[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022
----------
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES
[The following testimony was received by the Subcommittee
on Homeland Security for inclusion in the record. The submitted
material relates to the fiscal year 2022 budget request for
programs within the subcommittee's jurisdiction.]
Prepared Statement of America's Public Television Stations (APTS) and
the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Regarding funding to create a new program at FEMA to support public
broadcasting's public safety infrastructure:
the next generation warning system
As this subcommittee considers the FY 2022 Homeland Security
Appropriations Bill, America's Public Television Stations (APTS),
representing the nation's 354 locally operated, locally controlled
public television stations, and PBS urge the subcommittee to provide
$20 million for the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) within FEMA's
Federal Assistance grants.
This new competitive grant program would maintain and enhance
public broadcasting stations' current work to provide alert, warning
and interoperable communications, in partnership with federal, state
and local law enforcement and first responder agencies, and would
enable the incorporation of emerging technology in those life-saving
activities.
public television's role in public safety communications
Public broadcasting has long played a critical role in supporting
local, regional and national first responders and the public safety and
homeland security community. While you may be familiar with the tones
and notices that accompany testing of the Emergency Alert System (EAS)
during radio and television broadcasts, you may not realize the other
important services that local public television and radio stations,
which together reach nearly 99 percent of the American population,
provide:
--Public television, through the PBS Warning Alert Response Network
(WARN), provides critical distribution infrastructure for the
nation's Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, a unique
public-private partnership between FEMA, the FCC, and industry
established by Congress in 2006 for sending locally-targeted
and nationwide emergency messages.
In 2020, during the first 10 months of the pandemic, over 500
COVID-19 alerts were sent to millions of mobile devices using
the WEA system. In addition to public television stations
providing a diverse redundant path for these and all WEA
messages, PBS has developed an application called Eyes on IPAWS
that provides data analytics and a live feed of WEAs directly
from local public television stations, without relying on
internet access. This tool was piloted by California's Office
of Emergency Services and is now available to any agency.
--Many public television and radio stations, equipped with back-up
communications equipment and power generators, cooperate with
FEMA to serve as their state's Primary Entry Point (PEP) to
provide emergency information to the public before, during and
after incidents and disasters.
. --Since 2016, public television has partnered with the Department of
Homeland Security to conduct pilot projects demonstrating how
stations' dedicated spectrum and infrastructure can be used to
send encrypted data such as video, files, images and text from
local authorities to first responders on the ground or on the
water.
This datacasting technology does not depend on broadband, is
available in rural and remote areas due to public television's
extensive reach, is a one-to-many communications system that never
overloads, and has proven to be a valuable tool in a myriad of use
cases including:
--Improved emergency response:
--In North Carolina, PBS North Carolina has been working with the
North Carolina Department of Informational Technology
(NCDIT)'s First Responder Emerging Technologies (FirstTech)
program and the Department of Homeland Security to use
public television datacasting and NextGen television
technology to deliver an improved and affordable paging
structure that improves situational awareness and response
time for first responders across the state of North
Carolina.
--In Tennessee, public television stations worked with the state to
create a statewide datacasting system that delivers
private, secure communication between first responders and
their management teams in case of an emergency or natural
disaster. The Tennessee National Guard is an important
partner in this project and has affirmed the usefulness of
datacasting in their disaster response efforts.
--Improved interoperability:
--In multiple pilots conducted in partnership with local stations
and DHS, one of the main benefits identified has been the
increased interoperability between responding agencies.
Datacasting allows all agencies to see the same data, at
the same time, regardless of where they are located and how
they might otherwise connect--or not connect--with each
other. This interoperability has significantly improved
response time and success.
--Over-Water Communications:
--A few DHS pilots, including one in Chicago, IL, have proven the
effectiveness of datacasting to reach far offshore, in
areas where traditional communications capabilities are
lacking. Because broadcast towers typically reach much
further than cell or broadband connections--distances of 60
miles or more--datacasting can greatly enhance
communication of urgent information to vessels, including
moving vessels, at sea and inland waters.
--Rural Search and Rescue
--A DHS pilot in a rural location in the state of Washington showed
how datacasting could help with rural search and rescue in
remote mountainous areas that lack more traditional LTE or
broadband infrastructure. Images captured from helicopters
were shared via datacasting with responders on the ground
who otherwise would not have the visual information to
accelerate their response.
--Enhanced School Safety
--In 2018, a DHS pilot conducted in Adams County, Indiana
demonstrated how datacasting could help multiple first
responding agencies in the event of a school shooting. A
drill was conducted in a very rural part of the county that
lacked LTE or broadband connectivity inside of the school,
and datacasting was used to share video feeds from inside
of the school, blueprints of the building, campus maps and
other important data with multiple local and state first
responders.
--Earlier Earthquake Alert and Warning
--For the past few years, the California public television stations
have been working with the California Governor's Office of
Emergency Services (Cal OES) to utilize datacasting to
dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to alert
first responders that an earthquake is on the way. Public
television stations throughout the state have worked to add
equipment to their broadcasting infrastructure that sends
earthquake warnings to local first responders in seconds.
This work has resulted in the reduction of alert time from
30 seconds to less than 3 seconds.
--Large Event Crowd Control
--Houston Public Media participated in one of the early DHS pilots
which demonstrated the benefits of datacasting for
interoperability of multiple responding agencies. Since
that pilot in 2014, with the equipment remaining in place
at the station level and first responder level, datacasting
has been used by public safety and first responders at
several large events held in the city including: the
Houston Marathon, NCAA Final Four, the Super Bowl, a
Presidential Primary Debate, and more. Using datacasting to
share images and critical information across multiple
responding agencies has greatly enhanced situational
awareness and public safety at these events.
America's public television stations are working to develop more
public safety partnerships that could utilize datacasting to solve some
the nation's most pressing public safety needs.
support for public broadcasting's role in emergency communications
While public broadcasting's public safety capabilities may not be
well known to the public, they have been recognized and encouraged by
the public safety community.
On February 15, 2019 the FEMA National Advisory Council issued a
report on Modernizing the Nation's Public Alert and Warning System,
which clearly recognizes the importance of public broadcasting's role
in public safety and identifies a need for continued partnerships,
recommending that FEMA encourage ``use of public broadcast capabilities
to expand alert, warning, and interoperable communications capabilities
to fill gaps in rural and underserved areas.''
After the 2018 school safety exercise, Shane L. Rekeweg, Sheriff,
Adams County, Indiana said, ``Datacasting has the potential of
providing key visual information to first responders for incidents
where this technology is used,'' he continued ``Today's demonstration
showed that datacasting does in fact provide the quality and quantity
that first responders need for faster response resulting in saving more
lives in critical incidents.''
In an assessment of the use of datacasting, Jack Hanagriff, the Law
Enforcement Liaison in Houston's Office of Public Safety and Homeland
Security said ``datacasting provides the ability to deliver secure,
high-quality data and video to emergency services personnel. Getting
that ``eyes-on'' look at a situation or specific location is a huge
help to the first responders. Having that real-time, crucial video
delivered reliably, lets the different teams know what they're heading
for, and how to prepare for it.''
public safety communications infrastructure funding needed
These critical services, in addition to other public safety
partnerships between public broadcasters and the public safety
community, depend on reliable and resilient public broadcasting
infrastructure. However, in many cases, station infrastructure is being
used well past its expected useful life and is at serious risk of
failure. Such a failure would interrupt the public safety services
public media provides.
A 2017 study commissioned by the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting found that a backlog of $300 million in unmet
infrastructure needs at public media stations through 2020.
This aging infrastructure--transmitters, antennas, encoders,
receivers, power generators and related hardware, software, and
electrical equipment--endangers the ability of public broadcasting to
continue to provide life-saving public safety services.
In order for public broadcasting to remain a reliable public safety
partner, additional infrastructure investments are needed.
We call on Congress to support the investment in this critical
infrastructure through FEMA's Federal Assistance grants.
The new account, the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) would
help stations replace aging infrastructure that is essential to their
public safety missions. In addition, it will support infrastructure
needed for enhancements to alert and warning and other public safety
communications systems to ensure resilience and the ability to meet the
evolving nature of public safety challenges.
A funding level of $20 million in FY 2022 will begin this much
needed investment in the capability and reliability of public
broadcasting's public safety infrastructure.
______
Prepared Statement of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito and distinguished members of
the subcommittee, thank you for allowing me to submit this testimony on
behalf of America's public media service--1,500 public television and
radio stations reaching 99 percent of the American people. The
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) requests $20 million in FY
2022 for a newly created Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) within
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). This funding will reinforce and extend public media's
contributions to public safety and result in enhanced alerting and
warning capabilities that benefit all Americans.
Through local public television and radio stations, public media
offers educational programming designed to support at-home learning,
local journalism that gives Americans the information they need to
respond to the world around them, and content that helps us better
understand our history and each other. Public media's services proved
to be critical over the past year as people sought up-to-date, fact-
based information about COVID-19. Stations responded with broadcasts
featuring local officials, online dashboards and visualizations
tracking the pandemic, podcasts with local health experts explaining
the virus, and public safety announcements spoken in different
languages and local dialects to help encourage vaccine participation.
Local stations' broadcast infrastructure not only provides the
educational and informational content Americans expect from public
media, but it also provides emergency alerting and communications
services at the national, state, and local levels. Often unnoticed
until times of emergency, these services direct people to safety and
transport messages from federal, state, and local emergency management
and public safety officials. Further, national public media
organizations and local stations have resilience requirements
comparable to those of our nation's public safety systems.
