Securing the Cities (STC) Program | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Securing the Cities (STC) Program is a Department of Homeland Security grant effort designed to help high risk U.S. metropolitan areas build and sustain a coordinated system to detect, identify, and interdict nuclear materials that are outside regulatory control and could be used in an attack. The program is built around the idea that preventing nuclear terrorism in major cities depends on more than just buying detection equipment; it requires an integrated regional architecture that ties together people, procedures, training, technology, communications, and day to day coordination among multiple jurisdictions. STC is intended to strengthen capabilities at the State, local, and tribal levels while aligning those capabilities with the broader national framework known as the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA), which defines roles and responsibilities across Federal and non Federal partners for nuclear detection.

At the strategic level, STC is organized around three primary goals. First, it aims to raise regional operational capability so that participating agencies can detect suspicious radiological or nuclear materials, rapidly determine what they are, and take appropriate interdiction actions when material is found outside lawful control. Second, it focuses on improving coordination among Federal, State, local, and tribal entities by clarifying and reinforcing each partner's role under the GNDA, so that detection and response efforts are consistent, complementary, and not duplicated or fragmented. Third, it emphasizes long term sustainability, encouraging participating regions to develop a baseline nuclear detection program that can be maintained over time rather than fading once initial Federal support ends. In practice, this means STC is as much about governance, operational concepts, and interagency routines as it is about technical detection capacity.

The grant opportunity describes four main objectives that guide what recipients are expected to build. Objective 1 is centered on developing or maturing a local nuclear detection architecture, which includes awareness and operator training, technical support, exercises, and overall capability development. The program notes that DHS (through DNDO at the time of the announcement) applies a common implementation strategy across STC regions, but tailors it to local conditions, threats, and operational realities. This objective is essentially about making sure agencies know what to do, have practiced doing it, and have the supporting structures to deploy detection capabilities effectively across a metropolitan area.

Objective 2 addresses information connectivity, which is critical because detection alarms are only useful if they can be assessed quickly and shared with the right partners. Under this objective, regions are expected to connect deployed detection systems in the "interior layer" with relevant analysis and coordination nodes such as State, local, tribal, private sector, and regional data analysis centers. It also includes connectivity for technical reachback and adjudication support, meaning the ability to consult specialized expertise to interpret readings, reduce false alarms, and make timely decisions about whether an incident is benign (for example, lawful medical isotopes) or suspicious. The announcement stresses that information exchange should function both ways: from Federal to local partners and from local partners back to Federal agencies, with information sharing practices captured in the region's Concept of Operations (CONOPS).

Objective 3 focuses on administrative infrastructure, recognizing that sustained capability depends on management and governance. During implementation, DNDO is described as playing a major role in establishing the managing structures, processes, and program foundations that allow partners to run a self supporting detection program with limited Federal assistance over time. This typically implies building program management capacity, defining roles and responsibilities, establishing oversight and maintenance processes, and creating the internal mechanics for budgeting, scheduling training and exercises, managing equipment, and tracking performance.

Objective 4 is aimed at establishing coordination mechanisms among stakeholders for both routine daily operations and "focused" or stepped up deployments when threat conditions or special events require intensified posture. The key deliverable referenced here is a CONOPS document that has concurrence from all principal STC partners. That CONOPS serves as the regional playbook for how agencies coordinate within the region and with external partners, how detection activities are planned and executed, how alarms are handled, and how decision making and communication flow during normal operations versus heightened operations. The Standing Funding Opportunity Announcement is positioned as support for regions to establish or enhance this kind of coordinated regional nuclear detection program, rather than isolated or agency specific efforts.

From a program structure standpoint, DHS planned to support nuclear detection operations through a three phased STC approach intended to bring these capabilities to all Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Tier 1 regions. While the specific details of the phases are referenced as being in an appendix of the full announcement, the summary indicates that funding and implementation would be sequenced and that continued participation could depend on both funding availability and acceptable performance. The announcement also leaves room for DNDO to execute STC concurrently in additional regions around major metropolitan areas if resources and performance allow, which signals that the Tier 1 focus was the baseline priority but not necessarily the only potential area of expansion.

The funding details in this particular opportunity reflect a discretionary grant issued as a cooperative agreement under CFDA 97.106 (Securing the Cities Program), categorized under disaster prevention and relief. The estimated total funding amount listed is $2,000,000, with an award ceiling of $2,000,000 and no stated minimum award floor. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement, which reduces barriers for jurisdictions that may have limited ability to provide local matching funds. The posting dates show this specific announcement was active in 2012 (posted May 7, 2012; closing July 20, 2012; archived December 31, 2012), indicating it is a historical notice, but the description provides a clear picture of how STC was framed and implemented.

Eligibility is tightly tied to UASI Tier 1 areas identified in DHS preparedness grant guidance at the time. The announcement focuses on nine Tier 1 metropolitan areas: Bay Area, CA; Boston Area, MA; Chicago Area, IL; Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington Area, TX; Houston Area, TX; Los Angeles/Long Beach Area, CA; National Capital Region (Washington, DC); Philadelphia Area, PA; and San Diego Area, CA. Eligible applicant types include State governments, city or township governments, county governments, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, special district governments, and other entities as clarified in the full text. Importantly, New York City and the Jersey City/Newark, NJ UASI areas are explicitly excluded from this announcement because they were covered under separate STC pilot initiative funding opportunities that began in FY 2007, meaning this SFOA was intended to extend the program beyond the original pilot locations.

Overall, the STC Program grant opportunity is best understood as an investment in regional operational readiness against illicit nuclear material threats in major U.S. cities. It supports a full capability lifecycle: building trained personnel and operational practices, connecting detection activities to analysis and reachback support, setting up durable program management, and formalizing multi jurisdiction coordination through an agreed CONOPS. The emphasis on sustainability and integration under the GNDA reflects a recognition that nuclear detection is a continuous mission that depends on stable interagency relationships, shared procedures, and reliable information sharing as much as it depends on detectors in the field.

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