Ports to receive $142 million for security from DHS
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Tuesday awarded $142 million in funds to help 36 ports pay for security infrastructure improvements to prevent a terrorist attack.
The fifth round of port security grants is notable for the fact that fewer ports were eligible for and selected to receive funds than in previous funding rounds because the department prioritized funding based on the perceived risk or national importance of ports, rather than doling out small amounts to a wide pool of applicants. The change is part of a department-wide strategy to invest taxpayer money in areas where it has the most impact, rather than following politically designed formulas for equitable sharing of funds across all states or locations, as critics have charged in the past. DHS limited the pool of applicants to 66 ports.
The runaway winner in the grant sweepstakes is the Port of Houston, which received $35.3 million. Houston received a total of $16.7 million in federal port security grants out of more than $560 million issued to ports in four rounds of awards since 2002.
Other big winners are the Port of Long Beach ($12.7 million) and the Port of Los Angeles ($11.4 million), both in California; Seattle ($7.3 million); the Port of New York-New Jersey ($6.6 million); Memphis, ($6.6 million); San Diego ($6.5 million); and Beaumont, Texas ($6 million.
In the previous round of funding, more than 150 ports, terminals, municipalities and other entities split $49 million in port security grants. The New York-New Jersey port authority was the largest recipient of funds ($4.8 million) last time.
DHS said it used criteria such as distance from open water, number of port calls and the presence of tankers to determine which ports should receive money.
Most of this round's grant funds went to the public sector, including seaports. The department also encouraged private companies to apply for grants with the requirement for a 50 percent match. Of the $142 million in grants, the private sector recipients will provide $33 million of their own money to complete projects, DHS said.
Funds are also being provided through this program for passenger vessels and ferries.
The department will hold funds in reserve for ports damaged by Hurricane Katrina until proposed projects are ready to be implemented. The Port of New Orleans received $2 million.
The fifth round is also different in that DHS focused the bulk of the disbursements on projects designed to protect against small craft and underwater attacks, and vehicles carrying improvised explosive devices of the kind commonly used by attackers in Iraq. Previous funding has covered security enhancements such as lighting, fencing, truck gates, patrol boats.
Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities, said in a statement that the new grants do not adequately cover the needs of the port community.
'Even though this is a smaller group of eligible ports than in previous rounds, less than one-third of the dollar amount they requested was awarded. Sixty-nine percent of what eligible ports said they need to safeguard their facilities couldn't be awarded because the program is so underfunded,' Nagle said.
To better protect ports against acts of terror, AAPA has called for a funding level of $400 million a year to harden security at all seaports that need to comply with the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA). Congress is debating the final agreement on the fiscal year 2006 Department of Homeland Security budget, which will provide funds for the Port Security Grant program's sixth round. AAPA is urging Congress to support the Senate's appropriation recommendation of $200 million, rather than the House's recommendation of $150 million.