Nationally, the public television interconnection system serves as
a distribution point for PBS WARN, an essential part of FEMA's
nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. The WEA system relies
upon public broadcasters to ensure the delivery of messages that
include imminent threats to life and safety, AMBER alerts, and
Presidential alerts during a national emergency. Between March 12,
2020, and January 25, 2021, more than 6,470 WEAs were issued by state
and local authorities and transmitted over the PBS WARN system in
different parts of the country. Approximately 525 of those alerts were
for COVID-19, harnessing the reach and ubiquity of mobile device
communications to address a pandemic for the first time.
The public radio interconnection system, Public Radio Satellite
System(r) (PRSS), managed by NPR, receives a national EAS feed directly
from FEMA and distributes Presidential emergency alerts to 1,247 public
radio stations nationwide, including NPR member and non-member
stations. PRSS is also named as a resource in at least 20 states'
emergency plans and many of the public radio stations in these twenty
states serve as Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations. The PRSS national
network of nearly 400 interconnected public radio stations supports
secure, reliable communications during emergencies without relying on
the Internet, which may be off-line during emergencies.
Stations' infrastructure also provides for public safety and
communications services tailored to the needs of their communities. In
times of emergency and disaster, enabled public radio stations use
MetaPub technology to deliver graphic alerts and messages such as
weather forecasts and shelter information. For example, California
stations successfully tested the use of MetaPub alerting during the
Great California Shakeout earthquake drill in 2016 and demonstrated how
stations can bring emergency communications to affected audiences.
During any evacuation in Mississippi, the Mississippi Emergency
Management Agency works with Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) to
broadcast evacuation and traffic information on all MPB radio stations.
MetaPub was also used during the pandemic to direct viewers and
listeners to local resources and the latest public health guidelines.
Public media's public safety capabilities are valued and utilized
by local, state, and federal public safety officials. In 2020,
California's public media stations partnered with Listos California and
the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services on a statewide
media campaign called ``Building Resiliency with Emergency
Preparedness.'' The cultural and linguistic appropriate campaign is
designed to reach diverse and underserved populations and encourage
them to plan for wildfires and other natural disasters. Also in 2020,
the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN) partnered with the
Florida Division of Emergency Management to launch a statewide
communications initiative, ``Know Your Zone, Know Your Home.'' The PSA
campaign emphasized the importance of knowing where you live and how
that impacts your hurricane evacuation plans. With a mission to serve
the community combined with trusted partnerships with public safety
officials, public media stations help keep Americans prepared and safe.
Public media's capabilities and involvement in public safety are
evolving with the modern needs of local first responders and the
communities they serve. Increasingly, stations are partnering with
local first responders and emergency management officials to offer
datacasting technology. Through datacasting, the television broadcast
spectrum is used to securely transmit essential encrypted information
to first responders in the field in real-time and without the capacity
constraints of traditional mobile or broadband delivery. Datacasting
applications can include equipping police cars with the ability to
receive school blueprints when a crisis arises; providing access to 24/
7 camera feeds for public safety challenges; and connecting public
safety agencies in real-time.
Initially tested in partnership with the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, datacasting technology has been utilized during
numerous events in the last several years, including the NCAA Final
Four, the Super Bowl, and Hurricane Harvey and the flooding of 2016. In
2018, KVIE public television in Sacramento, CA, worked with the
California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to test public
television's datacasting capability to more rapidly deliver early
earthquake warnings. The station's datacasting delivered an early
earthquake warning in under three seconds. The previous warning
standard was 30 seconds. Recently, in Tennessee, public television
stations (WKNO, Memphis; WLJT, Lexington; WNPT, Nashville; WCTE,
Cookeville; East Tennessee PBS, Knoxville; and WTCI, Chattanooga)
partner with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security
to form the first statewide datacasting network.
In June 2018, the FCC's CSRIC Working Group 2 issued a final report
on ``Comprehensive Re-imaging of Emergency Alerting,'' which recognizes
public television's important service in our nation's public safety
system. Section 6.4 states, ``PBS and local public television stations
play a crucial role in protecting communities by using datacasting to
deliver essential information to individuals and first responders.
These benefits are all made possible by public broadcasting stations'
unique reach, reliability, and role across America, and are especially
vital in rural and underserved areas.''
While public media stations are dedicated to serving the needs of
their communities, their ability to provide these life-saving public
safety services relies on technical infrastructure that is often aging
past its expected end-of-life. In 2017, CPB commissioned a
comprehensive System Technology Assessment to understand better public
media stations' technology needs. The station response rate was
unprecedented (73 percent of radio and 92 percent of television
licensees), cataloging more than 60,000 pieces of equipment throughout
the system. The Assessment projected that the system's financial
capacity to address equipment repair and replacement would see a
cumulative shortfall of more than $300 million by 2020. In early 2021,
a CPB survey of only 10 percent of the public media licensees indicated
that there is at least $175 million in equipment needs. Without
resources to maintain and replace broadcast transmission infrastructure
on schedule, as well as recover from the gap in maintenance during
COVID-19, TV and radio licensees of all sizes and types could face
operating challenges nationwide, disrupting the essential public safety
service these stations provide.
Addressing the growing need for resilient public safety
infrastructure, the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS) will enable
the expansion and enhance the reliability of the alert, warning and
interoperable communications activities that public broadcasting
stations are committed to, while providing first responders and public
safety officials with new communication resources. NGWS would allow for
public broadcasting entities to procure, construct, and improve
transmission and other public safety-related equipment and services
that secure and strengthen public media's role in helping protect and
preserve American communities.
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
allowing me, on behalf of America's public media system, to submit this
testimony. I appreciate your consideration of this funding request.
[This statement was submitted by Patricia de Stacy Harrison,
President and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting.]
______
Prepared Statement of Customs and Border Protection Agency
Dear Chairperson Murphy, Ranking Member Capito and Honored Members
of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, my name is John Kelton, and I
respectfully request your consideration to approve appropriations for a
device to protect frontline personnel from unintentional synthetic
opioid exposure.
fentanyl and synthetic opioids
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times the potency of
morphine. Carfentanil, another synthetic opioid has a potency
approximately 10,000 times that of morphine and 100 times that of
fentanyl. The same amount of fentanyl necessary to kill a 250-pound
human, roughly two grains of salt, can kill one hundred 250-pound
humans.
illicit synthetic opioids
Synthetic opioids are laced into other drugs such as cocaine,
heroin, methamphetamine, and counterfeit tablets resulting in tens of
thousands of deaths reaching a new record in 2021 thus far. The residue
on fake tablets and fine powders containing synthetic opioids are
easily inhaled during seizures or border checks causing injury or death
to frontline personnel or unsuspecting citizens. There are more than
2000 synthetic opioids, which are not routinely detected because
specialized toxicology testing is required: Some are more potent than
Carfentanil and becoming resistant to opioid reversing drugs.
naloxone and personal protective equipment fall short of exposure
protection
Naloxone commonly called Narcan is an opioid reversing drug which
is provided to personnel in the event of an exposure. The Centers for
Disease Control states, ``more than one dose of naloxone may be needed
to reverse some overdoses. Naloxone alone may be inadequate if someone
has taken large quantities of opioids, very potent opioids, or long-
acting opioids.'' In addition, personnel administering naloxone are at
risk of exposure! General Personal Protective equipment (PPE) i.e.,
masks, gloves etc. are inadequate in preventing situational exposures
and cross contamination of others and equipment.
department of homeland security, office of strategy and policy science,
and technology directorate
Frontline personnel are at risk of deadly exposure without specific
personal protective equipment. A field proven device designated by the
Department of Homeland Security Office of Strategy and Policy, Science
and Technology Directorate, to prevent accidental exposure and
neutralize the threat, has been identified. The handheld personal
protective device deploys in seconds, prevents aerosolization of deadly
analogs of fentanyl and weaponized anthrax, stops cross contamination,
does not prevent analytical or field testing of suspicious powders and
requires minimal training for effective deployment. This device
succeeds when common PPE such as gloves, masks, and naloxone are not
effective.
nationally, synthetic opioid exposures are occurring daily
Reports of frontline exposures are common enough; they barely make
the news. Texas Custom Agent, Michigan State Troopers, Ohio Sheriffs,
Correction Personnel and First Responders, risk their lives to save
lives and the threat of unintentional exposure to synthetic opioids is
a reality because it happens. The coldest comment we have heard was,
``Yeah, but have any of these people died yet?'' I am asking for your
consideration before that 'benchmark' is achieved.
synthetic opioid exposure prevention device for frontline personnel
departments of commerce and justice, science, and
related agencies appropriations bill, 2020
``The Committee is aware of far too many incidents of first
responders experiencing accidental overdoses after coming into contact
with fentanyl or fentanyl analogues,''
lake county sheriff's office lt. john herrell
``All we can do is speak to what we've seen, not only in Lake
County but across the nation, and it is a common occurrence that first
responders and law enforcement fall ill and start displaying signs of
opioid overdose.''
senior medical advisor/customs and border patrol
Dr. David Tarantino stated, ``The most significant exposure risk is
through aerosolized airborne powder,'' when referring to illicit
fentanyl.
centers for disease control policy
CDC Protocol, ``Increase the amount of naloxone on hand, given the
increased amount needed and rate of use for overdoses involving
illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs.''
president of the american society of anesthesiologists
J.P. Abenstein stated, ``What happens, is people stop breathing on
it. The more narcotic you take, the less your body has an urge to
breath.''
as naloxone becomes less effective, frontline personnel are at
increased risk of injury or death from synthetic opioid exposure
without a rapid containment device
Frontline personnel are at risk of deadly exposure without specific
personal protective equipment. A field proven device designated by the
Department of Homeland Security Office of Strategy and Policy, Science
and Technology Directorate, to prevent accidental exposure and
neutralize the threat, has been identified. The handheld personal
protective device deploys in seconds, prevents aerosolization of deadly
analogs of fentanyl and weaponized anthrax, stops cross contamination,
does not prevent analytical or field testing of suspicious powders and
requires minimal training for effective deployment. This device
succeeds when common PPE such as gloves, masks, and naloxone are not
effective. After presenting this device the United States Customs and
Border Patrol, and Coast Guard view this device as playing an essential
role in the PPE arsenal necessary to protect our frontline personnel
from accidental exposures.
