# What the Securing the Cities Improvement Act Does

This bill makes changes to a federal program called "Securing the Cities" that helps protect major urban areas from nuclear and radiological threats. Right now, the program focuses on what the government calls "high-risk urban areas," but this bill changes how cities get selected to participate and receive federal funding and resources for this protection.

The main change is how cities qualify for the program. Instead of using a general "high-risk" label, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to base decisions on specific factors: whether a city has the ability to prepare for and respond to emergencies, how much actual threat it faces from terrorist attacks involving nuclear or radioactive materials, how vulnerable it is to such attacks, and what the consequences would be if an attack happened. This means cities will need to prove they have real capabilities and face real risks to get into the program, rather than just being designated as "high-risk" for other reasons.

The bill also adds accountability measures. The Department of Homeland Security must now set clear performance goals and track how well the program is working. They have to monitor how money is being spent and measure whether cities are actually meeting the program's objectives. Within two years of the law passing, the department must report back to Congress with details about which cities are participating, whether they're meeting their goals, and whether any changes need to be made to the program. This gives Congress and the public a way to see if the program is actually making cities safer and using taxpayer money effectively.

Securing the Cities Improvement Act

Carter, Troy A.

Securing the Cities Improvement ActThis bill makes changes to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office's (CWMD's) Securing the Cities program, which seeks to detect nuclear or radiological materials to prevent terrorist attacks and other events posing a risk to cities in the United States.Specifically, the bill requires the CWMD to establish performance metrics and milestones for the program and to track performance against them.Also, under current law, in carrying out the Securing the Cities program, the CWMD may only partner with cities that are high-risk urban areas, which are designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under a different program. Instead, the bill requires the CWMD to designate the jurisdictions it may partner with for the program, and the designations must be based on the capability and capacity of the jurisdiction relating to preparedness and response, as well as the relative threat to, vulnerability of, and consequences for, such jurisdiction regarding terrorist attacks and other high-consequence events utilizing nuclear or radiological materials.Additionally, within two years of enactment of the bill, the CWMD must submit a report to Congress regarding participation in the Securing the Cities program, the establishment of metrics and milestones, performance against such metrics and milestones, and plans for any changes to the program.