Gov. Bob Taft and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency filed a spending plan outlining the use of a $17.5 million grant from the United States Department of Homeland Security.
“All of the states have significant requirements to support a variety of homeland security components,” said Todd Stewart, director of the University Program for International and Homeland Security. “This and previous grants are a down payment on a much larger bill.”
Ohio’s grant is the seventh largest in the U.S. from a $566.2 million congressional appropriation.
“This is the first time we are getting federal homeland security funding,” said Jeff Grayson, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
The spending plan is divided between equipment, planning, exercises and training.
The equipment portion will be used to purchase equipment for local, regional and state emergency responders. Federal guidelines require 80 percent of the equipment portion be used for local government, but the Ohio plan outlines 85 percent of the equipment funds to local government.
The state will use a large portion of the equipment funds from protection equipment for emergency responders, and building regional emergency response capability.
The spending plan also allows funds for five urban search and rescue teams in Ohio counties.
Jack Bossert, grants branch chief at the EMA, said counties which felt that they have the capacity and resources for a search and rescue team were able to apply for the funds.
Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas and Summit counties will have teams similar to Ohio Task Force 1, one of the first search and rescue teams sent to New York after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“Until now there has only been one search and rescue team in the state, leaving the rest of the state open,” Bossert said.
The grant will be used to fund local exercises for emergency workers in 60 counties. This will complete funding for a two-year exercise schedule for each of the 88 counties. Twenty-eight counties already received funding from the 2002 homeland security grant.
Bossert said the majority of the grant will be used to hire a contractor to design, develop, put together and teach exercises to emergency workers.
The training portion of the grant will be used to improve existing awareness level training programs for emergency responders at universities, vocational schools, the State Fire Academy, the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy and the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy.
This grant is the largest of four anti-terrorism grants given to the Ohio EMA.
The federal Department of Homeland Security is reviewing the proposal, and funds will be received by the state 45 days after approval.
