LON SLEPICKA
Firehouse.Com News
Fire departments anxious for a share of the $360 million in FIRE Act grants
going out in FY 2002 can now begin their efforts as the federal program
comes together.
Brian Cowan, Director of the USFA Grants Program Office says the Assistance
to Firefighters Grant Program; Final Rule, will be published in the Federal
Register by the end of January. The Final Rule is the program description
that outlines every aspect from categories of awards to who is eligible and
what paperwork must be submitted. When published, the program will have its
guidelines.
The application period will run March 1-31. Until then there are several
things Cowan is encouraging departments to do.
Cowan said the Office is putting together a schedule of national workshops
hosted by regional FEMA offices that will provide grant writing assistance.
The schedule will include Fire Rescue West where FEMA representatives will
be on site February 12-14 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA.
By monitoring Firehouse.com and the USFA web sites departments can be alerted for these.
He also encouraged registering on the USFA web site to receive automated
email updates. It might be helpful too, Cowan said, to contact state fire
training directors, state fire marshals and state emergency management
agencies for any grant writing assistance programs they may have available.
Marko Bourne, USFA Communications Executive Assistant, said they hope to
have a workshop schedule available soon but also encouraged departments to
call FEMA regional offices and to work with their Congressman if they have a
need for some assistance in grant writing.
One successful program tried last year, that will be repeated this year,
will use FEMA’s Teleconference Training, Emergency Education Network for a
broadcast, with live call-in, on grant writing. Bourne said they are working
toward a February date when the satellite-delivered show can be viewed and
departments will see the application, how it needs to be filled out and
submitted. Departments with a FEMA satellite hookup or those that can find a
state agency with a hookup will find this very helpful, he said. Tapes of
the show will also be available.
Cowan and Bourne both emphasized using the electronic application filing
process. "The online based application is the way to go. There is no reason
a person should use anything else. It is very user friendly," Cowan said.
While filling out the application online, there will be help buttons
available and access to frequently asked questions. "Although paper
(applications) will still be available, we really want people to find a
computer somewhere and do it that way. It’s a message we really want to get
out," Bourne said.
Two elements that are new this year are the move at the request of Congress
to include a grant category involving fire department based EMS, and the
move to a "program approach" in grant requests.
The program last year did not include emergency medical services in any of
the categories available for grants. But this year, EMS, which operates
through a fire department, will be eligible under guidelines established in
meetings with the fire services, Cowan said.
"The best example of the program approach I have is the creation of a rapid
intervention team (RIT)," Bourne said.
As he described it, Bourne said putting together a RIT might involve both
equipment and training. "You can choose across the menu of categories and
create a grant request involving more then one," he said.
This approach led him to speculate that grant award amounts might be larger
then last year along with the increased dollars available going to more
applicants. The maximum grant size remains $750,000.
Bourne said following application submissions in March, the schedule is for
peer review of the applications in April, final decisions in May and grant
award announcements beginning in June.
