U.S. Department of Homeland Security 
Washington, DC 20472 


Grant Programs Directorate Information Bulletin 
No. 273 
December 13, 2007 


TO: 
All State Administrative Agency Heads 

All State Administrative Agency Points of Contact 

All State Homeland Security Directors 

All State Drivers’ Licensing Authorities 

FROM: 
Tracey Trautman 

Director, Grant Development and Administration 

Grant Programs Directorate (GPD) 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

SUBJECT: 
Announcement of Funding Availability for the REAL ID Demonstration 
Grant Program 

The purpose of this Information Bulletin (IB) is to provide State Agency contacts with 
notice of funding availability for the FY 2008 REAL ID Demonstration Grant Program. 
Funding for the FY 2008 REAL ID Demonstration Grant Program totals $31.3 million 
and will be awarded on a competitive basis. Eligible applicants for REAL ID funding are 
State Drivers’ Licensing Authorities (DLA) which in most cases would be State Motor 
Vehicle Administrations (MVA) or State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). In some 
cases, other agencies such as State Departments of Public Safety would be eligible 
grant applicants if these agencies are responsible for DLA’s in their State. Funding for 
REAL ID is competitive and the Department of Homeland Security is seeking grant 
applications that represent the combined efforts of multiple States to work 
collaboratively in the design and development of a personal identification verification 
system architecture that all States share. 

Grant applications will be due at FEMA/GPD no later than 11:59 P.M., Eastern Standard 
Time (EST), 45 days following the date of this announcement. Eligible applicants who 
have not previously registered with Grants.gov should do so as soon as possible to 
avoid any delays in submitting your REAL ID grant application. For registration 
information for Grants.gov, go to 
the Administration’s common electronic “storefront” -- grants.gov. Eligible REAL ID 
grant recipients must apply for funding through this portal, accessible on the Internet at 
http://www.grants.gov. Registering with grants.gov is a one-time process; however, if 

www.fema.gov 


you are a first time registrant it could take 3-5 business days to have your 
registration validated, confirmed, and receive your user name and password. It is 
highly recommended you start the registration process as early as possible to prevent 
delays in submitting your application package to our agency by the deadline specified. 

Should you have any questions, please contact your designated Preparedness Officer 
or the Centralized Scheduling and Information Desk at 1-800-368-6498, or by email at 
askcsid@dhs.gov.