FY 2008 Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak)

The summary for the FY 2008 Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) Federal Grant is detailed below. It contains information such as the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number, who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, important deadlines, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed in the Grant Announcement Contact section. If these sections are incomplete, please visit the website of the government agency that is offering this grant.


	Federal Grant Title:	FY 2008 Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak)
	CFDA Number:	97.075
	CFDA Description:	Rail and Transit Security Grant Program
	Federal Agency Name:	Department of Homeland Security FEMA
	Category of Funding Activity:	Other
	Category Explanation:	Homeland Security - Preparedness
	Opportunity Category:	Discretionary
	Funding Opportunity Number:	DHS-08-GDA-075-1800
	Document Type:	Grants Notice
	Funding Instrument Type:	Cooperative Agreement
	Posted Date:	Feb 01, 2008
	Creation Date:	Feb 01, 2008
	Original Closing Date for Applications:	Mar 17, 2008 Completed applications must be submitted through grants.gov no later tan March 17, 2008, 11:59 p.m. EDT.
	Current Closing Date for Applications:	Information not provided
	Archive Date:	Apr 16, 2008
	Expected Number of Awards:	1
	Estimated Total Program Funding:	$25,000,000
	Federal Grant Award Ceiling:	Information not provided
	Federal Grant Award Floor:	Information not provided
	Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement:	Yes

Applicants Eligible for this Grant: Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Additional Information on Eligibility: The FY 2008 Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) will provide $25 million for the National Passenger Railway Corp. (Amtrak) to provide security enhancements to critical infrastructure within its system. Eligibility explanation: Agencies eligible for FY 2008 TSGP funding were identified using a comprehensive, empirically-grounded risk analysis model. The risk methodology for the Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) program is consistent across modes and is linked to the risk methodology used to determine eligibility for the core DHS State and local grant programs. The DHS risk assessment methodology considers critical infrastructure system assets, and characteristics that might contribute to their risk, such as: intelligence community assessments of threat; potentially affected passenger populations, and the economic impact of attack. The relative weighting of variables reflects DHS overall risk assessment and FY 2008 program priorities (e.g., heavy weighting for the presence of underwater and underground systems). Specific variables include the unlinked passenger trips for rail and bus systems, the number of underground track miles, the number of underwater tunnels, and the location-specific intelligence community risk analysis.
Grant Description: Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) is a component of the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) that constitutes the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) FY 2008 focus on infrastructure protection activities. The Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) is one tool among a comprehensive set of measures authorized by Congress and implemented by the Administration to help strengthen the Nations critical infrastructure against risks associated with potential terrorist attacks. The Department has identified the following seven specific priorities as the highest priority selection criteria for the FY 2008 TSGP for Amtrak: 1. Protection of high risk/high consequence underwater and underground rail assets. Many of the Nations largest transit systems have significant track miles and support large concentrations of riders in rail systems that run underground and underwater. It is the highest priority of the FY 2008 TSGP to support measures that protect underground rail system assets―particularly underwater assets―from terrorist attacks by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or other threats that can damage or significantly breach such assets. Active coordination and regular testing of emergency evacuation plans can greatly reduce loss of life in serious incidents. 2. Planning. Planning for how to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism is a core component in an agencys security framework. Vulnerability assessments, security plans, and risk mitigation plans all work to help identify focus areas that must be addressed to remediate risk, including action plans for how those identified risks will be addressed. 3. Targeted counter-terrorism training for key front line staff. Effective employee training programs address individual employee responsibilities and provide basic security awareness to front line employees, including equipment familiarization, assessing and reporting incident severity, appropriate responses to protect self and passengers, use of protective devices, crew communication and coordination, and incident evacuation procedures. For example, well trained and rehearsed operators ensure that if an underground station has suffered a chemical agent attack, trains―and the riding public―are quickly removed from the scene, thus reducing their exposure and risk. 4. Use of visible, unpredictable deterrence. Visible and unpredictable security activities instill confidence and enhance security awareness in the riding public, and deter attacks by disrupting the ability of terrorists to prepare for and execute attacks. Examples include the acquisition, training, and certification of explosives detection canine teams; training of law enforcement, security officials and front-line employees in behavioral pattern recognition; and procurement of mobile detection or screening equipment to identify the presence of explosives, residue, and other suspicious items on persons or in packages. 5. Emergency preparedness drills and exercises. In order to assess and enhance a systems capability to respond under a variety of serious incidents, transit agencies are encouraged to maintain an emergency drill and exercise program to test key operational protocols including coordination with first responders. The TSGP can support exercises related to terrorist attack scenarios (such as IED or CBRNE attacks), natural disasters, and other emergencies. Such programs can take various forms, from table top exercises to more comprehensive multi-agency full-scale exercises. TSGP funds also support rigorous after action assessments to identify further system improvements. 6. Public awareness and preparedness campaigns. A public awareness and preparedness program can employ announcements and postings in stations, transit vehicles, or other media to ensure awareness of heightened alert or threat conditions. Effective awareness programs enlist the public in becoming an informal part of an agency security plan. They should explain specific actions the public can take to contribute to strengthening system security. 7. Protection of other high risk/high consequence assets and systems that have been identified through system wide risk assessments. It is imperative that transit agencies focus countermeasure resources on their highest risk, highest consequence areas or systems. The TSGP will particularly support the development and enhancement of capabilities to prevent, protect against, and respond to terrorist attacks employing chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) weapons, particularly IEDs. For example, a system wide assessment may highlight the need to segregate critical security infrastructure from public access. One solution is an integrated intrusion detection system, which controls access to these critical facilities or equipment. Transit systems should consider security technologies to reduce the burden on security manpower. Using smart CCTV systems in remote locations could free up security patrols to focus on more high risk areas.
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