Officials are submitting a $60-million wish list today in hopes of getting money for several proposals before an expected drop in federal aid next year.

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 2, 2006

BY AMANDA MILKOVITS
Journal Staff Writer

Facing drastic cuts in homeland-security financing for Rhode Island, state officials are submitting a $60-million wish list of disaster preparedness projects in an attempt to get as many completed now as possible.

In the proposal submitted today to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency says it needs money to develop detailed plans to handle catastrophes. It also wants to finish a project that will allow first-responders throughout the state to communicate during a disaster.

And, because of a growing federal concern about a nuclear threat, the state EMA says it needs portal radiological detection equipmentto screen transportation.

The $6 million expected from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security this fiscal year won't be enough to do all of this, plus keep up with local emergency-response projects and training in the works.

And next year, the pool of federal money for Rhode Island is expected to shrink to the size of a puddle.

Since 2001, Rhode Island has gotten $60 million in homeland security financing, including $21.3 million in 2004 and $16 million in 2005. Much of the money has financed equipment and training for first-responders dealing with varioushazards, as well as the state's first urban search-and-rescue team, six hazardous-materials teams and seven decontamination teams.

But the federal rules for distributing money changed this year.

Now, Rhode Island is expected to get a base amount of about $6 million, said state Homeland Security Director John Aucott. For the 2007 fiscal year, the base amount is expected to plummet by about 80 percent, to $1.5 million, Aucott said. Rhode Island hasn't received that little in federal homeland-security money since the years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.

"I'm apprehensive," Aucott said.

Although financing for the Department of Homeland Security will increase 5.8 percent overall, to $42.7 billion, in President Bush's proposed 2007 budget, the increase won't be felt in Rhode Island, but in the most-populous states and urban areas.

U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, who is on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the president's proposed budget reduces or eliminates financing for several programs that have sent money to Rhode Island -- particularly those that have benefited local police and fire departments.

"My primary concern is that the first-responders are going to be hurt the most," Langevin said.

To get more money for fiscal 2006, Rhode Island must compete with other states and major urban areas by submitting specific proposals for disaster preparedness and prevention.

The state EMA will submit a proposal today detailing its short- and long-term goals for handling all types of hazards. The two-part grant application, for short-term projects and for programs that will take three to five years, will be evaluated by threat and risk, Aucott said.

The state's goals range from completing the statewide 800-megahertz radio communications system, a $20-million to $32-million project, to spending $440,000to improve response to animal-health problems.

A federal team is expected to arrive the week of March 13 to review and make recommendations on the state's plans in dealing with a catastrophe the size of Hurricane Katrina.

And the state homeland security director is seeking $2 million to help the state develop a comprehensive plan.

Aucott says the plan would cover all aspects of mass care, from evacuating, sheltering and feeding the displaced, to drawing on critical services and supplies, to recovering from a catastrophe.

"I want to see very detailed plans," Aucott said. "If we have to handle a mass evacuation from Rhode Island or terrorism in Boston, do we have the detailed plans for fueling stations and feeding stations along the interstate?"

He wants to avoid the kind of disastrous evacuation that Texas witnessed as vehicles ran out of fuel and clogged the highways ahead of Hurricane Rita. Aucott wants to complete work on the statewide interoperable communications system that will synchronize the radio communications for emergency responders throughout the state. Poor radio communications were a major problem for first-responders on 9/11, during Hurricane Katrina, and here in Rhode Island during the Station nightclub fire in 2003. Rhode Island has since worked on the communications system piecemeal. With financing in jeopardy, Aucott said, the state wants to finish the system now.

The state is also seeking $1.2 million for a new information and fusion center, run by the state police, which would collect tips and information on suspicious activities that might be linked to terrorism.

Rhode Island is also requesting $3 million for portal radiological detection equipment to screen for nuclear devices. In December, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff sent letters to all the governors requesting them to use homeland security financing for nuclear detection, Aucott said.

Also, the state Department of Health is seeking financing to enhance abilities to deal with surges in patients and to distribute drugs and vaccines quickly.

LANGEVIN SAYS the president's proposed budget and the changes in the way the financing is distributed will make it difficult for Rhode Island and other states to keep up with the demands of homeland security.

For example, last year, Rhode Island received $2.12 million for 17 fire departments to purchase equipment. The state and 12 towns got nearly $2.5 million in grants to apprehend, prosecute and rehabilitate criminals.

Rhode Island got another $3.74 million for a law-enforcement terrorism-prevention program. Providence received $227,592 for its Metropolitan Medical Response System, which handles mass casualties, and Coventry got $400,000 to hire four firefighters.

Financing for the firefighting equipment program was scaled back considerably in Mr. Bush's 2007 proposal. The others were eliminated or folded into the general homeland security funding.

While Langevin said he agrees with the 9/11 Commission's assertion that homeland security money should go to areas of highest risk, he says the federal government shouldn't neglect other communities.

Langevin's biggest concern is the detonation of a nuclear weapon smuggled within the nation's borders. As the ranking member on the House Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack, Langevin recently witnessed testing of radiological detection equipment in Nevada. Technology to detect a radiological device hidden on a loaded tractor-trailer or ship's cargo hold is being developed, he said.

"We have cargo coming into our ports, and most of it isn't screened because we don't have the personnel or the equipment to do it."

Langevin sponsored an amendment that would require a portable monitor at all the ports within one year.

"You can never protect against every contingency," Langevin said. "But we should be as prepared as possible."

amilkovi@projo.com / (401) 277-7213