IB 
Union Calendar No. 325 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3266 
[Report No. 108–460, Parts I, II, III, and IV] 
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to first 
responders, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 8, 2003 
Mr. COX introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Select Com-
mittee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Energy and Com-
merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
APRIL 2, 2004 
Reported from the Select Committee on Homeland Security with an 
amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
APRIL 2, 2004 
Referral to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judici-
ary, and Energy and Commerce extended for a period ending not later 
than June 7, 2004 
APRIL 2, 2004 
Referred to the Committee on Science for a period ending not later than April 
2, 2004 for consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendment 
as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(n), 
rule X 
APRIL 2, 2004 
The Committee on Science discharged 
JUNE 3, 2004 
Referral to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judici-
ary, and Energy and Commerce extended for a period ending not later 
than June 14, 2004 
JUNE 14, 2004 
Referral to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judici-
ary, and Energy and Commerce extended for a period ending not later 
than June 21, 2004 
JUNE 14, 2004 
Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface italic] 
JUNE 21, 2004 
Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with 
amendments 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman and 
amend the title] 
JUNE 21, 2004 
Additional sponsors: Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, 
Ms. DUNN, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 
SWEENEY, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mrs. MILLER 
of Michigan, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. FROST, Mr. TURNER of Ohio, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. CAMP, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ- 
BALART of Florida, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SMITH of 
Michigan, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 
STENHOLM, Mr. TURNER OF TEXAS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
PASCRELL, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. OWENS, 
Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 
BOEHLERT, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. DICKS, Mr. FEENEY, 
Ms. HARMAN, Mr. KELLER, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. 
WELDON of Florida, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. ROGERS 
of Michigan, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. HOLT, Mr. LEWIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. DAVIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. MALONEY, and Mr. LEWIS of 
Georgia 
JUNE 21, 2004 
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment; com-
mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic in brackets] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 8, 2003] 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to make 
grants to first responders, and for other purposes. 
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 
‘‘Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 
2004’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders. 
‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS 
‘‘1801. Faster and smarter funding for first responders. 
‘‘1802. Essential capabilities for first responders. 
‘‘1803. Task Force on Essential Capabilities for First Responders. 
‘‘1804. Covered grant eligibility and criteria. 
‘‘1805. Use of funds and accountability requirements. 
‘‘1806. National standards for first responder equipment and training. 
‘‘1807. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Modification of Homeland Security Advisory System. 
‘‘Sec. 203. Homeland Security Advisory System. 
Sec. 5. Coordination of industry efforts. 
Sec. 6. Superseded provision. 
Sec. 7. Sense of Congress regarding interoperable communications. 
Sec. 8. Sense of Congress regarding Citizen Corps councils. 
Sec. 9. Study regarding nationwide emergency notification system. 
Sec. 10. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) In order to achieve its objective of mini-
mizing the damage, and assisting in the recovery, 
from terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland 
Security must play a leading role in assisting com-
munities to reach the level of preparedness they need 
to respond to a terrorist attack. 
(2) First responder funding is not reaching the 
men and women of our Nation’s first response teams 
quickly enough, and sometimes not at all. 
(3) To reform the current bureaucratic process so 
that homeland security dollars reach the first respond-
ers who need it most, it is necessary to clarify and 
consolidate the authority and procedures of the De-
partment of Homeland Security to support first re-
sponders. 
(4) Ensuring adequate resources for the new na-
tional mission of homeland security requires a dis-
crete and separate grant making process for homeland 
security funds for first response to terrorist acts, on 
the one hand, and for first responder programs de-
signed to meet pre-9/11 priorities, on the other. 
(5) Homeland security grants to first responders 
must be based on the best intelligence concerning the 
capabilities and intentions of our terrorist enemies,
and that intelligence must be used to target resources 
to the Nation’s greatest risks, vulnerabilities, and con-
sequences. 
(6) The Nation’s first response capabilities will 
be improved by sharing resources, training, planning, 
personnel, and equipment among neighboring juris-
dictions through mutual aid agreements and regional 
cooperation. Such regional cooperation should be sup-
ported, where appropriate, through direct grants from 
the Department of Homeland Security. 
(7) An essential prerequisite to achieving the Na-
tion’s homeland security objectives for first responders 
is the establishment of well-defined national goals for 
terrorism preparedness. These goals should delineate 
the essential capabilities that every jurisdiction in the 
United States should possess or to which it should 
have access. 
(8) A national determination of essential capa-
bilities is needed to identify levels of State and local 
government terrorism preparedness, to determine the 
nature and extent of State and local first responder 
needs, to identify the human and financial resources 
required to fulfill them, and to direct funding to meet 
those needs and to measure preparedness levels on a 
national scale.
(9) To facilitate progress in attaining essential 
capabilities for State and local first responders, the 
Department of Homeland Security should seek to allo-
cate homeland security funding for first responders to 
meet nationwide needs. 
(10) Private sector resources and citizen volun-
teers can perform critical functions in assisting in 
preventing and responding to terrorist attacks, and 
should be integrated into State and local planning ef-
forts to ensure that their capabilities and roles are 
understood, so as to provide enhanced State and local 
operational capability and surge capacity. 
