Notice2024-23365
MSA Delineations Used in FEMA's Grant Programs
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentFederal Emergency Management Agency
Abstract
Consistent with the Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization Act of 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requests public comment on the adoption of updated Metropolitan Statistical Area delineations for use in certain of FEMA's grant programs.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81925-81927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23365]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
[Docket ID: FEMA-2024-0027]
MSA Delineations Used in FEMA's Grant Programs
AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland
Security.
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Consistent with the Metropolitan Areas Protection and
Standardization Act of 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) requests public comment on the adoption of updated Metropolitan
Statistical Area delineations for use in certain of FEMA's grant
programs.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 9, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID: FEMA-2024-
0027, via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edgardo Santos, Risk Methodology
Branch Chief, Federal Emergency Management Agency, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a3c3f373b5737293b572a0815191f09093a1c1f171b541e1209541d150c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3177747c701c7c62701c61435e525442427157545c501f5559421f565e47">[email protected]</span></a>, (800) 368-6498.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation
Interested persons are invited to participate in this notice by
submitting comments and related materials. We will consider all
comments and materials received during the comment period.
If you submit a comment, include the Docket ID, indicate the
specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and
give the reason for each comment. All submissions may be posted,
without change, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, and will include any personal information you
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. For
more about privacy and the docket, visit <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice">https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice</a>.
For access to the docket to read background documents or comments
received, go to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
II. Background
A. FEMA Grant Programs and Core Based Statistical Areas
FEMA has the statutory authority to deliver numerous disaster and
non-disaster financial assistance programs in support of its mission,
and that of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), largely
through grants and cooperative agreements. Preparedness grants \1\
support our citizens and first responders to ensure we work together as
a nation to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for,
protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate terrorism and
other high-consequence disasters and emergencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For the purposes of this notice, the relevant grants
programs are the Urban Area Security Initiative, the Tribal Homeland
Security Grant Program, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, the
Port Security Grant Program, the Transit Security Grant Program, and
the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program. FEMA's
authority to administer these programs is provided below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When determining eligibility for the Urban Area Security
Initiative, the Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program, the Nonprofit
Security Grant Program, the Port Security Grant Program, the Transit
Security Grant
[[Page 81926]]
Program, and the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, one
factor is the applicant's location with respect to a given set of
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).\2\ MSAs are a type of core based
statistical area (CBSA). The general concept of a CBSA is that of an
area containing a large population nucleus, or urban area, and adjacent
communities that have a high degree of integration with that nucleus.
CBSAs are composed of entire counties: ``central counties'' that
contain the population nucleus, and ``outlying counties'' that qualify
to join a central county based on demonstrating sufficient commuting
ties with the central county or counties of the area.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ See, e.g., 6 U.S.C. 601(5), 604(b).
\3\ For more information, see U.S. Census Bureau, Metropolitan
and Micropolitan, About (July 25, 2023), <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/about.html">https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/about.html</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) establishes and maintains
these statistical areas to provide a nationally consistent set of
delineations for collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal
statistics for geographic areas. OMB establishes standards for defining
CBSAs and then applies those standards to U.S. Census Bureau data to
delineate individual CBSAs. Every decade, OMB reviews the CBSA
standards and, if warranted, revises them, and then applies the new
standards to new decennial census data to produce updated CBSA
delineations. OMB published the 2020 Standards for Delineating Core
Based Statistical Areas on July 16, 2021,\4\ and published revised CBSA
delineations on July 21, 2023.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ 86 FR 37770 (July 16, 2021).
\5\ OMB Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Between censuses, OMB releases annual updates, which make minor
changes to the delineations (or no changes, if warranted by the data)
and five-year updates that address broader revisions that generally
include more changes to the delineations.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ For more information, see 86 FR at 37775.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the Homeland Security Grant Program,\7\ the FEMA
Administrator designates high-risk urban areas to receive Urban Area
Security Initiative (UASI) grants.\8\ To determine which areas should
receive assistance each fiscal year, the Administrator is directed to
assess the relative threat, vulnerability, and consequences from acts
of terrorism faced by each ``eligible metropolitan area.'' \9\ The HSA
defines ``Eligible Metropolitan Area'' to mean any of the 100 most
populous metropolitan statistical areas \10\ and defines ``Metropolitan
Statistical Area'' to mean a metropolitan statistical area, as defined
by OMB.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, Public Law 107-
296, Title XX, 6 U.S.C. 321a, 603, 604, 605, 607, 608, 609; section
702 of the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006,
Public Law 109-347, 6 U.S.C. 470.
\8\ Section 2003 of the HSA, 6 U.S.C. 604(b)(1).
\9\ 6 U.S.C. 604(b)(2)(A).
\10\ 6 U.S.C. 601(5).
