Assistance to Firefighters Grant

 

The goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Fire Prevention & Safety (FP&S) programs is to enhance the safety of the public and firefighters with respect to fire and fire-related hazards. The objectives of the AFG Program are to provide critically needed resources that equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, enhance operational efficiencies, foster interoperability, and support community resilience. The objectives of the FP&S program are to provide resources to carry out fire prevention education and training, fire code enforcement, fire/arson investigation, firefighter safety and health programming, strategic national projects, prevention efforts, and research and development. FEMA will measure the recipients performance of the grant by comparing the number of items, supplies, projects, and activities needed and requested in its application with the number of items, supplies, projects, and activities acquired and delivered by the end of the period of performance. Please see applicable Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for additional information on the specific program metrics Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program | FEMA.gov

Active 97.044 Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2016 It is expected that the AFG Program will award grants directly to fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, and state fire training academies for critically needed resources to protect the public, to train emergency personnel, and to foster interoperability and support community resilience. It is expected that the AFG Program will award grants directly to fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, and state fire training academies for critically needed resources to protect the public, to train emergency personnel, and to foster interoperability and support community resilience.
Fiscal Year 2017 It is expected that the AFG Program will award grants directly to fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, and state fire training academies for critically needed resources to protect the public, to train emergency personnel, and to foster interoperability and support community resilience.
Fiscal Year 2018 It is expected that funds will be appropriated and allocated to this program.
Fiscal Year 2019 AFG Fiscal Year 2018: FY18 awarded 1,178 awards. AFG Fiscal Year 2019: FY19 (estimated): will award 2,500.
Fiscal Year 2021 Provided 26 local/county fire and rescue companies with volunteers. Success stories for the AFG programs can be found here: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/success-stories
Fiscal Year 2023 The AFG Program has awarded approximately $8.1 billion in grant funding to provide critically needed resources that equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, enhance operational efficiencies, foster interoperability, and support community resilience. The FP&S Program has awarded approximately $816 million in grant funding to provide resources to strengthen community fire prevention programs and enable scientific research on innovations that improve firefighter safety, health, and wellness. The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, Public Law 112-239, 15 U.S.C. 2229 et seq
Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, Public Law 112-239, Pub. L. No. 93-498, as amended (15 US Code U.S.C. § 2229 et seq) Section 4013 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2 Eligible applicants for the AFG Program are limited to fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, and SFTAs operating in any of the 50 States plus the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico or any federally recognized Indian tribe or tribal organization. Eligible applicants for the FP&S Program are limited to fire departments operating in any of the 50 States plus the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico. National, regional, state, local, tribal, and nonprofit interest organizations that are recognized for their experience and expertise in fire prevention and safety programs and activities, as well as academic (e.g., universities), public health, occupational health, and injury prevention institutions are also eligible applicants under the FP&S Program. See the respective NOFOs for additional information regarding eligibility. Local or tribal communities serviced by the award recipients, including, but not limited to local businesses, homeowners, and property owners, as well as children under 16 years of age, senior citizens, and firefighters. Applicants must certify that they are an eligible applicant, e.g., a fire department, as described in the applicable funding notice. Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact statement is required for this listing. An environmental impact assessment is required for this listing. Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact statement is required for this listing. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. Preapplication coordination is required. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. The AFG and FP&S Notices of Funding Opportunity are published on grants.gov and fema.gov. The online applications are available through the FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) application portal, at https://go.fema.gov. Applicants must have a UEI number, an EIN, an active System for Award Management (SAM) registration and FEMA GO account to apply for grants and must maintain an active SAM registration throughout the entire grant life cycle. FEMA will provide the federal award package to the applicant electronically via FEMA GO. Award packages include an Award Letter, Summary Award Memo, Agreement Articles, and Obligating Document. An email notification of the award package will be sent through FEMA's grant application system to the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) that submitted the application. Recipients must accept their awards no later than 30 days from the award date. