rescue, emergency medical, health, and sanita-
tion services, monitoring for specific dangers of 
special weapons, unexploded bomb reconnais-
sance, essential debris clearance, emergency 
welfare measures, and immediately essential 
emergency repair or restoration of damaged 
vital facilities). 
‘‘(5) The term ‘essential capabilities’ means the 
levels, availability, and competence of emergency 
personnel, planning, training, and equipment across 
a variety of disciplines needed to effectively and effi-
ciently prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover 
from acts of terrorism consistent with established 
practices. 
‘‘(6) 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 
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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 the 
units 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. 
‘‘(7) The term ‘terrorism preparedness’ means 
any activity designed to improve the ability to pre-
vent, prepare for, respond to, mitigate against, or 
recover from threatened or actual terrorist attacks. 
‘‘SEC. 1802. PREPAREDNESS FIRST. 
‘‘(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 emergency response providers to prevent, pre-
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pare for, respond to, mitigate against, or recover from nat-
ural or manmade disasters, including threatened or actual 
terrorist attacks, especially those involving weapons of 
mass destruction, administered under the following pro-
grams of the Department, and to any successor to any 
of the following programs: 
‘‘(1) The Emergency Management Performance 
Grant program. 
‘‘(2) The State Homeland Security Grant Pro-
gram. 
‘‘(3) The Metropolitan Medical Response Sys-
tem Program. 
‘‘(4) The Urban Search and Rescue Program. 
‘‘(5) The Urban Area Security Initiative. 
‘‘(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) Any Federal grant program that is not ad-
ministered by the Department. 
‘‘(2) The fire grant programs authorized by sec-
tions 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229–2229a). 
‘‘SEC. 1803. COVERED GRANT ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA. 
‘‘(a) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—Any State, region, or di-
rectly eligible tribe is eligible to apply for a covered grant. 
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‘‘(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 emergency preparedness established by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) DEADLINES
FOR
APPLICATIONS
AND 
AWARDS.—To apply for a covered grant for a fiscal 
year, a State, region, or directly eligible tribe shall 
submit to the Secretary a application at such time, 
in such manner, and containing such information as 
is required under this subsection or as the Secretary 
may reasonably require. The Secretary shall award 
covered grants pursuant to all approved applications 
for a fiscal year early in the year as is practicable, 
but not later than March 1 of that year. 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—A covered 
grant awarded by the Secretary for a fiscal year 
shall be available for obligation through the end of 
the subsequent fiscal year. 
‘‘(3) MINIMUM CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.— 
The Secretary shall require that each applicant in-
clude as part of an application for a covered grant— 
‘‘(A) the purpose for which the applicant 
seeks a covered grant and the reason the appli-
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cant needs the covered grant to meet the essen-
tial capabilities for all-hazards preparedness 
within the State, region, or directly eligible 
tribe to which the application pertains; 
‘‘(B) a description of how, by reference to 
an applicable State emergency preparedness 
plan under section 1804, the applicant intends 
to spend amounts awarded under a covered 
grant, including any amount not intended to be 
distributed under section 1806(f)(1), would as-
sist in fulfilling the essential capabilities for all- 
hazards preparedness specified in such plan; 
‘‘(C) a statement of whether a mutual aid 
agreement would apply to the use of all or any 
portion 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; 
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‘‘(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(f)(2). 
‘‘(4) 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-
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paredness needs beyond those provided for 
in the application of such State or States. 
‘‘(B) STATE REVIEW AND SUBMISSION.— 
‘‘(i) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION TO 
STATE.—To ensure the consistency re-
quired under section 1804(d) and the co-
ordination required under subparagraph 
(A), the Secretary shall require an appli-
cant that is a region to submit an applica-
tion to each State of which any part is in-
cluded in the region for review and concur-
rence prior to the submission of such appli-
cation to the Secretary. 