The real threat of unintentional synthetic opioid exposure is a
serious concern which spurred bipartisan sponsorship of the Synthetic
Opioid Exposure Prevention and Training Act. ``The act requires
provisions for personal protective equipment and opioid receptor
antagonists for officers, agents, other personnel, and canines at risk
of exposure to synthetic opioids.''
Synthetic opioids some of which are thousands of times stronger
than fentanyl pour into the United States from China because ``the
companies making fentanyl and other dangerous drugs are subsidized by
the government (AP).'' Synthetic opioids and agents of terror such as
anthrax, have identical routes of exposure. Aerosolization and
inhalation, resulting in rapid absorption through the lungs.
As naloxone struggles to reverse injuries of opioid toxicity,
frontline personnel are at increased risk without a specific device
designed to prevent the exposure and cross contamination of others.
Honored Members of the Homeland Security Subcommittee,
There is a threat from abroad which has killed hundreds of
thousands of Americans and threatens the safety and lives of personnel
we ask to protect our sovereignty and families. Common PPE is not
enough to protect them, nor is naloxone as it becomes less effective
against the strength of synthetic opioids.
I have presented this information to Congressional Leaders and
Senators from Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, and others with incredible
support, and some of which submitted requests for appropriations to
provide this protection to our frontline personnel. I again, humbly
request that your committee approve the funding necessary to provide
frontline personnel with a handheld containment device with the ability
to prevent the exposure from happening.
Sincerely,
John Kelton
______
Prepared Statement of the Customs and Border Protection
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony for the
public record in consideration of the Subcommittee's consideration of
the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bill for Homeland Security and
associated agencies.
I am originally from southern California and my husband is from
southern Arizona. After a career spent in public service, we moved back
to the West and chose Tucson, Arizona, in large part because of the
fabulous public lands, wildlife and culture of the borderlands. In
particular, we treasure Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and San
Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument, especially the Quitobaquito area, and the Coronado National
Memorial. We also cherish the San Pedro River and the Riparian National
Conservation Area, surrounding what used to be (before a wall was
inserted into it), the last free flowing river in Arizona.
We have watched in horror at the despoliation of the borderlands in
the name of ``security''. We have hiked and camped on public lands
within walking distance of the border and never experienced any threat
whatsoever to our public safety. Indeed, a good friend hiked for over
2,000 miles in Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in a two year
period and never saw a single undocumented person. Perhaps even more
impressively, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff actually
declined to approve the use of military construction funding to build
31 miles of wall along the southern boundary of Cabeza Prieta National
Wildlife Refuge, saying it was a ``low priority'' (General Joseph E.
Dunford, Chairman, Joints Chief of Staff to Acting Secretary of
Defense, Info Memo, 6 May 2019). He was overruled. So now we have a
wall there and a wall in other places that makes absolutely no sense--
where there was little to no border crossings. In some of these areas,
like Guadalupe Canyon in southeast Arizona, incredibly rugged,
virtually impassable mountains have now been blasted and roaded in a
way that actually facilitates cross border traffic, rather than
deterring it. And I know of no one in Arizona--whether a rancher, a
land manager, a recreational user of public lands--anyone at all--who
thinks this place is safer because we have hundreds of miles of road.
This $18 billion boondoggle (and counting) is sliced through, climbed
over or simply opened up with keys (there are hundreds of gates) on a
daily basis.
Tragically, in Arizona alone, wall construction sucked billions of
gallons out of our borderlands which are already suffering from record
breaking heat and drought. Wildlife habitat has been severely reduced.
The culture of binational communities has been ripped apart. The flow
of river and streams has been altered and when we do get rains, severe
flooding, jeopardizing life and property, are anticipated. In one
situation I know about personally, a landowner who stands to suffer
major flooding damage was told by the wall contractors that the family
could always file a tort claim against the U.S. government. In other
words, we--the taxpayers--have spent around $18 billion for a project
that has destroyed much of what was wonderful about this part of the
country, and stands to do considerable more damage. And it will
continue to cost taxpayers. The General Accountability Office estimated
that operations and maintenance cost for the much wall constructed in
2018 would run an estimated 15% total costs each year. Costs of
maintenance of the 2018-2020 wall will inevitably be much, much higher.
I am now asking you to stop the bleeding and start funding the
restoration of the borderlands. While some of the damage is
irreversible, there are sensible mitigation and restoration measures
that can be put in place in many locations. Given the approximately $18
billion spent to date on the wall ($2.4 billion in 2008 and roughly $15
billion during the past four years), the Subcommittee should
appropriate at least $3 billion dollars to the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) as a pass through to the Department of the Interior for
mitigation and restoration efforts on National Park Service, US Fish
and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management Land, to the U.S.
Forest Service for work on national forest land and a small amount to
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for work at the
Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, a wetland of
international importance. The funding should come with direction to
engage in a collaborative process with landowners, border communities,
affected tribal nations and the public regarding what can and should be
done to mitigate at least some of the damage caused by wall
construction.
Further, DHS should be instructed not to use any appropriated funds
to implement 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1103 note, the ill-advised provision that
gives the DHS Secretary the authority to waive all laws for
construction of border wall and associated roads.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony. I
appreciate the work of the Members of the Subcommittee.
Dinah Bear
Tucson, Arizona
______
Prepared Statement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
I've spent my career in first response and disaster management, and
I am proud to serve on the board of America's Public Television
Stations because it is clear that their goals completely align with the
nation's goals, especially when it comes to public safety.
As the former FEMA Administrator, I witnessed first-hand the many
challenges facing an efficient and effective post-disaster response.
Local public television and radio stations have resources and
capabilities that help address those challenges and improve local,
state and federal emergency response and homeland security.
One of the most impressive things about public television's role in
public safety is that they reach nearly 97% of U.S. households with a
dedicated broadcast signal. That same broadcast signal has been proven
to be exceptionally helpful in sharing encrypted data and video with
first responders on the ground through datacasting.
This is ground-breaking technology that reaches the country's most
rural and remote areas and it doesn't require a broadband or LTE
signal. The majority of the infrastructure needed to provide these
life-saving enhanced public safety communications services, is already
in place as part of the public television broadcast infrastructure.
There is no need to build out a new system to take advantage of
this technology. And importantly, this technology, known as
datacasting, is natively one-to-many. This means it is not constrained
by the typical bandwidth challenges that broadband and LTE networks
face, even dedicated public safety networks.
America's public television stations, all 354 of them, stand ready
to partner with local, state and federal first responders as a
complement to the communications networks they currently use and those
they plan to use in the future. Partnering with public television means
that first responders could off-load some of their heavy bandwidth uses
like video sharing and other large data files and distribute those
items through public television's encrypted spectrum, freeing up the
traditional communications networks for other communications.
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology
Directorate First Responders Group has been very impressed with this
datacasting technology and has partnered with American's Public
Television Stations to conduct several pilots throughout the country
that prove the usefulness of datacasting including in over water
communications, rural search and rescue, large-event crowd control,
school safety and others.
Public television stations are developing critical relationships
with their state's emergency operations including a partnership with
the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services to speed the
delivery of early earthquake warnings, a partnership with the Tennessee
National Guard to use datacasting in its disaster response and
mitigation and a partnership with the North Carolina Department of
Informational Technology (NCDIT)'s First Responder Emerging
Technologies (FirstTech) program to create a new paging structure that
improves situational awareness and response time for first responders
across the state.
These life-saving services are game changers for public safety and
they build on public television's long history of alerting their
communities to disasters and providing critical information to those
communities post-disaster.
But all of this work rides on public television's broadcast
infrastructure, and that infrastructure is increasingly aging and in
need of reinvestment to secure its reliability and resilience.
A Corporation for Public Broadcasting study found that the public
broadcasting system faces $300 million in backlogged infrastructure
needs in 2020.
It is critical that Congress help secure the infrastructure of
these stations that are increasingly playing a vital role in the
nation's public safety and emergency communications systems.
I proudly join America's Public Television Stations in calling on
Congress to create a competitive fund at FEMA, within the Public
Assistance Program, that would invest in public broadcasting's
infrastructure to support the current emergency communications work
being done and allow for the development of expanded emergency
communications and public safety partnerships.
Such a fund would be a prudent investment which leverages the
infrastructure and technology already in place to solve some of the
nation's most pressing public safety communications challenges.
The public safety community is hungry for this capacity and
capability and the nation's local public television stations are
committed to continuing their public safety mission and stand ready to
expand their work to offer datacasting in more communities, build more
public safety partnerships and ultimately save more lives.
[This statement was submitted by W. Craig Fugate, FEMA
Administrator.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Association of State Energy
Officials (NASEO)
Chairman Murphy and Ranking Member Capito, and members of the
Subcommittee, I am David Terry, the Executive Director of the National
Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO). NASEO represents the
Governor-designated energy directors and their offices in the 56
states, D.C., and U.S. territories. One of the key functions of the
state energy offices is Emergency Support Function (``ESF-12'') related
planning, mitigation, and response actions at the state level, as well
as coordination with local governments and the energy industry.
We are in the midst of a severe national crisis. DHS as a whole,
FEMA specifically, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the states must
all work together in a coordinated manner. We will (and are) facing
both expected and unexpected barriers to action. The Subcommittee also
must take specific action to reverse a terrible decision by DHS and OMB
at the end of the last Administration. In December 2020, DHS wrote to
the Speaker with ``poison-pill'' changes to the cyber security title of
the Energy Act of 2020. The final Energy Act of 2020 (which was
included in the 5500+ page end-of-year package that was passed and
signed into law) excluded the cyber security title because of these
uniformed comments from DHS. As was evidenced by the cyber attack on
the Colonial Pipeline, we must put in place far more robust cyber
defenses into our energy systems as well as the rest of the economy.
