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Today's Top Stories
1. DHS signs NBAF land transfer
2. CBP needs stronger guards against internal corruption, GAO says
3. USCIS rule to ease separation of U.S. citizens from illegal immigrant relatives
4. Grounded Shell Oil drill barge afloat and being towed
5. Congress and Obama approve $9.7B in aid to Sandy victims Also Noted: Counterterrorism adviser to be named chief of CIA; McCain, Flake lead on GOP immigration proposal; and much more...  Follow @fiercegov on Twitter
More News From the FierceGovernment Network:
1. Former Coast Guard officials find lucrative roles with Coast Guard contractors
2. Cybersecurity issues remain unresolved at Commerce agencies, say auditors
3. Government shutdown may be part of debt ceiling talks
Today's Top News 1. DHS signs NBAF land transfer
 A controversial animal disease federal research lab project took a step forward to completion with Homeland Security Department signature on the land transfer agreement. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) and state congressional delegates announced Jan. 2 DHS acceptance of a 46 acre parcel in Manhattan, Kan., slated to be the site of the $1.14 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.
NBAF is envisioned as an Animal Biosafety Level 4 (the most dangerous possible) and Biosafety Level 3-ag (an agriculture-specific level intermediate between BSL3 and BSL4) laboratory for the study of foreign animal and zoonotic diseases and a replacement for the existing Plum Island Animal Disease Center, which is located off of Long Island, N.Y. In a statement, Brownback said the transfer "demonstrates DHS' continued commitment to completing the NBAF in Manhattan" and that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano committed to starting construction of the central utilities plant in 2013. So far, DHS has spent $125 million on NBAF preparation, according to the Kansas announcement. The state government has committed $105 million in matching funds for NBAF and $35 million in research funding for the transition of animal disease research to Kansas, it adds. The Plum Island facility--universally acknowledged as reaching the end of its lifespan--suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy and requires $3.2 million in immediate repair work and erosion control, according (.pdf) to the Office of Management and Budget. NBAF controversy has centered mostly on the possibility of animal diseases such as hoof and mouth disease escaping into the agricultural heartland. Manhattan is inside a part of the country known as Tornado Alley; an EF4-level tornado with winds between 165 and 200 miles per hour touched down there in June 2008. A July 2012 National Academy of Sciences report also questioned whether the full NBAF facility is still needed, stating that in the years since the facility's 2006 proposal, other public and private biocontainment labs have come into existence, meaning that NBAF could be unnecessarily duplicative. A January 2012 report (.pdf) commissioned by Kansas State University estimates NBAF would directly employ 326 workers and have an economic impact of about $3.5 billion in its first 25 years. For more:
- read the Kansas state announcement on the land transfer Related Articles:
DHS to meet with Kansas officials on NBAF
NBAF plans could be slimmed down, says NRC panel
NRC: NBAF risk greater than DHS says Read more about: Kansas
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2. CBP needs stronger guards against internal corruption, GAO says
 The Government Accountability Office is recommending that Customs and Border Protection take several measures to fight internal corruption, including possibly polygraphing CBP officers and agents. GAO made its recommendations following a review of arrests of CBP employees since 2005, including 144 arrested or indicted for corruption and 125 convictions. Most of the allegations of misconduct or corruption have occurred along the southwest border, causing CBP to fret about the impact on agency integrity. In a report (.pdf) issued Jan. 3, GAO recommended that CBP track information used to reject applicants, consider giving polygraphs to officers and agents, conduct quality-assurance reviews and set deadlines for completing and implementing a comprehensive strategy on integrity. The Homeland Security Department agreed with the recommendations in the report. CBP conducts background investigations and polygraphs of applicants, and requires random drug tests and occasional reinvestigations of incumbent personnel. But according to a summary of the report, the agency's Office of Internal Affairs didn't have any way to track which of its screening tools helped them determine which applicants to reject. Without maintaining or tracking such data, the agency is challenged to determine which screening tools are most effective, GAO said. CBP also was supposed to conduct monthly quality assurance reviews beginning in 2008 to ensure that case adjudicators were following procedures when evaluating the result of pre- and post-employment background investigations. The agency said it had conducted some of the reviews, according to the findings, but couldn't say how many. "Without these quality assurance checks," the auditors said, "it is difficult for CBP IA to determine the extent to which deficiencies, if any, exist in the adjudication process." Meanwhile, CBP IA had begun drafting an integrity strategy as called for in the agency's fiscal 2009-2014 strategic plan, but lacked target dates for completing the strategy and putting it into place. The CBP IA assistant commissioner also told GAO of "significant cultural resistance among some CBP components in acknowledging CBP IA's authority for overseeing all integrity-related activities." For more: - download the full report, GAO-13-59 (.pdf) Related Articles: Read more about: Office of Internal Affairs, CBP
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3. USCIS rule to ease separation of U.S. citizens from illegal immigrant relatives
 U.S. citizens' immediate relatives who are in the country unlawfully will soon have to wait less time when they return to their countries of origin to obtain permanent residency, under a new rule the Homeland Security Department finalized Jan. 3.
