I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1731 

To improve the security of the Nation’s ports by providing Federal grants 

to support Area Maritime Transportation Security Plans and to address 

vulnerabilities in port areas identified in approved vulnerability assessments or by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2005 

Ms. HARMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To improve the security of the Nation’s ports by providing 

Federal grants to support Area Maritime Transportation 

Security Plans and to address vulnerabilities in port 

areas identified in approved vulnerability assessments or 

by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Port Security Grants 

5 Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PORT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Home3 land Security (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), 

4 acting through the Office of State and Local Government 

5 Coordination and Preparedness, shall establish a grant 

6 program to fairly and equitably allocate Federal financial 

7 assistance— 

8 (1) to help implement Area Maritime Transpor9 tation Security Plans required under section 

10 70103(b) of title 46, United States Code; 

11 (2) to correct port security vulnerabilities iden12 tified through vulnerability assessments approved by 

13 the Secretary; or 

14 (3) to non-Federal projects contributing to the 

15 overall security of an individual port or the system 

16 of ports in the United States, as determined by the 

17 Secretary. 

18 (b) GRANT AWARDS.—In awarding grants under this 

19 Act, the Secretary shall— 

20 (1) take into account national economic and 

21 strategic defense considerations of individual ports; 

22 and 

23 (2) strongly encourage efforts to promote— 

24 (A) integration of port wide security; 

25 (B) information and intelligence sharing; 

26 and 
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1 (C) joint efforts, such as joint harbor oper2 ations centers between all port stakeholders. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this sec4 tion may be used— 

5 (1) to help implement Area Maritime Transpor6 tation Security Plans required under section 

7 70103(b) of title 46, United States Code; 

8 (2) to correct port security vulnerabilities iden9 tified through vulnerability assessments approved by 

10 the Secretary; 

11 (3) for the salaries, benefits, overtime com12 pensation, and other costs of additional security per13 sonnel for State and local agencies for activities re14 quired by the Area Maritime Security Plan for a 

15 port area if— 

16 (A) the Secretary increases the threat level 

17 under the Homeland Security Advisory System 

18 to Code Orange or Code Red; 

19 (B) the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

20 raises the Maritime Security level to MARSEC 

21 Level 2 or 3; or 

22 (C) the Secretary otherwise authorizes 

23 such costs; 

24 (4) for the cost of acquisition, operation, and 

25 maintenance of equipment that contributes to the 
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1 overall security of the port area, as identified in the 

2 Area Maritime Security Plan if the need is based 

3 upon vulnerability assessments approved by the Sec4 retary or identified in the Area Maritime Security 

5 Plan; 

6 (5) to develop joint harbor operations centers 

7 that bring together Federal, State, and local officials 

8 and stakeholders into a common operation center 

9 that is focused on port area security; 

10 (6) to conduct vulnerability assessments ap11 proved by the Secretary; and 

12 (7) to conduct port wide exercises to strengthen 

13 emergency preparedness of Federal, State, and local 

14 officials responsible for port security, including law 

15 enforcement personnel, in support of the Area Mari16 time Security Plan. 

17 (d) PROHIBITED USES.—Grants awarded under this 

18 section may not be used to construct buildings or other 

19 physical facilities or to acquire land unless such use is spe20 cifically approved by the Secretary in support of sub21 section (c)(5). 

22 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) FEDERAL FUNDING.—Except as provided in 

24 paragraph (2), Federal funds for any eligible project 
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1 under this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the 

2 total cost of such project. 

3 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 (A) SMALL PROJECTS.—Paragraph (1) 

5 shall not apply to grants under this section for 

6 stand alone projects costing not more than 

7 $25,000. The amount under this subparagraph 

8 shall be indexed to the consumer price index 

9 and modified each fiscal year after the annual 

10 publication of the consumer price index. 

11 (B) REDUCTION IN MATCHING REQUIRE12 MENT.—If the Secretary determines that a pro13 posed project merits support and cannot be un14 dertaken without a higher percentage of Fed15 eral financial assistance, the Secretary may 

16 award a grant for such project with a lesser 

17 matching requirement than is described in 

18 paragraph (1). 