Included in that cyber title was expanded state actions for energy-
sector cyber security, expanded public-private partnerships, expanded
energy emergency preparedness (including ``all-hazards'') and the
``Pipeline and LNG Facility Cybersecurity Preparedness Act.'' At the
time, this DHS action made no sense, and sadly, subsequent developments
such as the Colonial cyber attack, showed the impropriety of the DHS
objections. The cyber security title of the energy bill would have
begun to make a huge difference. This is not a partisan issue. Cyber
security requires extensive agency coordination, including the ESF-12
function. The state energy offices work closely with our counterparts
in the state emergency management agencies. We recommend specific bill
text that provides:
``The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security shall
coordinate closely with the Secretary of the Department of
Energy (DOE), and the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security
and Emergency Response at DOE, and shall direct all staff to
coordinate closely with the state emergency management offices
and the state energy offices to ensure robust cyber security
and energy emergency preparedness and response is occurring,
including DOE leadership in implementation and preparation for
ESF-12 related emergencies. The Secretary shall jointly convene
regular meetings with state emergency management officials,
state energy officials, and DOE to ensure that coordination and
cooperation is occurring. $20 million is specifically allocated
for this purposes. The Secretary shall report to the
Subcommittee, the House and Senate Homeland Security
Committees, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on progress made,
within 90 days of enactment.''
We recommend that the Subcommittee approve specific funding in the
following areas in the appropriations bill:
1) Full funding of the FEMA BRIC program at $3.6 billion. The
Administration's decision to increase the FY 21 amount to $1 billion is
a very positive step, but more is needed as is greater attention to
critical energy actions within this program.
2) New state emergency planning and response grants of $1 billion,
with 10% of the funds directed to state energy offices, and the
remainder targeted to state emergency management agencies including
coordination between the energy offices, state emergency management
agencies, FEMA and the DOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and
Emergency Response.
3) New direct funding to states of $5 billion for public facility
resilience, energy, and water system retrofits to update mission
critical facilities, especially including hospitals, schools, community
shelters, non-profit nursing homes, and first responder facilities,
utilizing private capital for energy efficiency improvements with
federal funds directed to emergency response upgrades (this program
could be operated by state energy offices, who already manage the
existing $5--$6 billion per year in energy service performance
contracting programs). In addition, special provision could be made to
target underserved rural healthcare facilities.
The program recommended in #3, above, would have the double benefit
of assisting states in responding to hurricanes, floods, wildfires,
earthquakes, and other hazards. More energy system resilient facilities
with access to longer term back-up power, efficient HVAC, lighting, and
hot water systems offer far greater reliability and durability of
service for communities.
NASEO remains concerned that FEMA has not been implementing the
Disaster Recovery and Reform Act in full compliance with congressional
direction, intent, and the clear statutory language in the area of pre-
disaster state and local building code training assistance.
We are encouraged by the FY 22 request to provide increased funding
for the FEMA BRIC program. Practical, cost-effective building codes,
voluntarily adopted by state and local governments, require robust
training of code staff and the building trade community to be
effective. The evidence that modern building energy codes result in
more resilient and energy efficient construction and that such codes
save lives and offer greater comfort to residents during a disaster is
abundant.
FEMA had previously chosen to implement DRRA Section 1206 entirely
through the Public Assistance Program. As a consequence, the draft
policy would prohibit activities (1) associated with ``non-disaster
damaged buildings,'' (2) related to ``[a]dopting new or updating
current building codes or floodplain management ordinances,'' and (3)
that extend beyond ``180 days after the date of the major disaster
declaration.''
Where a community has not adopted disaster resistant codes pre-
disaster, post-disaster is the ideal time for that adoption or update.
Post-disaster is also when permitting loads and training needs are at
their greatest. Addressing these challenges through Section 1206 would
allow FEMA to provide support to jurisdictions seeking to ensure that
rebuilding is done to modern standards, which in turn can help impacted
communities be better positioned to weather the next storm. Providing
federal reimbursement for administering and enforcing older and less
resilient codes risks perpetuating an unending cycle of damage and
repair if those older codes are never updated.
DRRA Section 1206(a) permits FEMA to assist communities in adopting
or updating building codes post disaster, in training code officials
and builders on updated or existing building codes, and in boosting
efforts to ensure rebuilding work community-wide is done to code. We
believe FEMA should act now to implement that Section, which is
consistent with the Agency's current Strategic Plan, ongoing
programmatic work, the National Mitigation Investment Strategy,
mitigation research, the DRRA, and congressional intent.
To ensure DRRA section 1206(a) is implemented appropriately in the
near-term, we request the addition of the following report language in
your appropriations bill or converted to bill text:
``The Committee is concerned that the Agency has implemented
Disaster Recovery Reform Act Section 1206 solely through the
Public Assistance program. In so doing, the Agency has not
implemented Section 1206(a), which permits FEMA to assist
communities in adopting or updating building codes post
disaster, in training code officials and builders on updated or
existing building codes, and in boosting efforts to ensure
rebuilding work communitywide is done to code. The Committee
urges the Agency to take immediate steps to implement Section
1206(a) as required under the law, which will ensure that
rebuilding is done to modern standards, helping impacted
communities be better positioned to confront future natural
hazards.''
If the Subcommittee has any questions regarding this testimony,
please contact David Terry, NASEO Executive Director ([email protected])
or Jeff Genzer, NASEO Counsel ([email protected]).]
[This statement was submitted by David Terry, NASEO Executive
Director.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Coast Guard Museum
fifty million dollars for the national coast guard museum
The Subcommittee is significantly misinformed and disinformed on
funding for the National Coast Guard Museum.
Based on letters to the editor of the Day newspaper for many years,
there is a total lack of private and industry contributions for the
present plan of locating the Museum in downtown New London; the public
substantially supports the preferred location at Fort Trumbull.
Another feasible and prudent alternative is a Virtual Museum over
the Internet emanating from the Coast Guard Academy. The Smithsonian
Museum has placed all it exhibits on the Internet, which produces zero
Greenhouse Gases (``GHG'') unlike constructing a wasteful facility
where its embodied energy \1\ employs lots of fossil fuels.
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\1\ Embodied (accumulated) energy is the total quantity of energy
required to manufacture, and supply to the point of use, a product,
material or service and disposal. It includes the energy expended from
cradle to grave for: extracting raw materials; transporting,
manufacturing, assembling and installing a specific material to produce
a service or product and finally its disassembly, deconstruction and/or
decomposition.
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On the one hand, the Chairman is a strong supporter for reducing
GHG contributions to climate change but on the other hand, your
proposed $50 million appropriation for Museum construction embraces and
guarantees future gas emissions unlike a zero emissions Virtual Museum.
Any museum, whether for the Coast Guard or otherwise, is neither a
water-dependent use nor a facility on a site suitable for such use/
facility and will undoubtedly have an adverse impact on future water-
dependent development opportunities and activities.
```Water dependent' means development that cannot physically
function without direct access to the body of water along which it is
proposed. Uses, or portions of uses, that can function on sites not
adjacent to the water are not considered water dependent regardless of
the economic advantages that may be gained from a waterfront
location.''
The federally approved Connecticut Coastal Management Act
(``CCMA'') and Program does not contain either a generic/specific goal
or policy stating or inferring that a museum'' is a water-dependent
use.'' More likely, the proposed development is a ``water-enhanced use
or facility'' based on the legislative debate in 22 House Proceedings
Part 29, pp. 10285-10297 (Connecticut).
Lawmakers specifically rejected language that would have allowed
water-enhanced uses and insisted on the term water-dependent. As the
lawmakers asserted, what isn't enhanced by being on the water,
including hotels and restaurants? The aim was to confine coastal
development to things that can only be done on the waterfront, like
fishing docks, marinas and ferry terminals, since you can't put those
anywhere else. Even fish processing plants are not water-dependent
since they can be built and used anywhere.
The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard prepared the
``Funding Plan for the Coast Guard Museum,'' in its Report to Congress
dated September 11, 2014. The Report was compiled pursuant to a
requirement in Section 213 of the Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-293). This plan is now seven
years old; Congress needs to require its update.
The funding plan, which is comprised of the 2008 Strategic Master
Plan and its 2014 addendum, details the public-private partnership
between the Coast Guard and the National Coast Guard Museum Association
(``Association'') and addresses the projected resource requirements of
the Museum based on preliminary designs and plans, which have
significantly changed.
The Coast Guard plans to build the Museum on a very difficult
site--a high hazard flood plain on the wrong side of a high-speed rail
line.
As Subcommittee chair, your intent to fund the Museum at the
downtown New London location is highly unwise and wasteful of energy
and other natural resources. I suggest and request that the
Subcommittee reconsider funding construction of the Museum for $50
million dollars.
I will gladly provide any further information on the history of
efforts to create the Museum, which the Coast Guard originally approved
for Fort Trumbull.
[This statement was submitted by Robert Fromer.]
______
Prepared Statement of National Congress of American Indians
On behalf of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the
oldest, largest, and most representative national American Indian and
Alaska Native organization dedicated to protecting the rights of Tribal
Nations to practice self-determination and achieve self-sufficiency,
thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony regarding
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations for tribal homeland security and
emergency management grants and programs. Foreign and domestic threats
to homeland security are on the rise. These threats require tribal
communities to develop and enhance homeland security response planning,
training, and exercise efforts. However, funding to Tribal Nations for
critical homeland security needs has remained stagnant for over a
decade.
