I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1715 

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to address 

homeland security preparedness shortcomings of units of municipal and 

county government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2007 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make 

grants to address homeland security preparedness shortcomings of units of municipal and county government. 

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 ‘‘Domestic Preparedness 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu8 rity may make grants in accordance with this Act to adVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:31 Mar 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1715.IH H1715

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1 dress homeland security preparedness shortcomings of 

2 units of municipal and county government. 

3 (b) CATEGORIES.—Each grant under this section 

4 shall be made for one of the following categories of use: 

5 (1) Equipment and training. 

6 (2) Improving interoperability between members 

7 of a consortium of municipal or county governments. 

8 (c) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the costs 

9 of an activity carried out with a grant under this section— 

10 (1) may not exceed 70 percent of the total costs 

11 of such activity, in the case of a grant for equipment 

12 and training; and 

13 (2) may not exceed 90 percent of the total costs 

14 of such activity, in the case of a grant for improving 

15 interoperability between members of a consortium of 

16 municipal or county governments. 

17 SEC. 3. GRANT ELIGIBILITY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant under 

19 this Act, an applicant must be a unit of municipal or coun20 ty government or a consortium of such units. 

21 (b) LIMITATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A unit of municipal or coun23 ty government, or a consortium of such units, may 

24 not receive more than one grant under this Act. 


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1 (2) RESTRICTION ON ADDITIONAL GRANT TO

2 MEMBER OF CONSORTIUM.—A unit of municipal or 

3 county government that is a member of a consor4 tium that receives a grant under this Act is not eli5 gible to receive an additional grant under this Act 

6 individually or as a member of another consortium. 

7 SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any unit of municipal or county 

9 government may submit an application for a grant under 

10 this section to the Secretary, on behalf of such unit or 

11 on behalf of a consortium of which the unit is a member. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—An application under this section— 

13 (1) shall seek funding for one of the categories 

14 of use required under section 2(b); and 

15 (2) shall include the results of a vulnerability 

16 assessment in accordance with section 5. 

17 SEC. 5. VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not make a 

19 grant under this Act unless the applicant for the grant 

20 conducts a vulnerability assessment that assesses the risk 

21 and vulnerability of the applicant (including each member 

22 of the applicant, in the case of a consortium) to a variety 

23 of possible acts of terrorism, including conventional, bio24 logical, nuclear, and chemical attacks. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSESSMENTS.—The Sec2 retary of Homeland Security shall prescribe requirements 

3 for vulnerability assessments under this section. 

4 (c) LIMITATION ON GRANTS FOR EQUIPMENT OR

5 TRAINING.—The Secretary may not make a grant under 

6 this Act for equipment and training unless the Secretary 

7 determines that the grant will address a need determined 

8 in the vulnerability assessment conducted under this sec9 tion for purposes of the grant. 

10 SEC. 6. USE OF GRANT. 

11 Amounts provided as a grant under this section— 

12 (1) shall be used only for the category of use 

13 under section 2(b) for which the grant is made; 

14 (2) may be used only for new domestic pre15 paredness initiatives; 

16 (3) shall not be used to sustain or supplement 

17 existing program; and 

18 (4) may be distributed by the grantee to fire 

19 departments, police departments, emergency serv20 ices, and public health agencies of the grantee. 

21 SEC. 7. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER GRANT PROGRAMS. 

22 The program of grants under this Act— 

23 (1) is intended to complement, and not take the 

24 place of, the Assistance to Firefighters Program 


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1 conducted by the Office of Domestic Preparedness; 

2 and 

3 (2) does not affect the eligibility of any person 

4 for the Assistance to Firefighters Grants or any 

5 other funding made available by the Department of 

6 Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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