I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4059
To provide for homeland security block grants.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2002
Mr. MCNULTY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com-
mittees on the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned
A BILL
To provide for homeland security block grants.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Homeland Security Block Grant Act of 2002’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Grants to States, units of general local government and Indian tribes;
authorizations.
Sec. 5. Statement of activities and review.
Sec. 6. Activities eligible for assistance.
Sec. 7. Allocation and distribution of funds.
Sec. 8. State and regional planning; communication systems.
Sec. 9. Nondiscrimination in programs and activities.
Sec. 10. Remedies for noncompliance with requirements.
Sec. 11. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 12. Consultation by Director.
Sec. 13. Interstate agreements or compacts; purposes.
Sec. 14. Matching requirements; suspension of requirements for economically
distressed areas.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In the wake of the September 11, 2001, ter-
rorist attacks on our country, communities all across
American now find themselves on the front lines in
the war against terrorism on United States soil.
(2) We recognize that these communities will be
forced to shoulder a significant portion of the bur-
den that goes along with that responsibility. We be-
lieve that local governments should not have to bear
that responsibility alone.
(3) Our homeland defense will only be as strong
as the weakest link at the State and local level. By
providing our communities with the resources and
tools they need to bolster emergency response efforts
and provide for other emergency response initiatives,
we will have a better-prepared home front and a
stronger America.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act:
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means
the Director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA).
(2) CITY.—The term ‘‘city’’ means—
(A) any unit of general local government
that is classified as a municipality by the
United States Bureau of the Census; or
(B) any other unit of general local govern-
ment that is a town or township and which, in
the determination of the Director—
(i) possesses powers and performs
functions comparable to those associated
with municipalities;
(ii) is closely settled; and
(iii) contains within its boundaries no
incorporated places as defined by the
United States Bureau of the Census that
have not entered into cooperation agree-
ments with such town or township to un-
dertake or to assist in the performance of
homeland security objectives.
(3) FEDERAL
GRANT-IN-AID
PROGRAM.—The
term ‘‘Federal grant-in-aid program’’ means a pro-
gram of Federal financial assistance other than
loans and other than the assistance provided by this
Act.
(4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’
means any Indian tribe, band, group, and nation, in-
cluding Alaska Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos, and
any Alaskan Native Village, of the United States,
which is considered an eligible recipient under the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance
Act (Public Law 93–638) or was considered an eligi-
ble recipient under chapter 67 of title 31, United
States Code, prior to the repeal of such chapter.
(5) METROPOLITAN AREA.—The term ‘‘metro-
politan area’’ means a standard metropolitan statis-
tical area as established by the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget.
(6) METROPOLITAN CITY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘metropoli-
tan city’’ means—
(i) a city within a metropolitan area
that is the central city of such area, as de-
fined and used by the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget; or
(ii) any other city, within a metropoli-
tan area, which has a population of fifty
thousand or more.
(B) PERIOD
OF
CLASSIFICATION.—Any
city that was classified as a metropolitan city
for at least 2 years pursuant to subparagraph
(A) shall remain classified as a metropolitan
city. Any unit of general local government that
becomes eligible to be classified as a metropoli-
tan city, and was not classified as a metropoli-
tan city in the immediately preceding fiscal
year, may, upon submission of written notifica-
tion to the Director, defer its classification as
a metropolitan city for all purposes under this
Act, if it elects to have its population included
in an urban county under subsection (d).
(C) ELECTION
BY
A
CITY.—Notwith-
standing subparagraph (B), a city may elect not
to retain its classification as a metropolitan
city. Any unit of general local government that
was classified as a metropolitan city in any
year, may, upon submission of written notifica-
tion to the Director, relinquish such classifica-
tion for all purposes under this Act if it elects
to have its population included with the popu-
lation of a county for purposes of qualifying for
assistance (for such following fiscal year) under
section 5(e) as an urban county.
(7) NONQUALIFYING
COMMUNITY.—The term
‘‘nonqualifying community’’ means an area that is
not a metropolitan city or part of an urban county
and does not include Indian tribes.
(8) 
POPULATION.—The 
term 
‘‘population’’
means total resident population based on data com-
piled by the United States Bureau of the Census
and referable to the same point or period of time.
(9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any
State of the United States, or any instrumentality
thereof approved by the Governor; and the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Is-
lands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern
Mariana Islands.
(10) UNIT
OF
GENERAL
LOCAL
GOVERN-
MENT.—The term ‘‘unit of general local govern-
ment’’ means any city, county, town, township, par-
ish, village, or other general purpose political sub-
division of a State; a combination of such political
subdivisions is recognized by the Director; and the
District of Columbia.
(11) URBAN COUNTY.—The term ‘‘urban coun-
ty’’ means any county within a metropolitan area.