‘‘(ii) STATE
SUBMISSION
TO
SEC-
RETARY.—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 noti-
fies the Secretary in writing that such re-
gional application is inconsistent with the 
State’s homeland security plan and pro-
vides an explanation of the reasons for the 
inconsistency. 
‘‘(C) 
DISTRIBUTION
OF
REGIONAL 
AWARDS.— 
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‘‘(i) DISTRIBUTION TO STATE.—If the 
Secretary approves a regional application, 
then the Secretary shall distribute a re-
gional award to the State or States sub-
mitting the applicable regional application 
under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(ii) STATE
DISTRIBUTION
TO
RE-
GION.—Each such State shall, not later 
than the end of the 45-day period begin-
ning on the date on which the region re-
ceives the award, distribute to the region 
all covered grant funds or resources pur-
chased with such funds, except those funds 
necessary for the State to carry out its re-
sponsibilities with respect to such regional 
application. 
‘‘(iii) LIMITATION ON STATE RETEN-
TION OF FUNDS.—In no such case shall 
the State or States distribute 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, 
not later than 30 days after the expiration of 
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the 45-day period described in subparagraph 
(C)(ii) with respect to the grant, that the State 
has made available to the region the required 
funds and resources in accordance with sub-
paragraph (C). 
‘‘(E) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO REGIONS.—If 
any State fails to distribute a regional award to 
a region as required by subparagraph (C) with-
in 45 days after receiving such award and does 
not request or receive an extension of such pe-
riod under section 1806(g)(2), the region may 
petition the Secretary to receive directly the 
portion of the regional award that is required to 
be distributed to such region under subpara-
graph (C). 
‘‘(5) TRIBAL APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) SUBMISSION
TO
THE
STATE
OR 
STATES.—To ensure the consistency required 
under section 1804(d), an applicant that is a 
directly eligible tribe must submit its applica-
tion to each State within the boundaries of 
which any part of such tribe is located for di-
rect submission to the Department along with 
the application of such State or States. 
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‘‘(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 emergency pre-
paredness plan or plans, and to approve any ap-
plication of such tribe. The Secretary shall no-
tify 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 (3)(G) shall— 
‘‘(i) coordinate with Federal, State, 
local, regional, and private-sector officials 
concerning terrorism preparedness; 
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‘‘(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) 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(f)(1), the tribe may 
request payment under section 1806(g)(3) in 
the same manner as a local government. 
‘‘(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 ap-
plicable national voluntary consensus standards es-
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tablished by the Secretary, the applicant shall in-
clude in the application an explanation of why such 
equipment or systems will serve the needs of the ap-
plicant better than equipment or systems that meet 
or exceed such standards. 
‘‘SEC. 1804. STATE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANS. 
‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—Except in the case of 
a covered grant under subsection (g), the Secretary shall 
require that any State applying to the Secretary for a cov-
ered grant submit to the Secretary a 3-year State emer-
gency preparedness plan in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Each State plan under 
this section shall— 
‘‘(1) describe the essential capabilities that 
communities within the State should possess, or to 
which they should have access, based upon the all- 
hazards risk factors relevant to such communities, in 
order to meet the Department’s goals for all-hazards 
preparedness; 
‘‘(2) demonstrate the extent to which the State 
has achieved the essential capabilities that apply to 
the State; 
‘‘(3) demonstrate the needs of the State nec-
essary to achieve, maintain, or enhance the essential 
capabilities that apply to the State; 
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‘‘(4) include a prioritization of such needs based 
on threat, vulnerability, and consequence assessment 
factors applicable to the State; 
‘‘(5) describe how the State intends— 
‘‘(A) to address such needs at the city, 
county, regional, tribal, State, and interstate 
level, including a precise description of any re-
gional structure the State has established for 
the purpose of organizing emergency activities 
funded by covered grants; 
‘‘(B) to use all Federal, State, and local 
resources available for the purpose of address-
