I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1544
To provide faster and smarter funding for first responders, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 12, 2005
Mr. COX (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, 
Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of Cali-
fornia, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. 
DICKS, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. LINDER, Mrs. LOWEY, 
Mr. SOUDER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. ZOE 
LOFGREN of California, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Ms. 
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. GIBBONS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. SIM-
MONS, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 
PEARCE, Mr. MEEK
of Florida, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. JINDAL, Mr. 
REICHERT, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. DENT, and Mr. DEFAZIO) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Home-
land Security 
A BILL 
To provide faster and smarter funding for 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Faster and Smarter 
Funding for First Responders Act of 2005’’.
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 re-
sponders who need it most, it is necessary to clarify 
and consolidate the authority and procedures of the 
Department of Homeland Security that support first 
responders. 
(4) Ensuring adequate resources for the new 
national mission of homeland security, without de-
grading the ability to address effectively other types 
of major disasters and emergencies, requires a dis-
crete and separate grant making process for home-
land security funds for first response to terrorist 
acts, on the one hand, and for first responder pro-
grams designed to meet pre-September 11 priorities, 
on the other.
(5) While a discrete homeland security grant 
making process is necessary to ensure proper focus 
on the unique aspects of terrorism prevention, pre-
paredness, and response, it is essential that State 
and local strategies for utilizing such grants be inte-
grated, to the greatest extent practicable, with exist-
ing State and local emergency management plans. 
(6) Homeland security grants to first respond-
ers must be based on the best intelligence con-
cerning the capabilities and intentions of our ter-
rorist enemies, and that intelligence must be used to 
target resources to the Nation’s greatest threats, 
vulnerabilities, and consequences. 
(7) The Nation’s first response capabilities will 
be improved by sharing resources, training, plan-
ning, personnel, and equipment among neighboring 
jurisdictions through mutual aid agreements and re-
gional cooperation. Such regional cooperation should 
be supported, where appropriate, through direct 
grants from the Department of Homeland Security. 
(8) An essential prerequisite to achieving the 
Nation’s homeland security objectives for first re-
sponders is the establishment of well-defined na-
tional 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. 
(9) 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 re-
sponder needs, to identify the human and financial 
resources required to fulfill them, and to direct fund-
ing to meet those needs and to measure prepared-
ness levels on a national scale. 
(10) To facilitate progress in achieving, main-
taining, and enhancing essential capabilities for 
State and local first responders, the Department of 
Homeland Security should seek to allocate homeland 
security funding for first responders to meet nation-
wide needs. 
(11) 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 
efforts to ensure that their capabilities and roles are 
understood, so as to provide enhanced State and 
local operational capability and surge capacity. 
(12) Public-private partnerships, such as the 
partnerships between the Business Executives for
National 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. 
(13) An important aspect of essential capabili-
ties 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. 
(14) 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 
amended—
(1) in section 1(b) in the table of contents by 
adding at the end the following:
‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS 
‘‘Sec. 1801. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 1802. Faster and smarter funding for first responders. 
‘‘Sec. 1803. Essential capabilities for first responders. 
‘‘Sec. 1804. Task Force on Essential Capabilities for First Responders. 
‘‘Sec. 1805. Covered grant eligibility and criteria. 
‘‘Sec. 1806. Use of funds and accountability requirements. 
‘‘Sec. 1807. National standards for first responder equipment and training.’’;
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS 
‘‘SEC. 1801. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 
First Responder Grants Board established under 
section 1805(f). 
‘‘(2) COVERED
GRANT.—The term ‘covered 
grant’ means any grant to which this title applies 
under section 1802. 
‘‘(3) DIRECTLY
ELIGIBLE
TRIBE.—The term 
‘directly eligible tribe’ means any Indian tribe or 
consortium 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 In-
dian Self-Determination and Education Assist-
ance Act (25 U.S.C. 458bb(c)); 
‘‘(B) employs at least 10 full-time per-
sonnel in a law enforcement or emergency re-
sponse 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 
within a critical infrastructure sector identified 
in section 1803(c)(2); 
‘‘(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 security 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 Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a). 