(11) Public-private partnerships, such as the 
partnerships between the Business Executives for Na-
tional Security and the States of New Jersey and 
Georgia, can be useful to identify and coordinate pri-
vate sector support for State and local first respond-
ers. Such models should be expanded to cover all 
States and territories. 
(12) An important component of national stand-
ards is measurability, so that it is possible to deter-
mine how prepared a State or local government is 
now, and what additional steps it needs to take, in 
order to respond to acts of terrorism.
(13) The Department of Homeland Security 
should establish, publish, and regularly update na-
tional voluntary consensus standards for both equip-
ment and training, in cooperation with both public 
and private sector standard setting organizations, to 
assist State and local governments in obtaining the 
equipment and training to attain the essential capa-
bilities for first response to acts of terrorism, and to 
ensure that first responder funds are spent wisely. 
SEC. 3. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE-
SPONDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Homeland Security Act of 
2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in section 1(b) in the table of contents by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS 
‘‘1801. Faster and smarter funding for first responders. 
‘‘1802. Essential capabilities for first responders. 
‘‘1803. Task Force on Essential Capabilities for First Responders. 
‘‘1804. Covered grant eligibility and criteria. 
‘‘1805. Use of funds and accountability requirements. 
‘‘1806. National standards for first responder equipment and training. 
‘‘1807. Definitions.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS 
‘‘SEC. 1801. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE-
SPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) COVERED GRANTS.—This title applies to any 
grant provided by the Department to States or regions to 
improve the ability of first responders to prevent, prepare 
for, respond to, or mitigate threatened or actual terrorist 
attacks, especially those involving weapons of mass destruc-
tion, and including any grant under the following: 
‘‘(1) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PRO-
GRAM.—The State Homeland Security Grant Pro-
gram of the Department, or any successor to such 
grant program. 
‘‘(2) URBAN AREA SECURITY INITIATIVE.—The 
Urban Area Security Initiative of the Department, or 
any successor to such grant program. 
‘‘(b) EXCLUDED PROGRAMS.—This title does not apply 
to or otherwise affect the following Federal grant programs 
or any grant under such a program: 
‘‘(1) NONDEPARTMENT PROGRAMS.—Any Federal 
grant program that is not administered by the De-
partment. 
‘‘(2) FIRE
GRANT
PROGRAMS.—The fire grant 
programs authorized by sections 33 and 34 of the
Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 
U.S.C. 2229, 2229a). 
‘‘(3) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND 
ASSISTANCE
ACCOUNT
GRANTS.—The 
Emergency 
Management Performance Grant program and the 
Urban Search and Rescue Grants program authorized 
by title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et 
seq.); the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Hous-
ing and Urban Development, and Independent Agen-
cies Appropriations Act, 2000 (113 Stat. 1047 et 
seq.); and the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 
1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.). 
‘‘SEC. 1802. ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES FOR FIRST RESPOND-
ERS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
clearly defined essential capabilities for State and 
local government preparedness for terrorism, in con-
sultation with— 
‘‘(A) the Task Force on Essential Capabili-
ties for First Responders established under sec-
tion 1803; 
‘‘(B) the Under Secretaries for Emergency 
Preparedness and Response, Border and Trans-
portation Security, Information Analysis and 
Infrastructure Protection, and Science and Tech-
nology, and the Director of the Office for Domes-
tic Preparedness; 
‘‘(C) other appropriate Federal agencies; 
‘‘(D) State and local first responder agen-
cies and officials; and 
‘‘(E) groups responsible for setting stand-
ards relevant to the first responder community. 
‘‘(2) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) establish essential capabilities under 
paragraph (1) within 30 days after receipt of the 
initial submission of a final report under section 
1803(c)(2); and 
‘‘(B) regularly update such essential capa-
bilities as necessary, but not less than every 3 
years. 
‘‘(3) PROVISION OF ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES.— 
The Secretary shall ensure that essential capabilities 
established under paragraph (1) are provided prompt-
ly to the States and to the Congress. The States shall 
make the essential capabilities available as necessary 
and appropriate to local governments within their ju-
risdictions.
‘‘(b) OBJECTIVES.—The Secretary shall ensure that es-
sential capabilities established under subsection (a)(1) meet 
the following objectives: 
‘‘(1) SPECIFICITY.—The determination of essen-
tial capabilities specifically shall describe the train-
ing, planning, personnel, and equipment that dif-
ferent types of communities in the Nation should pos-
sess, or to which they should have access, in order to 
meet the Department’s goals for terrorism prepared-
ness based upon— 
‘‘(A) the most current risk assessment avail-
able by the Directorate for Information Analysis 
and Infrastructure Protection of the threats of 
terrorism against the United States; and 
‘‘(B) the types of threats, vulnerabilities, ge-
ography, size, and other factors that the Sec-
retary has determined to be applicable to each 
different type of community. 
‘‘(2) FLEXIBILITY.—The establishment of essen-
tial capabilities shall be sufficiently flexible to allow 
State and local government officials to set priorities 
based on particular needs, while reaching nationally 
determined terrorism preparedness levels within a 
specified time period.
‘‘(3) MEASURABILITY.—The establishment of es-
sential capabilities shall be designed to enable meas-
urement of progress towards specific terrorism pre-
paredness goals. 
