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Conference Calls

Transit Security Grant Program Tier II FY 2008

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Dates/Timelines

The Transit Security Grants Program (TSGP) Stakeholder Conference Calls will occur weekly on Wednesdays at 1 pm EST beginning February 6th, 2008.

Fiscal Year 2008 TSGP Important Dates

Date & Time
Event
Additional Info
Wednesday
October 8, 2008
1:00 PM EST
Stakeholder Conference Call
 888-323-4702
Passcode: Wednesday
Wednesday
October 22, 2008
1:00 PM EST
Stakeholder Conference Call
 888-323-4702
Passcode: Wednesday

Conference Call Summaries

10/08/08 Conference Call

October 8, 2008
1:00 PM EST

Opening Comments:

TSA: Welcome and thank you for calling in today. We have a couple of updates to share with you. First, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) FY09 Appropriations bill was signed by the President last week so we are in the middle of writing the new grant guidance. We anticipate that the guidance will be released in early November and plan on holding workshops in mid-November. Second, we are still holding the TSGP After-Action Conference (AAC) in Arlington, VA on Wednesday, October 15th. Please register for the conference if you have not already and plan on attending. It is important that you register so that we can enter you into the TSA Visitor Management System to enable you to access the building. Those are all of the updates that I have. If no one from FEMA or TSA has any other opening comments, I will now open it up for questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers: http://www.tsa.gov/grants.

Closing Comments:

TSA: Thank you again for calling in today. As I had mentioned earlier, the FY09 grant guidance will be released on November 5th and we will hold workshops in mid-November to help familiarize you with the contents of the guidance. The dates and locations of those workshops have yet to be determined. We will make information available to you on our website as the decisions are made and as the materials are finalized.

Our next conference call will be held two weeks from today. We look forward to talking with you then and to seeing some of you at the After-Action Conference in Arlington, VA on October 15th.

As always, if you have any questions, please e-mail us at AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov. This concludes the call.

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09/24/08 Conference Call

September 24, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Welcome and thank you for calling in today. We have a couple of updates to share with you. One, the Tier II recompete awards were announced on Friday, September 12th. In order to share that news, we sent out an e-mail through the TSAgrants account and also posted the information on the TSA website, which is http://www.tsa.gov/grants. If you have any concerns or questions, please e-mail us at AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

The second update concerns the after-action conferences. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the conferences in Orlando, but we were able to quickly reschedule them for Monday, September 29th in Seattle, Washington and on Wednesday, October 15th in Washington, D.C. at TSA headquarters. They will be conducted a little differently than we had planned in Orlando. We will not be conducting breakout sessions. Instead, everyone will be in one room; both Tier I and II security partners will be in the same room having a discussion. The same topics will be discussed in both locations, such as funding priorities, scoring methodology, grant guidance, and the Investment Justification (IJ) template. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will also present on the Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) and Post-Award Grant Implementation processes.

Questions and Answers:

There were no questions.

Wrap-Up:

TSA: Hopefully, that means we have answered all of your questions. If you think of any questions, please e-mail us at AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov. We will be having another conference call two weeks from today. We hope to see you in Seattle on Monday or in Washington, D.C. in two weeks. This concludes the call.

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08/27/08 Conference Call

August 27, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. I have several of my Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) colleagues with me today.
I have a few updates but first, I would like to remind everyone of the After-Action Conference (AAC) that will take place in Orlando, Florida on September 8th -10th. We have received quite a number of RSVP's recently. We look forward to seeing you there and to hearing your comments. TSGP Tier I will meet on the 9th and Tier II will meet on the 10th. We have a packed agenda planned and will be sending out personal agendas next week. While the deadline to register has technically passed, we understand that circumstances can change that you may be able to attend at the last second. If your plans change and you are able to attend, we will welcome "walk-ins" as well. Details on the conference are available on our website at www.tsa.gov/grants.

Last week we launched our new website and stood-up our registration-only live blog. We have posted two topics already. The first topic was "Design Projects" and the second topic was "How to be Successful in Tier II". I would like to remind everyone that this is a registration-only blog and suggest reading the blog access policy on the website before requesting access.

Our August newsletter is also posted online on the website. This month's featured article is from Coach USA in the Intercity Bus Security Grant Program.