‘‘(6) ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES.—The term ‘es-
sential capabilities’ means the levels, availability, 
and competence of emergency personnel, planning, 
training, and equipment across a variety of dis-
ciplines needed to effectively and efficiently prevent, 
prepare for, and respond to acts of terrorism con-
sistent 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 
Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 
seq.), which is recognized as eligible for the special
programs 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, coun-
ties, 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 rep-
resented by 1 or more governments or govern-
mental agencies within such geographic area, 
and that is established by law or by agreement 
of 2 or more such governments 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 encom-
pass. 
‘‘(10) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘Task Force’ 
means the Task Force on Essential Capabilities for 
First Responders established under section 1804. 
‘‘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, or mitigate threatened or actual terrorist attacks, espe-
cially those involving weapons of mass destruction, admin-
istered 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. 
‘‘(4) CITIZEN
CORPS
PROGRAM.—The Citizen 
Corps Program 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 Fed-
eral grant program that is not administered by the 
Department. 
‘‘(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 Emer-
gency Management Performance Grant program and 
the Urban Search and Rescue Grants program au-
thorized by title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Dis-
aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5195 et seq.); the Departments of Veterans 
Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 
(113 Stat. 1047 et seq.); and the Earthquake Haz-
ards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et 
seq.). 
‘‘SEC. 1803. ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES FOR FIRST RESPOND-
ERS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
ESSENTIAL
CAPABILI-
TIES.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of covered 
grants, the Secretary shall establish clearly defined 
essential capabilities for State and local government 
preparedness for terrorism, in consultation with—
‘‘(A) the Task Force on Essential Capabili-
ties for First Responders established under sec-
tion 1804; 
‘‘(B) the Under Secretaries for Emergency 
Preparedness and Response, Border and Trans-
portation Security, Information Analysis and 
Infrastructure Protection, and Science and 
Technology, and the Director of the Office for 
Domestic Preparedness; 
‘‘(C) the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services; 
‘‘(D) other appropriate Federal agencies;
‘‘(E) State and local first responder agen-
cies and officials; and 
‘‘(F) consensus-based standard making or-
ganizations responsible for setting standards 
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 report under section 1804(b); and 
‘‘(B) regularly update such essential capa-
bilities as necessary, but not less than every 3 
years. 
‘‘(3) PROVISION
OF
ESSENTIAL
CAPABILI-
TIES.—The Secretary shall ensure that a detailed 
description of the essential capabilities established 
under paragraph (1) is provided promptly to the 
States and to the Congress. The States shall make 
the essential capabilities available as necessary and 
appropriate to local governments within their juris-
dictions. 
‘‘(b) OBJECTIVES.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
essential capabilities established under subsection (a)(1) 
meet the following objectives: 
‘‘(1) SPECIFICITY.—The determination of es-
sential capabilities specifically shall describe the
training, planning, personnel, and equipment that 
different types of communities in the Nation should 
possess, or to which they should have access, in 
order to meet the Department’s goals for terrorism 
preparedness based upon—
‘‘(A) the most current risk assessment 
available by the Directorate for Information 
Analysis and Infrastructure Protection of the 
threats of terrorism against the United States; 
‘‘(B) the types of threats, vulnerabilities, 
geography, size, and other factors that the Sec-
retary has determined to be applicable to each 
different type of community; and 
‘‘(C) the principles of regional coordination 
and mutual aid among State and local govern-
ments. 
‘‘(2) FLEXIBILITY.—The establishment of es-
sential capabilities shall be sufficiently flexible to 
allow State and local government officials to set pri-
orities based on particular needs, while reaching na-
tionally determined terrorism preparedness levels 
within a specified time period. 
‘‘(3) MEASURABILITY.—The establishment of 
essential capabilities shall be designed to enable
measurement of progress towards specific terrorism 
preparedness goals. 
‘‘(4) COMPREHENSIVENESS.—The determina-
tion of essential capabilities for terrorism prepared-
ness shall be made within the context of a com-
prehensive State emergency management system. 
‘‘(c) FACTORS 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 Na-
tion’s population (including transient commuting 
and tourist populations) and critical infrastructure. 
Such consideration shall be based upon the most 
current risk assessment available by the Directorate 
for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protec-
tion of the threats of terrorism against the United 
States. 
‘‘(2) CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
SECTORS.—
The Secretary specifically shall consider threats of 
terrorism 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 im-
portance of such sectors. 
