A lot of readers worry about how to fund new communication systems or pay for large-scale educational programs to prepare communities for the security challenges of the modern age. They may be in luck, as additional guidance about federal funding has been released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA released fiscal year 2009 application guidance for 14 federal grant programs.

The grant programs offer more than $3 billion of available federal funding to assist state and local governments in strengthening community preparedness. The $3 billion is allocated to several specific programs and are awarded according to a risk-assessment methodology that assesses threat, vulnerability and consequence, according to DHS. The FY 2009 risk methodology has not changed from FY 2008.