Our next scheduled conference call is September 10th however since we will be in Orlando at the AAC conference at that time a conference call will not be held that week. The next conference call will be September 24th. We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers: http://www.tsa.gov/grants/

Closing Comments:

TSA: Thank you for calling in today. We will talk to you again on Wednesday, September 24th, and as always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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08/13/08 Conference Call

August 13, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. I have a few updates today. As many of you know, DHS has scheduled an After-Action Conference in Orlando, Florida for September 8-10, 2008. The purpose of this conference is to solicit feedback on the FY 2008 grant programs. The Conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel about a mile from the Airport. Monday, September 8, 2008 will focus on the Freight Rail Security Grant Program (FRSGP) and the Intercity Bus Security Grant Program (IBSGP). Tuesday, September 9, 2008 will be focused on the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) Tier I, and Wednesday, September 10, 2008 will be for TSGP Tier II. For TSGP attendees, please RSVP to TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov by August 22, 2008 with your top five choices for discussion topics. If you did not receive an email with this information, please email TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov and we will get those details out to you. TSA has not reserved a block of rooms for overnight stay; you will be responsible for your own hotel reservations. Also, DHS will not be catering the conference, so please keep in mind that lunch will be on your own.

On another note, our new website and blog will be debuted shortly. You will receive an official notification email when both are up and running. The August newsletter will also be released soon with this month's featured article from Coach USA. If you would like to highlight a project in our newsletter, please email TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

Tier II, the recompete results are on track to be announced shortly. Tier I, remember that August 15, 2008 is the deadline to submit your Investment Justifications to the portal.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers

No questions and answers.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no more questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today. Our next call will be on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call-in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov. Thank you!

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07/30/08 Conference Call

July 30, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Welcome to our bi-monthly teleconference call. I'll go ahead and share some information and then we can open it up for questions. I want to remind everyone of the After-Action Conference (AAC) that will take place in Orlando, Florida from September 8th to the 10th. Please RSVP with your top five breakout session choices. If you haven't received that information, please send an e-mail to TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov and we will forward the details. We will likely extend the deadline by a couple of weeks so that travel requests can be approved. The TSGP Tier I and II conferences will take place on the 9th and 10th respectively.

The July 2008 newsletter has been posted online at www.tsa.gov/grants. You will find information on the AAC, website redesign, blog, and feature article.

The Tier II recompete funding recommendations are being finalized. We expect that the announcement will be made in mid-August. We will now open the line for questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/
tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Closing Comments:

TSA: Thank you for calling in today. We will talk to you again on Wednesday, August 13th.

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07/16/08 Conference Call

July 16, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. I have a few updates today. DHS has scheduled an After-Action Conference in Orlando, Florida for September 8-10, 2008. The purpose of this conference is to solicit feedback on the FY 2008 grant programs. The Conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (5555 Hazeltine National Drive, Orlando, FL 32812) about a mile from the Airport. Monday, September 8, 2008 will focus on the Freight Rail Security Grant Program (FRSGP) and the Intercity Bus Security Grant Program (IBSGP). Tuesday, September 9, 2008 will be focused on the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) Tier I, and Wednesday, September 10, 2008 will be for TSGP Tier II. For TSGP attendees, please RSVP to TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov by July 31, 2008 with your top five choices for discussion topics. If you did not receive an email with this information, please email TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov and we will get those details out to you.

On another note, TSA plans to release their second newsletter shortly. These newsletters highlight success stories across grant programs and are an interesting resource to keep you updated. To view our last newsletter, you can visit www.tsa.gov/grants. Also, keep an eye out for the grants redesigned website which we hope to launch in early August.

Tier II, the National Review Panel has met and reviewed the recompete project submissions, and the executive committee is in the process of deciding final awards. Tier I, remember that August 15, 2008 is the deadline to submit your FY 2008 Investment Justifications. If you would like to have them reviewed before submission, we must see them soon.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

No questions and answers.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today. Our next call will be on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov. Thank you!

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07/02/08 Conference Call

July 2, 2008
1:00 PM EDT

Opening Comments:

TSA: Good morning or good afternoon. We have a few things to go over today. We will start with the Tier I and II news. The Tier I Investment Justifications (IJs) are due on August 15th. We spoke with the Regional Transit Security Working Groups (RTSWGs) individually and many set internal deadlines. Make sure you meet those internal deadlines as well as the August 15th one. We want to move quickly to award funds.

The panel is reviewing the Tier II recompete applications this week. We are on course to announce the decisions in a timely manner. When we know the announcement date, we will be in touch.

