61435e525442427157545c501f5559421f565e47">[email protected]</span></a>, (800) 368-6498.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation

    Interested persons are invited to participate in this notice by 
submitting comments and related materials. We will consider all 
comments and materials received during the comment period.
    If you submit a comment, include the Docket ID, indicate the 
specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and 
give the reason for each comment. All submissions may be posted, 
without change, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov, and will include any personal information you 
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. For 
more about privacy and the docket, visit https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice.
    For access to the docket to read background documents or comments 
received, go to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov.

II. Background

A. FEMA Grant Programs and Core Based Statistical Areas

    FEMA has the statutory authority to deliver numerous disaster and 
non-disaster financial assistance programs in support of its mission, 
and that of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), largely 
through grants and cooperative agreements. Preparedness grants \1\ 
support our citizens and first responders to ensure we work together as 
a nation to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, 
protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate terrorism and 
other high-consequence disasters and emergencies.
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    \1\ For the purposes of this notice, the relevant grants 
programs are the Urban Area Security Initiative, the Tribal Homeland 
Security Grant Program, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, the 
Port Security Grant Program, the Transit Security Grant Program, and 
the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program. FEMA's 
authority to administer these programs is provided below.
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    When determining eligibility for the Urban Area Security 
Initiative, the Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program, the Nonprofit 
Security Grant Program, the Port Security Grant Program, the Transit 
Security Grant

[[Page 81926]]

