Region 51: emergency grants delayed by litigation; trainings and projects at risk

Brandon Myers, director of Region 51 Emergency Management, updated the board on quarterly operations and grant status, telling commissioners that the 2025 Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) awards remained on hold and tied up in litigation in several states. Myers said the SHSP amounts the region commonly handles are roughly $250,000–$300,000, and that the federal pause affects trainings, equipment purchases and county-level pass-through funds to partner agencies.

Myers said several states (including New Jersey and California) had filed lawsuits challenging funding distribution rules, which has frozen the process and left agencies uncertain about timing and, in the 2025 awards, a one-year spending window that could reduce the region’s ability to use large sums if the funds are released late. He said the hold-up is already affecting planned training events and that the EMPG pay schedule funds staff time — including a county director salaried share — meaning some budgeted salary support could be delayed.

Myers reviewed other activities: hazard-mitigation grant work (HMGP) in progress, Hazmat plan updates, CERT trainings, joint exercises and local incident support, and recounted a recent industrial pump/engine fire at Seneca that was contained without wider hazard spread. Commissioners asked Myers to create a written record documenting the impacts of delay and to continue pressing NEMA and federal contacts for clarity and reimbursement options.

What’s next: Region 51 will continue to press state and federal partners for clarity, create documentation of program impacts and provide periodic updates to the board; commissioners said they expect a paper trail in case funds become available retroactively.