Department of Homeland Security outlines Fiscal Year 2014 budget request

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has unveiled the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request of $39.0 billion in net discretionary funding. An additional $5.6 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is provided separately, pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). Recognizing the current fiscal environment, the Department’s net discretionary amount is 2 percent below the FY 2012 enacted level.

Among other areas FY 2014 budget priorities include:

Safeguarding and Securing Cyberspace - The FY 2014 Budget supports initiatives to secure the United States’ information and financial systems and to defend against cyber threats to private sector and Federal systems, the Nation’s critical infrastructure, and the US economy. It also supports the President’s Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity and Presidential Policy Directive on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience. Taken together, the Administration’s initiatives strengthen the security and resilience of critical infrastructure against evolving threats through an updated and overarching national framework that acknowledges the linkage between cybersecurity and securing physical assets.

Included in the Budget are enhancements to the National Cybersecurity Protection System to prevent and detect intrusions on government computer systems, and to the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to protect against and respond to cybersecurity threats. The Budget also leverages a new operational partnership between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Secret Service (USSS) through the established network of USSS Electronic Crimes and Financial Crimes Task Forces to safeguard the United States’ financial payment systems, combat cybercrimes, target transnational child exploitation including large-scale producers and distributors of child pornography, and prevent attacks against US critical infrastructure.

Ensuring Resilience to Disasters - To support the objectives of the National Preparedness Goal and to leverage limited grant funding in the current fiscal environment, the Administration is again proposing the National Preparedness Grant Program to create a robust national response capacity based on cross-jurisdictional and readily deployable state and local assets, with appropriate adjustments to respond to stakeholder feedback received in 2012. While providing a structure that will give grantees more certainty about how funding will flow, the proposal continues to utilize a comprehensive process for assessing regional and national gaps, identifying and prioritizing deployable capabilities, and requiring grantees to regularly report progress in the acquisition and development of these capabilities.

The Budget also funds FEMA’s continued development of catastrophic plans, which include regional plans for response to earthquakes and hurricanes and medical countermeasure dispensing, and training for two million emergency managers and first responders.

Read the full announcement.

•Date: 11th April 2013 • US •Type: Article • Topic: Critical infrastructure protection

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