(b) BASIS AND MODIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS.—
Where appropriate, the definitions in subsection (a) shall
be based, with respect to any fiscal year, on the most re-
cent data compiled by the United States Bureau of the
Census and the latest published reports of the Office of
Management and Budget available ninety days prior to the
beginning of such fiscal year. The Director may by regula-
tion change or otherwise modify the meaning of the terms
defined in subsection (a) in order to reflect any technical
change or modification thereof made subsequent to such
date by the United States Bureau of the Census or the
Office of Management and Budget.
(c) DESIGNATION OF PUBLIC AGENCIES.—One or
more public agencies, including existing local public agen-
cies, may be designated by the chief executive officer of
a State or a unit of general local government to undertake
activities assisted under this Act.
(d) LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, INCLUSION IN URBAN
COUNTY POPULATION.—With respect to program years
beginning with the program year for which grants are
made available from amounts appropriated for fiscal year
2002 under section 4, the population of any unit of gen-
eral local government which is included in that of an urban
county as provided in subsection (a)(11) shall be included
in the population of such urban county for three program
years beginning with the program year in which its popu-
lation was first so included and shall not otherwise be eli-
gible for a grant as a separate entity, unless the urban
county does not receive a grant for any year during such
three-year period.
(e) URBAN COUNTY.—Any county seeking qualifica-
tion as an urban county, including any urban county seek-
ing to continue such qualification, shall notify, as provided
in this subsection, each unit of general local government,
which is included therein and is eligible to elect to have
its population excluded from that of an urban county, of
its opportunity to make such an election. Such notification
shall, at a time and in a manner prescribed by the Direc-
tor, be provided so as to provide a reasonable period for
response prior to the period for which such qualification
is sought. The population of any unit of general local gov-
ernment which is provided such notification and which
does not inform, at a time and in a manner prescribed
by the Director, the county of its election to exclude its
population from that of the county shall, if the county
qualifies as an urban county, be included in the population
of such urban county as provided in subsection (d).
SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES, UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL
GOVERNMENT AND INDIAN TRIBES; AUTHOR-
IZATIONS.
The Director is authorized to make grants to States,
units of general local government, and Indian tribes to
carry out activities in accordance with the provisions of
this Act. For purposes of assistance under section 7, there
is authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000,000 in fiscal
year 2002, and such additional sums as are authorized
thereafter. For purposes of assistance under section 8,
there is authorized to be appropriated $500,000,000 in
fiscal year 2002, and such sums as are authorized there-
after.
SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES AND REVIEW.
(a) APPLICATION.—Prior to the receipt in any fiscal
year of a grant under section 7(b) by any metropolitan
city or urban county, under section 7(d) by any State, or
under section 7(d)(2) by any unit of general local govern-
ment, the grantee shall have indicated its interest in re-
ceiving funds by preparing a statement of homeland secu-
rity objectives and projected use of funds and shall have
provided the Director with the certifications required in
subsection (b) and, where appropriate, subsection (c). In
the case of metropolitan cities and urban counties receiv-
ing grants pursuant to section 7(b) and in the case of
units of general local government receiving grants pursu-
ant to section 7(d)(2), the statement of projected use of
funds shall consist of proposed homeland security activi-
ties. In the case of States receiving grants pursuant to
section 7(d), the statement of projected use of funds shall
consist of the method by which the States will distribute
funds to units of general local government. In preparing
the statement, the grantee shall consider any view of ap-
propriate law enforcement, and emergency response au-
thorities and may, if deemed appropriate by the grantee,
modify the proposed statement. A copy of the final state-
ment shall be furnished to the Director, the Attorney Gen-
eral, and the Office of Homeland Security together with
the certifications required under subsection (b) and, where
appropriate, subsection (c). Any final statement of activi-
ties may be modified or amended from time to time by
the grantee in accordance with the same procedures re-
quired in this paragraph for the preparation and submis-
sion of such statement.
(b) CERTIFICATION OF ENUMERATED CRITERIA BY
GRANTEE TO SECRETARY.—Any grant under section 7
shall be made only if the grantee certifies to the satisfac-
tion of the Director that—
(1) it has developed a homeland security plan
pursuant to section 5 that identifies both short- and
long-term homeland security needs that have been
developed in accordance with the primary objective
and requirements of this Act; and
(2) the grantee will comply with the other pro-
visions of this Act and with other applicable laws.
audits as may be necessary or appropriate to
determine—
(A) in the case of grants made under sec-
tion 7(b), whether the grantee has carried out
its activities and, where applicable, whether the
grantee has carried out those activities and its
certifications in accordance with the require-
ments and the primary objectives of this Act
and with other applicable laws, and whether the
grantee has a continuing capacity to carry out
those activities in a timely manner; and
(B) in the case of grants to States made
under section 7(d), whether the State has dis-
tributed funds to units of general local govern-
ment in a timely manner and in conformance to
the method of distribution described in its
statement, whether the State has carried out its
certifications in compliance with the require-
ments of this Act and other applicable laws,
and whether the State has made such reviews
and audits of the units of general local govern-
ment as may be necessary or appropriate to de-
termine whether they have satisfied the applica-
ble performance criteria described in subpara-
graph (A).
