Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Presidential Inauguration Security Assistance Project

The stated purpose of the Presidential Inauguration Security Assistance Reimbursement Grant Program is to reimburse state and local agencies for extraordinary and official costs associated with the 2009 Presidential Inauguration held in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Region. At the discretion of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), up to $20 million will be made available to reimburse state and local agencies (and those entities serving multiple states or that are part of a state/regional compact arrangement) for security-related costs including but not limited to: personnel overtime, equipment, and associated extraordinary expenses incurred as a result of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration during the period of 12:00am (ET) January 19, 2009, through 7:00am (ET) January 21, 2009.

It is the goal of BJA to reimburse state and local agencies (and those entities serving multiple states or that are part of a state/regional compact arrangement), on a pro-rata basis, for such costs incurred during the identified Inauguration period. The determination as to the level and extent of such reimbursements may in part be adjusted in consideration of the overall costs to the agencies and jurisdictions involved, and to the extent to which expenses are not covered by some other federal source of funding (e.g., Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), direct appropriation, etc.). This program is authorized by the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111-8).

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) will receive $2,472,740 from the FY 2009 Presidential Inauguration Security Assistance Reimbursement Grant Program to offset extraordinary security-related costs incurred during the Inauguration period of January 19 - 21, 2009. The funds will be used by Metro for expenses incurred as the result of official security requirements and other public safety functions, as well as for expenses not otherwise reimbursable through other Federal funding sources. From January 18-20th, Metrorail set three ridership records, a Sunday record, and back to back weekday records, with ridership surpassing the one million mark, reaching 1,120,000 trips on January 20th. More than 8,000 Metro employees worked on Inauguration Day, including 417 Transit Police officers, 266 volunteer police officers from other police agencies, and 340 employees who volunteered to be Metro Ambassadors. The Metro served a critical role providing regional mobility in a safe and reliable manner during the special events associated with the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.

CA/NCF