‘‘(c) THREATS TO BE CONSIDERED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing essential ca-
pabilities under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary spe-
cifically shall consider the variables of threat, vulner-
ability, and consequences with respect to the Nation’s 
population (including transient commuting and tour-
ist populations) and critical infrastructure. Such con-
sideration shall be based upon the most current risk 
assessment available by the Directorate for Informa-
tion Analysis and Infrastructure Protection of the 
threats of terrorism against the United States. 
‘‘(2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS.—The 
Secretary specifically shall consider threats of ter-
rorism against the following critical infrastructure 
sectors in all areas of the Nation, urban and rural: 
‘‘(A) Agriculture. 
‘‘(B) Banking and finance. 
‘‘(C) Chemical industries. 
‘‘(D) The defense industrial base. 
‘‘(E) Emergency services. 
‘‘(F) Energy.
‘‘(G) Food. 
‘‘(H) Government. 
‘‘(I) Postal and shipping. 
‘‘(J) Public health. 
‘‘(K) Information and telecommunications 
networks. 
‘‘(L) Transportation. 
‘‘(M) Water. 
The order in which the critical infrastructure sectors 
are listed in this paragraph shall not be construed as 
an order of priority for consideration of the impor-
tance of such sectors. 
‘‘(3) 
CONSIDERATION
OF
ADDITIONAL 
THREATS.—In 
establishing 
essential 
capabilities 
under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall take into 
account any other specific threat to a population (in-
cluding a transient commuting or tourist population) 
or critical infrastructure sector that the Secretary has 
determined to exist. 
‘‘SEC. 1803. TASK FORCE ON ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To assist the Secretary in es-
tablishing essential capabilities under section 1802(a)(1), 
the Secretary shall establish an advisory body to be known 
as the Task Force on Essential Capabilities for First Re-
sponders not later than 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this section. 
‘‘(b) DRAFT REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall submit 
to the Secretary, not later than one year after its es-
tablishment by the Secretary under subsection (a) and 
every 3 years thereafter, a draft report on its rec-
ommendations for the essential capabilities all State 
and local government first responders should possess, 
or to which they should have access, to enhance ter-
rorism preparedness, including— 
‘‘(A) to prevent a terrorist attack; 
‘‘(B) to protect persons and critical infra-
structure against attack; and 
‘‘(C) to enhance terrorism response and 
mitigation capabilities if such an attack occurs. 
‘‘(2) THREATS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DETER-
MINING ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In reporting to the Sec-
retary on its recommendations for essential ca-
pabilities, the Task Force specifically shall con-
sider the critical infrastructure sectors described 
in section 1802(c)(2), and the threats to popu-
lations in all areas of the Nation, urban and 
rural, including the following:
‘‘(i) Biological threats. 
‘‘(ii) Nuclear threats. 
‘‘(iii) Radiological threats. 
‘‘(iv) Incendiary threats. 
‘‘(v) Chemical threats. 
‘‘(vi) Explosives. 
‘‘(vii) Suicide bombers. 
‘‘(viii) Cyber threats. 
‘‘(ix) Any other threats based on prox-
imity to specific past acts of terrorism or 
the known activity of any terrorist group. 
‘‘(B) NO PRIORITY.—The order in which the 
threats are listed in subparagraph (A) shall not 
be construed as an order of priority for consider-
ation of the importance of such threats. 
‘‘(3) RISK-BASED.—The draft report shall be 
based upon the most current risk assessment available 
by the Directorate for Information Analysis and In-
frastructure Protection of the threats of terrorism 
against the United States provided to the Task Force 
pursuant to subsection (d). 
‘‘(4) CONTENTS.—The draft report shall— 
‘‘(A) include a priority ranking of essential 
capabilities, in order to provide guidance to the 
Secretary and to the Congress on determining
the appropriate allocation of, and funding levels 
for, first responder needs; 
‘‘(B) set forth a methodology by which any 
State or local government will be able to deter-
mine the extent to which it possesses or has ac-
cess to the essential capabilities that States and 
local governments having similar risks should 
obtain; 
‘‘(C) describe the availability of national 
voluntary consensus standards, and whether 
there is a need for new national voluntary con-
sensus standards, with respect to first responder 
training and equipment; 
‘‘(D) include such additional matters as the 
Secretary may specify in order to further the ter-
rorism preparedness capabilities of first respond-
ers; and 
‘‘(E) include such revisions to the contents 
of past reports as are necessary to take into ac-
count changes in the most current risk assess-
ment available by the Directorate for Informa-
tion Analysis and Infrastructure Protection or 
other relevant information as determined by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(c) REVIEW AND REVISION OF DRAFT REPORT.—
‘‘(1) REVIEW AND COMMENTS.—Within 30 days 
after the date of the submission of the draft report by 
the Task Force under subsection (b), the Secretary 
shall review and provide comments to the Task Force 
on the contents of the draft report. 
‘‘(2) REVISION AND SUBMISSION OF FINAL RE-
PORT.—Within 30 days after receiving the Secretary’s 
comments, the Task Force shall— 
‘‘(A) revise its draft report based on the 
comments provided by the Secretary, and any 
other comments it has solicited and received, if 
the Task Force determines that such revisions are 
appropriate; and 
‘‘(B) submit the final report on essential ca-
pabilities to the Secretary and to the Congress. 