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Application start date, submission deadline, anticipated funding selection and award dates are listed in the applicable Notice of Funding Opportunity document Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program | FEMA.gov Applicants that receive an adverse decision or denial, can request reconsideration of the decision. Request for reconsideration must be submitted in writing, to the address contained on the program's website within 30 days of the notification of denial by the administering program office. Not applicable. Funding priorities and programmatic criteria for evaluating applications are established by FEMA based on the recommendations from the Criteria Development Panel (CDP). Applications are reviewed through a multi-phase process. All submitted applications are electronically pre-scored and ranked based on how well they align with the funding priorities outlined in the funding notice. Applications that have the highest pre-score rankings are then scored competitively by no less than three members of a Peer Review Panel. Applications will also be evaluated through a series of internal FEMA review processes for completeness, adherence to programmatic guidelines, technical feasibility, and anticipated effectiveness of the proposed project(s). Prior to making a federal award, FEMA is required to review information available through any Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-designated repositories of government-wide eligibility qualification or financial integrity information, including whether the applicant is suspended or debarred. FEMA may also pose additional questions to the applicant to aid in conducting the pre-award risk review. Refer to the AFG and FP&S funding notices for specific eligibility and award criteria. All costs charged to awards under the AFG and FP&S programs must comply with the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, unless otherwise indicated in the NOFO or the terms and conditions of the award. This includes, among other requirements, that costs must be incurred, and products and services must be delivered, within the period of performance of the award. Additionally, all costs must comply with the applicable statutes, policies, requirements in the respective NOFOs as well as with the terms and conditions of the award. Grant recipients may only use federal funds or funds applied to a cost share for the purposes set forth in the NOFOs and the terms and conditions of the award, and those costs must be consistent with the statutory authority for the award. Grant funds may not be used for matching funds for other federal grants/cooperative agreements, lobbying, or intervention in federal regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings. In addition, federal funds may not be used to sue the federal government or any other government entity. Performance Reports: Refer to program guidance. FEMA grant recipients are subject to audit oversight from multiple entities including the DHS OIG, the GAO, the pass-through entity, or independent auditing firms for single audits, and may cover activities and costs incurred under the award. Auditing agencies such as the DHS OIG, the GAO, and the pass-through entity (if applicable), and FEMA in its oversight capacity, must have access to records pertaining to the FEMA award. Recipients must retain award documents for at least three years from the date the final Federal Financial Report is submitted, and even longer in many cases subject to the requirements of 2 C.F.R. ? 200.334. In the case of administrative closeout, documents must be retained for at least three years from the date of closeout, or longer subject to the requirements of 2 C.F.R. ? 200.334. If documents are retained longer than the required retention period, the DHS OIG, the GAO, and the pass-through entity, as well as FEMA in its oversight capacity, have the right to access these records as well. Additionally, non-federal entities must comply with the single audit requirements at 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart F. Specifically, non-federal entities, other than for-profit subrecipients, that expend $750,000 or more in federal awards during their fiscal year must have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year in accordance with Subpart F. 2 C.F.R. ? 200.501. A single audit covers all federal funds expended during a fiscal year, not just FEMA funds. The cost of audit services may be allowable per 2 C.F.R. ? 200.425, but non-federal entities must select auditors in accordance with 2 C.F.R. ? 200.509, including following the proper procurement procedures. Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-federal entity records pertinent to a federal award generally must be maintained for at least three years from the date the final FFR is submitted. Further, if the recipient does not submit a final FFR and the award is administratively closed, FEMA uses the date of administrative closeout as the start of the general record retention period. The record retention period may be longer than three years or have a different start date in certain cases. Refer to the applicable Notice of Funding Opportunity document for additional information. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is voluntary. Statutory Formula: Title Chapter Part Subpart Public Law Matching Requirements: Percent: Other AFG Matching Requirements: Applicants who protect a population of over 1,000,000 are required to provide a nonfederal cost-share of not less than 15 percent of the grant awarded. Applicants who protect a population between 20,000 and 1,000,000 are required to provide a nonfederal cost-share of not less than 10 percent of the grant awarded. Applicants who protect a population of less than 20,000 are required to provide a nonfederal cost-share of not less than 5 percent of the grant awarded. Generally, Nno waivers of this requirement will be granted except for fire departments of Insular Areas as provided for in 48 U.S.C. 1469a. FP&S Matching Requirements: An eligible applicant seeking an FP&S Grant Program award to carry out an activity shall agree to make available non-federal funds to carry out such activity in an amount equal to and not less than 5 percent of the grant awarded.