The After Action Conference (AAC) is almost finalized. We anticipate e-mailing the final details within a week. The conference will be held from Monday, September 8th to Wednesday, September 10th. On the 8th, we will hold the conferences for the bus and freight rail programs. TSGP Tier I will be on the 9th and TSGP Tier II will be held on the 10th. You only need to attend the applicable days based on what program you participate in. We will send an e-mail requesting RSVPs and a list of the suggested breakout session topics. We would like you to state your topic preferences in order to gauge interest. It will be held in Orlando, Florida. The conference will start between 8 and 9 am each day. We will be sending out the hotel details shortly so that you can make reservations and finalize travel arrangements.

The first newsletter was released a couple of weeks ago. It is on the TSA website which is http://www.tsa.gov/grants. We highlighted a project from a bus stakeholder; we would like to highlight another good project, specifically a transit one. If you are interested, please e-mail us at TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

That is all the news we have right now. Let's open the line for questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers:
www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap-Up:

TSA: Thank you for taking the time to call in today. If you have any questions, please e-mail askcsid@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov. In two weeks, we will hold another conference call. Please use the same phone number and passcode. This concludes the call.

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06/18/08 Conference Call

June 18, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Thank you for joining us today. Good morning or good afternoon, depending from where you are calling. We are in the middle of the FY08 Tier II recompete process. Hopefully, you all know about the $6 million that is being recompeted. The deadline is this Monday, June 23rd, at 11:59 PM EDT. The applications must be submitted by the State Administrative Agencies (SAA) through the Grants Management System (GMS) and not grants.gov. We will now open the line for questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers:
www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap-Up:

TSA: If you are experiencing any difficulty submitting your application or have additional questions, please e-mail AskCSID@dhs.gov. That is where official correspondence must be sent. At the same time, please carbon copy TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

In the next couple of days, we will be posting a newsletter on our website (http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/newsletters.shtm). Please visit the website and take a look. Articles on good practices in the bus community as well as TSGP updates will be included.

Keep your eyes and ears open for our After-Action Conference (AAC). It will take place the first full week in September from the 8th to the 10th. Each program will only last one day. As soon as we confirm and book the space, we will send out the agenda and people can make travel arrangements. This concludes the call.

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06/12/08 Conference Call

June 12, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. This is the second call DHS is holding to address any questions on the FY08 TSGP Tier II Recompete. The Recompete was announced and opened Friday, June 6, 2008 and will close Monday, June 23, 2008 at 11:59 PM EST. An email was sent out to the State Administrative Agencies (SAAs) and Tier II transit agencies announcing the release of the Information Bulletin (IB) announcing the Recompete. The IB is also posted on both TSA's website at www.TSA.gov/grants and on FEMA's website at www.FEMA.gov.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no more questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today. Our next call will be on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov. Thank you!

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06/10/08 Conference Call

June 10, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. DHS wanted to hold a call today to go over some details of the FY08 TSGP Tier II Recompete. The Recompete was announced and opened Friday, June 6, 2008 and will close Monday, June 23, 2008 at 11:59 PM EST. An email was sent out to the State Administrative Agencies (SAAs) and Tier II transit agencies announcing the release of the Information Bulletin (IB) announcing the Recompete. The IB is also posted on both TSA's website at www.TSA.gov/grants and on FEMA's website at www.FEMA.gov. I would now like to turn the call over to FEMA for any additional comments.

FEMA: Applications should be submitted to GMS (not www.grants.gov) by the SAAs by Monday, June 23, 2008.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no more questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today. Our next call will be on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov. Thank you!

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06/04/08 Conference Call

June 4, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There are a few things to cover today, so I will begin with Tier II information. Feedback emails to Tier II agencies that received unfunded or partially funded projects were sent out on Monday to the agency POC and SAA. These emails detail reasons why agencies received no or partial funding for projects submitted with the intention that agencies can use this feedback to take part in the Tier II recompete. As you know, the Secretary announced on May 16, 2008 that there would be a Tier II recompete for additional funds. The details of the recompete have not been finalized, but DHS plans to release an Information Bulletin on both TSA and FEMA's websites as well as email POCs and SAAs when the details are determined. Any additional questions can be submitted to AskCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

On another note, the After-Action conference will be held the week of September 8th (we are unsure of the exact dates as of yet) in San Francisco. There will be one day for Tier I, one day for Tier II, and one day for FRSGP and IBSGP together. We will let you know more details as they become available.

