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and Infrastructure Protection of the threats of 
terrorism against the United States; 
‘‘(C) the risks faced by different types of 
communities, including communities of various 
sizes, geographies, and other distinguishing char-
acteristics; and 
‘‘(D) the principles of regional coordination 
and mutual aid among State and local govern-
ments. 
‘‘(2) FLEXIBILITY.—The establishment of essen-
tial capabilities shall be sufficiently flexible to allow 
State and local government officials to set priorities 
based on local or regional needs, while reaching na-
tionally determined preparedness levels within a spec-
ified time period. 
‘‘(3) MEASURABILITY.—The establishment of es-
sential capabilities shall be designed to enable meas-
urement of progress toward specific terrorism pre-
paredness goals. 
‘‘(4) COMPREHENSIVENESS.—The determination 
of essential capabilities shall be made within the con-
text of a comprehensive State emergency management 
system. 
‘‘(c) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In establishing 
essential capabilities for different types of communities
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under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary specifically shall con-
sider the variables of threat, vulnerability, and consequences 
with respect to population (including transient commuting 
and tourist populations), areas of high population density, 
critical infrastructure, coastline, and international borders. 
Such consideration shall be based upon the most current 
risk assessment available by the Directorate for Information 
Analysis and Infrastructure Protection of the threats of ter-
rorism against the United States and the needs described 
in the national preparedness guidance and the target capa-
bilities list. 
‘‘(d) TASK FORCE ON ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES FOR 
FIRST RESPONDERS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To assist the Secretary 
in establishing essential capabilities under sub-
section (a)(1), the Secretary shall establish an 
advisory body under section 871(a) not later 
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 
section, which shall be known as the Task Force 
on Essential Capabilities for First Responders. 
‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding sec-
tion 871(b), the Task Force shall terminate 5 
years after the date of its establishment, unless 
the Secretary makes a written determination to
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extend the Task Force to a specified date, which 
shall not be more than 5 years after the date on 
which such determination is made. The Sec-
retary may make any number of subsequent ex-
tensions consistent with this subsection. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Task 
Force shall solicit comment on the establishment of es-
sential capabilities for State and local government 
preparedness. 
‘‘(3) REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 9 
months after the establishment of the Task Force 
by the Secretary, and every 3 years thereafter, 
the Task Force shall submit to the Secretary a 
report on its recommendations for essential ca-
pabilities for preparedness for terrorism. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report shall— 
‘‘(i) provide a thorough assessment of 
the national preparedness guidance and 
target capabilities list and recommenda-
tions for revisions; 
‘‘(ii) include a priority ranking of es-
sential capabilities in order to provide 
guidance to the Secretary and to Congress
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on determining the appropriate allocation 
of, and funding levels for, first responder 
needs; 
‘‘(iii) set forth a methodology by which 
any State or local government will be able 
to determine the extent to which it possesses 
or has access to the essential capabilities 
that States and local governments having 
similar risks should obtain; and 
‘‘(iv) describe the availability of na-
tional voluntary consensus standards, and 
whether there is a need for new national 
voluntary consensus standards, with respect 
to first responder training and equipment. 
‘‘(C) 
COMPREHENSIVENESS.—The 
Task 
Force shall ensure that, when recommending es-
sential capabilities for terrorism preparedness, 
such recommendations are made within the con-
text of a comprehensive State emergency manage-
ment system. 
‘‘(4) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall 
consist of 25 members appointed by the Sec-
retary, and shall, to the extent practicable, rep-
resent a geographic and substantive cross section
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of first responder disciplines from the State and 
local government levels, including as appro-
priate— 
‘‘(i) members selected from the emer-
gency response field, including fire service 
and law enforcement, hazardous materials 
response, emergency medical services, and 
emergency management personnel; 
‘‘(ii) health scientists, emergency and 
inpatient medical providers, and public 
health professionals, including experts in 
emergency health care response to chemical, 
biological, radiological, and nuclear ter-
rorism, and experts in providing mental 
health care during emergency response oper-
ations; 
‘‘(iii) experts from Federal, State, and 
local governments, and the private sector, 
representing 
standards-setting 
organiza-
tions, including representatives from the 
voluntary consensus codes and standards 
development community, particularly those 
with expertise in first responder disciplines; 
and
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‘‘(iv) State and local officials with ex-
pertise in terrorism preparedness and other 
emergency preparedness. 
‘‘(B) COORDINATION
WITH
THE
DEPART-
MENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.—In 
the selection of members of the Task Force who 
are health professionals, including emergency 
medical professionals, the Secretary shall coordi-
nate the selection with the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services. 
‘‘(C) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The Secretary 
shall designate 1 or more officers of the Depart-
ment to serve as ex officio members of the Task 
Force. One of the ex officio members from the De-
partment shall be the designated officer of the 
Federal Government for purposes of subsection 
(e) of section 10 of the Federal Advisory Com-
mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE
ACT.—Notwithstanding section 871(a), the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), in-
cluding subsections (a), (b), and (d) of section 10 of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and section 
552b(c) of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to 
the Task Force.
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‘‘SEC. 1804. THREAT-BASED HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT 
PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—There is established the 
Threat-Based Homeland Security Grant Program, 
which includes— 
‘‘(A) formula-based grants for State and 
local programs administered by the Office of 
State and Local Government Coordination and 
Preparedness, including the State Homeland Se-
curity Grant Program, and the Law Enforce-
ment Terrorism Prevention Program under sec-
tion 1014 of the USA PATRIOT ACT (42 
U.S.C. 3714); 
‘‘(B) discretionary grants for State and 
local programs administered by the Office of 
State and Local Government Coordination and 
Preparedness for use in high-threat, high-density 
urban areas, including the Urban Area Security 
Initiative Program; and 
‘‘(C) any successor program to any program 
described in subparagraph (A) or (B). 
‘‘(2) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 
award grants to States and eligible metropolitan re-
gions under the Threat-Based Homeland Security 
Grant Program to enhance homeland security.