NJFFSA16
04-01-2004, 11:58 PM
Not an April Fool Post
By ALLISON SCHLESINGER
Associated Press Writer
CORAOPOLIS, Pa. (AP) -Pennsylvania will receive more than $137
million from the federal government to help first responders
protect their communities and the state's urban areas prepare for
disasters, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced
Thursday.
Ridge told a crowd of about 75 gathered in Moon Township's fire
engine garage that the federal funds are intended to pay for
training, equipment and other tools to help first responders such
as firefighters. He said for the homeland to be safe, hometowns
need to be safe.
"You really cannot secure the country from Washington, D.C. You
can try. You can hopefully provide leadership, financial support,
you can provide training, set standards. But it's a shared
responsibility, a shared accountability, and there needs to be
shared leadership," Ridge said.
The money will also help improve the security of Pennsylvania's
urban areas and Philadelphia's mass transit system and fund the
Citizen Corps Program, which organizes volunteers who help with
homeland security.
More than half of that money, $72 million, will be in the form
of Homeland Security Grants. Pittsburgh will receive nearly $12
million and Philadelphia will get nearly $23 million as a part of
the department's Urban Area Security Initiative. The rest of the
money will be distributed around the state in the form of grants,
including a $5.6 million Emergency Management Performance Grant.
The Department of Homeland Security announced last month that it
will award $2.2 billion from the State Homeland Security Grant
Program and $725 million from the Urban Area Security Initiative to
state and local governments. The funds are part of more than $8
billion the department has allocated since March 1, 2003.
There have been some "challenges" when it comes to
distributing the federal dollars and making sure the funds make it
to local governments and first responders, Ridge said. He has asked
representatives from governors' offices around the country and
other groups to investigate the problem and deliver a report to him
by June.
Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy said the city has spent about $11
million since Sept. 11, 2001 on planning, such as evacuation drills
at all of Pittsburgh's major buildings, as well as on training,
costs such as overtime for police officers, and equipment such as
hazardous waste gear.
"We have not seen one dollar in reimbursement. What we keep
hearing is, 'The money is in the mail.' And I do believe the
secretary that the federal government has released the money, but
it is bottlenecked at the state right now," Murphy said.
---
On the Net:
http://www.dhs.gov/grants.
By ALLISON SCHLESINGER
Associated Press Writer
CORAOPOLIS, Pa. (AP) -Pennsylvania will receive more than $137
million from the federal government to help first responders
protect their communities and the state's urban areas prepare for
disasters, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced
Thursday.
Ridge told a crowd of about 75 gathered in Moon Township's fire
engine garage that the federal funds are intended to pay for
training, equipment and other tools to help first responders such
as firefighters. He said for the homeland to be safe, hometowns
need to be safe.
"You really cannot secure the country from Washington, D.C. You
can try. You can hopefully provide leadership, financial support,
you can provide training, set standards. But it's a shared
responsibility, a shared accountability, and there needs to be
shared leadership," Ridge said.
The money will also help improve the security of Pennsylvania's
urban areas and Philadelphia's mass transit system and fund the
Citizen Corps Program, which organizes volunteers who help with
homeland security.
More than half of that money, $72 million, will be in the form
of Homeland Security Grants. Pittsburgh will receive nearly $12
million and Philadelphia will get nearly $23 million as a part of
the department's Urban Area Security Initiative. The rest of the
money will be distributed around the state in the form of grants,
including a $5.6 million Emergency Management Performance Grant.
The Department of Homeland Security announced last month that it
will award $2.2 billion from the State Homeland Security Grant
Program and $725 million from the Urban Area Security Initiative to
state and local governments. The funds are part of more than $8
billion the department has allocated since March 1, 2003.
There have been some "challenges" when it comes to
distributing the federal dollars and making sure the funds make it
to local governments and first responders, Ridge said. He has asked
representatives from governors' offices around the country and
other groups to investigate the problem and deliver a report to him
by June.
Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy said the city has spent about $11
million since Sept. 11, 2001 on planning, such as evacuation drills
at all of Pittsburgh's major buildings, as well as on training,
costs such as overtime for police officers, and equipment such as
hazardous waste gear.
"We have not seen one dollar in reimbursement. What we keep
hearing is, 'The money is in the mail.' And I do believe the
secretary that the federal government has released the money, but
it is bottlenecked at the state right now," Murphy said.
---
On the Net:
http://www.dhs.gov/grants.