‘‘(3) TYPES OF THREAT.—The Secretary spe-
cifically shall consider the following types of threat 
to the critical infrastructure sectors described in 
paragraph (2), and to populations in all areas of the 
Nation, urban and rural: 
‘‘(A) Biological threats. 
‘‘(B) Nuclear threats. 
‘‘(C) Radiological threats. 
‘‘(D) Incendiary threats. 
‘‘(E) Chemical threats.
‘‘(F) Explosives. 
‘‘(G) Suicide bombers. 
‘‘(H) Cyber threats. 
‘‘(I) Any other threats based on proximity 
to specific past acts of terrorism or the known 
activity of any terrorist group. 
The order in which the types of threat are listed in 
this paragraph shall not be construed as an order of 
priority for consideration of the importance of such 
threats. 
‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION
OF
ADDITIONAL
FAC-
TORS.—In establishing essential capabilities under 
subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall take into ac-
count 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. 1804. TASK FORCE ON ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To assist the Secretary in 
establishing 
essential 
capabilities 
under 
section 
1803(a)(1), the Secretary shall establish an advisory body 
pursuant to section 871(a) not later than 60 days after 
the date of the enactment of this section, which shall be
known as the Task Force on Essential Capabilities for 
First Responders. 
‘‘(b) REPORT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall sub-
mit to the Secretary, not later than 9 months after 
its establishment by the Secretary under subsection 
(a) and every 3 years thereafter, a report on its rec-
ommendations for essential capabilities for prepared-
ness for terrorism. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The 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 re-
sponder training and equipment; 
‘‘(D) include such additional matters as 
the Secretary may specify in order to further 
the terrorism preparedness capabilities of first 
responders; 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. 
‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY
WITH
FEDERAL
WORKING 
GROUP.—The Task Force shall ensure that its rec-
ommendations for essential capabilities are, to the 
extent feasible, consistent with any preparedness 
goals or recommendations of the Federal working 
group established under section 319F(a) of the Pub-
lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6(a)). 
‘‘(4) COMPREHENSIVENESS.—The Task Force 
shall ensure that its recommendations regarding es-
sential capabilities for terrorism preparedness are 
made within the context of a comprehensive State 
emergency management system.
‘‘(5) PRIOR MEASURES.—The Task Force shall 
ensure that its recommendations regarding essential 
capabilities for terrorism preparedness take into ac-
count any capabilities that State or local officials 
have determined to be essential and have undertaken 
since September 11, 2001, to prevent or prepare for 
terrorist attacks. 
‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall con-
sist of 25 members appointed by the Secretary, and 
shall, to the extent practicable, represent a geo-
graphic and substantive cross section of govern-
mental and nongovernmental first responder dis-
ciplines from the State and local levels, including as 
appropriate—
‘‘(A) members selected from the emergency 
response field, including fire service 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 re-
sponse); 
‘‘(B) health scientists, emergency and in-
patient medical providers, and public health 
professionals, including experts in emergency
health care response to chemical, biological, ra-
diological, 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, rep-
resenting standards-setting organizations, in-
cluding representation from the voluntary con-
sensus codes and standards development com-
munity, particularly those with expertise in first 
responder disciplines; and 
‘‘(D) State and local officials with exper-
tise in terrorism preparedness, subject to the 
condition that if any such official is an elected 
official representing one of the two major polit-
ical parties, an equal number of elected officials 
shall be selected from each such party. 
‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT 
OF HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES.—In the selec-
tion of members of the Task Force who are health 
professionals, including emergency medical profes-
sionals, the Secretary shall coordinate the selection 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
‘‘(3) EX
OFFICIO
MEMBERS.—The Secretary 
and the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall each designate one or more officers of their re-
spective Departments to serve as ex officio members 
of the Task Force. One of the ex officio members 
from the Department of Homeland Security shall be 
the designated officer of the Federal Government for 
purposes of subsection (e) of section 10 of the Fed-
eral Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.). 
‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE ACT.—Notwithstanding section 871(a), the Fed-
eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), including 
subsections (a), (b), and (d) of section 10 of such Act, 
and section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code, shall 
apply to the Task Force. 
‘‘SEC. 1805. 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.—In awarding covered grants, 
the Secretary shall assist States and local governments in 
achieving, maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa-
bilities for first responders established by the Secretary 
under section 1803. 
