BUFFALO - The Department of Homeland Security will consider Buffalo's location on the northern border when doling out anti-terrorism money next year, but that does not guarantee the city will receive any funding, a DHS official said Friday.
Under Secretary for Preparedness George Foresman said Buffalo's proximity to Canada was not taken into account when the city's Urban Area Security Initiative funding for 2006 was cut nearly in half from its 2005 level.
Although the region will not see a restoration of funding this year, the criteria will be changed for future allocations - not just for Buffalo but for all border cities, said Foresman, who toured the region and met with Erie and Niagara County officials at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y.
The change does not mean Buffalo, which was given $3.7 million in 2006, would necessarily retain its spot on the list of cities receiving money under the program.
“Frankly, I don't know,” Foresman said, “because risk is relative, and just as our risk analysis as the result of inclusion of border data would change our analysis of this region, it would have an effect on other regions in the country.”
Buffalo was warned early this year that the agency aims to ease it out of the high-threat program, and could receive no UASI money next year.
That set off a lobbying effort by local, state and federal officials, which culminated in Foresman's visit Friday.
“We want to make sure we're not shortchanged in 2007 and beyond,” said Bill Ross, chairman of the Niagara County Legislature.
Foresman also stressed the need for complete and accurate data about facilities and infrastructure that put the area at risk for terrorist attack.
“When we look at the risks in a region, it's made up of three components: threat, vulnerability and consequence,” he said. “For instance, there's a large presence of critical infrastructure, chemical facilities, electricity distribution facilities, here across the region and we want to make sure that the information that we have is consistent with what is, in fact, the case here.”
Officials in Buffalo and New York City, which also saw a funding reduction, have complained that the department grossly undercounted potential targets. The department's assessment of the Buffalo area included the city and a 10-mile buffer extending from its border, meaning Niagara Falls, some of the five international bridges and the state's largest power plant were not considered.
“Our vulnerability is regional,” Erie County Executive Joel Giambra said.
The Urban Area Security Initiative has created a fierce competition among dozens of cities vying to prove their ongoing need for federal anti-terrorism aid 4 1/2 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
AP-ES-06-23-06 1650EDT
Although the region will not see a restoration of funding this year, the criteria will be changed for future allocations - not just for Buffalo but for all border cities, said Foresman, who toured the region and met with Erie and Niagara County officials at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y.
The change does not mean Buffalo, which was given $3.7 million in 2006, would necessarily retain its spot on the list of cities receiving money under the program.
“Frankly, I don't know,” Foresman said, “because risk is relative, and just as our risk analysis as the result of inclusion of border data would change our analysis of this region, it would have an effect on other regions in the country.”
Buffalo was warned early this year that the agency aims to ease it out of the high-threat program, and could receive no UASI money next year.
That set off a lobbying effort by local, state and federal officials, which culminated in Foresman's visit Friday.
“We want to make sure we're not shortchanged in 2007 and beyond,” said Bill Ross, chairman of the Niagara County Legislature.
Foresman also stressed the need for complete and accurate data about facilities and infrastructure that put the area at risk for terrorist attack.
“When we look at the risks in a region, it's made up of three components: threat, vulnerability and consequence,” he said. “For instance, there's a large presence of critical infrastructure, chemical facilities, electricity distribution facilities, here across the region and we want to make sure that the information that we have is consistent with what is, in fact, the case here.”
Officials in Buffalo and New York City, which also saw a funding reduction, have complained that the department grossly undercounted potential targets. The department's assessment of the Buffalo area included the city and a 10-mile buffer extending from its border, meaning Niagara Falls, some of the five international bridges and the state's largest power plant were not considered.
“Our vulnerability is regional,” Erie County Executive Joel Giambra said.
The Urban Area Security Initiative has created a fierce competition among dozens of cities vying to prove their ongoing need for federal anti-terrorism aid 4 1/2 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
AP-ES-06-23-06 1650EDT
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