The East Bay Regional Communications System Authority (EBRCSA) was officially created on September 11, 2007 with the formation of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA). In California State Statue, a JPA is viewed as an independent governmental agency with powers that accrue to one of the member agencies. Currently there are 35 member agencies consisting of counties, 29 cities and 4 special districts. The Board of Directors is made up of 23 representatives consisting of Elected Officials, Police Chiefs, Fire Chiefs, and City Managers who will be responsible for the overall development, operations and funding of the system.

Representatives from both counties have been working together for over 3 years using Homeland Security grants funds from the Bay Area Super Urban Area Security Initiative (SUASI), Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), and State Homeland Security (SHSGP) grant programs to fund infrastructure build out while the JPA formation process moved forward. The project is estimated to cost $67 million to build the infrastructure. To date, the EBRCSA has secured close to $33 million in Federal Homeland Security grants to build out the infrastructure.