‘‘(c) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY PLANS.—
‘‘(1) SUBMISSION
OF
PLANS.—The Secretary 
shall require that any State applying to the Sec-
retary for a covered grant must submit to the Sec-
retary 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; 
‘‘(B) demonstrates the needs of the State 
necessary to achieve, maintain, or enhance the 
essential capabilities that apply to the State; 
‘‘(C) includes a prioritization of such needs 
based on threat, vulnerability, and consequence 
assessment factors applicable to the State; 
‘‘(D) 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 es-
tablished for the purpose of organizing 
homeland 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; 
‘‘(E) is developed in consultation with and 
subject to appropriate comment by local govern-
ments within the State; and 
‘‘(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. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL
BY
SECRETARY.—The Sec-
retary may not award any covered grant to a State 
unless the Secretary has approved the applicable 
State homeland 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 
manner, the applicable State homeland security plan or 
plans. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this subsection, any State, region, or di-
rectly eligible tribe may apply for a covered grant by 
submitting to the Secretary an application at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion 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 at such time as the Secretary may rea-
sonably require for 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 
March 1 of such year. 
‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—All funds 
awarded 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 in-
clude 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 prepared-
ness 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 spec-
ified 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 
comprising that region; 
‘‘(ii) a specification of what govern-
mental entity within the region will admin-
ister the expenditure of funds under the 
covered 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 
‘‘(H) a statement of how the applicant in-
tends to meet the matching requirement, if any, 
that applies under section 1806(g)(2). 
‘‘(5) REGIONAL APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(A) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE APPLICA-
TIONS.—A regional application—
‘‘(i) shall be coordinated with an ap-
plication submitted by the State or States 
of which such region is a part; 
‘‘(ii) shall supplement and avoid dupli-
cation with such State application; and 
‘‘(iii) shall address the unique regional 
aspects of such region’s terrorism pre-
paredness needs beyond those provided for 
in the application of such State or States. 
‘‘(B) STATE REVIEW AND SUBMISSION.—
To ensure the consistency required under sub-
section (d) and the coordination required under 
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, an appli-
cant that is a region must submit its applica-
tion to each State of which any part is included 
in the region for review and concurrence prior 
to the submission of such application to the 
Secretary. The regional application shall be 
transmitted to the Secretary through each such 
State within 30 days of its receipt, unless the 
Governor of such a State notifies the Secretary, 
in writing, that such regional application is in-
consistent with the State’s homeland security 
plan and provides an explanation of the reasons 
therefor. 
‘‘(C) 
DISTRIBUTION
OF
REGIONAL 
AWARDS.—If the Secretary approves a regional 
application, then the Secretary shall distribute 
a regional award to the State or States submit-
ting the applicable regional application under 
subparagraph (B), and each such State shall, 
not later than the end of the 45-day period be-
ginning on the date after receiving a regional 
award, pass through to the region all covered 
grant funds or resources purchased with such 
funds, except those funds necessary for the 
State to carry out its responsibilities with re-
spect to such regional application: Provided
That, in no such case shall the State or States 
pass through to the region less than 80 percent 
of the regional award. 
‘‘(D) CERTIFICATIONS
REGARDING
DIS-
TRIBUTION OF GRANT FUNDS TO REGIONS.—
Any State that receives a regional award under 
subparagraph (C) shall certify to the Secretary, 
by not later than 30 days after the expiration 
of the period described in subparagraph (C) 
with respect to the grant, that the State has 
made available to the region the required funds 
and resources in accordance with subparagraph 
(C). 
‘‘(E) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO REGIONS.—If 
any State fails to pass through a regional 
award to a region as required by subparagraph 
(C) within 45 days after receiving such award 
and does not request or receive an extension of 
such period under section 1806(h)(2), the re-
gion may petition the Secretary to receive di-
rectly the portion of the regional award that is 
required to be passed through to such region 
under subparagraph (C).
‘‘(F) REGIONAL LIAISONS.—A regional li-
aison designated under paragraph (4)(E)(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) TRIBAL APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(A) SUBMISSION
TO
THE
STATE
OR 
STATES.—To ensure the consistency required 
under subsection (d), an applicant that is a di-
rectly eligible tribe must submit its application 
to each State within the boundaries of which 
any part of such tribe is located for direct sub-
mission to the Department along with the appli-
cation of such State or States. 
‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY
FOR
STATE
COM-
MENT.—Before awarding any covered grant to 
a directly eligible tribe, the Secretary shall pro-
vide an opportunity to each State within the 
boundaries of which any part of such tribe is lo-
cated to comment to the Secretary on the con-
sistency of the tribe’s application with the 
State’s homeland security plan. Any such com-
ments shall be submitted to the Secretary con-
currently with the submission of the State and 
tribal applications. 
‘‘(C) FINAL
AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 
shall have final authority to determine the con-
sistency of any application of a directly eligible 
tribe with the applicable State homeland secu-
rity plan or plans, and to approve any applica-
tion of such tribe. The Secretary shall notify 
each State within the boundaries of which any 
part of such tribe is located of the approval of 
an application by such tribe. 
‘‘(D) TRIBAL
LIAISON.—A tribal liaison 
designated under paragraph (4)(G) shall—
‘‘(i) coordinate with Federal, State, 
local, regional, and private officials con-
cerning terrorism preparedness; 
‘‘(ii) develop a process for receiving 
input from Federal, State, local, regional, 
and private sector officials to assist in the 
development of the application of such 
tribe and to improve the tribe’s access to 
covered grants; and 
‘‘(iii) administer, in consultation with 
State, local, regional, and private officials, 
covered grants awarded to such tribe. 
‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON THE NUMBER OF DI-
RECT GRANTS.—The Secretary may make cov-
ered grants directly to not more than 20 di-
rectly eligible tribes per fiscal year. 
‘‘(F) TRIBES
NOT
RECEIVING
DIRECT 
GRANTS.—An Indian tribe that does not receive 
a grant directly under this section is eligible to 
receive funds under a covered grant from the 
State or States within the boundaries of which 
any part of such tribe is located, consistent with 
the homeland security plan of the State as de-
scribed in subsection (c). If a State fails to 
comply with section 1806(g)(1), the tribe may
request payment under section 1806(h)(3) in 
the same manner as a local government. 
‘‘(7) 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 ap-
plicable national voluntary consensus standards es-
tablished by the Secretary under section 1807(a), 
the applicant shall include in the application an ex-
planation of why such equipment or systems will 
serve the needs of the applicant better than equip-
ment 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 Domes-
tic 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—
‘‘(i) 
shall 
evaluate 
and 
annually 
prioritize all pending applications for cov-
ered grants based upon the degree to 
which they would, by achieving, maintain-
ing, or enhancing the essential capabilities 
of the applicants on a nationwide basis, 
lessen the threat to, vulnerability of, and 
consequences for persons and critical infra-
structure; and 
‘‘(ii) in evaluating the threat to per-
sons and critical infrastructure for pur-
poses of prioritizing covered grants, shall 
give greater weight to threats of terrorism
based on their specificity and credibility, 
including any pattern of repetition. 
‘‘(B) MINIMUM
AMOUNTS.—After evalu-
ating and prioritizing grant applications under 
subparagraph (A), the Board shall ensure that, 
for each fiscal year—
‘‘(i) each of the States, other than the 
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, 
and the Northern Mariana Islands, that 
has an approved State homeland security 
plan receives no less than 0.25 percent of 
the funds available for covered grants for 
that fiscal year for purposes of imple-
menting its homeland security plan in ac-
cordance with the prioritization of needs 
under subsection (c)(1)(C); 
‘‘(ii) each of the States, other than 
the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, 
that has an approved State homeland secu-
rity plan and that meets one or both of the 
additional 
high-risk 
qualifying 
criteria 
under subparagraph (C) receives no less 
than 0.45 percent of the funds available 
for covered grants for that fiscal year for
purposes of implementing its homeland se-
curity 
plan 
in 
accordance 
with 
the 
prioritization of needs under subsection 
(c)(1)(C); 
‘‘(iii) the Virgin Islands, American 
Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana 
Islands each receives no less than 0.08 per-
cent of the funds available for covered 
grants for that fiscal year for purposes of 
implementing its approved State homeland 
security plan in accordance with the 
prioritization of needs under subsection 
(c)(1)(C); and 
‘‘(iv) directly eligible tribes collectively 
receive no less than 0.08 percent of the 
funds available for covered grants for such 
fiscal year for purposes of addressing the 
needs identified in the applications of such 
tribes, consistent with the homeland secu-
rity plan of each State within the bound-
aries of which any part of any such tribe 
is located, except that this clause shall not 
apply with respect to funds available for a 
fiscal year if the Secretary receives less 
than 5 applications for such fiscal year
from 
such 
tribes 
under 
subsection 
(e)(6)(A) or does not approve at least one 
such application. 
‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL HIGH-RISK QUALIFYING 
CRITERIA.—For 
purposes 
of 
subparagraph 
(B)(ii), additional high-risk qualifying criteria 
consist of—
‘‘(i) having a significant international 
land border; or 
‘‘(ii) adjoining a body of water within 
North America through which an inter-
national boundary line extends. 
‘‘(4) EFFECT OF REGIONAL AWARDS ON STATE 
MINIMUM.—Any regional award, or portion thereof, 
provided to a State under subsection (e)(5)(C) shall 
not be considered in calculating the minimum State 
award under paragraph (3)(B) of this subsection. 
‘‘(5) 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 considered by the Board.
‘‘SEC. 1806. USE OF FUNDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered grant may be used 
for—
‘‘(1) purchasing or upgrading equipment, in-
cluding computer software, to enhance terrorism 
preparedness 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; 
‘‘(6) systems architecture and engineering, pro-
gram planning and management, strategy formula-
tion and strategic planning, life-cycle systems de-
sign, product and technology evaluation, and proto-
type development for terrorism preparedness and re-
sponse purposes; 
‘‘(7) additional personnel costs resulting from—
‘‘(A) elevations in the threat alert level of 
the Homeland Security Advisory System by the 
Secretary, or a similar elevation in threat alert
level issued by a State, region, or local govern-
ment with the approval of the Secretary; 
‘‘(B) travel to and participation in exer-
cises and training in the use of equipment and 
on prevention activities; 
‘‘(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; and 
‘‘(D) participation in information, inves-
tigative, and intelligence sharing activities spe-
cifically related to terrorism prevention; 
‘‘(8) the costs of equipment (including software) 
required to receive, transmit, handle, and store clas-
sified information; 
‘‘(9) protecting critical infrastructure against 
potential attack by the addition of barriers, fences, 
gates, and other such devices, except that the cost 
of such measures may not exceed the greater of—
‘‘(A) $1,000,000 per project; or 
‘‘(B) such greater amount as may be ap-
proved by the Secretary, which may not exceed 
10 percent of the total amount of the covered 
grant;
‘‘(10) the costs of commercially available inter-
operable communications equipment (which, where 
applicable, is based on national, voluntary consensus 
standards) that the Secretary, in consultation with 
the Chairman of the Federal Communications Com-
mission, deems best suited to facilitate interoper-
ability, coordination, and integration between and 
among emergency communications systems, and that 
complies with prevailing grant guidance of the De-
partment for interoperable communications; 
‘‘(11) educational curricula development for 
first responders to ensure that they are prepared for 
terrorist attacks; 
‘‘(12) training and exercises to assist public ele-
mentary and secondary schools in developing and 
implementing programs to instruct students regard-
ing age-appropriate skills to prepare for and respond 
to an act of terrorism; 
‘‘(13) paying of administrative expenses directly 
related to administration of the grant, except that 
such expenses may not exceed 3 percent of the 
amount of the grant; and 
‘‘(14) 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; 
‘‘(2) to construct buildings or other physical fa-
cilities; 
‘‘(3) to acquire land; or 
‘‘(4) for any State or local government cost 
sharing contribution. 
‘‘(c) MULTIPLE-PURPOSE FUNDS.—Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to preclude State and local gov-
ernments from using covered grant funds in a manner 
that also enhances first responder preparedness for emer-
gencies and disasters unrelated to acts of terrorism, if 
such use assists such governments in achieving essential 
capabilities for terrorism preparedness established by the 
Secretary under section 1803. 
‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—In addition to 
the activities described in subsection (a), a covered grant 
may be used to provide a reasonable stipend to paid-on-
call or volunteer first responders who are not otherwise 
compensated for travel to or participation in training cov-
ered by this section. Any such reimbursement shall not 
be considered compensation for purposes of rendering 
such a first responder an employee under the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).
‘‘(e) 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 under-
takes to pay the costs directly attributable to transporting 
and operating such equipment during such response. 
‘‘(f) FLEXIBILITY IN UNSPENT HOMELAND SECU-
RITY 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 deter-
mines that such transfer is in the interests of homeland 
security. 
