I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 796
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 
FEBRUARY 14, 2005
Mrs. MCCARTHY 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 short-
comings of units of municipal and county government.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Preparedness 
Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. GRANT AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity may make grants in accordance with this Act to ad-
dress homeland security preparedness shortcomings of 
units of municipal and county government. 
(b) CATEGORIES.—Each grant under this section 
shall be made for one of the following categories of use: 
(1) Equipment and training. 
(2) Improving interoperability between members 
of a consortium of municipal or county governments. 
(c) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the costs 
of an activity carried out with a grant under this section—
(1) may not exceed 70 percent of the total costs 
of such activity, in the case of a grant for equipment 
and training; and 
(2) may not exceed 90 percent of the total costs 
of such activity, in the case of a grant for improving 
interoperability between members of a consortium of 
municipal or county governments. 
SEC. 3. GRANT ELIGIBILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant under 
this Act, an applicant must be a unit of municipal or coun-
ty government or a consortium of such units. 
(b) LIMITATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—A unit of municipal or coun-
ty government, or a consortium of such units, may 
not receive more than one grant under this Act.
(2) RESTRICTION ON ADDITIONAL GRANT TO 
MEMBER OF CONSORTIUM.—A unit of municipal or 
county government that is a member of a consor-
tium that receives a grant under this Act is not eli-
gible to receive an additional grant under this Act 
individually or as a member of another consortium. 
SEC. 4. APPLICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any unit of municipal or county 
government may submit an application for a grant under 
this section to the Secretary, on behalf of such unit or 
on behalf of a consortium of which the unit is a member. 
(b) CONTENTS.—An application under this section—
(1) shall seek funding for one of the categories 
of use required under section 2(b); and 
(2) shall include the results of a vulnerability 
assessment in accordance with section 5. 
SEC. 5. VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not make a 
grant under this Act unless the applicant for the grant 
conducts a vulnerability assessment that assesses the risk 
and vulnerability of the applicant (including each member 
of the applicant, in the case of a consortium) to a variety 
of possible acts of terrorism, including conventional, bio-
logical, nuclear, and chemical attacks.
(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSESSMENTS.—The Sec-
retary of Homeland Security shall prescribe requirements 
for vulnerability assessments under this section. 
(c) LIMITATION ON GRANTS FOR EQUIPMENT OR 
TRAINING.—The Secretary may not make a grant under 
this Act for equipment and training unless the Secretary 
determines that the grant will address a need determined 
in the vulnerability assessment conducted under this sec-
tion for purposes of the grant. 
SEC. 6. USE OF GRANT. 
Amounts provided as a grant under this section—
(1) shall be used only for the category of use 
under section 2(b) for which the grant is made; 
(2) may be used only for new domestic pre-
paredness initiatives; 
(3) shall not be used to sustain or supplement 
existing program; and 
(4) may be distributed by the grantee to fire 
departments, police departments, emergency serv-
ices, and public health agencies of the grantee. 
SEC. 7. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER GRANT PROGRAMS. 
The program of grants under this Act—
(1) is intended to complement, and not not take 
the place of, the Assistance to Firefighters Program
conducted by the Office of Domestic Preparedness; 
and 
(2) does not affect the eligibility of any person 
for the Assistance to Firefighters Grants or any 
other funding made available by the Department of 
Homeland Security.
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