SR 04-26-2022 3C
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 26, 2022
Agenda Item: 3.C
1 of 4
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Danny Alvarez, Fire Chief, Fire Department
Subject: Authorization to Accept 2020 State Homeland Security Grant
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant awarded in the amount of $205,000
from the 2020 State Homeland Security Grant Program;
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents to accept the
grant and all associated grant renewals and modifications;
3. Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
section of this report.
Summary
Each year, the Federal government allocates grant funding to enhance regional
preparedness for disasters, emergencies, and other threats to homeland security. In
2020, $205,000 was awarded to the Santa Monica Fire Department as a part of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency's
(FEMA) State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSP) grant to fund Urban Search
and Rescue equipment purchases and provide funding to participate in a regional
mobile exercise training. Staff recommends that Council authorize acceptance of the
2020 SHSP grant funds and execution of a subrecipient agreement with the County of
Los Angeles for a performance period of September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2023. The
2020 SHSP grant funds are administered by the County of Los Angeles on behalf of the
Los Angeles-Long Beach Urban Area, which includes Santa Monica.
3.C
Packet Pg. 553
2 of 4
Discussion
The SHSP program focus is on enhancing regional preparedness and capabilities in
major metropolitan areas. The Santa Monica Fire Department received funds to support
the Fire Department’s core public safety mission as well as regional homeland security
goals. The following are the ten major regional homeland security focus areas of the
SHSP grant program, known as Investment Justifications (IJ):
lJ # 1: Strengthen Capabilities of the State Threat Assessment System;
IJ # 2: Protect Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources;
IJ # 3: Enhance Cybersecurity;
IJ # 4: Strengthen Emergency Communications Capabilities Through Planning,
Governance, Technology and Equipment;
IJ # 5: Enhance Medical and Public Health Capabilities;
IJ # 6: Preventing Violent Extremism Through Multi-Jurisdictional/Inter-
Jurisdictional Collaboration and Coordination;
IJ # 7: Enhance Community Resilience, Including Partnerships With Volunteers
and Community Based Organizations and Programs;
IJ # 8: Strengthen Information Sharing and Collaboration;
IJ # 9: Enhance Multi-Jurisdictional/Inter-Jurisdictional All-Hazards Incident
Planning, Response & Recovery Capabilities; and
IJ #10: Homeland Security Exercise, Evaluation and Training Programs
The SHSP program directly supports the national priority of expanding regional
collaboration within the National Preparedness Goal, which defines what it means for
the whole community to be prepared for all types of disasters and emergencies. The
SHSP grant is intended to assist participating jurisdictions in developing integrated
regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery from natural or
man-made disasters.
The 2020 SHSP program’s agreement was recently received by the City due to the fact
that it takes the County of Los Angeles and the State the first year of the performance
period to negotiate the workbook and approve the numerous regional projects before
subrecipient agreements can be processed. The program will fund projects in 29 high-
3.C
Packet Pg. 554
3 of 4
threat, high density areas selected by DHS. The County of Los Angeles is the region's
grantor for the SHSP grant and allocates funds to the City of Santa Monica. A regional
working group and approval authority, made up of SHSP stakeholders from throughout
the Los Angeles-Long Beach Urban Area, are the governing bodies that determine
which regional projects to submit to DHS for grant funding.
The SHSP grant program is 100% federally funded by DHS and managed through the
State of California's Office of Emergency Services. There is no requirement of a local
match. The City of Santa Monica has received close to $20 million in federal homeland
security grant funding since 2003. These funds have been used to purchase necessary
interoperable communication and infrastructure equipment, supplies, and training in
direct support of overall regional goals to promote effective information gathering,
sharing, and response to threats and/or acts of terrorism. These funds can not be used
for general purposes and must be specified at the time of application. Homeland
security purchases must be pre-approved by the state and align with grant guidelines.
The Fire Department will use SHSP grant funds to purchase equipment to support the
regional Urban Search and Rescue and the Haz Mat apparatus and includes portable
litter stretchers, small hand tools, gear bags, and specialty helmets. In addition, grant
funds will be used to host the Los Angeles Area Fire Chief’s Association Training Officer
contractor and to participate in a mobile exercise with other Urban Search and Rescue
teams in the region. Deploying these funds, as recommended by the Fire Department,
helps ensure response readiness for incidents of national significance including, but not
limited to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, public health threats and other large-scale
incidents that pose a threat to public or first-responder safety.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to accept a grant from the 2020 State Homeland Security Grant
Program in the amount of $205,000 to fund equipment and mobile exercise training.
3.C
Packet Pg. 555
4 of 4
FY 2021-22 Grant Budget Changes
Establish Revenue Budget Appropriate Funds
Account Number Amount Account Number Amount
20190001.404299 $205,000 20190001.555179 $205,000
Budget authority for subsequent budget and grant years will be requested in each
budget for Council approval.
Prepared By: Terese Toomey, Principal Administrative Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
3.C
Packet Pg. 556