City Council
July 21, 2026
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Elizabeth Lake FROM: Damon Covington
Interim City Administrator Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Bay Area Urban Areas Security
Initiative 2025-2030 Memorandum of
Understanding
DATE: June 22, 2026
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Governance Memorandum Of Understanding With The Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative (BAUASI) Approval Authority, Which Will Provide Overall Governance Of The UASI Grant Program As Well As Other Grant Programs Under The Jurisdiction Of The Approval Authority Across The Bay Area Region Effective December 1, 2025 Through November 30, 2030.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sets forth the agreements of the City of Oakland, City of San Jose, City and County of San Francisco, County of Alameda, County of Contra Costa, County of Marin, County of Monterey, County of San Mateo, County of Santa Clara, and County of Sonoma relating to the application for and allocation and distribution of federal Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Program grant funds and other Department of Homeland Security grant funds. Acceptance of this MOU and the bylaws of the Bay Area UASI Approval Authority is required to accept funds under the UASI grant.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The purpose of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) UASI Program is to provide financial assistance to the San Francisco Bay Area Region, among other designated urban areas, to address the unique equipment, training, planning, and exercise needs of large urban areas, and to assist them in building an enhanced and sustainable capacity to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks and catastrophic disasters.
On January 20, 2004, the City Council approved Resolution No. 78295 C.M.S., authorizing the Interim City Manager to accept, appropriate, and expend the initial UASI Grant funds.
Betsy Lake (Jul 9, 2026 17:02:41 PDT)
Jul 9, 2026
Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative 2025-2030 Memorandum of Understanding Date: June 22, 2026 Page 2
City Council
July 21, 2026
On January 3, 2006, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the separate UASI entities, which included the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, would be consolidated into one urban area for purposes of awarding UASI funding. The Bay Area UASI now encompasses twelve (12) counties, three (3) major cities, and over 100 municipalities with significant critical infrastructure including three (3) international airports, two (2) major ports, and international icons and centers of commerce and technology that are critical not only to the Bay Area economy, but also to national and global economies. The Bay Area UASI Metropolitan Statistical Area footprint exceeds eight million two hundred thousand (8,200,000) residents.
In 2006, the core cities and counties of the Bay Area UASI – the City and County of San Francisco, the City of Oakland. The City of San Jose, the County of Alameda, and the County of Santa Clara approved a Memorandum of Understanding (2006 MOU), followed by a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding (2007 MOU), that established the objectives, governance structure, responsibilities, reporting structure, and financial agreements to be used in applying for UASI and other federal Homeland Security grant funding.
The parties updated the 2007 MOU in 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2021. On June 7, 2022, the City Council approved Resolution No. 89227 C.M.S., authorizing the City Administrator, or designee, to enter into the 2021 MOU for Bay Area UASI. The 2021 MOU expired on November 30, 2025, and so the Approval Authority has prepared a new MOU. The proposed MOU is provided as Attachment A, and the Bay Area UASI approval by-laws are provided as Attachment B.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
This 2025 MOU establishes guidelines for Bay Area UASI member agencies pertaining to the application, allocation, and distribution of federal UASI funds. This MOU takes effect on December 1, 2025, and shall remain in effect through November 30, 2030, unless terminated by the Bay Area UASI Approval Authority or the City of Oakland. Failure to take this action will prevent the City of Oakland from receiving and appropriating UASI program funds.
Approval of the MOU allows the City to accept funds -- which typically runs in excess of one million dollars and helps support up to five (5) full-time equivalent staff in the Oakland Fire Department’s Emergency Management Services Division -- in direct alignment with the citywide priority to provide holistic community safety.
RELATED PLANNING EFFORTS
This agenda item is a routine item and does not relate to any Oakland strategic planning efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
Sufficient funds are included in the Fiscal Year 2025-2027 Biennial Adopted Budget for participation in the UASI MOU.
Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative 2025-2030 Memorandum of Understanding Date: June 22, 2026 Page 3
City Council
July 21, 2026
Approval of the proposed MOU does not directly appropriate funds or obligate the City to provide local matching funds.
The MOU establishes the governance structure under which federal UASI grant funds are allocated and administered throughout the Bay Area region. The City of Oakland routinely receives grant funding through the Bay Area UASI program to support emergency preparedness, homeland security, training, exercises, planning, and equipment purchases.
Participation in the MOU may result in future grant awards that will be presented to the City Council separately for acceptance and appropriation, as required.
Participation in the Master MOU is required by the grantor; therefore, failure to enter into the Master MOU with the Bay Area UASI Approval Authority will result in a loss of funding to the City of Oakland. The FY 2024 UASI grant recently awarded to the City of Oakland is one million three hundred and forty-three thousand six hundred dollars ($1,343,600).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The Bay Area UASI planning and proposals process is open to public input and comment. The general public, all cities, special districts, non-governmental agencies and counties within the Bay Area UASI footprint are invited to participate in the UASI Grant planning and proposals process. Panel members are organized in each area of the region to represent the East, West, North, and South Bay Hubs to review all submitted grant proposals. The panel recommendations are forwarded to the UASI Advisory Groups who review and vet each proposal. Final recommendations for funding are then sent to the UASI Approval Authority for final approvals. UASI Approval Authority Meeting dates and content are posted on the Bay Area UASI website: https://bayareauasi-ca.gov/.
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures because the item concerns the continuation of an intergovernmental governance agreement among Bay Area jurisdictions governing the administration of federal homeland security grant funding.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation were reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and Budget Bureau.
RACE AND EQUITY
The UASI regional collaboration and planning projects explicitly incorporate the development of sustainable solutions to help build a more resilient community including considerations for non- English speaking residents, persons with access and functional needs, and socially vulnerable residents.
The proposed action is administrative in nature and establishes the governance structure for regional homeland security grant administration.
Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative 2025-2030 Memorandum of Understanding Date: June 22, 2026 Page 4
City Council
July 21, 2026
Staff did not complete a formal Racial Equity Impact Analysis for this action because the proposed MOU does not establish a new City program, service delivery model, or policy that directly affects residents. However, participation in the Bay Area UASI supports regional preparedness, emergency response, and disaster recovery capabilities that benefit all Oakland residents, including communities that may be disproportionately impacted by emergencies and disasters. The following data will be tracked in order to measure the short- and long-term impacts of this policy/program/planning action: Percentage of UASI grant sub-awards directed to projects serving or located within Oakland's environmental justice communities; Percentage of funded projects that explicitly incorporate planning for residents with access and functional needs, including people with disabilities, elderly residents, and those with limited English proficiency.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Governance Memorandum Of Understanding With The Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative (BAUASI) Approval Authority, Which Will Provide Overall Governance Of The UASI Grant Program As Well As Other Grant Programs Under The Jurisdiction Of The Approval Authority Across The Bay Area Region Effective December 1, 2025 Through November 30, 2030.
For questions regarding this report, please contact JESSICA FEIL, EMERGENCY SERVICES MANAGER, at (510) 238-6067.
Respectfully submitted,
DAMON COVINGTON
Chief, Fire Department
Prepared by:
Jessica Feil, Emergency Services Manager
Emergency Management Services Division
Attachments (2):
A: Bay Area UASI Master Memorandum of Understanding
B: Bay Area UASI By-Laws