‘‘(d) TASK FORCE ACCESS TO INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—For purposes of 
carrying out its responsibilities under this section, the 
Task Force shall be provided as a matter of priority 
appropriate security clearances, including interim se-
curity clearances. 
‘‘(2) ACCESS TO FINISHED INTELLIGENCE.—For 
purposes of carrying out its responsibilities under this 
section, the Task Force shall be provided access to all 
finished intelligence and analytic products it may re-
quest from the Directorate for Information Analysis 
and Infrastructure Protection or other sources within 
the Department concerning the nature and likelihood 
of terrorist attacks on the territory of the United 
States. 
‘‘(3) ACCESS TO ASSESSMENT TOOLS.—For pur-
poses of carrying out its responsibilities under this 
section, the Task Force shall be provided access to all 
tools or methodologies currently or formerly used by 
the Department and its predecessor organizations to 
assess the preparedness capabilities of State and local 
governments. 
‘‘(4) VALID CLEARANCES.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be considered to authorize a member of the 
Task Force to have access to classified information 
unless that member possesses a valid clearance to re-
ceive such information. 
‘‘(e) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall consist 
of 25 members appointed by the Secretary, and 
shall— 
‘‘(A) represent a cross section of first re-
sponder disciplines; and 
‘‘(B) include both State and local represent-
atives within each discipline.
‘‘(2) TERM
OF
MEMBERS.—Each appointed 
member of the Task Force shall serve for a term not 
to exceed 18 months. No individual may be appointed 
as a member of the Task Force for more than 2 terms. 
‘‘(3) SELECTION OF MEMBERS.—The Secretary 
shall include in the membership of the Task Force— 
‘‘(A) members selected from the emergency 
response field, including firefighters and law en-
forcement, hazardous materials response, emer-
gency medical services, and emergency manage-
ment personnel (including public works per-
sonnel routinely engaged in emergency response); 
‘‘(B) health scientists, emergency and inpa-
tient medical providers, and public health profes-
sionals, including experts in emergency health 
care response to chemical, biological, radio-
logical, and nuclear terrorism, and experts in 
providing mental health care during emergency 
response operations; 
‘‘(C) experts from Federal, State, and local 
governments, and the private sector, representing 
standards-setting organizations, including rep-
resentation from the voluntary consensus codes 
and standards development community, particu-
larly those with expertise in firefighting, law en-
forcement, and emergency medical services deliv-
ery; and 
‘‘(D) State and local officials with expertise 
in terrorism preparedness, subject to the condi-
tion that if any such officials are elected offi-
cials, an equal number shall be selected from 
each of the two major political parties. 
‘‘(4) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The Secretary shall 
designate one or more officers of the Department to 
serve as ex officio members of the Task Force, one of 
whom shall be the designated officer of the Federal 
Government for purposes of subsection (e) of section 
10 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 
‘‘(5) DIVERSITY
IN
COMPOSITION
OF
TASK 
FORCE.—In appointing members to the Task Force, 
the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent practicable, 
that its membership— 
‘‘(A) is geographically diverse; 
‘‘(B) includes representatives from both 
rural and urban jurisdictions; 
‘‘(C) includes representatives from both 
management and labor; 
‘‘(D) includes representatives from both uni-
formed and nonuniformed professions;
‘‘(E) includes representatives from both vol-
untary and professional services; 
‘‘(F) includes representatives from both gov-
ernment and nongovernment emergency medical 
services; and 
‘‘(G) includes sufficient personnel with secu-
rity clearances necessary to review classified ma-
terials that may be needed to conduct the busi-
ness of the Task Force. 
‘‘(6) CHAIR.—At the first meeting of the Task 
Force, the membership of the Task Force appointed 
under paragraph (3) shall elect a chair of the Task 
Force. 
‘‘(f) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall meet as often 
as necessary to complete reports in accordance with this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(g) PAY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Task Force 
shall serve without pay by reason of their work on the 
Task Force. 
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
OFFICERS
AND
EMPLOYEES.— 
Members of the Task Force who are officers or em-
ployees of the United States shall receive no addi-
tional pay by reason of their service as a member of 
the Task Force.
‘‘(h) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Task Force 
shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 
of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 
under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
Code, while away from their homes or regular places of 
business in the performance of services for the Task Force. 
‘‘(i) SERVICES, FUNDS, AND STAFF.—The Secretary 
shall provide to the Task Force, on a non-reimbursable 
basis, such administrative services, funds, staff, facilities, 
and other support services as the Secretary determines nec-
essary, in consultation with the chair of the Task Force, 
for the Task Force to perform its duties efficiently and in 
accordance with this section. 
‘‘(j) DETAILS.—Upon the request of the Task Force, 
the Secretary may detail, without reimbursement, any per-
sonnel of the Department to assist the Task Force in car-
rying out its duties. Any such detail of an employee shall 
be without interruption or loss of civil service status or 
privilege. 
‘‘(k) APPLICABILITY
OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.), including subsections (a), (b), and (d) of sec-
tion 10 of such Act, and section 552b(c) of title 5, United 
States Code, shall apply to the Task Force.