‘‘(g) STATE, REGIONAL, AND TRIBAL RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES.—
‘‘(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 se-
curity plan or plans specified in the application for 
the grant, not less than 80 percent of the grant 
funds, resources 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 begin-
ning 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, region, or directly eligible 
tribe awarded after the 2-year period beginning 
on the date of the enactment of this section 
shall not exceed 75 percent. 
‘‘(B) INTERIM RULE.—The Federal share 
of the costs of an activity carried out with a 
covered grant awarded before the end of the 2-
year period beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this section shall be 100 percent. 
‘‘(C) IN-KIND MATCHING.—Each recipient 
of a covered grant may meet the matching re-
quirement 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 maintenance, and rental space. 
‘‘(3) CERTIFICATIONS
REGARDING
DISTRIBU-
TION 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 
expiration of the period described in paragraph (1) 
with respect 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) QUARTERLY REPORT ON HOMELAND SECU-
RITY SPENDING.—The Federal share described in 
paragraph (2)(A) may be increased by up to 2 per-
cent for any State, region, or directly eligible tribe 
that, not later than 30 days after the end of each 
fiscal quarter, submits to the Secretary a report on 
that fiscal quarter. Each such report must include, 
for each recipient of a covered grant or a pass-
through under paragraph (1)—
‘‘(A) the amount obligated to that recipient 
in that quarter; 
‘‘(B) the amount expended by that recipi-
ent in that quarter; and
‘‘(C) a summary description of the items 
purchased by such recipient with such amount. 
‘‘(5) ANNUAL
REPORT
ON
HOMELAND
SECU-
RITY SPENDING.—Each recipient of a covered grant 
shall submit an annual report to the Secretary not 
later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year. 
Each recipient of a covered grant that is a region 
must simultaneously submit its report to each State 
of which any part is included in the region. Each re-
cipient of a covered grant that is a directly eligible 
tribe must simultaneously submit its report to each 
State within the boundaries of which any part of 
such tribe is located. 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 dis-
bursements of all such funds expended in com-
pliance with paragraph (1) or pursuant to mu-
tual aid agreements or other sharing arrange-
ments that apply within the State, region, or di-
rectly eligible tribe, 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 capa-
bilities identified in the applicable State home-
land security plan or plans were achieved, main-
tained, or enhanced as the result of the expend-
iture of grant funds during the preceding fiscal 
year. 
‘‘(E) The extent to which essential capa-
bilities identified in the applicable State home-
land security plan or plans remain unmet. 
‘‘(6) INCLUSION OF RESTRICTED ANNEXES.—A 
recipient of a covered grant may submit to the Sec-
retary an annex to the annual report under para-
graph (5) that is subject to appropriate handling re-
strictions, if the recipient believes that discussion in 
the report of unmet needs would reveal sensitive but 
unclassified information. 
‘‘(7) PROVISION OF REPORTS.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that each annual report under para-
graph (5) is provided to the Under Secretary for 
Emergency Preparedness and Response and the Di-
rector of the Office for Domestic Preparedness.
‘‘(h) INCENTIVES TO EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION 
OF HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) PENALTIES
FOR
DELAY
IN
PASSING 
THROUGH LOCAL SHARE.—If a recipient of a cov-
ered grant that is a State fails to pass through to 
local governments, first responders, and other local 
groups funds or resources required by subsection 
(g)(1) within 45 days after receiving funds under 
the grant, the Secretary may—
‘‘(A) reduce grant payments to the grant 
recipient from the portion of grant funds that 
is not required to be passed through under sub-
section (g)(1); 
‘‘(B) terminate payment of funds under 
the grant to the recipient, and transfer the ap-
propriate 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 
overtime 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 (g)(1); or 
‘‘(iii) for each day that the grant re-
cipient fails to pass through funds or re-
sources in accordance with subsection 
(g)(1), reducing grant payments to the 
grant recipient from the portion of grant 
funds that is not required to be passed 
through under subsection (g)(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 
extend 
the 
45-day 
period 
under 
section 
1805(e)(5)(E) or paragraph (1) for an additional 
15-day period. The Secretary may approve such a 
request, and may extend such period for additional 
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 (g)(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 
period within which the funds or resources 
were required to be passed through under 
subsection (g)(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