In late August, Governor Pat Quinn announced that grants totaling $4 million have been awarded by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to help 121 accredited city and county emergency management agencies throughout Illinois support local disaster preparation and response efforts. Among those receiving funds was the Village of Palatine who received over $28,000 in financial assistance. Palatine is one of only 22 municipalities in the state to receive this funding.
In order for a municipality to be eligible for these federal funds, their emergency management program must be accredited. Standards require the program meet requirements such as having an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), comply with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), have a dedicated Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and conduct ongoing training and exercises.
“These funds allow us to continue to meet our obligation to the community to be prepared for any emergency or disaster,” commented Tom Smith; Palatine’s Emergency Management Coordinator. “Although the funds are only a portion of our emergency management budget they help offset expenses during these tough economic times.”
The Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) is funded through a grant IEMA receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The grants, which are awarded annually, can be used for day-to-day operations of local emergency management programs. Eligible costs include salary and benefits of full and part-time emergency management employees, equipment, training, travel and expenses associated with ongoing maintenance.
To learn more about the Village of Palatine’s Emergency Management Agency programs please go to www.palatine-ema.org.
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