Also, TSA recently stood up a new website on award information for all grant programs. The new site can be accessed through www.tsa.gov/grants and then by clicking "Grant Award Details". In addition, starting late next week we will be standing up a TSA Blog which will feature posts from TSA's Doyle Raines on which stakeholders can provide feedback and comments. This will also be accessible through www.tsa.gov/grants. I would now like to turn the call over the FEMA for award notification updates.

FEMA: Award notifications are currently in progress and agencies should hear from FEMA sometime in July.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for questions and answers: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today. Our next call will be Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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05/21/08 Conference Call

May 21, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and welcome everyone. Last Friday, May 16, 2008, the FY08 TSGP Grant Award announcements were made by the Secretary of DHS. These awards as well as additional information can be found on our website at www.tsa.gov/grants. TSA also recently stood up a new website with additional information on awards for FY08 and past grant years that can be accessed through this same site. The Secretary also announced that there will be a Tier II recompete for $8.5 million. The details of the recompete are still being determined but Tier II will be notified once they are. If there are specific questions on awards, please direct these to ASKCSID@dhs.gov and carbon copy TSAGrants@tsa.dhs.gov. As for Tier I, DHS is working with the regions in their Regional Transit Security Working Groups (RTSWGs) to finalize project details.

As an update, DHS is looking to move the after-action conference to September of 2008 so feedback from the entire FY08 process can be solicited.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for Questions and Answers:: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm.

Closing Remarks:

TSA: If there are no more questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and remind you that our next TSGP Conference Call will be in two weeks on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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05/07/08 Conference Call

May 7, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There is not much new to report today. The TSGP review process is running on schedule; we are currently in the process of briefing senior leadership. DHS is on track to announce the awards on time. Also, an email was sent out asking for your interest level on an After-action Conference. DHS would like to hold this conference sometime around mid July and is looking for opinions as to where the best location might be. To see a list of the possible locations, you can visit our website at tsa.gov/grants. To vote, you can send the name of your choice location to tsagrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for Questions and Answers:: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and remind you that we have resumed a bi-weekly conference call schedule. Our next call will be Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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04/09/08 Conference Call

April 09, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There is not much new material to discuss today. The Tier II National Review Panel met last week to review and score Tier II projects. DHS is continuing the cooperative agreement process with the Tier I regions. DHS is on schedule for announcing the results on May 16, 2008.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

No questions.

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and remind you that we have resumed a bi-weekly conference call schedule. Our next call will be Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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03/26/08 Conference Call

March 26, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There is not much new material to discuss today. We have received the Tier II applications and will begin their review by the panel next week. For the Tier I regions, we are continuing the cooperative agreement process. We hope to finalize Tier I slates by next week and then decide on the minimum scoring threshold. As of now, we expect to meet the deadline of May 16, 2008 to announce the grant awards.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

No Questions and Answers:

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and remind you that we have resumed a bi-weekly conference call schedule. Our next call will be Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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03/12/08 Conference Call

March 12, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There is not much new material to discuss today. We would like to remind everyone of the TSGP timelines. Full Tier II applications, including Investment Justifications, detailed budgets, and SF424s are due by March 17, 2008 11:59 PM EST. For Tier I agencies, all that is due on March 17th is the SF424 and certification documents. Considering the amount of applicants who will be logging onto the system at that time, we strongly recommend you submit your applications prior to the deadline.

Also, make sure all attachments are submitted with your application.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

No Questions and Answers:

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today. We will resume a bi-weekly conference call schedule. This will make our next call Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 1:00 PM EST. There will not be a call next Wednesday. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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03/05/08 Conference Call

March 5, 2008
1:00 PM EST

Opening Comments:

TSA: Good morning or good afternoon; it depends on where you are calling from. It is sunny in Washington D.C. For Tier II agencies, the full Investment Justifications (IJ) are due in a week in a half on March 17th. Tier I agencies need to submit the SF-424 forms and certifications by that time. We do not have any updates at this time. Since the applications are due soon and we do not want to waste your time, let's open the floor for questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for the Questions and Answers::
www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap-Up:

TSA: Thank you for calling in today. The questions we received today were good and benefited everyone on the call. We will post the Questions and Answers: to our website http://www.tsa.gov/grants. We have one more conference call before the applications are due. That will be next Wednesday at 1:00 PM EST. The phone number and passcode are the same as today's call. In you have any questions in the meantime, please send them to askcsid@dhs.gov. Good luck with your applications.