\11\ 6 U.S.C. 601(8).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024
(FY24 DHS Appropriations Act),\12\ the Nonprofit Security Grant Program
(NSGP) \13\ functioned as a ``carve-out'' of UASI, so eligibility for
NSGP was tied to the MSA delineations in the same way as UASI. Pursuant
to the FY24 DHS Appropriations Act, fiscal year 2024 NSGP awards are
authorized under 6 U.S.C. 609a.\14\ Currently, as a matter of policy,
FEMA ties eligibility for assistance under the program to the MSA
framework. The fiscal year 2024 NSGP Notice Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
states that eligible nonprofit subapplicants may be eligible for
assistance specifically because of their location with respect to an
MSA.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ Public Law 118-47, Div. C.
\13\ Section 2009 of the HSA, 6 U.S.C. 609a.
\14\ Public Law 118-47, Div. C, Title III.
\15\ See DHS NOFO Fiscal Year 2024 Nonprofit Security Grant
Program (Apr. 16, 2024), <a href="https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security/fy-24-nofo">https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security/fy-24-nofo</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under the Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP),\16\ the
FEMA Administrator may make awards ``to directly eligible tribes''
under the State Homeland Security Grant Program.\17\ The definition of
a ``directly eligible tribe'' provides four area-based criteria, one of
which must be met in order for a Tribal Nation to be eligible for
assistance under THSGP.\18\ One of those four criteria is that the
Tribal Nation is located within or contiguous to 1 of the 50 most
populous metropolitan statistical areas in the United States.\19\ Thus,
although many Tribal Nations that are eligible for THSGP will be
eligible through one of the other criteria, some Tribal Nations will be
eligible for THSGP assistance specifically because of their location
with respect to an MSA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ Section 2005 of the HSA, 6 U.S.C. 606.
\17\ 6 U.S.C. 606(a).
\18\ See 6 U.S.C. 601(4)(A)(iii).
\19\ 6 U.S.C. 601(4)(A)(iii)(III).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMA's Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program
(RCPGP),\20\ as a matter of policy, ties eligibility for assistance
under the program to the MSA framework. The fiscal year 2023 RCPGP NOFO
states that eligible applicants must be either a State or Territory
that contains one or more of the 100 most populous MSAs or be a local
government located within one of the 100 most populous MSAs.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328,
Division F--Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act,
2023, Title III--Protection, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery,
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Assistance.
\21\ See DHS NOFO Fiscal Year 2023 Regional Catastrophic
Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) (May 24, 2023), <a href="https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/regional-catastrophic/fy-23-nofo">https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/regional-catastrophic/fy-23-nofo</a>.
NOFOs for affected FEMA grants programs issued since the enactment
of the MAPS Act have used the 2020 MSA delineations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eligibility and allocation of funding under the Port Security Grant
Program (PSGP) \22\ and the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) \23\
are informed by risk, which is calculated using methodologies that
include threat, vulnerability, and consequence components that align
with the UASI risk methodology. Both grant programs use the MSA
delineations as part of the threat component through using the UASI
counterterrorism threat levels and values. The threat level and value
that DHS Intelligence & Analysis and FEMA assign to the 100 most
populous MSAs is assigned to any PSGP port and transit agency within
that MSA. The TSGP risk methodology also uses the MSA delineations as
part of the vulnerability component through using the Special Events
Metric (SEM). The SEM value for bus entities is based on the SEM value
of the MSA they serve (as assessed for the most recent UASI risk
assessment).\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ Section 102 of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of
2002, as amended, Public Law 107-295, 46 U.S.C. 70107.
\23\ Section 1406 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/
11 Commission Act of 2007, Public Law 110-53, 6 U.S.C. 1135.
\24\ For more information on these risk methodologies, see
Fiscal Year 2023 SHSP/UASI Risk Methodology Updates (Feb. 27, 2023),
<a href="https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_gpd-shsp-fy-23-risk-methodology-updates.pdf">https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_gpd-shsp-fy-23-risk-methodology-updates.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 81927]]
B. Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization Act of 2021
The Metropolitan Areas Protection and Standardization Act of 2021
(MAPS Act),\25\ enacted on December 5, 2022, prohibits changes to the
standards of CBSA delineations to propagate \26\ automatically for any
non-statistical use by any domestic assistance program and instead
requires changes to propagate if they are affirmatively adopted through
notice and comment rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, by a relevant
agency that determines such a propagation supports the purposes of the
program and is in the public interest.\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ Public Law 117-219, 136 Stat. 2271.
