Homeland Security Funds

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - While the City of Philadelphia prepares to
divvy up more than $14 million in new federal homeland security
funds, emergency planners in southern New Jersey are wondering if
they'll get a slice of the pie.
The money was awarded to the Philadelphia region last month, and
pushes the total amount of grants for Pennsylvania to $89 million.
But no guidelines have been announced for how the money earmarked
for the Philadelphia area will be divided between the city and its
nine suburban counties.
Four of those counties are in New Jersey - Camden, Gloucester,
Burlington and Salem - and account for a quarter of the
Philadelphia region's total population.
Planners in those counties foresee Philadelphia residents
heading across the Delaware River in an emergency situation, and
want to be prepared.
"We're only a nine-iron and driver shot away from South
Philly," Thomas Butts, emergency management coordinator for
Gloucester County, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "We're going to
be impacted if anything happens in the city. We'll be stuck
sheltering a quarter of a million people if they come over here."
David Sanko, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management
Agency, said the federal homeland security office has not issued
final guidelines for awarding urban grants.
"I've been told different things on different days, and I'm not
willing to guess anymore," he said.
Sanko said the Pennsylvania suburbs are guaranteed to share some
of the money.
New Jersey is scheduled to get $63 million in federal homeland
security grants. But local police, fire and emergency units are
already finding it difficult to implement mandated emergency
programs.
"Right now we have emergency details that we're funding out of
our own municipal budgets," said Chris Ferrari, president of the
Camden County Police Chiefs Association.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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WASHINGTON (AP) - New Jersey is getting $37.6 million in the
latest round of federal grants for homeland security.
The money can go toward equipment, training, planning and
exercises for police, fire departments and other agencies that
respond to emergencies.
Part of the money also can be used by local governments to
offset costs associated with heightened security during the war in
Iraq.
The funds are part of a $4.4 billion Homeland Security
Department program that began in March.
According to a tally by the Department of Homeland Security, New
Jersey, the Newark area and the ports of New York and New Jersey
had previously received a total of $35.4 million in domestic
preparedness grants this year.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)