DHS to simplify grant process

Standardized procedures to respond to national, regional and local emergencies may soon be the rule for all levels of government, according to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.The National Incident Management Systems will be a template for a national response plan that can be used to respond to any incident, Ridge said last month at the annual conference of the National Association of Counties in Washington.Ridge acknowledged that local governments are having difficulty accessing the $8 billion the Homeland Security Department has made available to first responders. "We are going to simplify the sometimes complicated grant process," he said.