Without adequate resources dedicated to Indian Country, federal
efforts to create a cohesive and coordinated homeland security strategy
will leave a significant and potentially dangerous gap in security for
the entire nation. Congress and the Administration have a trust
obligation to assist Tribal Nations in protecting all citizens, Native
and non-Native, within their jurisdictions. Until equitable funding is
achieved, Tribal Nations will remain unable to fully participate in
national homeland security strategies, ultimately undermining their
ability to assist in protecting vital infrastructure from domestic and
international threats. NCAI urges the Subcommittee to include strong
funding levels for tribal homeland security and emergency management
programs in its FY 2022 appropriations bill.
Increase Funding to $40 Million for the Tribal Homeland Security
Grant Program: Since 2003, Congress has allocated over $55 billion in
homeland security grant funds to state and local governments. In
contrast, Tribal Nations have only been allocated just over $90 million
during the same period. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has
acknowledged the need for the Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program
(THSGP), but has yet to provide the minimum funding for Tribal Nations
to develop the necessary homeland security capacity to ensure
protection of the nation.
Each year, tribal needs are at least four times more than the
funding amount provided for the program. Of those Tribal Nations that
do apply, several could use the entire amount budgeted for THSGP on
their own. Currently, THSGP is the only resource for Tribal Nations to
develop core capabilities to meet national preparedness goals. The
cascading effects of DHS not ensuring adherence to statutory
requirements for states to pass through funding to Tribal Nations along
with formal denials of, or informal discouragement for seeking, federal
disaster assistance detrimentally impacts public safety and falls far
short of the federal government's treaty and trust responsibilities to
Tribal Nations.
NCAI strongly urges Congress to fund THSGP at $40 million for the
next five years. This would represent a necessary increase over the $10
million that DHS has made available for THSGP in recent years. In FY
2021, Congress appropriated $15 million for THSGP instead of leaving
the additional funding up to the discretion of DHS. Congress increasing
the funding for THSGP is an important step forward for Indian Country.
NCAI now urges Congress to bring THSGP up to the current Tribal Nations
request level of $40 million to meet the needs of Tribal Nations as
they strive to protect all citizens.
Provide $206,640,000 to enable the 574 Federally Recognized Tribal
Nations to Develop Vital Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Programs: Tribal homeland security and emergency management programs
play a key role in Tribal Nations' ability to respond and recover from
emergencies such as COVID-19. In order for Tribal Nations to even
access emergency funding from DHS they need dedicated staff that know
the emergency funding process and that can work with FEMA. During the
height of the COVID-19 pandemic over 80 percent of all Tribal Nations
could not access the billions in life saving funds through FEMA due to
years of little or no funding for tribal emergency management programs.
Tribal Nations are continuously being left further and further behind
in meeting the core capabilities for which the federal government has
provided funding to state and local governments over the past 50 years.
If Tribal Nations were to meet minimum standards that have been
required by the Homeland Security Act and the Robert T. Stafford Act,
along with the standards developed by FEMA, the National Fire
Protection Association, and the Emergency Management Accreditation
Program, a minimum of 1.5 FTEs per Tribal Nation would be required.
This need could be met by providing each of the 574 federally
recognized tribal nations with $360,000 annually and would total
$206,640,000. An investment by the federal government to meet its trust
responsibilities could provide a return on investment of six dollars
for every dollar invested.
Provide $2 Million for the Creation and Operation of a DHS Tribal
National Advisory Council: Federal advisory committees, often composed
of non-federal individuals, play an important role in developing public
policy and government regulations. However, DHS, one of the largest and
newest federal agencies, does not have a National Tribal Advisory
Committee to advise the Secretary on all homeland security matters. DHS
needs this tool to help ensure its programs adequately support the 574
federally recognized Tribal Nations. Congress created the FEMA National
Advisory Council (NAC) in the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform
Act of 2006 to ensure ongoing coordination of federal preparedness,
response, and recovery efforts. The FEMA NAC advises the FEMA
Administrator on all aspects of emergency management and currently
includes two tribal citizens.
Tribal Nations are thankful that there are at least two tribal
representatives currently on the FEMA NAC, but are greatly concerned
that the FEMA NAC cannot consider all pressing tribal homeland security
matters. For this reason, Congress must organize a DHS Tribal National
Advisory Council (DHS Tribal NAC) to support homeland security
initiatives in Indian Country. Additionally, Congress should require an
annual report from the DHS Tribal NAC on projects, recommendations,
accomplishments, meetings, membership, and other items. This is
particularly important as threats evolve and since DHS has not made
significant steps toward addressing shortfalls in its support for
tribal homeland security efforts. Congress should provide $2 million
annually for the staffing, creation, and operation of a DHS Tribal NAC
that would report directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Provide $10 Million to Enable Tribal Nations to Work Cooperatively
with DHS in Developing Tribal Identification Cards: Tribal Nations have
shown they are willing to comply with the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative for enhanced tribal identification (ID) cards; however,
compliance is often cost-prohibitive. Funding tribal ID cards has
multiple benefits, such as enabling Tribal Nations to provide secure
tribal cards, allowing tribal officials and citizens to continue border
crossings consistent with longstanding treaty rights and agreements,
and allowing entrance to federal offices to conduct business and other
matters. Some Tribal Nations have the human resources and logistical
capacity to produce tribal IDs if materials and technical assistance
are available. NCAI asks Congress to provide $10 million to Customs and
Border Protection for direct assistance to the 574 federally recognized
Tribal Nations for enhanced ID efforts.
Provide $4 Million for Tribal Emergency Management Assistance
Compact Development: Congress funded the development and continues to
fund the operation of the state-to-state emergency management
assistance compact (EMAC)--a mutual aid agreement between states and
territories of the United States. The EMAC enables states to share
resources during natural and man-made disasters, including terrorism.
The 574 federally recognized Tribal Nations are not part of this
agreement. This is an issue, as Tribal Nations are often the first, and
in some cases only, responders to natural disasters in their
jurisdictions. The majority of tribal disasters are never designated
federal disaster declaration status. For this reason, providing funding
to establish and operate tribal EMACs will help strengthen national
homeland security by providing Tribal Nations a first resource between
and among themselves. NCAI urges Congress to provide $4 million for
inter-tribal emergency management compact development.
Additional Indian Country funding priorities for FY 2022:
--Provide $10 million for Tribal Nations to train DHS personnel in
cultural sensitivity. (DHS)
--Provide $2 million for Tribal Homeland Security Centers of
Excellence. (DHS)
--Provide $5 million for Tribal Cyber Security Resilience. (CISA)
--Provide $2 million for COVID-19 after action evaluations and
reports that focus on the federal response in Indian Country.
(FEMA)
--Provide $2 million for National Response and Coordinating Center,
Tribal Desk. (FEMA)
--Provide $1 million for updated Tribal Nations emergency management
training. (FEMA)
--Provide $3 million for the development and delivery of homeland
security and emergency management curriculum at Tribal Colleges
and Universities and tribal non-profits. (FEMA)
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony and for your
consideration of tribal homeland security and emergency management
funding priorities for FY 2022.
[This statement was submitted by Kelbie Kennedy
([email protected]), NCAI Policy Counsel.]
______
Prepared Statement of The Nature Conservancy's (TNC's)
Chair Murphy, Ranking Member Capito and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present The Nature
Conservancy's (TNC's) support for fiscal year 2022 (FY22) funding for
specific programs of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
TNC is a nonprofit conservation organization working in all 50 states
and in 72 countries and territories to conserve the lands and waters on
which all life depends.
Last year, we witnessed an alarming new record in the United States
as an unparalleled number of catastrophic storms resulted in the
greatest number of billion-dollar disasters since the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration began tallying disaster costs. A record-
breaking 30 named tropical storms and hurricanes played a major role in
this sad milestone, as did the worst year on record for
uncharacteristically severe wildfires in the West. Since just 2005, the
United States has endured just shy of $1.26 trillion in damages from
natural disasters, which represents an alarming and dramatic average
annual increase in previous years and decades \1\. These statistics
represent a trend moving in the wrong direction as we continue to
witness increasingly devastating storms and wildfires wreaking havoc on
our lives, our economy and our environment.
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\1\ U.S.: economic cost of natural disasters 2020 Statista
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As a nation, we must improve our ability to invest in work that
reduces the risk of the growing impacts of these disasters. We must
also pay attention to an equitable distribution of federal funding to
ensure low-income communities and communities of color are able to
access these resources. Unfortunately, FEMA mitigation funding has not
targeted these communities, which already have added challenges in
accessing sources of mitigation funding. According to E&E reported
analysis \2\ of FEMA records on the applications for the new Building
Resilient Infrastructure for Communities (BRIC) program, only 10
percent of the applications were from ``small, impoverished
communities'' and this amounted to only 3 percent of the funding being
sought.
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\2\ Environmental Justice: FEMA climate grants pose challenge for
poor communities--Tuesday, June 1, 2021--www.eenews.net
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Overall, there is more that we can do to prepare for and invest in
reducing the risk that disaster events pose to communities, especially
low-income and communities of color. By investing in actions that
enhance resilience and deliver measurable reduction in risk and
impacts, our nation will experience less loss of life and property.
Communities throughout the nation will be able to bounce back quicker
from these extreme weather events. Due to this need, TNC strongly
supports efforts to build staff capacity and expertise as well as
bolster technical assistance--including investing in data delivery and
geospatial mapping--and pre-disaster mitigation planning, analysis and
overall mitigation actions.
