‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the First 
Responder Grants Board established under section 
1804. 
‘‘(2) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘covered grant’ 
means any grant to which this title applies under sec-
tion 1802. 
‘‘(3) DIRECTLY ELIGIBLE TRIBE.—The term ‘di-
rectly eligible tribe’ means any Indian tribe or con-
sortium of Indian tribes that— 
‘‘(A) meets the criteria for inclusion in the 
qualified applicant pool for Self-Governance that 
are set forth in section 402(c) of the Indian Self- 
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 458bb(c)); 
‘‘(B) employs at least 10 full-time personnel 
in a law enforcement or emergency response 
agency with the capacity to respond to calls for 
law enforcement or emergency services; and 
‘‘(C)(i) is located on, or within 5 miles of, 
an international border or waterway; 
‘‘(ii) is located within 5 miles of a facility 
designated as high-risk critical infrastructure by 
the Secretary;
‘‘(iii) is located within or contiguous to one 
of the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in 
the United States; or 
‘‘(iv) has more than 1,000 square miles of 
Indian country, as that term is defined in sec-
tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code. 
‘‘(4) ELEVATIONS
IN
THE
THREAT
ALERT 
LEVEL.—The term ‘elevations in the threat alert level’ 
means any designation (including those that are less 
than national in scope) that raises the homeland secu-
rity threat level to either the highest or second highest 
threat level under the Homeland Security Advisory 
System referred to in section 201(d)(7). 
‘‘(5) EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS.—The term 
‘emergency preparedness’ shall have the same mean-
ing that term has under section 602 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a). 
‘‘(6) ESSENTIAL
CAPABILITIES.—The term ‘es-
sential capabilities’ means the levels, availability, and 
competence of emergency personnel, planning, train-
ing, and equipment across a variety of disciplines 
needed to effectively and efficiently prevent, prepare 
for, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism 
consistent with established practices.
‘‘(7) FIRST
RESPONDER.—The term ‘first re-
sponder’ shall have the same meaning as the term 
‘emergency response provider’. 
‘‘(8) INDIAN
TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 
means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga-
nized group or community, including any Alaskan 
Native village or regional or village corporation as 
defined in or established pursuant to the Alaskan Na-
tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 
which is recognized as eligible for the special pro-
grams and services provided by the United States to 
Indians because of their status as Indians. 
‘‘(9) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means— 
‘‘(A) any geographic area consisting of all 
or parts of 2 or more contiguous States, counties, 
municipalities, or other local governments that 
have a combined population of at least 1,650,000 
or have an area of not less than 20,000 square 
miles, and that, for purposes of an application 
for a covered grant, is represented by 1 or more 
governments or governmental agencies within 
such geographic area, and that is established by 
law or by agreement of 2 or more such govern-
ments or governmental agencies in a mutual aid 
agreement; or
‘‘(B) any other combination of contiguous 
local government units (including such a com-
bination established by law or agreement of two 
or more governments or governmental agencies 
in a mutual aid agreement) that is formally cer-
tified by the Secretary as a region for purposes 
of this Act with the consent of— 
‘‘(i) the State or States in which they 
are located, including a multi-State entity 
established by a compact between two or 
more States; and 
‘‘(ii) the incorporated municipalities, 
counties, and parishes that they encompass. 
‘‘(10) TASK
FORCE.—The term ‘Task Force’ 
means the Task Force on Terrorism Preparedness for 
First Responders established under section 1805. 
‘‘(11) TERRORISM
PREPAREDNESS.—The term 
‘terrorism preparedness’ means any activity designed 
to improve the ability to prevent, prepare for, respond 
to, mitigate against, or recover from threatened or ac-
tual terrorist attacks. 
‘‘SEC. 1802. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE-
SPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) COVERED GRANTS.—This title applies to grants 
provided by the Department to States, regions, or directly
eligible tribes for the primary purpose of improving the 
ability of first responders to prevent, prepare for, respond 
to, mitigate against, or recover from threatened or actual 
terrorist attacks, especially those involving weapons of mass 
destruction, administered 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. 
‘‘(3) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
TERRORISM
PREVEN-
TION
PROGRAM.—The Law Enforcement Terrorism 
Prevention Program of the Department, or any suc-
cessor 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. 1803. COVERED GRANT ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA. 
‘‘(a) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—Any State, region, or di-
rectly eligible tribe shall be eligible to apply for a covered 
grant. 
‘‘(b) GRANT CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall award 
covered grants to assist States and local governments in 
achieving, maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa-
bilities for terrorism preparedness established by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(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) describes the essential capabilities that 
communities within the State should possess, or 
to which they should have access, based upon the 
terrorism risk factors relevant to such commu-
nities, in order to meet the Department’s goals 
for terrorism preparedness; 
‘‘(B) demonstrates the extent to which the 
State has achieved the essential capabilities that 
apply to the State; 
‘‘(C) demonstrates the needs of the State 
necessary to achieve, maintain, or enhance the 
essential capabilities that apply to the State; 
‘‘(D) includes a prioritization of such needs 
based on threat, vulnerability, and consequence 
assessment factors applicable to the State; 
‘‘(E) describes how the State intends— 
‘‘(i) to address such needs at the city, 
county, regional, tribal, State, and inter-
state level, including a precise description of 
any regional structure the State has estab-
lished for the purpose of organizing home-
land security preparedness activities funded 
by covered grants;
‘‘(ii) to use all Federal, State, and 
local resources available for the purpose of 
addressing such needs; and 
‘‘(iii) to give particular emphasis to 
regional planning and cooperation, includ-
ing the activities of multijurisdictional 
planning agencies governed by local offi-
cials, both within its jurisdictional borders 
and with neighboring States; 
‘‘(F) with respect to the emergency pre-
paredness of first responders, addresses the 
unique aspects of terrorism as part of a com-
prehensive State emergency management plan; 
and 
‘‘(G) provides for coordination of response 
and recovery efforts at the local level, including 
procedures for effective incident command in 
conformance with the National Incident Manage-
ment System. 
‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The State plan submitted 
under paragraph (1) shall be developed in consulta-
tion with and subject to appropriate comment by 
local governments and first responders within the 
State.
‘‘(3) 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. 
‘‘(4) REVISIONS.—A State may revise the appli-
cable State homeland security plan approved by the 
Secretary under this subsection, subject to approval of 
the revision by the Secretary. 
‘‘(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.—Except as otherwise provided 
in this subsection, any State, region, or directly eligi-
ble tribe may apply for a covered grant by submitting 
to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as is re-
quired under this subsection, or as the Secretary may 
reasonably require. 
‘‘(2) 
DEADLINES
FOR
APPLICATIONS
AND 
AWARDS.—All applications for covered grants must be 
submitted at such time as the Secretary may reason-
ably require for the fiscal year for which they are sub-
mitted. The Secretary shall award covered grants
pursuant to all approved applications for such fiscal 
year as soon as practicable, but not later than March 
1 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, region, or directly eligible tribe 
to which the application 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 1806(g)(1), would assist in 
fulfilling the essential capabilities for terrorism 
preparedness 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 State, a descrip-
tion of how the State plans to allocate the cov-
ered grant funds to regions, local governments, 
and Indian tribes; 
‘‘(E) 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; 
‘‘(F) a capital budget showing how the ap-
plicant intends to allocate and expend the cov-
ered grant funds; 
‘‘(G) if the applicant is a directly eligible 
tribe, a designation of a specific individual to 
serve as the tribal liaison; and