For Release: Immediate  Date: September 5, 2003

Contact: Renee Hoffman Public Information Office Director Phone: (919) 733-5027 (ext.231)

RALEIGH -- As the nation approaches the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, preparations are continuing to make North Carolina less vulnerable to terrorist activities. State agencies are coordinating their efforts in an unprecedented manner in order to protect public health and safety, plan and train to respond to any terrorist event, and hopefully, prevent such events by sharing intelligence and training first responders to be on the lookout for terrorism indicators.

"We are far better prepared than we were two years ago, but we still have a lot of work to do," said Bryan Beatty, secretary of N.C. Crime Control and Public Safety. "Terrorism preparedness is not a task that is going to be finished anytime soon, if ever."

Beatty is the state's designated homeland security coordinator and chair of Governor Mike Easley's Terrorism Preparedness Task Force, which has met periodically since October 2001.

All 100 counties in North Carolina are in the process of applying for their share of more than $50 million in 2003 U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant funds to improve terrorism preparedness. The DHS Guidance requires that 80-percent of the funding be obligated to local government first responders, who are the first line of defense against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive terrorist events. The Division of Emergency Management (DEM), part of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety (CCPS), is the grant administrator for North Carolina. These are the first funds designated from the federal government to local agencies since DHS was established on March 1 of this year.

"Every organization needs more money to be better prepared, and we know there will be additional resources in the future," Beatty said. "We wanted to spread these initial funds statewide, so we met with the leadership of law enforcement and emergency response associations and with key local government groups to develop the funding formulas. We agreed that every county needs resources, but also recognized that the more populous areas are more at risk for terrorist activity."

There are two grant cycles for the DHS funds. The first grants - $13.9 million to North Carolina - were approved in the early spring as part of the annual federal budget process. Congress approved a supplemental budget of $80 billion in May to help pay for the war in Iraq and direct more money for local terrorism preparedness efforts. North Carolina's share of that money is $36.8 million, with $31.9 million obligated to state and local first responder preparedness.

DHS distributes grant funds to the states based on population. Since the first round of grants was such a small amount to be spread statewide, N.C. Emergency Management allocated each county a base amount of at least $10,000, plus an amount proportional to their April 2000 census population. For the second round of funds, the money was divided among the 100 counties and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI), based on population alone.

The counties are required to buy equipment approved by DHS for response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive events, known collectively as CBRNE. Categories of approved items include personal protective equipment, explosive device mitigation and remediation equipment, search and rescue equipment, interoperable communications equipment, detection and decontamination equipment, physical security enhancement equipment, and others.

In addition to the equipment funds, the federal government is also providing money for training and exercises using the new equipment. The federal grants are done on a reimbursement basis, meaning the county first has to purchase the items, then file a report to receive payment.

Counties must have their Equipment Budget Detail Worksheets to the state by September 30, 2003, and the exercise and training proposals submitted by October 31, 2003. All grant activities have to be completed by the end of 2004 and final cost reports for reimbursement submitted to the state by January 30, 2005.

A county-by-county breakdown of these funds is available on the Internet at www.nccrimecontrol.org/terrorism/2003DHSfunds.pdf.

"North Carolina has always been a progressive state in terms of emergency preparedness, and our programs are some of the most innovative in the county," Beatty said.

For example, North Carolina established the nation's first statewide biological agent registry to track materials that could be used in terrorist activities, such as the anthrax attacks in fall 2001. Also, North Carolina was the first state to begin an anti-terrorism training program for all state and local law enforcement officers. This ongoing effort includes all three U.S. Attorney's offices in the state, the FBI, SBI, ATF, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the state Departments of Crime Control & Public Safety, Agriculture, Public Health, Justice, and Transportation as well as the Community College System.

A fact sheet on North Carolina's terrorism preparedness is available on the Internet at www.nccrimecontrol.org/terrorism/2003factsheet.pdf.

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