TNC believes planning for and investing in restoring and conserving
nature provides significant contributions to mitigation actions. These
types of natural and green infrastructure projects deliver measurable
reductions in flood, fire and drought risk. These risk reduction
benefits are being realized through conservation and restoration
projects across the United States and in U.S. territories to maintain
and restore the connectivity of rivers and provide sufficient
floodplain areas. These projects can include protecting headwaters of
watersheds to improve the quality of downstream waters, implementing
sustainable forest management practices, restoring coastal natural
infrastructure like coral reefs and dunes, and constructing green
infrastructure in urban areas. In addition to reducing risks, these
projects provide many other benefits that enhance resilience and
support and protect humans and nature, such as filtering pollutants,
reducing erosion, protecting breeding grounds for fish and shellfish
and enhancing recreation. To further advance this work, working with
the global infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, we recently completed
a guide, ``Promoting Nature-Based Mitigation Through FEMA Mitigation
Grants'' (www.nature.org/femaguide), to inform local communities and
states as to how to successfully secure FEMA mitigation funding to
invest in nature-based projects.
flood hazard mapping and risk analysis program
Flood maps are critical to providing accurate information that
feeds into essential community-level vulnerability assessment and risk
reduction planning, yielding enhanced resilience. Up-to-date,
scientifically sound and environmentally and socio-economically
indicative flood maps inform risk and vulnerability. Flood maps
underpin wise land use, including decisions on where not to develop and
where to conserve lands that might aid in reducing flood risk. And yet,
FEMA maps are woefully inadequate in capturing flood risk. A study
published in Environmental Research Letters by TNC and other scientists
demonstrated that approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population is at
risk of flooding. This is more than three times what is captured by
FEMA flood insurance rate maps, which are used to estimate the amount
of the U.S. population at risk. The study used new mapping techniques
that should be considered to bolster FEMA's current mapping methods.
TNC also has extensive experience in providing flood and land use data
to inform strategies that reduce risk through the development of our
Coastal Resilience Tool.
According to a panel of experts convened by the Association of
State Floodplain Managers, it will cost between $3.2 billion and $11.8
billion to produce updated flood maps for the nation and another $107
million to $480 million annually to keep those maps updated.\3\ The
funding level of $263 million for FY20 and FY21 for the Flood Hazard
Mapping and Risk Analysis Program is simply inadequate to update and
maintain FEMA flood maps. At a time when needs for accurate mapping are
so great because it can help drive risk reduction decisions, we ask
that this amount be greatly increased to address the need. We
appreciate the requested additional funding of $273 million in the
president's budget but, unfortunately, this amount is not enough to
address the need. TNC requests funding of up to $800 million for the
Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program in FY22. This amount
should be in addition to any amounts allocated to mapping from revenues
derived directly from the flood insurance policy fee.
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\3\ ASFPM's Flood Mapping for the Nation. 2020. https://
www.floodsciencecenter.org/products/flood-mapping-for-the-nation/
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building resilient infrastructure and communities (bric)
Proactive actions before any specific disaster hits promotes and
facilitates planning and measures that increase resilience and reduce
risk, compared with the reactive, immediate actions needed following a
disaster. With nearly all federal investments in mitigation occurring
after a disaster, the importance of pre-disaster mitigation is
essential. Through the passage of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act
(DRRA) in 2018, Congress created a new program intended to replace the
annually appropriated Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund. Launched this year,
BRIC is to be funded with up to 6 percent set aside from the Disaster
Relief Fund (DRF). This will enhance funding for pre-disaster
mitigation work and could result in a meaningful increase in funding
for pre-disaster mitigation investment. While we appreciate the $500
million that was dedicated to this program in FY21, reporting indicates
that this amount did not represent a full 6 percent allocations as
defined in the statute, and it continues to be uncertain exactly how
the percentage of DRF funds to dedicate to BRIC will be calculated and
invested in BRIC in FY22 and beyond. And as demonstrated in the first
round of applications for this funding, the demand for funding totaled
$3.6 billion far exceeded the available funding. We also greatly
appreciate the president's recent announcement of dedicating $1 billion
in funding to this program for FY22. We also call on Congress to
include report language that ensures funding of at least the full 6
percent (as defined in the DRRA of 2018) of DRF funds for BRIC for
FY22. Additionally, we strongly encourage the Committee to request that
15 percent of future rounds of BRIC funding be reserved to fund nature-
based mitigation projects, which have been proven to provide
significant hazard risk reduction benefits during natural disaster
events while also providing additional social, recreational and
environmental co-benefits year-round.
national flood insurance program mitigation grants
Much of the National Flood Insurance Program Mitigation Grant funds
are targeted at mitigating losses to structures that repeatedly flood.
Addressing the select structures that incur the greatest cost from
repeated damage is the fiscally responsible option. There are known
strategies, both structural and nonstructural, that are proven to
reduce or eliminate flood damage, and thus this funding ultimately
saves costs by reducing or eliminating that future risk. The funds pay
for flood proofing measures, such as elevating structures, and are used
to permanently remove structures from areas of repeat flooding. TNC
supports a minimum funding level of $175 million in FY22 for the
National Flood Insurance Program Mitigation Grants.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit TNC's recommendations for
the FY22 Homeland Security appropriations bill.
[This statement was submitted by Sarah Murdock, Director, U.S.
Climate Resilience and Water Policy, The Nature Conservancy.]
______
Prepared Statement of the Nation's Fire and Emergency Services
department of homeland security, federal emergency management agency
(fema) programs--firefighter assistance grants, u.s. fire
administration, urban search and rescue system
On behalf of the nation's fire and emergency services, we write to
urge your continued support for programs that enhance our nation's
readiness and emergency response capabilities: the Assistance to
Firefighters (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response (SAFER) grant programs, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA),
and the Urban Search and Rescue Response System (US&R).
afg and safer grant programs
Funding
The AFG and SAFER grant programs are imperative to addressing the
needs of more than one million fire and emergency services personnel
while providing an economic stimulus to American businesses. AFG and
SAFER have been eminently successful in providing fire departments and
EMS agencies with the tools, training, and staffing needed to safely
and effectively protect their communities. As you begin work on the
Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations process, we encourage you to fund
these programs at the authorized level of $750 million each.
Demand for these programs has consistently been significantly
higher than the supply of available funding, and equipment costs have
continued to rise while funding has remained relatively low. The most
recent analysis from industry experts estimates that since 2018, the
average cost for turnout gear has increased around 14%, while the cost
of fire apparatus has increased around 16%. Even today, costs are still
continuing to increase.
In addition to costs, demand for fire and emergency services
response has also continued to grow. According to NFPA data, in 2011,
fire departments responded to just over 30 million calls in that year.
By 2018, the annual number of calls had risen to approximately 36.7
million, a 22% increase. Furthermore, not only did the overall number
of calls increase, but the number of calls across most response
categories increased. In 2018, fire departments responded to more calls
for medical aid, mutual aid, hazardous materials response, and other
conditions than before. During the COVID-19 pandemic, fire departments
and EMS agencies have shown that they are ready, willing, and able to
respond to new and evolving emergencies-while continuing to respond to
existing threats-but they require federal support to do so.
The AFG and SAFER grant programs improve response capabilities
across all emergency response areas. They also provide funding for
crucial fire prevention and safety programs targeted toward high-risk
populations. As demand for fire and emergency response continues to
rise, we must ensure that our fire and EMS personnel have what they
need to keep themselves and their communities safe while also
strengthening prevention efforts to improve the safety of civilians and
personnel alike. This requirement is squarely in the federal interest
and necessitates federal investments at the authorized level.
Waiver Language
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to fire
departments and EMS agencies. To ensure that the AFG and SAFER programs
can continue to function effectively in these conditions, we ask that
you include the following waiver language in the FY2022 DHS
appropriations bill:
safer
In making grants to carry out Section 34 of the Federal Fire
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229a), the Administrator
shall grant waivers from the requirements in subsections (a)(1)(A),
(a)(1)(B), (a)(1)(E), (c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(4) of such Act.
afg
In making grants to carry out Section 33 of the Federal Fire
Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229), the Administrator
shall grant waivers from the requirements in subsections (k)(1) and
(k)(3) of such Act.
These waivers will help ensure that vital grant funding gets where
it is most needed: into the hands of local fire departments and EMS
agencies. The SAFER waivers will also allow departments to retain and
rehire personnel-critical to attaining and maintaining the appropriate
staffing levels to keep communities safe.
u.s. fire administration
Another issue we bring to your attention is funding for USFA. USFA
plays an important role at the national level, ensuring that the fire
service is prepared to respond to all hazards. Each year, USFA provides
training to approximately 100,000 fire and emergency service personnel
through the National Fire Academy (NFA). Through the vital funding of
the State Fire Training Grants, USFA is also able to support much-
needed training in the states, and thus reach a larger audience.
Additionally, USFA collects important data and conducts research to
reduce the threat of fire and other dangers in local communities.
Unfortunately, over the past decade, USFA's budget has remained
relatively stagnant and well below the authorized level of $76.5
million.
At a time when fire and EMS personnel are facing climate change
threats, including increasing numbers of natural disasters like
hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires; more medical calls than ever
before; the evolving challenge of responding on the front lines of a
global pandemic; the continued scourge of structural fires, including
home fires; increasing numbers of calls for hazardous materials
response; and much more, it is essential that the agency tasked with
supporting America's fire and emergency services is properly resourced.
Therefore, our organizations request full funding of $76.5 million
for USFA in FY2022 to ensure that it can continue its mission to
support our nation's fire and EMS personnel and work for a fire-safe
America.
urban search and rescue response system
Lastly, we request your support for US&R funding. As the nation's
only self-sufficient, all-hazards, ready-response force, US&R is
essential to our nation's homeland security. Given its crucial
importance, we are extremely concerned with the program's consistent
underfunding. The average cost to maintain a US&R team exceeds $2
million. Unfortunately, recent appropriations have only covered a
portion of the necessary costs, leaving local governments responsible
for filling the gap and, thus, impairing local public safety. We urge
Congress to increase funding for the program to at least $50 million in
FY2022.
We remain grateful for your continued leadership in ensuring that
America's fire and emergency services are prepared to protect the
public from all hazards--both natural and manmade. As you continue
developing legislation to fund these programs for FY2022, we urge you
to consider our recommendations to ensure that our nation's first
responders can continue to protect and serve their communities safely
and effectively.
