FIRST RESPONDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE

UPDATE

REFERENCE:

PUBLIC SAFETY INTEROPERABILITY COMMUNICATIONS GRANT

By Randy Thompson, Director Mills County E911, Iowa APCO representative

I attended the First Responder Advisory Committee (FRAC) on May 8, 2007 at the Joint Forces Headquarters, along with APCO President Judy Flores.

John Benson, 911 program manager for Iowa Homeland Security Emergency Management Division (HLSEM) addressed the committee regarding the status of the Iowa Interoperable Communications Board. Benson stated that Governor Chet Culver signed HF 353, establishing the Iowa Interoperability Governance Board.

This 15 member Board will take effect on July 1, 2007, and will have the responsibility of developing and the implementation of a statewide interoperable communications system. Membership will follow the LEATAC (Iowa Law Enforcement Telecommunications Advisory Committee) guidelines, that include representatives from the following state departments:

· Iowa Department of Transportation

· Iowa Department of Public Safety

· Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management

· Iowa Department of Corrections

· Iowa Department of Natural Resources

· Iowa Department of Public Health

Along with these members, Governor Culver will appoint two members each from municipal police departments, county sheriff’s office, Iowa fire departments, and Iowa communications centers.

David Miller, Administrator of Iowa HLSEM advised all associations to forward letters of recommendation to the Governor’s office for consideration. The governor will also appoint one at-large member. Any APCO member who is interested in these appointments should contact President July Flores at the Blackhawk County Consolidated Communications Center. Others may contact the governor’s office directly.

The next topic discussed was the Public Safety Interoperability Communications Grant (PSIC) and how it will be handled in Iowa. This grant will provide billions of dollars in federal funding to aid states and local governments in meeting both “Operable” and “Interoperable” communications. The federal governments guidance on distribution has not yet been released to Iowa Homeland Security Emergency Management. Administrator David Miller expects to receive the guidance sometime in July 2007.

CTA Communications, Inc. of Lynchburg, VA has conducted a survey on Inter-operable communications in Iowa for Iowa HLSEM. The purpose of the survey is to determine the state’s current inter-operable capabilities and its needs, so we can create a Statewide Interoperability Plan. The due date for the results of the survey has been pushed back.

When I asked about the expected survey results date, John Benson stated that he did not know for sure when the results would be available. These survey results are important because they will be used to develop the Statewide Interoperability Plan, according to what Mr. Benson has previously stated to Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) managers.

The state plan will aid in establishing the State of Iowa’s requirement for filing an Interoperability Plan with the federal government. Now, instead of using the survey, Iowa HLSEM will, according to David Miller, “file a plan on how the intend to plan”, for interoperable communications in Iowa, in order to satisfy the federal government’s requirement.

Mr. Miller stated that the grant program was going to be handled along the same lines as other Homeland Security Grants. The grant money will be divided among the six Iowa HLSEM Regions, and then the local County Emergency Management Coordinators will decide on how to spend the money. Directives from the Iowa HLSEM have kept the money tied to the regions for the last couple grant cycles: and no “pass-through” money has been made available to the local agencies.

Title III of the S. 4 is the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission act of 2007 requires states to obligate 80% of the funds to local and tribal governments. Miller also stated that in order for “local” governments to qualify for any grant monies, they would have to submit a justification paper “that follows the state’s plan on interoperability communications”.

LOCAL AGENCIES MUST MAKE SURE WE SEE THE STATE PLAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We (the PSAPs) will be competing with each other for this money. It is imperative that we, the 9-1-1 communications centers, stick together: so that every PSAP in Iowa gets an equal share of this money.

All PSAP managers, supervisors, directors, and employees MUST be vigilant in watching for the state plan to come out from Iowa HLSEM, and must also stay informed about time lines that are necessary to receive this grant money. Make sure you stay in contact with your county Emergency Management Coordinator, because they will be the most likely to learn about this through Iowa HLSEM. Make sure that your sheriffs and chiefs know to be watching for this information.

We, the communication centers, cannot miss this opportunity to apply for this grant money. This money is intended for communications, so we must make sure it is used for all the communications centers of Iowa.