19 (f) APPLICATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall deter21 mine who, as an eligible applicant, may submit an 

22 application, at such time, in such form, and con23 taining such information and assurances as the Sec24 retary, working through the Office of State and 
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1 Local Government Coordination and Preparedness, 

2 may require. 

3 (2) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR PAYMENT OR

4 REIMBURSEMENT.—Each application submitted 

5 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

6 (A) a comprehensive description of— 

7 (i) the need for the project; 

8 (ii) the methodology for coordinating 

9 the project into the security of the greater 

10 port area, as identified in the Area Mari11 time Security Plan; 

12 (iii) any existing cooperation agree13 ments with other port facilities, vessels, or 

14 organizations that benefit security of the 

15 entire port; and 

16 (iv) the applicability of the project to 

17 the Area Maritime Transportation Security 

18 Plan; and 

19 (B) a determination by the Captain of the 

20 Port that the security project— 

21 (i) addresses or corrects port security 

22 vulnerabilities identified by the Coast 

23 Guard, or through port security vulner24 ability assessments approved by the Sec25 retary; and 
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1 (ii) helps to ensure compliance with 

2 the Area Maritime Transportation Security 

3 Plan. 

4 (3) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—The Sec5 retary, in consultation with the Office of the Inspec6 tor General, shall issue guidelines to establish appro7 priate accounting, reporting, and review procedures 

8 to ensure that— 

9 (A) grant funds are used for the purposes 

10 for which they were made available; 

11 (B) grantees have properly accounted for 

12 all expenditures of grant funds; and 

13 (C) grant funds not used for such purposes 

14 and amounts not obligated or expended are re15 turned. 

16 (4) PROJECT APPROVAL REQUIRED.—The Sec17 retary may not award a grant under this section un18 less the Secretary determines that— 

19 (A) the project to be carried out with such 

20 grant funding— 

21 (i) is consistent with vulnerability as22 sessments approved by the Secretary; 

23 (ii) supports cooperation or integra24 tion of Federal, State, local, and industry 

25 stakeholders in the port area; and 
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1 (iii) helps to implement the Area Mar2 itime Transportation Security Plan; 

3 (B) sufficient funding is available to meet 

4 the matching requirement described under sub5 section (d); 

6 (C) the project will be completed without 

7 unreasonable delay; and 

8 (D) the recipient has authority to carry 

9 out the proposed project. 

10 (g) COORDINATION AND COOPERATION.—The Sec11 retary— 

12 (1) shall ensure that all projects that receive 

13 grant funding under this section within any area de14 fined in an Area Maritime Transportation Security 

15 Plan are coordinated with other projects in such 

16 area; and 

17 (2) may require cooperative agreements among 

18 users of the port and port facilities with respect to 

19 projects funded under this section. 

20 (h) AUDITS AND EXAMINATIONS.—All grantees 

21 under this section shall maintain such records as the Sec22 retary may require and make such records available for 

23 review and audit by the Secretary, the Comptroller Gen24 eral of the United States, or the Inspector General of the 

25 Department of Homeland Security. 
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1 (i) REPORTS ON SECURITY FUNDING AND COMPLI2 ANCE.— 

3 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec5 retary shall submit an unclassified report to the 

6 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

7 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Home8 land Security of the House of Representatives con9 taining a proposal to implement the port security 

10 grant program for fiscal years 2007 through 2012. 

11 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after the submission of the report required by para13 graph (1), and annually through October 1, 2013, 

14 the Secretary shall submit an unclassified report to 

15 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern16 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, 

18 regarding the progress made in meeting the objec19 tives described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

20 paragraph (1), that— 

21 (A) identifies any funding modifications 

22 necessary to meet the objectives described in 

23 such subparagraphs (A) and (B); 
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1 (B) includes an assessment of progress in 

2 implementing the grant program established 

3 under this Act; and 

4 (C) includes any recommendations the Sec5 retary may make to improve these programs. 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

8 appropriated to the Secretary $400,000,000 for each 

9 of the fiscal years 2007 through 2012 to carry out 

10 this Act. 

11 (2) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The amounts author12 ized to be appropriated under paragraph (1) shall 

13 originate from duties collected by United States Cus14 toms and Border Protection. 

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