\26\ Propagate is defined as reproduce or spread information.,
Black's Law Dictionary, <a href="https://thelawdictionary.org/propagate/">https://thelawdictionary.org/propagate/</a>
(last accessed July 24, 2024). Here, this refers to how statutory,
regulatory, or administrative provisions referring to CBSAs, but not
specifying a particular version of the CBSA standards or
delineations, should be read--do these provisions always mean the
latest versions of the CBSA standards or delineations, or some older
versions? The MAPS Act requires that these provisions not be read to
refer to CBSA delineations issued after the enactment of the MAPS
Act, unless an agency follows the appropriate processes.
\27\ See 31 U.S.C. 6309.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since an applicant's eligibility for certain of FEMA's grant
programs (i.e., UASI, NSGP, PSGP, TSGP, THSGP, and RCPGP) depends in
part on the applicant's location with respect to specific MSAs,
changing which version of the MSA delineations is used could change
which applicants are eligible. Consistent with the requirements of the
MAPS Act, FEMA is now requesting comment on whether the use of the
latest editions of OMB's MSA delineations in these grant programs
supports the purposes of the programs and is in the public's interest.
III. 2023 CBSA Delineations
OMB published revised CBSA delineations on July 21, 2023, based on
the application of the 2020 Standards to Census Bureau data from the
2020 Decennial Census, the American Community Survey, and Census
Population Estimates Program for 2020 and 2021.\28\ The 2023
delineations update and supersede the previous version of the
delineations issued on March 6, 2020,\29\ and make the following
changes:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ OMB Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/OMB-Bulletin-23-01.pdf</a>.
\29\ OMB Bulletin No. 20-01 (Mar. 6, 2020), <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Bulletin-20-01.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Bulletin-20-01.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The Springfield, MA, and New Haven, CT, MSAs are no longer among
the 100 most populous MSAs due to changes to the county composition of
some MSAs.
2. The Jackson, MS, and Fayetteville, AR, MSAs now do qualify as
part of the 100 most populous MSAs due to either changes in county
composition or due to changes in population values.
3. Twenty-seven MSAs changed their name due to changes in principal
city population or due to changes in which States are part of the MSA.
For example, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA is now Chicago-
Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN MSA due to the removal of the one Wisconsin
county that was part of the MSA.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ For more information on principal cities and Metropolitan
and Micropolitan Statistical Area titles, see U.S. Census Bureau,
Metropolitan and Micropolitan, About (July 25, 2023), <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/about.html">https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro/about.html</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. MSAs in Connecticut were updated to use the new planning regions
in place of counties.\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ For more information on Connecticut planning regions, see
State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Planning
Regions and Regional Councils of Governments, <a href="https://portal.ct.gov/opm/igpp/org/planning-regions/planning-regions--overview">https://portal.ct.gov/opm/igpp/org/planning-regions/planning-regions--overview</a> (last
accessed July 25, 2024).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. The composition of 29 MSAs, including the 2 MSAs that join the
top-100 list and the 2 that drop off, changed because counties or
county equivalents were added or removed from the MSA delineations. For
example, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA lost two
counties and gained another and is now Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-
Norfolk, VA-NC MSA.
5.1. There are 22 counties removed from MSAs, of which 6 are old
Connecticut counties that get replaced by the 5 new planning regions.
5.2. There are 30 counties added to MSAs, of which 5 are the new
Connecticut planning regions and 11 are in the MSAs of Jackson, MS, and
Fayetteville, AR.
FEMA's assessment of the changes in the 2023 MSA delineations found
that there would be no changes in the geographic eligibility for any
Tribal Nations under THSGP.
The revisions in the 2023 MSA delineations change which MSAs
qualify as the 100 most populous MSAs considered for the UASI risk
assessment. Changes to this list impact which jurisdictions are
eligible to receive funding, the overall risk methodology, the
resultant risk scores, and the allocations. In addition to the UASI
grant program, the MSA delineations are also used to determine
eligibility for THSGP, NSGP, PSGP, TSGP, and RCPGP.
Based on a review of FEMA historical grant data, there was no UASI
data available for the 22 counties that were removed from the 2023 MSA
delineations, which indicates that FEMA did not provide any UASI
funding for these areas in the past 10 years. Therefore, FEMA expects
that the removal of these counties would not impact grant allocations
under the 2023 delineations. Furthermore, we do not have any grant data
for the 30 counties that were newly added due to MSA updates, so we are
unable to measure the impact of these changes on grant allocations.
Because UASI funding is capped, any economic impacts would result in a
different distribution of funds (the newly added counties would become
eligible while the removed counties would lose eligibility), but total
funding would not change.
Consistent with the requirements of the MAPS Act, FEMA seeks public
comment on the use of the 2023 MSA delineations for the following FEMA
grant programs: UASI, NSGP, PSGP, TSGP, THSGP, and RCPGP. Stakeholders
are encouraged to provide specific feedback on whether using the 2023
MSA delineations would support the purposes of these grant programs and
be in the public interest.
Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2024-23365 Filed 10-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-78-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 9, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.