Program, and the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, one 
factor is the applicant's location with respect to a given set of 
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).\2\ MSAs are a type of core based 
statistical area (CBSA). The general concept of a CBSA is that of an 
area containing a large population nucleus, or urban area, and adjacent 
communities that have a high degree of integration with that nucleus. 
CBSAs are composed of entire counties: ``central counties'' that 
contain the population nucleus, and ``outlying counties'' that qualify 
to join a central county based on demonstrating sufficient commuting 
ties with the central county or counties of the area.\3\
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    \2\ See, e.g., 6 U.S.C. 601(5), 604(b).
    \3\ For more information, see U.S. Census Bureau, Metropolitan 
and Micropolitan, About (July 25, 2023), https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/about.html.
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    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) establishes and maintains 
these statistical areas to provide a nationally consistent set of 
delineations for collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal 
statistics for geographic areas. OMB establishes standards for defining 
CBSAs and then applies those standards to U.S. Census Bureau data to 
delineate individual CBSAs. Every decade, OMB reviews the CBSA 
standards and, if warranted, revises them, and then applies the new 
standards to new decennial census data to produce updated CBSA 
delineations. OMB published the 2020 Standards for Delineating Core 
Based Statistical Areas on July 16, 2021,\4\ and published revised CBSA 
delineations on July 21, 2023.\5\
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    \4\ 86 FR 37770 (July 16, 2021).
    \5\ OMB Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf.
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    Between censuses, OMB releases annual updates, which make minor 
changes to the delineations (or no changes, if warranted by the data) 
and five-year updates that address broader revisions that generally 
include more changes to the delineations.\6\
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    \6\ For more information, see 86 FR at 37775.
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    Under the Homeland Security Grant Program,\7\ the FEMA 
Administrator designates high-risk urban areas to receive Urban Area 
Security Initiative (UASI) grants.\8\ To determine which areas should 
receive assistance each fiscal year, the Administrator is directed to 
assess the relative threat, vulnerability, and consequences from acts 
of terrorism faced by each ``eligible metropolitan area.'' \9\ The HSA 
defines ``Eligible Metropolitan Area'' to mean any of the 100 most 
populous metropolitan statistical areas \10\ and defines ``Metropolitan 
Statistical Area'' to mean a metropolitan statistical area, as defined 
by OMB.\11\
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    \7\ Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, Public Law 107-
296, Title XX, 6 U.S.C. 321a, 603, 604, 605, 607, 608, 609; section 
702 of the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006, 
Public Law 109-347, 6 U.S.C. 470.
    \8\ Section 2003 of the HSA, 6 U.S.C. 604(b)(1).
    \9\ 6 U.S.C. 604(b)(2)(A).
    \10\ 6 U.S.C. 601(5).
    \11\ 6 U.S.C. 601(8).
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    Before the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024 
(FY24 DHS Appropriations Act),\12\ the Nonprofit Security Grant Program 
(NSGP) \13\ functioned as a ``carve-out'' of UASI, so eligibility for 
NSGP was tied to the MSA delineations in the same way as UASI. Pursuant 
to the FY24 DHS Appropriations Act, fiscal year 2024 NSGP awards are 
authorized under 6 U.S.C. 609a.\14\ Currently, as a matter of policy, 
FEMA ties eligibility for assistance under the program to the MSA 
framework. The fiscal year 2024 NSGP Notice Funding Opportunity (NOFO) 
states that eligible nonprofit subapplicants may be eligible for 
assistance specifically because of their location with respect to an 
MSA.\15\
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    \12\ Public Law 118-47, Div. C.
    \13\ Section 2009 of the HSA, 6 U.S.C. 609a.
    \14\ Public Law 118-47, Div. C, Title III.
    \15\ See DHS NOFO Fiscal Year 2024 Nonprofit Security Grant 
Program (Apr. 16, 2024), https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security/fy-24-nofo.
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    Under the Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP),\16\ the 
FEMA Administrator may make awards ``to directly eligible tribes'' 
under the State Homeland Security Grant Program.\17\ The definition of 
a ``directly eligible tribe'' provides four area-based criteria, one of 
which must be met in order for a Tribal Nation to be eligible for 
assistance under THSGP.\18\ One of those four criteria is that the 
Tribal Nation is located within or contiguous to 1 of the 50 most 
populous metropolitan statistical areas in the United States.\19\ Thus, 
although many Tribal Nations that are eligible for THSGP will be 
eligible through one of the other criteria, some Tribal Nations will be 
eligible for THSGP assistance specifically because of their location 
with respect to an MSA.
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    \16\ Section 2005 of the HSA, 6 U.S.C. 606.
    \17\ 6 U.S.C. 606(a).
    \18\ See 6 U.S.C. 601(4)(A)(iii).
    \19\ 6 U.S.C. 601(4)(A)(iii)(III).
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    FEMA's Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program 
(RCPGP),\20\ as a matter of policy, ties eligibility for assistance 
under the program to the MSA framework. The fiscal year 2023 RCPGP NOFO 
states that eligible applicants must be either a State or Territory 
that contains one or more of the 100 most populous MSAs or be a local 
government located within one of the 100 most populous MSAs.\21\
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    \20\ Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328, 
Division F--Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 
2023, Title III--Protection, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Assistance.
    \21\ See DHS NOFO Fiscal Year 2023 Regional Catastrophic 
Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) (May 24, 2023), https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/regional-catastrophic/fy-23-nofo. 
NOFOs for affected FEMA grants programs issued since the enactment 
of the MAPS Act have used the 2020 MSA delineations.
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    Eligibility and allocation of funding under the Port Security Grant 
Program (PSGP) \22\ and the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) \23\ 
are informed by risk, which is calculated using methodologies that 
include threat, vulnerability, and consequence components that align 
with the UASI risk methodology. Both grant programs use the MSA 
delineations as part of the threat component through using the UASI 
counterterrorism threat levels and values. The threat level and value 
that DHS Intelligence & Analysis and FEMA assign to the 100 most 
populous MSAs is assigned to any PSGP port and transit agency within 
that MSA. The TSGP risk methodology also uses the MSA delineations as 
part of the vulnerability component through using the Special Events 
Metric (SEM). The SEM value for bus entities is based on the SEM value 
of the MSA they serve (as assessed for the most recent UASI risk 
assessment).\24\
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    \22\ Section 102 of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 
2002, as amended, Public Law 107-295, 46 U.S.C. 70107.
    \23\ Section 1406 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/
11 Commission Act of 2007, Public Law 110-53, 6 U.S.C. 1135.
    \24\ For more information on these risk methodologies, see 
Fiscal Year 2023 SHSP/UASI Risk Methodology Updates (Feb. 27, 2023), 
https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_gpd-shsp-fy-23-risk-methodology-updates.pdf.

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[[Page 81927]]

B. Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization Act of 2021

    The Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization Act of 2021 
(MAPS Act),\25\ enacted on December 5, 2022, prohibits changes to the 
standards of CBSA delineations to propagate \26\ automatically for any 
non-statistical use by any domestic assistance program and instead 
requires changes to propagate if they are affirmatively adopted through 
notice and comment rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, by a relevant 
agency that determines such a propagation supports the purposes of the 
program and is in the public interest.\27\
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    \25\ Public Law 117-219, 136 Stat. 2271.
    \26\ Propagate is defined as reproduce or spread information., 
Black's Law Dictionary, https://thelawdictionary.org/propagate/ 
(last accessed July 24, 2024). Here, this refers to how statutory, 
regulatory, or administrative provisions referring to CBSAs, but not 
specifying a particular version of the CBSA standards or 
delineations, should be read--do these provisions always mean the 
latest versions of the CBSA standards or delineations, or some older 
versions? The MAPS Act requires that these provisions not be read to 
refer to CBSA delineations issued after the enactment of the MAPS 
Act, unless an agency follows the appropriate processes.
    \27\ See 31 U.S.C. 6309.
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    Since an applicant's eligibility for certain of FEMA's grant 
programs (i.e., UASI, NSGP, PSGP, TSGP, THSGP, and RCPGP) depends in 
part on the applicant's location with respect to specific MSAs, 
changing which version of the MSA delineations is used could change 
which applicants are eligible. Consistent with the requirements of the 
MAPS Act, FEMA is now requesting comment on whether the use of the 
latest editions of OMB's MSA delineations in these grant programs 
supports the purposes of the programs and is in the public's interest.