‘‘SEC. 1804. COVERED GRANT ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA. 
‘‘(a) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—Any State or region shall 
be eligible to apply for a covered grant. 
‘‘(b) GRANT CRITERIA.—In awarding covered grants, 
the Secretary shall assist States and local governments in 
achieving the essential capabilities for first responders es-
tablished by the Secretary under section 1802. 
‘‘(c) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY PLANS.— 
‘‘(1) SUBMISSION
OF
PLANS.—The Secretary 
shall require that any State applying to the Secretary 
for a covered grant must submit to the Secretary a 
3-year State homeland security plan that— 
‘‘(A) demonstrates the extent to which the 
State has achieved the essential capabilities that 
apply to the State, and describes the extent to 
which the State used the methodology developed 
pursuant to section 1803(b)(4)(B) to evaluate the 
level of its essential capabilities; 
‘‘(B) demonstrates the additional needs of 
the State necessary to achieve the essential capa-
bilities that apply to the State; 
‘‘(C) includes a prioritization of such addi-
tional needs based on threat, vulnerability, and 
consequence assessment factors applicable to the 
State; 
‘‘(D) describes how the State intends—
‘‘(i) to address such additional needs 
at the city, county, regional, State, and 
interstate level; 
‘‘(ii) to use all Federal, State, and 
local resources available for the purpose of 
addressing such additional needs; and 
‘‘(iii) to give particular emphasis to 
regional planning and cooperation, both 
within its jurisdictional borders and with 
neighboring States; and 
‘‘(E) is developed in consultation with and 
subject to appropriate comment by local govern-
ments within the State. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary 
may not award any covered grant to a State unless 
the Secretary has approved the applicable State home-
land security plan. 
‘‘(d) CONSISTENCY WITH STATE PLANS.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that each covered grant is used to sup-
plement and support, in a consistent and coordinated man-
ner, the applicable State homeland security plan or plans. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State or region may 
apply for a covered grant by submitting to the Sec-
retary an application at such time, in such manner,
and containing such information as is required under 
this subsection, or as the Secretary may reasonably 
require. 
‘‘(2) 
DEADLINES
FOR
APPLICATIONS
AND 
AWARDS.—All applications for covered grants must be 
submitted to the Secretary no later than February 15 
of the fiscal year for which they are submitted. The 
Secretary shall award covered grants pursuant to all 
approved applications for such fiscal year as soon as 
practicable, but not later than July 31 of such year. 
‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—All funds award-
ed by the Secretary under covered grants in a fiscal 
year shall be available for obligation through the end 
of the subsequent fiscal year. 
‘‘(4) MINIMUM CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The 
Secretary shall require that each applicant include in 
its application, at a minimum— 
‘‘(A) the purpose for which the applicant 
seeks covered grant funds and the reasons why 
the applicant needs the covered grant to meet the 
essential capabilities for terrorism preparedness 
within the State or region to which the applica-
tion pertains; 
‘‘(B) a description of how, by reference to 
the applicable State homeland security plan or
plans under subsection (c), the allocation of 
grant funding proposed in the application, in-
cluding, where applicable, the amount not passed 
through under section 1805(e)(1), would assist in 
fulfilling the essential capabilities specified in 
such plan or plans; 
‘‘(C) a statement of whether a mutual aid 
agreement applies to the use of all or any por-
tion of the covered grant funds; 
‘‘(D) if the applicant is a region— 
‘‘(i) a precise geographical description 
of the region and a specification of all par-
ticipating and nonparticipating local gov-
ernments within the geographical area com-
prising that region; 
‘‘(ii) a specification of what govern-
mental entity within the region will admin-
ister the expenditure of funds under the cov-
ered grant; and 
‘‘(iii) a designation of a specific indi-
vidual to serve as regional liaison; 
‘‘(E) a capital budget showing how the ap-
plicant intends to allocate and expend the cov-
ered grant funds; and
‘‘(F) a statement of how the applicant in-
tends to meet the matching requirement, if any, 
that applies under section 1805(e)(2). 
‘‘(5) REGIONAL APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) SUBMISSION TO STATE OR STATES.— 
To ensure the consistency required under sub-
section (d), an applicant that is a region must 
simultaneously submit its application to the De-
partment and to each State of which any part 
is included in the region. 
‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY FOR STATE COMMENT.— 
Before awarding any covered grant to a region, 
the Secretary shall provide an opportunity to 
each State of which any part is included in a re-
gion, during the 30-day period beginning on the 
date on which the region submits an application 
for a covered grant, to comment to the Secretary 
on the consistency of the region’s plan with the 
State’s homeland security plan. 
‘‘(C) FINAL
AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 
shall have final authority to determine the con-
sistency of any regional application with the ap-
plicable State homeland security plan or plans 
and approve any regional application. The Sec-
retary shall notify each State of which any part
is included in a region of the approval of a re-
gional application for that region. 
