FAIRFAX, Va. — Program guidance for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program – commonly known as the “FIRE Act” – is now available on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Web site at www.firegrantsupport.com. DHS has scheduled the application period from March 6 to 5:00 p.m. EDT, April 7. The IAFC encourages its members to read the guidance carefully and to take full advantage of the opportunity to apply for these grants.
A number of other resources are available at www.firegrantsupport.com, including:
- a schedule of workshops designed to help potential applicants navigate the process
- a copy of the power point presentation used at the workshops
- a link to sign up for the AFG electronic newsletter.
DHS is urging applicants to apply for FIRE Act grants online. The application will be available on both the Office of Grants and Training (G&T) Web site (www.firegrantsupport.com) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) site (www.usfa.fema.gov).
Important information on the 2006 program
Please note that all applicants must have a “DUNS number,” a unique nine-character identification number provided by the commercial company Dun and Bradstreet that applicants must use for all federal grants. (Applicants were required to have a DUNS number last year as well. If you already have one, you do not need another.) To get a number (at no charge), call Dun and Bradstreet’s federal registration hotline toll free at 866/705-5711 or visit the company’s Web site: https://eupdate.dnb.com/requestoptions/government/ccrreg. Be sure to specify that you are applying for a federal registration. That will ensure that you receive a DUNS number the same day if you are applying via phone or within 72 hours if you are applying online.
The FY 2006 grant guidance is very similar to that of previous years. “Non-affiliated EMS organizations” – meaning non-fire based emergency medical service organizations – continue to be eligible for FIRE Act grants. Congress made that change when reauthorizing the program in 2004, though it established a cap of two percent of the appropriated funds for this purpose. DHS also announced that it intends to hold a separate application period for the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant (FP&S) program, which will take place in September 2006. Non-affiliated EMS organizations will not be eligible for the FP&S program.
This year, the DHS Office of Grants and Training (G&T) will administer the program in cooperation with the USFA. The G&T office was created last year as part of Secretary Chertoff’s DHS Second Stage Review, and includes the Office for Domestic Preparedness, which administered the program over the past two years.
Each applicant’s state homeland security office will conduct a technical review of any application seeking equipment and/or training for preparation for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive incidents. That review will occur after the preliminary determination of award (conducted through the peer review process) but before G&T actually awards the grant. G&T will also involve the states if an application is seeking funds for communications equipment to ensure that the request conforms with the state’s interoperability requirements or homeland security strategy.
G&T will evaluate applications for equipment and/or training relative to the critical infrastructure within the applicant’s area of first-due response. G&T defines critical infrastructure as “any system or asset that if attacked or impacted by a hazardous event would result in catastrophic loss of life or catastrophic economic loss.”
Any eligible applicant, whether a fire department or non-affiliated EMS organization may act as a “host applicant” and apply for large-scale or regional projects on behalf of itself and any number of organizations in neighboring jurisdictions. DHS defines a “regional project” as one “in which multiple organizations serving more than one local jurisdiction benefit directly from the activities implemented with the grant funds.” The only activities eligible under a regional project are training, equipment acquisition, and personal protective equipment acquisition. This year, a host applicant may not apply for needs beyond the scope of the regional project, and the host organization will be required to provide the characteristics of the entire region that will be affected by the project.
Finally, applicants to the FIRE Act grants will have to adopt and certify their compliance with the National Incident Management System to receive federal grant funds this year. In addition, G&T encourages applicants to pay particular attention to significant national preparedness initiatives such as the National Preparedness Goal, the National Response Plan, and public safety communications and interoperability.
For questions about the FIRE Act, please contact G&T via e-mail at firegrants@dhs.gov or by phone (toll free) at 866/274-0960.