In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is providing $1.008 billion to enhance the ability of state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to prevent, prepare for, protect against, and respond to potential terrorist acts and other hazards.
Overview
The FY 2024 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) is one of three grant programs that support the DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) focus on enhancing the ability of state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as nonprofit organizations, to prevent, prepare for, protect against, and respond to potential terrorist attacks. These grant programs are part of a comprehensive set of measures authorized by Congress and implemented by DHS to help strengthen the nation’s communities against potential terrorist attacks and other hazards. HSGP is composed of three grant programs:
- State Homeland Security Program (SHSP);
- Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI); and
- Operation Stonegarden (OPSG).
Funding
In FY 2024, the total amount of funds under the HSGP is $1.008 billion. Below is the funding distribution across the three grant programs:
| HSGP Program | FY 2024 Allocation |
|---|---|
| SHSP | $373.5 million |
| UASI | $553.5 million |
| OPSG | $81 million |
| Total | $1,008,000,000 |
Eligibility
The State Administrative Agency (SAA) is the only entity eligible to submit HSGP applications to FEMA, including those applications submitted on behalf of UASI and OPSG applicants. All 56 states and territories, which includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, are eligible to apply for SHSP funds. A list of eligible high-risk urban areas is published in the FY 2024 HSGP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Tribal governments may not apply directly for HSGP funding; however, funding may be available to tribes through the SAA.
Eligible high-risk urban areas for the FY 2024 UASI program are determined through an analysis of relative risk of terrorism faced by the 100 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the United States. Sub-awards will be made by the SAA to the designated high-risk urban areas identified in the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO.
In FY 2024, OPSG eligible subrecipients are local units of government at the county level or equivalent level of government and federally recognized tribal governments in states bordering Canada or Mexico and states and territories with international water borders. All applicants must have active ongoing U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) operations coordinated through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sector office to be eligible for OPSG funding.
Under the FY 2024 OPSG, subrecipients eligible to apply for and receive a sub-award directly from the SAA are divided into three tiers.
- Tier 1 entities are local units of government at the county level or equivalent and federally recognized tribal governments in states physically bordering Canada and Mexico, as well as states and territories with international water borders.
- Tier 2 eligible subrecipients are those not located on the physical border or international water border but are contiguous to a Tier 1 county.
- Tier 3 eligible subrecipients are those not located on the physical border or international water border but are contiguous to a Tier 2 eligible subrecipient. The tier structure is only applicable with regard to eligibility. OPSG funding allocations are based on the assessed border security risks as determined by the USBP.
Funding Guidelines
The FY 2024 allocation process for SHSP, UASI, and OPSG are as follows:
SHSP Allocations
FEMA will award SHSP funds based on risk as determined by FEMA’s relative risk methodology and statutory minimums pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended. Final allocations are published in the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO.
UASI Allocations
FEMA will award UASI funds based on risk as determined by FEMA’s relative risk methodology pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended. Final allocations are published in the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO.
OPSG Allocations
FEMA will award OPSG funds based on risk and the anticipated effectiveness of the proposed use of grant funds. The FY 2024 OPSG risk assessment is designed to identify the risk to border security and to assist with the distribution of funds for the grant program. Entities eligible for funding are the state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies that are located along the border of the United States. Final award amounts are based on FEMA’s evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed investments and projects.
Pass-Through Requirements
SAAs are required to pass-through at least 80% of SHSP and UASI funding to local or tribal units of government. For more information on the pass-through requirement, please refer to Section F.2 of the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO.
National Priority Areas (NPAs) for SHSP and UASI and Minimum Spend Requirements
The required overall minimum spend on the FY 2024 NPAs for the SHSP and UASI programs remains consistent with the FY 2023 requirement: 30% as a percentage of the total SHSP and UASI allocation. However, the minimum spends for the individual NPAs have changed for FY 2024. Only the Enhancing Election Security NPA maintains a 3% minimum spend requirement. Each SHSP and UASI applicant must dedicate 3% as a percentage of the total SHSP and UASI allocation toward the Enhancing Election Security NPA. For the NPAs with no minimum spend requirements, DHS strongly encourages recipients to make investments in those areas. As noted above, only the Enhancing Election Security NPA maintains a 3% minimum spend requirement, but there is flexibility on the remaining 27% required to meet the overall 30% minimum spend requirement for the NPAs.
The six NPAs, along with the relevant minimum spend percentage, are:
- Enhancing the protection of soft targets/crowded places – NEW no minimum spend;
- Enhancing information and intelligence sharing and analysis – NEW no minimum spend;
- Combating domestic violent extremism – NEW no minimum spend;
- Enhancing cybersecurity – no minimum spend;
- Enhancing community preparedness and resilience – NEW no minimum spend;
- Enhancing election security – 3% minimum spend.
For the NPA that has an associated minimum spend, all projects related to meeting the minimum spend for that NPA must be included in the same Investment Justification (IJ). Activities that support more than one NPA may be included under only one NPA IJ but still count toward the 30% minimum spend without having to be broken out into separate projects or activities in more than one IJ. Complete details on the FY 2024 HSGP allocation process are included in the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO.
Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Activities (LETPA)
SAAs must allocate at least 35% of their SHSP and UASI awards to LETPAs. Please refer to Section C.4.c of the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO for additional guidance and information on allowable LETPAs. Investments that support LETPAs can also support an NPA (e.g., an investment can be counted as supporting both the Soft Targets/Crowded Places NPA and LETPA minimum allocation requirement, if applicable). The 35% LETPA allocation can be from SHSP, UASI, or both, and may be met by funding projects in any combination of the six NPAs identified above and any other investments.
Application Process
Applying for an award under the HSGP is a multi-step process. Applicants (SAAs only) are encouraged to register early in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) and the FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) system, as the registration process can take four weeks or more to complete. Registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure it does not impact your ability to meet required submission deadlines. Please refer to Section D in the FY 2024 HSGP NOFO for detailed information and instructions.
All application materials will be posted on Grants.gov. Eligible applicants should submit their application through FEMA GO. For FEMA GO support, applicants should contact FEMAGO@fema.dhs.gov or (877) 585-3242, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
Completed applications must be submitted in the FEMA GO system no later than 5 p.m. ET on June 24, 2024.
HSGP Resources
There are a variety of resources available to address programmatic, technical, and financial questions, which can assist with HSGP applications:
- The FY 2024 HSGP NOFO is available online at www.fema.gov/grants as well as www.grants.gov.
- The FY 2024 Preparedness Grants Manual is available online at www.fema.gov/grants.
- For additional program-specific information, please contact FEMA Grants News at (800) 368-6498 or fema-grants-news@fema.dhs.gov. FEMA Grants News hours of operation are from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday
- For support regarding financial grants management and budgetary technical assistance, applicants may contact the FEMA Award Administration Help Desk via e-mail at ASK-GMD@fema.dhs.gov.