This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Additional Information: Matching requirements are required. These programs have Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements in that recipients are required to maintain operating expenditures during the grant's period of performance in the areas funded by a grant at a level equal to or greater than the average of their operating expenditures in the 2 years preceding the year in which the grant is received. This requirement is intended to ensure that the Federal funds are used to supplement, not supplant, existing resources. Applicants may apply for an economic hardship waiver of these requirements in accordance with the instructions of the applicable NOFO. Funds are available during the period of performance, which is 12-36 months. Refer to the funding notices for specific details. AFG: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/assistance-grants FP&S: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/safety-awards Electronic funds transfer. The Assistance to Firefighters Grants are administered by FEMA. FEMA has 10 regional offices which employ Fire Program Specialists who may be contacted for information on the program. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency
400 C Street, SW



Washington, DC 20472
Washington, DC 20742-3635 US
firegrants@fema.dhs.gov
Phone: 8662740960 http://www.fema.gov 70-0413-0-1-999 (Project Grants) FY 22$360,000,000.00; FY 23 est $360,000,000.00; FY 24 FY 21$360,000,000.00; FY 20$355,000,000.00; FY 19$350,000,000.00; FY 18$350,000,000.00; FY 17$310,499,998.00; FY 16$345,000,000.00; - (Project Grants) FY 22 FY 23 FY 24 - (Project Grants) FY 22 FY 23 FY 24 est $370,000,000.00; - Award amounts for the AFG and FP&S programs vary based on approved project costs, item eligibility, and applicable funding caps. Both programs do not have a minimum amount that can be requested but have funding caps. Awards may range from $571.42 to $3,043,478.26 depending on the program. Under the AFG Program maximum amount of funding an applicant can receive is set based on the population of the jurisdiction served by the applicant. Please refer to the AFG NOFO for additional information regarding funding limitations Assistance to Firefighters Grants | FEMA.gov. Under the FP&S Program no applicant can receive more than $1.5 million in Federal funding. Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-498, as amended (15 U.S.C ? 2229). In addition, the applicable funding notices and other supplemental program specific documentation can be found on the program's website at https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters. Fiscal Year 2020 The AFG Program funds critically needed fire and EMS personal protective equipment (PPE), Equipment and Vehicle projects that aim to help recipients reach 100% compliance with national, state, and local standards; Facility Modification projects that enhance health and safety of the emergency personnel; and Wellness and Fitness activities that aim to strengthen emergency responders to withstand the demands of all hazardous operations. The FP&S Program funds fire prevention education and training, community risk reduction, fire code enforcement, fire/arson investigation projects, and research and development activities aimed at improving firefighter safety, health, and wellness and reduce firefighter fatalities and injuries.
Fiscal Year 2022 Training, equipment (e.g., personal protective equipment [PPE], self-contained breathing apparatus, etc.) firefighting vehicles, communications equipment, facility modifications, fire code enforcement/awareness projects, fire and arson investigation, and research and development.
Fiscal Year 2023 The AFG Program funds responder training, equipment acquisition (e.g., personal protective equipment, self-contained breathing apparatus, firefighter tools, communications equipment, etc.) fire and emergency response vehicles, facility modification projects, and wellness and fitness initiatives. The FP&S Program funds fire code enforcement/awareness projects, fire and arson investigation, and research and development.