ing such needs; and 
‘‘(C) to give particular emphasis to re-
gional planning and cooperation, including the 
activities of multi-jurisdictional planning agen-
cies governed by local officials, both within its 
jurisdictional borders and with neighboring 
States; 
‘‘(6) with respect to the emergency prepared-
ness of emergency response providers, address the 
unique aspects of terrorism as part of a comprehen-
sive State emergency management plan; 
‘‘(7) provides for coordination of response and 
recovery efforts at the local level, including proce-
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dures for effective incident command in conformance 
with the National Incident Management System; 
‘‘(8) pursuant to State law, be in effect in all 
political subdivisions of the State and be mandatory 
on them, and be administered or supervised by a sin-
gle State agency; 
‘‘(9) provide that the State shall share the fi-
nancial assistance with that provided by the Federal 
Government under this section from any source de-
termined by it to be consistent with State law; 
‘‘(10) be consistent with Federal emergency 
preparedness and response plans; 
‘‘(11) set forth a comprehensive and detailed 
State program for preparation for and assistance 
following emergencies and major disasters, including 
the provision of assistance to individuals, businesses, 
and local governments; 
‘‘(12) provide for the development of State and 
local emergency preparedness operational plans, pur-
suant to standards approved by the Secretary; 
‘‘(13) provide for the employment of a full-time 
emergency preparedness director, or deputy director, 
by the State; 
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‘‘(14) provide for adoption of the Incident Com-
mand System in emergency response in conformance 
with the National Incident Management System; 
‘‘(15) provide for the appointment and training 
of appropriate staff, the formulation of necessary 
regulations and procedures, and the conducting of 
required exercises; 
‘‘(16) provide for adoption of a unified com-
mand structure when multiple agencies or jurisdic-
tions are involved in emergency response; 
‘‘(17) provide that the State shall make such 
reports in such form and content as the Secretary 
may require; and 
‘‘(18) make available to duly authorized rep-
resentatives of the Director of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency and the Comptroller 
General, books, records, and papers necessary to 
conduct audits for the purposes of this section. 
‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—A State plan submitted under 
subsection (a) shall be developed in consultation with and 
subject to appropriate comment by local governments, 
emergency response providers within the State, and a re-
gional representative from the Department. 
‘‘(d) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary may 
not award any covered grant to a State until the Secretary 
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has approved the applicable State emergency preparedness 
plan. 
‘‘(e) REVISIONS.—A State may revise the applicable 
State emergency preparedness plan approved by the Sec-
retary under this subsection, subject to approval of the 
revision by the Secretary. 
‘‘(f) 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, any applicable State emergency preparedness 
plan. 
‘‘SEC. 
1805. 
RISK-BASED 
EVALUATION 
AND 
PRIORITIZATION. 
‘‘(a) PRIORITIZATION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.— 
‘‘(A) EVALUATION
AND
PRIORITIZATION 
REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall evaluate and 
annually prioritize all pending applications for 
covered grants based upon the degree to which 
each application 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 (including persons who are part of 
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transient commuting and tourist populations) 
and critical infrastructure. 
‘‘(B) USE
OF
CURRENT
RISK
ASSESS-
MENT.—Such evaluation and prioritization shall 
be based upon the most current risk assessment 
of the threats of terrorism against the United 
States available from the Directorate for Infor-
mation Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. 
‘‘(C) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall 
coordinate with State, local, regional, and tribal 
officials in establishing criteria for evaluating 
and prioritizing applications for covered grants. 
‘‘(2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS.—In 
evaluating and prioritizing grant applications under 
this section, the Secretary shall consider natural and 
manmade threats to each of the following critical in-
frastructure sectors in all areas of the United 
States, urban and rural: 
‘‘(A) Agriculture and food. 
‘‘(B) Banking and finance. 
‘‘(C) Chemical industries. 
‘‘(D) The defense industrial base. 
‘‘(E) Emergency services. 
‘‘(F) Energy. 
‘‘(G) Government facilities. 
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