(3) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Director may make
appropriate adjustments in the amount of the an-
nual grants in accordance with the Director’s find-
ings under this subsection. With respect to assist-
ance made available to units of general local govern-
ment under section 7(d), the Director may adjust,
reduce, or withdraw such assistance, or take other
action as appropriate in accordance with the Direc-
tor’s reviews and audits under this subsection, ex-
cept that funds already expended on eligible activi-
ties under this Act shall not be recaptured or de-
ducted from future assistance to such units of gen-
eral local government.
(d) AUDITS.—Insofar as they relate to funds provided
under this Act, the financial transactions of recipients of
such funds may be audited by the General Accounting Of-
fice under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed
by the Comptroller General of the United States. The rep-
resentatives of the General Accounting Office shall have
access to all books, accounts, records, reports, files, and
other papers, things, or property belonging to or in use
by such recipients pertaining to such financial trans-
actions and necessary to facilitate the audit.
(e) METROPOLITAN CITY AS PART OF URBAN COUN-
TY.—In any case in which a metropolitan city is located,
in whole or in part, within an urban county, the Director
may, upon the joint request of such city and county, ap-
prove the inclusion of the metropolitan city as part of the
urban county for purposes of submitting a statement
under section 5 and carrying out activities under this Act.
SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Activities assisted under this Act
may include only—
(1) funding additional law enforcement, fire,
and emergency resources, including covering over-
time expenses;
(2) purchasing and refurbishing personal pro-
tective equipment for fire, police, and emergency
personnel and acquire state-of-the-art technology to
improve communication and streamline efforts;
(3) improving cyber and infrastructure security
by improving—
(A) security for water treatment plants,
distribution systems, and other water infra-
structure; nuclear power plants and other power
infrastructure;
(B) security for tunnels and bridges;
(C) security for oil and gas pipelines and
storage facilities; and
(D) security for chemical plants and trans-
portation of hazardous substances;
(4) assisting Local Emergency Planning Com-
mittees so that local public agencies can design, re-
view, and improve disaster response systems;
(5) assisting communities in coordinating their
efforts and sharing information with all relevant
agencies involved in responding to terrorist attacks;
(6) establishing timely notification systems that
enable communities to communicate with each other
when a threat emerges;
(7) improving communication systems to pro-
vide information to the public in a timely manner
about the facts of any threat and the precautions
the public should take; and
(8) devising a homeland security plan, including
determining long-term goals and short-term objec-
tives, evaluating the progress of the plan, and car-
rying out the management, coordination, and moni-
toring of activities necessary for effective planning
implementation.
(b) COSTS COVERED.—Grants received under section
7 may be used to cover any costs related to the eligible
activities listed in this section that were incurred on or
after September 11, 2001.
SEC. 7. ALLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.
(a) ALLOCATION
AND DISTRIBUTION
OF FUNDS;
SET-ASIDE FOR INDIAN TRIBES.—
(1) ALLOCATION.—For each fiscal year, of the
amount approved in an appropriation Act under sec-
tion 4 for grants in a year (excluding the amounts
provided for use in accordance with section 6), the
Director shall reserve for grants to Indian tribes 1
percent of the amount appropriated under such sec-
tion. The Director shall provide for distribution of
amounts under this paragraph to Indian tribes on
the basis of a competition conducted pursuant to
specific criteria for the selection of Indian tribes to
receive such amounts. The criteria shall be contained
in a regulation promulgated by the Director after
notice and public comment.
(2) REMAINING ALLOCATION.—Of the amount
remaining after allocations pursuant to paragraph
(1), 70 percent shall be allocated by the Director to
metropolitan cities and urban counties. Except as
otherwise specifically authorized, each metropolitan
city and urban county shall be entitled to an annual
grant, to the extent authorized beyond fiscal year
2002, from such allocation in an amount not exceed-
ing its basic amount computed pursuant to para-
graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b).
(b) COMPUTATION OF AMOUNT ALLOCATED TO MET-
ROPOLITAN CITIES AND URBAN COUNTIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall determine
the amount to be allocated to each metropolitan city
based on the population of that metropolitan city.
(2) URBAN COUNTIES.—The Director shall de-
termine the amount to be allocated to each urban
county based on the population of that urban coun-
ty.
