This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $10.5 million in grants awarded in New York through the federal Homeland Security program. Included in that funding are FY2023 and FY2024 grants that will be used for equipment and training to enhance preparedness, protect critical infrastructure, and advance cybersecurity capabilities.
“My number one priority is public safety and ensuring that local municipalities have the support necessary to protect New Yorkers when threats emerge,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Wednesday. “With these grants, we are directly investing in the teams who defend New York's critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats and respond when emergencies strike — ensuring a secure New York ahead of this summer's events."
Included in the list of various grant programs this week was funding for the Hazardous Materials Targeted Grant Program, of which Warren County won just over $246,000.
Warren County Director of Public Affairs Don Lehman said that the funding is going to be used by the seven-county regional Adirondack Hazardous Materials Consortium to be able to maintain equipment and materials the consortium uses. This will include the testing of equipment and the replacement of expired materials that are used for hazardous material spill response.
The counties involved in this consortium include Warren, Washington, Essex, Hamilton, Clinton, Franklin and St. Lawrence. Lehman said that a significant amount of the consortium’s equipment and materials are housed at the Warren County Municipal Center and overseen by Warren County’s Hazardous Materials coordinator, James Schrammel, who is assigned to the Warren County Office of Emergency Services.
Another area of grant awards in this week's announcement includes funding through the Cybersecurity Grant Program. Washington County was one of 18 grantees and will receive $50,000 in funding through the program.
This program provided funding for municipalities to be able to enhance their ability to protect, detect, identify, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents. Funding is used for items such as mitigating capability gaps that have been identified through risk assessment methodology via equipment, training, planning and exercise costs.
Washington County Chief Information Officer Teri McNall said, "[We are] grateful to have been awarded the opportunity this grant will provide as we continue to improve our cyber security posture in this ever-challenging landscape."
The grant funding will help the county to be able to better protect the community, McNall said. Due to the sensitive nature of security, she was not able to talk about the exact security programs that the county would be utilizing with the grant funds, but she said it will be used to help improve the county's email and Internet security.
"There isn't, unfortunately, one silver bullet that you can buy that is going to 100% protect your environment," McNall said. "Cybersecurity really doesn't work that way. I always liken it to an onion; it's about layers, and then continually improving those layers to be able to protect yourself."
The Village of Hudson Falls was awarded a $49,395 grant through the Critical Infrastructure Grant Program. The program provides funding to promote a common understanding and approach to risk management. It also provides funding to help support local first responders' efforts to help mitigate risk and to enhance protection capabilities at mass gatherings or special event sites and government-owned critical infrastructure sites.
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