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02/27/08 Conference Call

February 27, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There is not much new material to discuss today. We would like to remind everyone of the TSGP timelines. Full Tier II applications, including Investment Justifications, detailed budgets, and SF424s are due by March 17, 2008. For Tier I agencies, all that is due on March 17th is the SF424 and certification documents.

We would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for Questions and Answers:: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no more questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and remind you of our weekly conference calls. The next call will take place Wednesday, March 5th at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday. Also, all conference call summaries and Questions and Answers: are posted to our website at tsa.gov/grants.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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02/20/08 Conference Call

February 20, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. There is not much new material to discuss today. DHS would like to thank all of you who attended the TSGP workshops in Las Vegas, NV and Charlotte, NC. We hope you found them as useful and informative as we did. The workshop presentations can be found on our website at tsa.gov/grants, and the Questions and Answers: will be posted to our website shortly. I would also like to briefly discuss the TSGP timelines. Full Tier II applications, including investment justifications, detailed budgets, and SF424s, are due by March 17, 11:59 PM EST. All that is due for Tier I on March 17 are the SF424s. For both Tiers, only their SAAs can submit the required materials to grants.gov. I would remind you that these are congressionally mandated timelines that can not be altered.

I would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for Questions and Answers:: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no more questions, I would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and remind you of our weekly conference calls. The next call will take place Wednesday, February 27th at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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02/13/08 Conference Call

February 13, 2008
1:00 PM EST

Opening Comments:

TSA: Good afternoon everyone. We also have a TSGP workshop going on simultaneously as we speak in Charlotte. The workshop in Las Vegas was well attended. There are several people on the conference call today. We really appreciate your participation at both the workshops and these conference calls. Since we have had two conference calls for the fiscal year (FY) 2008 program already, I will give you more time for questions. If you have any questions after this call, please send them to askcsid@dhs.gov and copy TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov.

We will post all of the workshop presentation materials on our website tomorrow. We encourage you to look at those materials and e-mail us with any questions. Any questions raised at the conferences will be posted as well.

Questions and Answers:

Please see the following website for the Questions and Answers:: www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap-Up:

TSA: Please review all of our workshop materials on the website, which will be available at the end of the week. If you have any questions, please submit them to askcsid@dhs.gov and TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov. Thank you for attending the workshops, and calling into these calls. We hope to continue this collaborative approach and dialogue in the future.

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02/06/08 Conference Call

February 6, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. Having had our last conference call on Monday, February 4th, there are no new items to address today. I would like to mention that both the conference call summary and Questions and Answers: are available on our website: www.tsa.gov/grants. As a reminder, the first of the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) workshops begin tomorrow in Las Vegas, NV at the McCarran International Airport. Tomorrow, February 7th, is the Tier I workshop and will be held in room 6B. The following day, February 8th, is the Tier II workshop which will be held in room 5. The following week's TSGP workshops will be held in Charlotte, NC at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Both the Tier I workshop on Tuesday, February 12th, and the Tier II workshop on Wednesday, February 13th will be held in the auditorium which can be found upstairs above Checkpoint B.

I would also like to remind you of our weekly conference calls, the next of which will take place Wednesday, February 13th at 1:00 PM EST. The call in number and passcode will remain the same: (888) 323-4702, passcode: Wednesday.

I would now like to open it up to questions.

Questions and Answers:

For complete Questions and Answers: please see www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap Up:

TSA: If there are no more questions, we look forward to speaking with you next Wednesday at 1:00 PM EST. We hope to see you all at the workshops.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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02/04/08 Conference Call

February 4, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Hello and thank you for joining us. Joining me today are TSA's Mass Transit Deputy General Manager and colleagues from FEMA. Hopefully you have all had a chance to look over the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) Guidance released last Friday, February 1st. I would now like to turn the call over to Mass Transit's Deputy General Manager who will give a brief overview of the program after which I will head into more detail.

