Drake Announces That Hampton Roads Disignated Eligible For Additional Funding Under UASI

Drake announces that Hampton Roads designated eligible for additional funding under UASI

U.S. Representative Thelma Drake (R-Va.) announced today that the Department of Homeland Security has, for the first time in the four year history of the program, designated the Hampton Roads region as being eligible to receive federal homeland security funding through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program. Last year, Congress appropriated $746,900,000 under UASI.

"It is reassuring that the Hampton Roads region has rightfully been designated an area of critical value to our nation's interest and therefore eligible to apply for additional security funding," said Rep. Drake. "When we invited Secretary Chertoff to tour our region, we felt it was important that he witness firsthand the degree to which we function cohesively and therefore deserve to be considered cohesively."

In August 2006, Drake invited Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to tour the port and the region's emergency preparedness facilities. The tour emphasized the focus of local cities on interoperability and cohesiveness as a region in the face of a potential emergency.

Urban Area Security Initiative funding is primarily focused on enhancing capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, or recover from Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE), agriculture, and cyber terrorism incidents. Since Hurricane Katrina, the scope has broadened to include catastrophic events, provided that these activities also build capabilities that relate to terrorism.

DHS determines eligibility according to a Risk Formula that evaluates three primary variables: 1) Consequence, 2) Vulnerability, and 3) Threat. In their evaluation, DHS considers the presence of international borders, population and population density, critical infrastructure, formal mutual aid cooperation, law enforcement investigations, and enforcement activity.

"When you consider the port, the military installations, our thriving economy and strategic location, it easy to see why Hampton Roads is a textbook example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Over the past few years, we have maintained the argument that the vast level of critical infrastructure housed in Hampton Roads necessitates additional homeland security funding," Drake continued.

In addition to being designated eligible for UASI funding, DHS announced that Hampton Roads would be eligible for other grant programs including the $163.9 million Transit Security Grant Program, the $201 million Port Security Grant Program, and the $31.5 million Metropolitan Medical Response System Program.

In late September, the Virginia Port Authority was awarded $2,265,800 through the DHS Fiscal Year 2006 Port Security Grant Program

http://drake.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=54965