Currently, immediate relatives who are in the country unlawfully can't apply for waivers of their inadmissibility until after their immigrant visa interviews abroad. DHS says that in some cases, waiver processing can take more than a year. The new rule, which will go into effect March 4, lets immediate relatives apply for inadmissibility waivers before they leave the United States to attend visa interviews in their countries of origin. "The change will have a significant impact on American families by greatly reducing the time family members are separated from those they rely upon," U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas said in a Jan. 2 statement. Spouses, children and parents count as immediate relatives. Because departure from the United States itself triggers inadmissibility status for those in the country unlawfully, many immediate relatives who would qualify for a visa are reluctant to make the trip to their country of origin. Approval of a waiver does not confer legal status or other benefits, nor does it protect immigrants from deportation. The new rule will reduce the amount of interaction needed between USCIS and the State Department, making the process more efficient for the government as well as applicants, DHS says. The department also says it expects additional fees from form processing to offset the cost to the government of the waiver process. For more:
- read the final rule in the Federal Register
- read the Jan. 2 DHS announcement Related Articles:
More than 100,000 granted deferred action under deportation policy
Deferred action recipients in Arizona sue Gov. Brewer over driver's licenses
ICE will update prosecutorial discretion guidance to include LGBT couples Read more about: permanent residency, USCIS
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4. Grounded Shell Oil drill barge afloat and being towed
 Grounded Shell Oil drill barge the Kulluk is now afloat and close to reaching in tow its new destination of Kiliuda Bay near Kodiak Island, Alaska, Coast Guard, Shell Oil and governmental officials announced Jan. 7.
The 266-foot barge ran aground Dec. 31 on uninhabited Sitkalidak Island as it was being towed to Seattle for maintenance in stormy weather after spending the previous months as one of two first Shell Oil drilling platforms to be deployed to the Arctic. Eighteen crew members evacuated the barge with Coast Guard helicopters with no casualties. Delays in readying an oil spill containment vessel in time for the drilling season prevented Shell from penetrating hydrocarbon zones in the Arctic; the barge's grounding could call even further into question deep-sea drilling in the area. The barge, which contains 143,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of lube and hydraulic fluid, did not capsize. Shell officials have said there is no evidence of any sheen in the area where the barge ran aground and that its tanks appear to be intact. A Coast Guard overflight of the area is scheduled, weather permitting. Towing the barge is the Aiviq, the same ship that was towing the Kulluk on Dec. 31; the ship reportedly lost engine power. A coalition of 54 House Democrats called Jan. 3 for a federal investigation into the incident, calling it the "latest in a series of alarming blunders, including the near grounding of another of Shell's Arctic drilling rigs, the 47-year-old Noble Discoverer, in Dutch Harbor and the failure of its blowout containment dome, the Arctic Challenger, in lake-like conditions." For more:
- go to kullukesponse.com, a website with official updates Related Articles:
Exploratory Arctic drilling may be postponed a year
Coast Guard deploys to the Arctic
Arctic sea ice at record low Read more about: Shell Oil
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5. Congress and Obama approve $9.7B in aid to Sandy victims
 Congress approved $9.7 billion in aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy Jan. 4, with President Obama signing the measure into law Jan. 6 despite the amount totaling well less than the $60.4 billion the Obama administration had asked for.
The House passed the bill (H.R. 41) by a vote of 354-67; all those who voted against it were Republicans. The Senate then approved the bill by voice vote. The bill provides its aid simply by increasing the borrowing authority of the National Flood Insurance Program from $20.7 billion to $30.4 billion. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have said that on Jan. 15, the first full legislative day of the new Congress, the House will consider further aid. The governors of the states hit hardest by Sandy said last month that they together need far more than $60 billion. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) says New York alone needs $41.9 billion and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) says his state needs $36.9 billion. Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy (D) pegs his state's disaster assistance needs at $3.2 billion. New York's assessment of $41.9 billion was made up of about $33 billion in repairs and $9 billion to prevent damage from future storms. The prevention money would fund projects such as flood protection for roads, subway tunnels and sewage treatment plants, as well as backup power systems for hospitals. Of the repair money, about $15 billion would be for New York City. Long Island's Nassau and Suffolk counties would get nearly $7 billion and $2 billion, respectively. The rest would go toward other counties, utilities, state agencies and transit authorities. New Jersey's assessment divided up into about $29 billion for repairs and $7 billion for prevention. The former includes roughly $8 billion for businesses, $6 billion for parks and the environment, $5 billion for housing and $3 billion for water and sewage systems. For more:
- go to the THOMAS page for H.R. 41 Related Articles:
Sandy relief votes to come in January, say House leaders
White House proposes $60.4B in Sandy repair and mitigation spending
NOAA: 2012 hurricane season 'above normal'
The 5 costliest U.S. hurricanes of the past 20 years Read more about: Barack Obama, Hurricane Sandy
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Also Noted > Counterterrorism adviser to be named chief of CIA. Article (NYT)
> McCain, Flake lead on GOP immigration proposal. Article (Arizona Republic)
> Indonesia's US-funded anti-terror police accused of fuelling terrorism. Article (Guardian)
> New House Homeland Security chairman sets legislative priorities. Article (HS Today)
> Rise in guns confiscated at airports. Article (AP via NYT) And Finally... Keeping the standard kilogram from gaining weight is a constant struggle. Article (Wired) > Federal security concerns and the cloud - January 29, 2013, 11 am ET/ 8 am PT Join FierceGovernmentIT for a webinar while we discuss the extent to which data security concerns act as a cloud computing adoption obstacle, the extent to which the can be mitigated and the resulting impacts those mitigations may have on use cases and deployment. Register Today.
| > Local Supply Chain Capacity in a Crisis: Regional Recovery Resource Exercise and Planning Summit - January 30 and 31, 8 am - 3 pm ET - Arlington, VA Hurricane Sandy reminds us of the importance of local resource capacity planning prior to unforeseen events. Expert panelists at the summit will lead open discussions between public, for-profit and not-for profit sector event participants on resolutions to the most difficult recovery resource delivery challenges. Register Today.
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