Sincerely,
Congressional Fire Services Institute
Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association
Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association
International Association of Arson Investigators
International Association of Fire Chiefs
International Association of Fire Fighters
International Fire Service Training Association
International Society of Fire Service Instructors
National Association of State Fire Marshals
National Fire Protection Association
National Volunteer Fire Council
North American Fire Training Directors
Congressional Fire Services Institute/Fire Apparatus Manufacturers'
Association
Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association/
International Association of Arson Investigators/International
Association of Fire Chiefs/
International Association of Fire Fighters/International Fire Service
Training Association/
International Society of Fire Service Instructors/National Association
of State Fire Marshals/
National Fire Protection Association/National Volunteer Fire Council/
North American Fire Training Directors
[This statement was submitted by Michaela Campbell, Director of
Government Affairs for the Congressional Fire Services Institute, on
behalf of the undersigned organizations.]
______
Prepared Statement of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a self-funded,
global non-profit organization founded in 1896 dedicated to ending
losses from fire, electrical, and related life safety hazards. With the
unabating wildfire crisis in the U.S., NFPA recently launched Outthink
Wildfire(tm), an initiative to advocate for policy change in five key
areas that will stop the destruction of communities by this hazard. We
write to ask for your support for key federal programs.
The five tenets are: 1) all homes and business in areas of wildfire
risk must be retrofitted to resist ignition; 2) current codes,
standards, and sound land use planning practices must be used and
enforced; 3) local fire departments must have adequate resources to
protect their communities; 4) fuel management on federal and non-
federal lands must be a priority; and 5) the public must be well-
informed and motivated to embrace their role in reducing wildfire risk.
While action on these fronts is urgently needed at all levels of
government, Federal programs need to play a key role in ending the
devastating wildfire losses communities are now experiencing as
discussed in this letter.
mitigating wildfire severity
NFPA supports the Administration's FY2022 proposal to provide $1.7
billion in funding for high-priority hazardous fuels and forest-
resilience projects to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), in addition to
the proposed $340 million to the Department of the Interior (DOI) for
hazardous fuel treatments on its lands. As identified in the National
Cohesive Wildfire Management Strategy, denser, more continuous fuel on
landscapes now outside of their natural ecological fire regimes is a
major contributor to the severe wildfires that threaten communities and
drain Federal fire suppression resources. The U.S. must increase the
rate of fuel treatments, including prescribed burning, to address the
millions of acres now at high or very high risk of wildfire.
In addition to increased resources for hazardous fuel treatment
projects, NFPA supports programs that enable collaboration between the
USFS and its partners, assist state and private land managers in
restoring forest health, and encourage landscape-scale restoration
projects. For example, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration
program has been successful in reducing fire risk and achieving other
management objectives through a stakeholder-driven process aimed at
minimizing conflict.\1\ Given the National Cohesive Strategy's call for
increased landscape-scale fuel treatment and forest health projects,
funding this program at its authorized level of $80 million can help
continue and expand on its success. Similarly, the Landscape Scale
Restoration Program should receive $20 million.
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\1\ See e.g., Schultz, Courtney, et al. (2017) Strategies for
Success Under Forest Service Restoration Initiatives, Ecosystem
Workforce Working Paper, Number 81 (https://tinyurl.com/38b3cpz4)
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Finally, NFPA supports a robust budget for forestry research,
including programs to better understand wildfire behavior and landscape
treatment strategies, as well as programs to develop new wood products
and markets to create more financial incentives for hazardous fuel
treatment. As part of that funding, the Joint Fire Sciences Research
program should receive $8 million each for the USFS and DOI. NFPA also
believes research funding for the built environment aspect of wildfire
resilience should be increased and thus supports the Administration's
proposal to increase funding for the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), particularly for efforts to improve resiliency
through building codes.
assisting state & local fire departments
State and local fire response resources play a major role in
preparing for and responding to wildfires on both public and private
lands, making the USFS funds provided by the State Fire Assistance
(SFA) and Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) programs critical to public
safety. According to the National Association of State Foresters,
members of state and local fire departments are the first to respond to
80 percent of wildfires. Findings from NFPA's 2016 Fourth Needs
Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service \2\ that the majority of fire
departments with wildfire response responsibilities lack sufficient
training and personal protective equipment reveal a significant gap in
safety, for both the responders and the lives and properties of the
communities they protect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ National Fire Protection Association (2016) Fourth National
Needs Assessment, https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-
and-tools/Emergency-Responders/Needs-assessment, (Eighty-eight percent
of U.S. fire departments-some 23,000 departments-provide wildland and/
or WUI firefighting services, but 63 percent of those have not formally
trained all of their personnel involved in wildland firefighting on
these skills. Only 32 percent have all of their responders equipped
with appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE), and 26 percent do
not have any of the necessary PPE at all. Only 27 percent of
departments have a health and fitness program).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SFA and VFA are critical safety programs for supporting wildland
urban interface (WUI) communities, funding hazardous fuels treatment in
the WUI, supporting fire planning projects, and helping to train and
equip state and local responders. SFA also supports public education
and community capacity development programs like Firewise USA(r) and
the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network. These programs teach WUI
residents how to lower wildfire risk to their homes and support
community mitigation activities. Therefore, NFPA supports funding the
State Fire Assistance program at $88.5 million and the Volunteer Fire
Assistance program at $20 million.
mitigation for communities
The National Cohesive Strategy also identifies the need for fire
adapted communities-communities where homes and businesses are
retrofitted to resist ignition and wildfire safety codes, standards,
and land use planning practices are applied. According to the U.S. Fire
Administration, the Nation has over 70,000 thousand communities in
areas at risk from wildfires, home to 46 million housing units.
Preparing for wildfire through creating defensible space and home
retrofits can greatly reduce the risk of loss. NFPA supports the
Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Building Resilient
Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and the Administration's
proposal to add $540 million in new resources to programs tasked with
helping communities undertake pre-disaster planning and make
investments in resiliency. The USFS' Wildfire Hazard Severity Mapping
for Communities program also supports community risk assessment and
hazard mitigation planning and should continue. In addition, NFPA is
also highly supportive of proposed efforts to improve resiliency and
safety in HUD-assisted housing with an additional $800 million in new
investments.
Thank you for the opportunity to share our views on Federal support
for reducing wildfire risk to communities. NFPA strongly urges the
Committee to support a robust budget for wildfire mitigation and we
stand ready to provide any addition information that would be useful.
Sincerely,
L. Seth Statler
Director of Government
Affairs,
National Fire Protection
Association
______
Prepared Statement of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)
Chairman Murphy, Ranking Member Capito and distinguished members of
the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide this
testimony. As President of the National Treasury Employees Union
(NTEU), I have the honor of leading a union that represents over 29,000
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers and trade enforcement
specialists stationed at 328 air, sea, and land ports of entry across
the United States and 16 Preclearance stations.
CBP is the largest component of the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) responsible for border security at the ports of entry, including
anti-terrorism, immigration, anti-smuggling, trade compliance, and
agriculture protection. CBP also simultaneously facilitates lawful
trade and travel at U.S. ports of entry that is critical to our
Nation's economy.
CBP Staffing at the Ports of Entry: For years, NTEU has advocated
for the hiring of thousands of new CBP Officers, hundreds of new
Agriculture Specialists and non-uniformed trade operations personnel
that are needed based on the agency's own Workload Staffing Model
(WSM), Agriculture Resource Allocation Model (AgRAM) and Resource
Optimization Model for Trade Revenue (Trade ROM).
Pursuant to these models, in FY 2021 House Appropriators sought
$171 million for 1,150 new CBP OFO positions including $91 million for
850 CBP Officers, $10 million for 100 support personnel and$30 million
for 200 agriculture specialists. Senate Appropriators did not clear any
funding bills but recommended $8 million in FY 2021 funding to hire 50
new non-uniformed trade positions to carry out CBP's trade mission to
strengthen trade enforcement actions. However, in the end, the final FY
2021 funding bill did not include any funding to increase staffing for
CBP OFO.
CBP's staffing models are dynamic and reflect the impact of the
pandemic on CBP OFO staffing needs. Based on CBP's most recent staffing
models, CBP needs to hire approximately 1,700 CBP Officers, 400
Agriculture Specialists and 200 non-uniformed Trade Specialists.
NTEU requests that the Committee include in its FY 2022 DHS
appropriations bill funding for CBP OFO new hires up to levels required
by the CBP's dynamic workplace staffing models for CBP Officers,
Agriculture Specialists and Trade Specialists. Therefore, NTEU is
asking the Committee to provide at minimum $160 million in direct
appropriated funding for CBP ``Operations and Support'' in FY 2022 to
fund the hiring of at least 800 CBP Officers, 240 CBP Agriculture
Specialists, 200 CBP Agriculture Technicians, 20 Agriculture Canine
Teams and 50 non-uniformed trade enforcement specialists and associated
operational support personnel.
To further support this staffing request, NTEU joined a coalition
of 28 port stakeholders, including Airports Council International-North
America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. Travel Association on a
letter dated May 4, 2021, to this subcommittee urging funding for new
officers so the agency will be prepared for an influx of passengers and
cargo at the ports-of-entry once the current international travel
restrictions are relaxed and eventually lifted.
As the letter states, ensuring CBP staffing is an economic driver
for the U.S. economy and an additional 800 CBP Officers would not only
reduce wait times at ports of entry, but also provide new economic
opportunities across the United States. ``While the volume of commerce
crossing our borders has more than tripled in the past 25 years, CBP
staffing has not kept pace with demand'' the coalition wrote. ``Long
wait times at our ports-of-entry lead to travel delays and uncertainty,
which can increase supply-chain costs and cause passengers to miss
their connections. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, border
delays result in losses to output, wages, jobs, and tax revenue due to
decreases in spending by companies, suppliers, and consumers.''