‘‘(D) REGIONAL LIAISONS.—A regional liai-
son designated under paragraph (4)(D)(iii) 
shall— 
‘‘(i) coordinate with Federal, State, 
local, regional, and private officials within 
the region concerning terrorism prepared-
ness; 
‘‘(ii) develop a process for receiving 
input from Federal, State, local, regional, 
and private sector officials within the re-
gion to assist in the development of the re-
gional application and to improve the re-
gion’s access to covered grants; and 
‘‘(iii) administer, in consultation with 
State, local, regional, and private officials 
within the region, covered grants awarded 
to the region. 
‘‘(6) EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.—If an applicant 
for a covered grant proposes to upgrade or purchase, 
with assistance provided under the grant, new equip-
ment or systems that do not meet or exceed any appli-
cable national voluntary consensus standards estab-
lished by the Secretary under section 1806(a), the ap-
plicant shall include in the application an expla-
nation of why such equipment or systems will serve 
the needs of the applicant better than equipment or 
systems that meet or exceed such standards. 
‘‘(f) FIRST RESPONDER GRANTS BOARD.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
BOARD.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a First Responder Grants 
Board, consisting of— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary; 
‘‘(B) the Under Secretary for Emergency 
Preparedness and Response; 
‘‘(C) the Under Secretary for Border and 
Transportation Security; 
‘‘(D) the Under Secretary for Information 
Analysis and Infrastructure Protection; 
‘‘(E) the Under Secretary for Science and 
Technology; and 
‘‘(F) the Director of the Office for Domestic 
Preparedness. 
‘‘(2) CHAIRMAN.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall be 
the Chairman of the Board. 
‘‘(B) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES BY DEP-
UTY
SECRETARY.—The Deputy Secretary of
Homeland Security may exercise the authorities 
of the Chairman, if the Secretary so directs. 
‘‘(3) RANKING OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) PRIORITIZATION
OF
GRANTS.—The 
Board shall evaluate and annually prioritize all 
pending applications for covered grants based 
upon the degree to which they would lessen the 
threat to, vulnerability of, and consequences for 
persons and critical infrastructure. 
‘‘(B) 
ACHIEVING
NATIONWIDE
CAPA-
BILITY.—In evaluating and prioritizing grant 
applications under subparagraph (A), the Board 
shall— 
‘‘(i) seek to achieve and enhance essen-
tial capabilities throughout the Nation; and 
‘‘(ii) seek to allocate a portion of the 
funds available for covered grants each fis-
cal year for the purpose of making covered 
grants to each approved applicant that the 
Board determines has demonstrated a valid 
need in its application. 
‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARIES.—The 
Under Secretaries referred to in paragraph (1) shall 
seek to ensure that the relevant expertise and input of
the staff of their directorates are available to and con-
sidered by the Board. 
‘‘SEC. 1805. USE OF FUNDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered grant may be used for— 
‘‘(1) purchasing or upgrading equipment, in-
cluding computer software, to enhance terrorism pre-
paredness and response; 
‘‘(2) exercises to strengthen terrorism prepared-
ness and response; 
‘‘(3) training for prevention (including detec-
tion) of, preparedness for, or response to attacks in-
volving weapons of mass destruction, including train-
ing in the use of equipment and computer software; 
‘‘(4) developing or updating response plans; 
‘‘(5) establishing or enhancing mechanisms for 
sharing terrorism threat information pursuant to this 
Act; 
‘‘(6) systems architecture and engineering, pro-
gram planning and management, strategy formula-
tion and strategic planning, life-cycle systems design, 
product and technology evaluation, and prototype de-
velopment for terrorism preparedness and response 
purposes; 
‘‘(7) additional personnel costs resulting from—
‘‘(A) elevations in the threat alert level of 
the Homeland Security Advisory System; 
‘‘(B) travel to and participation in exercises 
and training in the use of equipment and on 
prevention activities; and 
‘‘(C) the temporary replacement of per-
sonnel during any period of travel to and par-
ticipation in exercises and training in the use of 
equipment and on prevention activities; 
‘‘(8) the costs of equipment (including software) 
required to receive, transmit, handle, and store classi-
fied information; 
‘‘(9) enhancing facilities to serve as operations 
centers, or hardening critical infrastructure against 
potential attack by the addition of barriers, fences, 
gates, and other such devices; 
‘‘(10) the costs of commercially available equip-
ment that complies with, where applicable, national 
voluntary consensus standards, and that facilitates 
interoperability, coordination, and integration be-
tween emergency communications systems, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(A) mobile vehicles that contain equipment 
such as commercial telephone trunk lines, VHF
and UHF radios, patch panels, and crosspatches, 
among other technologies and equipment; and 
‘‘(B) communications system overlay soft-
ware and hardware that allow multiple dis-
parate communications networks to act as one 
network; 
‘‘(11) educational curricula development for first 
responders to ensure that they are prepared for ter-
rorist attacks; 
‘‘(12) training and exercises to assist public ele-
mentary and secondary schools in developing and im-
plementing programs to instruct students regarding 
age-appropriate skills to prepare for and respond to 
an act of terrorism; and 
‘‘(13) other appropriate activities as determined 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITED USES.—Funds provided as a cov-
ered grant may not be used— 
‘‘(1) to supplant State or local funds for, or oth-
erwise support, traditional missions of State and 
local law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical 
services, or public health agencies, unless such support 
serves a dual purpose and the funds are primarily in-
tended to enhance terrorism preparedness;
‘‘(2) to construct buildings or other physical fa-
cilities; 
‘‘(3) to acquire land; or 
‘‘(4) for any State or local government cost shar-
ing contribution. 
‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may 
not request that equipment paid for, wholly or in part, with 
funds provided as a covered grant be made available for 
responding to emergencies in surrounding States, regions, 
and localities, unless the Secretary undertakes to pay the 
costs directly attributable to transporting and operating 
such equipment during such response. 
‘‘(d) FLEXIBILITY IN UNSPENT HOMELAND SECURITY 
GRANT FUNDS.—Upon request by the recipient of a covered 
grant, the Secretary may authorize the grantee to transfer 
all or part of funds provided as the covered grant from uses 
specified in the grant agreement to other uses authorized 
under this section, if the Secretary determines that such 
transfer is in the interests of homeland security. 
‘‘(e) STATE AND REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) PASS-THROUGH.—The Secretary shall re-
quire a recipient of a covered grant that is a State 
to obligate or otherwise make available to local gov-
ernments, first responders, and other local groups, to 
the extent required under the State homeland security
plan or plans specified in the application for the 
grant, not less than 80 percent of the grant funds, re-
sources purchased with the grant funds having a 
value equal to at least 80 percent of the amount of 
the grant, or a combination thereof, by not later than 
the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date the 
grant recipient receives the grant funds. 
‘‘(2) COST SHARING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 
the costs of an activity carried out with a cov-
ered grant to a State or region awarded after the 
2-year period beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this section shall not exceed 75 percent. 
‘‘(B) INTERIM RULE.—The Federal share of 
the costs of an activity carried out with a cov-
ered grant awarded before the end of the 2-year 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this section shall be 100 percent. 
‘‘(C) IN-KIND MATCHING.—Each recipient of 
a covered grant may meet the matching require-
ment under subparagraph (A) by making in- 
kind contributions of goods or services that are 
directly linked with the purpose for which the 
grant is made, including, but not limited to, any 
necessary personnel overtime, contractor services,
administrative costs, equipment fuel and mainte-
nance, and rental space. 
‘‘(3) CERTIFICATIONS REGARDING DISTRIBUTION 
OF
GRANT
FUNDS
TO
LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS.—Any 
State that receives a covered grant shall certify to the 
Secretary, by not later than 30 days after the expira-
tion of the period described in paragraph (1) with re-
spect to the grant, that the State has made available 
for expenditure by local governments, first responders, 
and other local groups the required amount of grant 
funds pursuant to paragraph (1). 
‘‘(4) REPORT ON HOMELAND SECURITY SPEND-
ING.—Each recipient of a covered grant shall submit 
a report to the Secretary not later than 60 days after 
the end of each fiscal year. Each recipient of a cov-
ered grant that is a region must simultaneously sub-
mit its report to each State of which any part is in-
cluded in the region. Each report must include the 
following: 
‘‘(A) The amount, ultimate recipients, and 
dates of receipt of all funds received under the 
grant during the previous fiscal year. 
‘‘(B) The amount and the dates of disburse-
ments of all such funds expended in compliance 
with paragraph (1) or pursuant to mutual aid
agreements or other sharing arrangements that 
apply within the State or region, as applicable, 
during the previous fiscal year. 
‘‘(C) How the funds were utilized by each 
ultimate recipient or beneficiary during the pre-
ceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(D) The extent to which essential capabili-
ties identified in the applicable State homeland 
security plan or plans were achieved or enhanced 
as the result of the expenditure of grant funds 
during the preceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(E) The extent to which essential capabili-
ties identified in the applicable State homeland 
security plan or plans remain unmet. 
‘‘(5) INCLUSION OF RESTRICTED ANNEXES.—A 
recipient of a covered grant may submit to the Sec-
retary an annex to the report under paragraph (4) 
that is subject to appropriate handling restrictions, if 
the recipient believes that discussion in the report of 
unmet needs would reveal sensitive but unclassified 
information. 
‘‘(6) PROVISION
OF
REPORTS.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that each report under paragraph (4) is 
provided to the Under Secretary for Emergency Pre-
paredness and Response and the Director of the Office 
for Domestic Preparedness. 
‘‘(f) INCENTIVES TO EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF 
HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) 
PENALTIES
FOR
DELAY
IN
PASSING 
THROUGH LOCAL SHARE.—If a recipient of a covered 
grant that is a State fails to pass through to local 
governments, first responders, and other local groups 
funds or resources required by subsection (e)(1) with-
in 45 days after receiving funds under the grant, the 
Secretary may— 
‘‘(A) reduce grant payments to the grant re-
cipient from the portion of grant funds that is 
not required to be passed through under sub-
section (e)(1); 
‘‘(B) terminate payment of funds under the 
grant to the recipient, and transfer the appro-
priate portion of those funds directly to local 
first responders that were intended to receive 
funding under that grant; or 
‘‘(C) impose additional restrictions or bur-
dens on the recipient’s use of funds under the 
grant, which may include—
‘‘(i) prohibiting use of such funds to 
pay the grant recipient’s grant-related over-
time or other expenses; 
‘‘(ii) requiring the grant recipient to 
distribute to local government beneficiaries 
all or a portion of grant funds that are not 
required to be passed through under sub-
section (e)(1); or 
‘‘(iii) for each day that the grant re-
cipient fails to pass through funds or re-
sources in accordance with subsection (e)(1), 
reducing grant payments to the grant re-
cipient from the portion of grant funds that 
is not required to be passed through under 
subsection (e)(1), except that the total 
amount of such reduction may not exceed 
20 percent of the total amount of the grant. 
‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF PERIOD.—The Governor of a 
State may request in writing that the Secretary ex-
tend the 45-day period under paragraph (1) for an 
additional 15-day period. The Secretary may approve 
such a request, and may extend such period for addi-
tional 15-day periods, if the Secretary determines 
that the resulting delay in providing grant funding to 
the local government entities that will receive funding
under the grant will not have a significant detri-
mental impact on such entities’ terrorism prepared-
ness efforts. 
‘‘(3) PROVISION OF NON-LOCAL SHARE TO LOCAL 
GOVERNMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
upon request by a local government pay to the 
local government a portion of the amount of a 
covered grant awarded to a State in which the 
local government is located, if— 
‘‘(i) the local government will use the 
amount paid to expedite planned enhance-
ments to its terrorism preparedness as de-
scribed in any applicable State homeland 
security plan or plans; 
‘‘(ii) the State has failed to pass 
through funds or resources in accordance 
with subsection (e)(1); and 
‘‘(iii) the local government complies 
with subparagraphs (B) and (C). 
‘‘(B) SHOWING
REQUIRED.—To receive a 
payment under this paragraph, a local govern-
ment must demonstrate that—
‘‘(i) it is identified explicitly as an ul-
timate recipient or intended beneficiary in 
the approved grant application; 
‘‘(ii) it was intended by the grantee to 
receive a severable portion of the overall 
grant for a specific purpose that is identi-
fied in the grant application; 
‘‘(iii) it petitioned the grantee for the 
funds or resources after expiration of the pe-
riod within which the funds or resources 
were required to be passed through under 
subsection (e)(1); and 
‘‘(iv) it did not receive the portion of 
the overall grant that was earmarked or 
designated for its use or benefit. 
‘‘(C) EFFECT
OF
PAYMENT.—Payment of 
grant funds to a local government under this 
paragraph— 
‘‘(i) shall not affect any payment to 
another local government under this para-
graph; and 
‘‘(ii) shall not prejudice consideration 
of a request for payment under this para-
graph that is submitted by another local 
government.
‘‘(D) DEADLINE
FOR
ACTION
BY
SEC-
RETARY.—The Secretary shall approve or dis-
approve each request for payment under this 
paragraph by not later than 15 days after the 
date the request is received by the Department. 
‘‘(g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
submit an annual report to the Congress by December 31 
of each year— 
‘‘(1) describing in detail the amount of Federal 
funds provided as covered grants that were directed to 
each State and region in the preceding fiscal year; 
‘‘(2) containing information on the use of such 
grant funds by grantees; and 
‘‘(3) describing, on a nationwide and State-by- 
State basis— 
‘‘(A) the extent to which essential capabili-
ties identified in applicable State homeland secu-
rity plan or plans were created or enhanced as 
the result of the expenditure of covered grant 
funds during the preceding fiscal year; 
‘‘(B) the extent to which essential capabili-
ties identified in applicable State homeland secu-
rity plan or plans remain unmet; and 
‘‘(C) an estimate of the amount of Federal, 
State, and local expenditures required to attain
across the United States the essential capabilities 
established under section 1802(a). 
‘‘SEC. 1806. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR FIRST RESPONDER 
EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING. 
‘‘(a) EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Under Secretary for Science and Tech-
nology and the Director of the Office for Domestic 
Preparedness, shall, not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this section, support the develop-
ment of, promulgate, and update as necessary na-
tional voluntary consensus standards for the perform-
ance, use, and validation of first responder equipment 
for purposes of section 1804(e)(6). Such standards— 
‘‘(A) shall be, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, consistent with any existing voluntary 
consensus standards; 
‘‘(B) shall take into account, as appro-
priate, new types of terrorism threats that may 
not have been contemplated when such existing 
standards were developed; and 
‘‘(C) shall be focused on maximizing inter-
operability, interchangeability, durability, flexi-
bility, efficiency, efficacy, portability, sustain-
ability, and safety.
‘‘(2) REQUIRED CATEGORIES.—In carrying out 
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall specifically con-
sider the following categories of first responder equip-
ment: 
‘‘(A) Thermal imaging equipment. 
‘‘(B) Radiation detection and analysis 
equipment. 
‘‘(C) Biological detection and analysis 
equipment. 
‘‘(D) Chemical detection and analysis 
equipment. 
‘‘(E) Decontamination and sterilization 
equipment. 
‘‘(F) Personal protective equipment, includ-
ing garments, boots, gloves, and hoods and other 
protective clothing. 
‘‘(G) Respiratory protection equipment. 
‘‘(H) Interoperable communications, includ-
ing wireless and wireline voice, video, and data 
networks. 
‘‘(I) Explosive mitigation devices and explo-
sive detection and analysis equipment. 
‘‘(J) Containment vessels. 
‘‘(K) Contaminant-resistant vehicles.