U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20472 Grant Programs Directorate Information Bulletin No. 315 May 29, 2009 TO: All State Administrative Agency Heads All State Administrative Agency Points of Contact All Core City/Core County Points of Contact All State Homeland Security Directors All State Emergency Management Agency Directors All Eligible Regional Transit Agencies All Private Sector Transportation Security Partners All Public and Private Sector Port Security Partners FROM: W. Ross Ashley, III Assistant Administrator Grant Programs Directorate Federal Emergency Management Agency SUBJECT: Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Program Guidance and Application Kits The Grant Programs Directorate (GPD) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce the availability of the FY 2009 ARRA Program Guidance and Application Kits. These kits will be available online at http://www.fema.gov/grants later today. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is an economic stimulus package that was designed to jumpstart the U.S. economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges nationally. Funds received under this Act are intended to support these goals, and unprecedented levels of transparency, oversight, and accountability are required of the expenditure of Act dollars. Program Guidance and Application Kits, representing $510 million in available FY 2009 ARRA grant funding, are available as noted for the following programs. FY 2009 ARRA Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) The total amount of funds available under the ARRA TSGP will be $150,000,000. ARRA TSGP specifically will focus on the use of visible, unpredictable deterrence through the funding of Operational Packages for canine teams, mobile explosives detection screening teams, and Anti- Terrorism teams both due to their effectiveness in reducing risk to transit systems and their potential for job creation. In addition, funding will be provided for capital projects including Multi-User High-Density Key Infrastructure Protection, Single-User High-Density Key Infrastructure Protection, Key Operating Asset Protection, and Other Mitigation Activities. 1 Completed applications for Operational Packages must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM ET, June 15, 2009. Completed applications for capital projects must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM ET, June 29, 2009. Agencies applying for both programs must submit separate applications by the respective deadlines. FY 2009 ARRA Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) The total amount of funds available under the FY 2009 ARRA PSGP is $150,000,000. The purpose of the FY 2009 ARRA PSGP is to create a sustainable, risk-based effort to protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, particularly attacks using explosives and non- conventional threats that could cause major disruption to commerce. Completed applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM ET, June 29, 2009. FY 2009 ARRA Assistance to Firefighters Fire Station Construction Grants (SCG) The total amount of funds available under the FY 2009 ARRA SCG is $210,000,000. The electronic application should be available on or about June 8, 2009. Applications can be submitted until July 10, 2009 at 5:00 pm ET. Direct access to the application is at https://portal.fema.net. Program guidance, an online applicant tutorial, and other application technical assistance materials are available at www.firegrantsupport.com. The purpose of the FY 2009 ARRA SCG is to create or save jobs in recession-hit areas and achieve other purposes stated in ARRA, and achieve AFG goals of firefighter safety and improved response capability/capacity based on need through the construction, renovation or modification of fire stations. Detailed guidance and application instructions for all of the aforementioned grant programs is provided at http://www.fema.gov/grants. Eligible applicants for TSGP and PSGP must apply through the online Grants.gov system at http://www.grants.gov. SCG applicants can access the address for those grants at http://www.grants.gov or directly at https://portal.fema.net. The Grants.gov customer support hotline is 1-800-518-4726 and the hours are Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., ET. A toll free line is also available for questions about the SCG, which is being conducted under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program: 1-866-274-0960. The AFG help desk hours of operation during the application period are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday; and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 on Sunday, June 28, 2009. Questions can also be emailed to firefgrants@dhs.gov. Additional questions on TSGP and PSGP may be directed to your FEMA Program Analyst or the Centralized Scheduling and Information Desk at askcsid@dhs.gov or 1-800-368-6498. 2