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WASHINGTON – Members of Congress introduced legislation to reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs. The firefighter grants were originally authored by U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr.’s FIRE Act that passed in 2000. The SAFER program was also started through leadership by Congressman Pascrell was created in 2003 in response to concerns over the adequacy of firefighter staffing.
“During tough economic times, it just makes sense to make sure our fire departments have the equipment and personnel required to protect our homes, our businesses and our lives,” said Pascrell (D-NJ-8), who introduced the original FIRE Act in 1999. “It is imperative that we continue these fire grant programs which have proven to be effective and I am edified by the commitment of my colleagues in Congress to providing this authorization to continue funding.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers both the AFG and SAFER programs.
The AFG program makes direct grants to fire departments to purchase equipment, training, firefighting vehicles, and other fire fighting and fire prevention activities. It also funds Fire Prevention and Safety Grants which are used for fire awareness and prevention activities, as well as fire safety related research.
The authorization bill (H.R. 3791) to be considered by the House Science Committee, which authorizes up to $1 billion to the AFG program per fiscal year from 2010 to 2014, increases the maximum allowable AFG grant to $9 million in order to encourage cities with populations of 2.5 million people to apply for the funding. Some major cities’ fire departments were not applying for the grants when the previous maximum possible award was $2.75 million for departments serving populations of more than 1 million people.
The bill also adds an economic hardship waiver for departments that are unable to reach the matching requirements or maintenance of budget requirements.
The SAFER program, which makes grants to local fire departments to assist in the hiring of firefighters, will receive up to $1.194 billion per fiscal year from 2010 to 2014 through the authorization bill. The bill provides an economic hardship waiver for the SAFER program as well, which also allows fire departments to retain and rehire firefighters in the face of economic pressures to downsize.
“We know for a fact that this year many municipal budgets were crunched and unfortunately many of the cuts made to balance the budget were done in the public safety sector. This reauthorization recognizes that fact and allows municipalities going forward to use the SAFER grants not only to hire new firefighters but to retain and rehire fire personnel they may otherwise had to layoff,” said Pascrell
The provisions of the bill are supported by all major firefighter organizations including: International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Caucus, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.
During the 1990s, shortfalls in state and local budgets, coupled with increased responsibilities of local fire departments, led many in the fire community to call for additional financial support from the federal government. Although federally funded training programs existed through the National Fire Academy, there was no dedicated federal program exclusively for firefighters that provided funding directly to local fire departments to help address a wide variety of equipment, training, and other firefighter-related needs.
On May 13, 2003, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) released the first independent evaluation of the Assistance to Firefighters Program, which concluded the program was “highly effective in improving the readiness and capabilities of firefighters across the nation.”
The FIRE grant program is now in its ninth year. More than $4.8 billion has been appropriated to the fire grant program since 2001. New Jersey fire departments have received $97.45 million in AFG awards from fiscal year 2001-fiscal year 2008 and $17.022 million in SAFER grants from fiscal year 2005-fiscal year 2008.
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