118 STAT. 3845 PUBLIC LAW 108–458—DEC. 17, 2004 government officials, shall provide technical guidance, training, and other assistance, as appropriate, to support the rapid establishment of consistent, secure, and effective interoperable communications capabilities in the event of an emergency in urban and other areas determined by the Secretary to be at consistently high levels of risk from terrorist attack. ‘‘(b) MINIMUM CAPABILITIES.—The interoperable communica- tions capabilities established under subsection (a) shall ensure the ability of all levels of government agencies, emergency response providers (as defined in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101)), and other organizations with emergency response capabilities— ‘‘(1) to communicate with each other in the event of an emergency; and ‘‘(2) to have appropriate and timely access to the Informa- tion Sharing Environment described in section 1016 of the National Security Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.’’. (e) MULTIYEAR INTEROPERABILITY GRANTS.— (1) MULTIYEAR COMMITMENTS.—In awarding grants to any State, region, local government, or Indian tribe for the purposes of enhancing interoperable communications capabilities for emergency response providers, the Secretary may commit to obligate Federal assistance beyond the current fiscal year, sub- ject to the limitations and restrictions in this subsection. (2) RESTRICTIONS.— (A) TIME LIMIT.—No multiyear interoperability commit- ment may exceed 3 years in duration. (B) AMOUNT OF COMMITTED FUNDS.—The total amount of assistance the Secretary has committed to obligate for any future fiscal year under paragraph (1) may not exceed $150,000,000. (3) LETTERS OF INTENT.— (A) ISSUANCE.—Pursuant to paragraph (1), the Sec- retary may issue a letter of intent to an applicant commit- ting to obligate from future budget authority an amount, not more than the Federal Government’s share of the project’s cost, for an interoperability communications project (including interest costs and costs of formulating the project). (B) SCHEDULE.—A letter of intent under this paragraph shall establish a schedule under which the Secretary will reimburse the applicant for the Federal Government’s share of the project’s costs, as amounts become available, if the applicant, after the Secretary issues the letter, carries out the project before receiving amounts under a grant issued by the Secretary. (C) NOTICE TO SECRETARY.—An applicant that is issued a letter of intent under this subsection shall notify the Secretary of the applicant’s intent to carry out a project pursuant to the letter before the project begins. (D) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall transmit a written notification to the Congress no later than 3 days before the issuance of a letter of intent under this section. (E) LIMITATIONS.—A letter of intent issued under this section is not an obligation of the Government under section 1501 of title 31, United States Code, and is not deemed Deadline. VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:54 Nov 10, 2005 Jkt 029194 PO 00000 Frm 00379 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 C:\STATUTES\2004\29194PT4.001 APPS10 PsN: 29194PT4
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