TSA: Good afternoon everyone and welcome. We appreciate you taking the time to join us today. As you may know, the TSGP Guidance was released on Friday with a formal announcement by the Secretary. With the new fiscal year, I would like to reiterate the purpose of this program as one of capability enhancement. The threat to public transit systems is quite real, as seen in the recent overseas attacks. DHS looks to put grant funding toward the best possible ways to combat this threat: protection and prevention activities and capabilities. As you have a chance to read through the Guidance in greater detail, please keep this in mind. DHS works to invest these grant funds in cost effective projects that can be accomplished in reasonable amounts of time to enhance your agencies' anti-terrorism capabilities. Risk informs all DHS activities, decisions, and project scoring. In these activities, DHS strives toward four principles: transparency, consistency, efficiency, and collaboration. Speaking on behalf of DHS, we look forward to working with you, reviewing your projects, and getting your funds to you as quickly as possible. I will now turn the call back to grants personnel to get into more specifics on the Grant Guidance.

TSA: As was stated, DHS is committed to the four principles of transparency, consistency, efficiency, and collaboration. You will see in the FY 2008 Guidance that we have tried to keep the program consistent with that of FY 2007. Tier II is still a competitive process and Tier I will remain a cooperative agreement process. In addition, per stakeholder feedback, DHS has outlined in the Guidance specific funding priorities which remain consistent with those of last year.

While these aspects of the Guidance have remained the same, there are some key changes I would like to go over.

I would now like to address some key changes for fiscal year 2008 which are specific to Tier I.

I would now like to address some timelines for the TSGP. Grant applications for are due March 17th through the grants.gov portal. This is 45 days after the Guidance was released, which is a timeline mandated by Congress. This means late applications cannot be considered. At this time, all IJs and complete budgets for Tier II applications must be submitted through the SAA. As in FY 2007, applications must be submitted through grants.gov. For Tier I, only the SF-424 must be submitted by March 17th by the SAA. DHS would like to start meeting with the Tier I regions immediately to begin the cooperative process. For Tier I, we would like to see project concepts completed around the end of March, and final projects submission completed around the end of April. For both tiers, the grant awards will be announced by May 16th, which is 60 days after the application submission deadline. The SAAs must pass the funds down to the transit agencies 45 days after the grant awards are made. We realize these are aggressive timelines, but feel they can definitely be met. These timelines are a result of stakeholder feedback to increase the speed at which the agencies receive their funds.

I would now like to open it up to questions.

For complete Questions and Answers: please see www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/grants/programs/tsgp_tierii/2008/questions_answers.shtm

Wrap Up:

TSA: Thank you for joining us today, and as a reminder our weekly conference calls will resume this Wednesday at 1pm EST. Also, for the upcoming workshops in Las Vegas, NV at the McCarran Airport, the Tier I workshop on February 7th will be held in room 6B, and the Tier II workshop on February 8th will be held in room 5. For the workshop in Charlotte, NC at Charlotte Douglas Airport, both the Tier I and Tier II workshops will be held in the auditorium upstairs above Checkpoint B. We look forward to speaking with you on Wednesday and seeing you at the workshops.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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01/30/08 Conference Call

January 30, 2008
1:00 pm

Opening Comments:

TSA: Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us today. First, I would like to announce that the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) Guidance is set to be released this Friday, February 1st. The Department of Homeland Security's Secretary Chertoff will make an announcement Friday, February 1st at 11 am EST announcing its release. Following this, there will be a conference call on Monday, February 4th at 1 pm EST to go over key changes to FY08's Guidance and to address any questions and/or concerns. The call-in number for this call is 800-475-0462 and the passcode is TSGP. Beginning Wednesday, February 6th, we will go back to weekly conference calls every Wednesday at 1 pm EST using our regular number (888-323-4702) and passcode (Wednesday).

Also, TSGP workshops are scheduled for Tier I and Tier II. The first of these will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, at McCarran International Airport on Thursday, February 7th for Tier I and Friday, February 8th for Tier II. The second will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Tuesday, February 12th for Tier I and Wednesday, February 13th for Tier II. The registration time for all four days will be 9:30 am with a 10:00 am start and a 5:00 pm end. There is no cost to participate in these workshops beyond travel costs. In addition, these travel costs are allowable expenses under your Management and Administration funds. If you plan on attending any of these workshops, please send an email to TSAgrants@tsa.dhs.gov letting us know. Also, please send any questions you would like us to address at the workshops to this email address as well.

As there are no questions, I'd like to thank you again for joining us today and we looking forward to speaking with you on Monday, February 4th at 1 pm EST and seeing you at the workshops.

As always, please submit your questions to AskCSID@dhs.gov. Thank you!

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