The Homeland Security Grants Division (HSGD) is soliciting applications for projects that support state and regional efforts to improve or sustain interoperable emergency radio infrastructure.

State funds for these projects are authorized under the Texas General Appropriations Act, Article I, Rider 25 for Trusteed Programs within the Office of the Governor. HSGD intends to make $20 million available under this funding announcement. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

1. Regional Councils of Governments; and
2. State agencies.

Applicants must access the PSO’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants.gov.texas.gov to register and apply for funding.

Projects selected for funding must begin on or after September 1, 2024 and expire on or before August 31, 2026.

Minimum: $10,000

Maximum: $2,000,000.00

Match Requirement: None

Application limit: One application per applying organization.

Grantees must comply with standards applicable to this fund source cited in the Texas Grant Management Standards (TxGMS), Federal Uniform Grant Guidance, and all statutes, requirements, and guidelines applicable to this funding.

Grant projects must be consistent with the program purpose stated above and must be submitted in support of one of the following approved activity areas:

1. Development or enhancement of primary interoperable emergency radio communications infrastructure;
2. Connection to a regional or statewide systems or expansion of a regional system;
3. Improving or establishing tower sites and/or related communications equipment (shelters, generators, etc.); or
4. Enhancement or maintenance of existing capabilities (e.g. life cycle replacement of equipment other than subscriber equipment).

Projects must enhance current capabilities or address capability gaps identified by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) or Texas Interoperable Communications Coalition (TxICC) in either the Texas Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP), a COG Regional Communications Interoperability Plan (RICP) or the DPS Report on Interoperable Communications to the Texas Legislature.

Note: Projects that build capabilities will be prioritized over projects that sustain capabilities. Projects that increase voice communications interoperability for counties with the lowest interoperability levels are preferred over other types of communications projects.

If a project is funded (once an agency receives a grant award), the planned expenditures must be submitted to and receive validation from the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC) prior to purchase.

Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have an UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency (to get registered in the SAM database and request an UEI number, go to https://sam.gov/)

Failure to comply with program or eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds.

Grant funds may not be used to support the unallowable costs listed in the Guide to Grants or any of the following unallowable costs:

1. Purchasing or maintaining radio subscriber equipment;
2. Amateur radios and equipment, FMS radios, Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), GMRS radios, or other radio equipment that is not P25 compliant;
3. Any expense or service that is readily available at no cost to the grant project;
4. Any use of grant funds to replace (supplant) funds that have been budgeted for the same purpose through non-grant sources;
5. Any other prohibition imposed by federal, state, or local law.

Application Screening: The Office of the Governor will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement. 

Peer/Merit Review: The Office of the Governor will review applications to understand the overall demand for the program and for significant variations in costs per item. After this review, the Office of the Governor will determine if all eligible applications can be funded based on funds available, if there are cost-effectiveness benefits to normalizing or setting limits on the range of costs, and if other fair-share cuts may allow for broader distribution and a higher number of projects while still maintaining effectiveness. 

Final Decisions: The Office of the Governor will consider rankings along with other factors and make all final funding decisions. Other factors may include cost effectiveness, overall funds availability, or state government priorities and strategies, legislative directives, need, geographic distribution, balance of focuses and approaches, or other relevant factors. 

The Office of the Governor may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, the Office of the Governor may revise projects to address a more limited focus.

For more information, contact the eGrants help desk at eGrants@gov.texas.gov or (512) 463-1919.