Furthermore, acknowledging the ongoing CBP Officer staffing
shortage at the ports, CBP again finds it necessary to solicit CBP
Officers for temporary duty assignment (TDY) to San Ysidro, Otay Mesa,
and Calexico land ports of entry, which began on May 16, 2021.
According to CBP, the TDY is necessary to support the workload and
operational challenges facing the San Diego Field Office, such as wait
times in excess of four hours. OFO anticipates the TDY to run in three,
62-day phases and tentatively ending on July 18, 2021, with the
possibility of additional phases. These TDYs will be filled by CBP
Officers currently assigned to air and seaport locations and will
generally exclude northern and southern land border POEs.
Lastly, in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, since March
2020, travel through the northern and southwest border land ports has
been restricted to essential trade and travel. These restrictions are
reevaluated monthly and there is an expectation that these essential
travel restrictions may be lifted as early as June 21. If these
essential travel restrictions are indeed lifted, I have heard from NTEU
leaders that the current staffing at land ports will be unable to
maintain inspection and processing functions to address the expected
increase in traffic flow in a timely manner. At the San Ysidro port of
entry, the current TDYs will need to be extended or wait times at that
port will become untenable. With the end of essential travel
restrictions, the surge of travelers, as well as asylum seekers,
through the land ports threaten to overwhelm port functions. To end the
need for TDYs, it is up to Congress to address the ongoing port
staffing deficit by authorizing and funding CBP OFO new hires in FY
2022 and subsequent years until the staffing gap identified in the
workload staffing models are met. Without addressing the ongoing CBP
Officer staffing shortages, allocating adequate staffing at all ports
will remain a challenge.
Unfortunately, the FY 2022 President's DHS budget request is
essentially flat and includes no increase in funding for CBP OFO new
hires. NTEU greatly appreciates the President for including a pay raise
for federal employees in his budget proposal and new CBP funding to
address the annualization of the FY 2021 pay raise, the FY 2022 pay
raise, the associated FERS contribution and funding for certain port
modernization projects.
CBP Agriculture Specialist Staffing: Currently, there is a shortage
of approximately 430 Agriculture Specialists nationwide according to
CBP's own data-driven and vetted Workload Staffing Model. Last year,
Congress approved P.L. 116-122, the Protecting America's Food and
Agriculture Act of 2019. The new law authorizes CBP to hire 240 CBP
Agriculture Specialists, 200 CBP Agriculture Technicians and 20
Agriculture Canine Teams per year until the staffing shortage that
threatens the U.S. agriculture sector is met. NTEU's appropriations
request includes funding to hire the first wave of CBP agriculture
inspection personnel authorized by the newly enacted statute.
CBP Trade Operations Staffing: In addition to safeguarding our
nation's borders and ports, CBP is tasked with regulating and
facilitating international trade. CBP employees at the ports of entry
are critical for protecting our nation's economic growth and security
and are the second largest source of revenue collection for the U.S.
government--$74 billion in 2020. For every dollar invested in CBP trade
personnel, $87 is returned to the U.S. economy, either through lowering
the costs of trade, ensuring a level playing field for domestic
industry or protecting innovative intellectual property. Since CBP was
established in March 2003, however, there has been no increase in non-
uniformed CBP trade enforcement and compliance personnel. Additionally,
CBP trade operations staffing has fallen below the statutory floor set
forth in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and stipulated in the FY
2019 CBP Trade ROM. To maintain CBP's trade enforcement mission, NTEU
requests that Congress provide funding in FY 2022 for 50 additional CBP
non-uniformed trade personnel.
User Fee Shortfalls: Due to the pandemic's continued disruption of
fee generating international travel and commerce, user fee collections
have fallen precipitously which has necessitated the need for emergency
funding to prevent furloughing CBP OFO personnel at a time when
international trade and travel volume is beginning to return to pre-
pandemic levels. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
and Immigration and Agriculture Quality Inspection (AQI) user fees
currently fund up to 8,000 CBP Officers and 2,400 Agriculture
Specialists. To address the user fee shortfall, we were pleased that
Congress provided $840 million in FY 2021 emergency appropriations to
maintain current staffing of CBP Officers. Projected CBP trade and
travel volume data shows an estimated user fee shortfall of up to $1.4
billion through the first quarter of FY 2022. Congress also provided up
to $635 million through the end of FY 2022 in supplemental funding to
USDA to cover the user funding shortfall that funds CBP Agriculture
Specialists staffing.
U.S. businesses rely on the safe and efficient movement of goods
and people across our borders and are all working to safely resume
international travel and travel. Keeping current CBP Officer staffing
levels will be necessary to successfully transition into a more robust,
safe, and delay-free travel environment and improve cargo movement.
Losing the hiring and staffing advances that they finally started to
gain after years of effort and much appreciated funding support by
Congress will negatively impact cross-border travel, passenger
processing and trade facilitation in future years as the economy
returns to normal.
The critical issues that American businesses are facing to recover
from this pandemic require quick, decisive action so that our
government can best facilitate the flow of travel and trade as the
economy recovers. Without Congress again providing supplemental funding
or reprogramming existing funds to support these CBP Officers between
now and the end of FY 2022, we are gravely concerned that this loss of
user fee funding will result in furloughs at a time when this workforce
is most needed to facilitate the flow of legitimate travel and trade as
the economy recovers.
NTEU requests that the Committee, either through reprogramming, a
supplemental funding bill, or in its FY 2022 DHS appropriations bill,
funding to replace user fee shortfalls for CBP OFO salaries and
expenses and to mitigate dependence on user fees to fund salaries and
expenses of CBP OFO personnel. This CBP OFO funding request will help
to ensure that current CBP Officer staffing levels are maintained as
trade and traffic volumes increase. NTEU implores you to provide this
funding now so that CBP Officers can stay on the job during the
economic recovery. CBP employees at the ports of entry already face
many challenges in the course of their work and concerns about their
health and safety or of being furloughed as the country reopens for
business should not be among them.
NTEU also strongly opposes any diversion of COBRA user fees. Any
increases to the user fee account should be properly used for much-
needed CBP staffing and not diverted to unrelated projects. In 2015,
the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act indexed COBRA
user fees to inflation. However, the Act diverted this increase in the
user fee from CBP to pay for unrelated infrastructure projects.
Indexing the COBRA user fee to inflation is projected to raise $1.4
billion over ten years-a potential $140 million per year funding stream
to help pay for the hiring of additional CBP Officers to perform CBP's
border security, law enforcement and trade and travel facilitation
missions. Diverting these funds has cost CBP funding to hire over 900
new CBP Officers per year since the FAST Act went into effect. These
new hires would have significantly alleviated the current CBP Officer
staffing shortage.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this FY 2022 appropriations
request for CBP Officer, Agriculture Specialist, Technicians, Canine
teams, Trade Operations, and mission support new hires at the ports of
entry to build on the CBP OFO staffing advances enacted in prior
appropriations bills. NTEU greatly appreciates your efforts to continue
building on CBP OFO staffing advances made in recent years, and we urge
you to provide FY 2022 funding to replace any user fee shortfall to
maintain the current number of CBP employees and to hire needed
additional CBP OFO employees to adequately staff the nation's ports of
entry as our economy rebounds from the pandemic.
[This statement was submitted by Anthony M. Reardon, National
President, National Treasury Employees Union.]
______
Prepared Statement of Science and Technology Directorate
To: Senate Staff for Senator Peters, Congressional Staff for
Congressmen Johnson, Ryan, Joyce, Axne, and DesJarlis.
My office, the Office of Engagement and Partnerships in the
Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate,
works to identify existing technologies that can be quickly utilized by
members of the Department to fulfill their missions to protect our
country. In the course of evaluating these technologies, we were
briefed by a company that can protect our law enforcement officers and
first responders against the danger posed by the aerosolization of
dangerous substances such as opioids.
This device is called BLOC(tm); a handheld device enabling an
individual to immediately encapsulate potentially lethal powders such
as fentanyl and anthrax. It is the only patented technology of its
kind, currently deployed in the field, and is coincidentally
manufactured in Ohio and Michigan.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in increased synthetic opioid
use, overdoses, and exposures. Because this technology was specifically
designed to neutralize the threat of aerosolization of lethal powders,
it offers a viable solution which can also be applied to other drugs
and residues of homeless populations.
As opioid abuse and homelessness increase, law enforcement agencies
are transitioning to de-escalation techniques utilizing social service
personnel. These personnel enter locations with substantial threats of
exposure to synthetic opioids, fecal matter containing COVID-19 and
unknown powders. This device protects them from exposure, as well as
innocent people and those suffering from Opioid Use Disorders.
Based on the information provided, BLOC(tm) has been field-proven
effective by first responders, law enforcement, corrections, and US
Military Citizen Support Teams (94th CST). The efficacy of BLOC(tm) was
confirmed by EAG Laboratories, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Investigations and recently by the United States Department of
Agriculture, who stated, ``It has far reaching capabilities to include
neutralizing weaponized powders such as Anthrax''.
This office facilitated presentations of this device to the U.S.
Coast Guard, US Customs and Border Patrol, and the Office of Countering
Weapons of Mass Destruction who recognized the benefits of BLOC(tm) to
personnel engaged in drug interdiction and national security.
The ability of this new technology to immediately contain lethal
compounds provides a viable solution to the threat of exposures
identified in the Synthetic Opioid Exposure Prevention and Training
Act. As your office continues to safeguard the personnel at risk from
synthetic opioid exposure, I wanted to inform you of this new
technology for your consideration.
Respectfully,
[This statement was submitted by Robert B. Newman, Jr., Director,
Office of Engagements and Partnerships, Department of Homeland
Security, Science and Technology Directorate.]