International Association of Fire Chiefs
FAIRFAX, Va. — The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009, on Wednesday, November 18. This legislation would reauthorize the FIRE and SAFER Grant programs until the end of fiscal year 2014.
The IAFC urges its members to call their representatives and ask them to vote for this legislation. This bill is important because it will ensure long-term, stable congressional support for the program.
This legislation was introduced by Representative Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) on October 13 and has 103 cosponsors.
H.R. 3791 is based on an agreement between the IAFC, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Arson Investigators and the Congressional Fire Services Institute. Based on the input of IAFC members, the bill is designed to make a number of improvements to the FIRE and SAFER Grant programs, including:
- Ensure a fairer distribution of FIRE Grant funding among fire departments by setting a 25% distribution of the appropriated funds to each category: career, volunteer and combination fire departments. Another 10% would be open to competition between the three different categories.
- Reduce the required FIRE Grant match for most jurisdictions to 10%, require a 5% match for jurisdictions with populations of 20,000 or less and create a waiver for economic hardship.
- Allocate 10% of the appropriated funds to the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants; 2% of appropriated funds to volunteer non-fire service EMS and rescue; and 3% to fire service training academies.
Raise the limit on FIRE Grant awards for jurisdictions based on population as follows:
$9 million for jurisdictions with populations of 2.5 million or more
$6 million for jurisdictions with populations between 1 and 2.5 million
$3 million for jurisdictions with populations between 500,000 and 1 million
$2 million for jurisdictions with populations between 100,00 and 500,000
$1 million for jurisdictions with populations less than 100,000
Raise the limit for Fire Prevention and Safety Grants to $1.5 million.
- Create fire-safety research centers to develop comprehensive research programs to reduce fire-related deaths and injuries by firefighters and the general public. The legislation would give special consideration to partnerships between national fire service organizations and universities to ensure beneficial research is adopted by the mainstream fire service.
- Remove the local match requirement for fire departments applying for Fire Prevention and Safety Grants.
- Make the SAFER Grant program more accessible to fire departments by making it a three-year program with a 20% match.
“It is important that you contact your representatives and ask them to support this legislation,” said Chief Jeff Johnson, IAFC president and chairman of the board. “If you have received a FIRE or SAFER Grant, please let your representative know how the grant improved your operational capabilities. Also, please let him or her know if you applied or intend to apply for these grants and explain how they will help your department.”
To contact your representative, call 202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to his or her office. If you need to find the name of your representative, go to the U.S. House of Representatives website and use the “Find Your Representative” tool on the top left-hand side of the webpage.