(3) EXCLUSIONS.—In computing amounts or
exclusions under this section with respect to any
urban county, there shall be excluded units of gen-
eral local government located in the county the pop-
ulations that are not counted in determining the eli-
gibility of the urban county to receive a grant under
this subsection, except that there shall be included
any independent city (as defined by the Bureau of
the Census) which—
(A) is not part of any county;
(B) is not eligible for a grant pursuant to
subsection (b)(1);
(C) is contiguous to the urban county;
(D) has entered into cooperation agree-
ments with the urban county which provide that
the urban county is to undertake or to assist in
the undertaking of essential community devel-
opment and housing assistance activities with
respect to such independent city; and
(E) is not included as a part of any other
unit of general local government for purposes of
this section.
Any independent city that is included in any fiscal
year for purposes of computing amounts pursuant to
the preceding sentence shall not be eligible to receive
assistance under subsection (d) with respect to such
fiscal year.
(4) INCLUSIONS.—In computing amounts under
this section with respect to any urban county, there
shall be included all of the area of any unit of local
government which is part of, but is not located en-
tirely within the boundaries of, such urban county if
the part of such unit of local government which is
within the boundaries of such urban county would
otherwise be included in computing the amount for
such urban county under this section, and if the
part of such unit of local government that is not
within the boundaries of such urban county is not
included as a part of any other unit of local govern-
ment for the purpose of this section. Any amount re-
ceived by such urban county under this section may
be used with respect to the part of such unit of local
government that is outside the boundaries of such
urban county.
(5) POPULATION.—(A) Where data are avail-
able, the amount determined under paragraph (1)
for a metropolitan city that has been formed by the
consolidation of one or more metropolitan cities with
an urban county shall be equal to the sum of the
amounts that would have been determined under
paragraph (1) for the metropolitan city or cities and
the balance of the consolidated government, if such
consolidation had not occurred. This paragraph shall
apply only to any consolidation that—
(i) included all metropolitan cities that re-
ceived grants under this section for the fiscal
year preceding such consolidation and that were
located within the urban county;
(ii) included the entire urban county that
received a grant under this section for the fiscal
year preceding such consolidation; and
(iii) took place on or after January 1,
2002.
(B) The population growth rate of all metro-
politan cities referred to in section 3 shall be based
on the population of—
(i) metropolitan cities other than consoli-
dated governments the grant for which is deter-
mined under this paragraph; and
(ii) cities that were metropolitan cities be-
fore their incorporation into consolidated gov-
ernments. For purposes of calculating the enti-
tlement share for the balance of the consoli-
dated government under this paragraph, the en-
tire balance shall be considered to have been an
urban county.
(c) REALLOCATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), any amounts allocated to a metropolitan
city or an urban county pursuant to the preceding
provisions of this section that are not received by the
city or county for a fiscal year because of failure to
meet the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of
section 5, or that otherwise became available, shall
be reallocated in the succeeding fiscal year to the
other metropolitan cities and urban counties in the
same metropolitan area that certify to the satisfac-
tion of the Director that they would be adversely af-
fected by the loss of such amounts from the metro-
politan area. The amount of the share of funds re-
allocated under this paragraph for any metropolitan
city or urban county shall bear the same ratio to the
total of such reallocated funds in the metropolitan
area as the amount of funds awarded to the city or
county for the fiscal year in which the reallocated
funds become available bears to the total amount of
funds awarded to all metropolitan cities and urban
counties in the same metropolitan area for that fis-
cal year.
(2) TRANSFER.—Notwithstanding the provi-
sions of paragraph (1), the Director may upon re-
quest transfer responsibility to any metropolitan city
for the administration of any amounts received, but
not obligated, by the urban county in which such
city is located if—
(A) such city was an included unit of gen-
eral local government in such county prior to
the qualification of such city as a metropolitan
city;
(B) such amounts were designated and re-
ceived by such county for use in such city prior
to the qualification of such city as a metropoli-
tan city; and
(C) such city and county agree to such
transfer of responsibility for the administration
of such amounts.
the excess through a pro rata increase of all amounts de-
termined under subsection (b).
SEC. 8. STATE AND REGIONAL PLANNING; COMMUNICA-
TIONS SYSTEMS.
(a) 
IN
GENERAL.—Pursuant 
to 
section 
4,
$500,000,000 shall be used for homeland defense planning
within the States by the States, and within regions
through regional cooperations; the development and main-
tenance of Statewide training facilities and homeland best-
practices clearinghouses; and the development and mainte-
nance of communications systems that can be used be-
tween and among first responders, including law enforce-
ment, fire, and emergency medical personnel as follows:
(1) $325,000,000 to the States for homeland
defense planning and coordination;
(2) $50,000,000 to regional cooperations for
homeland defense planning and coordination;
(3) $50,000,000 to the States for the develop-
ment and maintenance of Statewide training facili-
ties and best-practices clearinghouses; and
(4) $75,000,000 to the States for the States
and for local communities for the development and
maintenance of communications systems that can be
used between and among first responders at the