III. 2023 CBSA Delineations

    OMB published revised CBSA delineations on July 21, 2023, based on 
the application of the 2020 Standards to Census Bureau data from the 
2020 Decennial Census, the American Community Survey, and Census 
Population Estimates Program for 2020 and 2021.\28\ The 2023 
delineations update and supersede the previous version of the 
delineations issued on March 6, 2020,\29\ and make the following 
changes:
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    \28\ OMB Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf.
    \29\ OMB Bulletin No. 20-01 (Mar. 6, 2020), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Bulletin-20-01.pdf.
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    1. The Springfield, MA, and New Haven, CT, MSAs are no longer among 
the 100 most populous MSAs due to changes to the county composition of 
some MSAs.
    2. The Jackson, MS, and Fayetteville, AR, MSAs now do qualify as 
part of the 100 most populous MSAs due to either changes in county 
composition or due to changes in population values.
    3. Twenty-seven MSAs changed their name due to changes in principal 
city population or due to changes in which States are part of the MSA. 
For example, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA is now Chicago-
Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN MSA due to the removal of the one Wisconsin 
county that was part of the MSA.\30\
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    \30\ For more information on principal cities and Metropolitan 
and Micropolitan Statistical Area titles, see U.S. Census Bureau, 
Metropolitan and Micropolitan, About (July 25, 2023), https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/about.html.
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    4. MSAs in Connecticut were updated to use the new planning regions 
in place of counties.\31\
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    \31\ For more information on Connecticut planning regions, see 
State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Planning 
Regions and Regional Councils of Governments, https://portal.ct.gov/opm/igpp/org/planning-regions/planning-regions--overview (last 
accessed July 25, 2024).
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    5. The composition of 29 MSAs, including the 2 MSAs that join the 
top-100 list and the 2 that drop off, changed because counties or 
county equivalents were added or removed from the MSA delineations. For 
example, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA lost two 
counties and gained another and is now Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-
Norfolk, VA-NC MSA.
    5.1. There are 22 counties removed from MSAs, of which 6 are old 
Connecticut counties that get replaced by the 5 new planning regions.
    5.2. There are 30 counties added to MSAs, of which 5 are the new 
Connecticut planning regions and 11 are in the MSAs of Jackson, MS, and 
Fayetteville, AR.
    FEMA's assessment of the changes in the 2023 MSA delineations found 
that there would be no changes in the geographic eligibility for any 
Tribal Nations under THSGP.
    The revisions in the 2023 MSA delineations change which MSAs 
qualify as the 100 most populous MSAs considered for the UASI risk 
assessment. Changes to this list impact which jurisdictions are 
eligible to receive funding, the overall risk methodology, the 
resultant risk scores, and the allocations. In addition to the UASI 
grant program, the MSA delineations are also used to determine 
eligibility for THSGP, NSGP, PSGP, TSGP, and RCPGP.
    Based on a review of FEMA historical grant data, there was no UASI 
data available for the 22 counties that were removed from the 2023 MSA 
delineations, which indicates that FEMA did not provide any UASI 
funding for these areas in the past 10 years. Therefore, FEMA expects 
that the removal of these counties would not impact grant allocations 
under the 2023 delineations. Furthermore, we do not have any grant data 
for the 30 counties that were newly added due to MSA updates, so we are 
unable to measure the impact of these changes on grant allocations. 
Because UASI funding is capped, any economic impacts would result in a 
different distribution of funds (the newly added counties would become 
eligible while the removed counties would lose eligibility), but total 
funding would not change.
    Consistent with the requirements of the MAPS Act, FEMA seeks public 
comment on the use of the 2023 MSA delineations for the following FEMA 
grant programs: UASI, NSGP, PSGP, TSGP, THSGP, and RCPGP. Stakeholders 
are encouraged to provide specific feedback on whether using the 2023 
MSA delineations would support the purposes of these grant programs and 
be in the public interest.

Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2024-23365 Filed 10-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-78-P


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