Federal Government Funding

The National Volunteer Fire Council is a non-profit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, EMS, and rescue services. Organized in 1976, the NVFC serves as the volunteer fire and emergency medical service's representative in the national policy arena and on numerous national and international committees and organizations. Each state firefighter's association elects a representative to the NVFC. Currently, 49 states are members of the Council. We welcome you to browse our home page at www.nvfc.org to learn more about the NVFC and information regarding membership, training, legislation, and meetings.

Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG) is a competitive program that directly awards one-year grants to fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical services organizations nationwide in an effort to give every department the basic tools needed to respond to all hazards. Departments can apply for federal assistance for training, equipment, emergency vehicles, communications equipment, health and safety programs, and fire prevention and education programs.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) generally opens the application period for the AFG in early March and accepts applications for approximately one month.

Contact:
For more information about the program and to download an application once the application period opens, visit: www.firegrantsupport.com. DHS has a help desk to assist you with the application process, which can be reached at 1-866-274-0960 or firegrants@dhs.gov.

SAFER Grant Program
The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program provides grants to fire departments for hiring personnel and to fire departments and regional and state fire associations to implement volunteer recruitment and retention programs. SAFER grant money for hiring personnel, which is disbursed over a five-year period, decreases annually and is gradually replaced with local dollars until the fire department bears the entire cost. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) generally opens the application period for the AFG in late May and accepts applications for approximately one month.

Contact:
For more information on the program and to download an application once the application period opens, visit: www.firegrantsupport.com. DHS has a help desk to assist you with the application process, which can be reached at 1-866-274-0960 or firegrants@dhs.gov.

Volunteer Fire Assistance Program
The purpose of the Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) Program, formerly known as the Rural Community Fire Protection (RCFP) Program, is to provide federal financial, technical, and other assistance to state foresters to train and equip fire departments in rural areas and rural communities to prevent and suppress fires. A rural community is defined as having 10,000 or less population. This 10,000-population limit for participation in the VFA Program facilitates distribution of available VFA funding to the neediest fire departments. The funding must be matched on a 50-50% basis by non-federal dollars or in-kind.

Contact:
Your State Forester. For a list of State Foresters go to: www.stateforesters.org/SFlist.html.
Or for more information on the program, visit: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/partners/vfa/help/guide.htm

Department of Interior Rural Fire Assistance Program
The Department of Interior (DOI) Rural Fire Assistance Program is aimed at enhancing the fire protection capabilities of rural fire districts in the wildland urban interface. The program assists with training, equipment purchase, and prevention activities on a 90/10 cost-share basis. The rural fire department must serve a community with a population of 10,000 or less and must have a statewide agreement with the state forester who maintains cooperative agreements with the rural fire departments or volunteer fire departments or a cooperative fire agreement with an agency in the DOI. The money from Congress is divided among the four DOI agencies - Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Park Service (NPS) - and the agencies distribute the money to their local offices. This program is aimed at enhancing close coordination among local, state, tribal, and federal firefighting resources.

 

Contact:
To find out the contact in your state go to: http://www.nifc.gov/rfa/index.html

Federal Excess Property Program
Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) is federal personal property that was originally purchased for use by a federal agency, but is no longer needed. It is then acquired by the USDA Forest Service for loan to one of the 50 states or 6 territories for use in the state's rural or wildland fire protection program.

Contact:
Your State Forester. For a list of State Foresters go to: www.stateforesters.org/SFlist.html
Or for more information on the program, visit: http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/partners/fepp/

 

Community Facilities Grants and Loans
The Rural Housing Service (RHS) of the Department of Agriculture offers loans and grants to construct, enlarge, extend, or otherwise improve community facilities providing essential services to rural residents. Priority for funding will be given to those projects that will enhance public safety, such as fire, police, rescue, and ambulance services, and projects for health care facilities. The fire service can use the funding for fire stations, fire trucks, and rescue vehicles.

 

Contact:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Rural Development Administration
Community Facilities Division
14th and Independence Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20250
Phone: (202) 720 4323
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/cf/cp.htm

Office of Grants and Training Terrorism Formula Grants
The Office of Grants and Training (OG&T) provides funding through the states to enhance the capacity of emergency responders to prevent, deter, or respond to terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. The funding is awarded to a point of contact in each state and then distributed within the state for training, technical assistance, equipment, planning, and exercises. To learn more about the various terrorism grant programs administered by OG&T, check out the NVFC’s Terrorism Awareness Guide at http://www.nvfc.org/resourcecenter-terrorism-resources.html#grants.

Community Development Block Grants
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) provides eligible communities with annual direct grants that they can use for community projects that benefit low- and moderate-income persons, including fire and life safety protection.

Contact:
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 Seventh St., SW
Washington, DC 20410
Phone: (202) 708-1455
http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/
Or contact the CDBG Coordinator at your county courthouse.


Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program
This program provides a death benefit ($283,385 as of October 1, 2005) to the eligible survivors of federal, state, or local public safety officers whose death is the direct and proximate result of a personal (traumatic) injury sustained in the line of duty. The program also provides the same benefit to a public safety officer who has been permanently and totally disabled as the direct result of a catastrophic personal injury sustained in the line of duty. The injury must permanently prevent the officer from performing any gainful work.

 

Contact:
Benefits Office
Bureau of Justice Assistance
810 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531
Phone: 202–307–0635
Toll free: 1–888–SIGNL13 (744–6513)
Fax: (202) 616–0314
Email: AskPSOB@usdoj.gov
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/psob/psob_main.html


Federal Property Reimbursement Agreement
Under Section 11 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, reimbursement may be made to fire departments for fighting fire on property owned by the Federal government. Only firefighting costs over and above normal operating costs are reimbursable. Claims are submitted to USFA and are reviewed by the Deputy Administrator to ensure they meet the criteria outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Contact:
United States Fire Administration
16825 South Seton Avenue
Emmitsburg, MD 21727
Phone: (301) 447-1000
Fax: (301) 447-1441
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/grants/rfff/

Federal Surplus Property Programs
Federal surplus property is sold, or otherwise disposed of, primarily by the General Services Administration (GSA) who manages surplus property of civilian Federal departments and agencies. The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service handles military surplus and excess property, however the donation of excess military property is handled through GSA via state agencies for surplus property.

GSA transfers federal surplus personal property to state agencies for surplus property. They in turn can distribute this surplus property for use by eligible recipients, which include public agencies (such as local-level governmental agencies which could include fire departments).

Each state agency responsible for the distribution of federal surplus property can set additional requirements for doing so within the parameters of federal law. A listing of the address and telephone numbers of these state surplus agencies can be found at: http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/channelView.do?pageTypeId=10430&channelId=-13241

Contact:
Property Management Division
Office of Transportation and Property Management
Federal Supply Service
General Services Administration
Washington, DC 20406
Phone: (703) 605-2912


Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Local Governments Reimbursement Program
EPA'S Local Governments Reimbursement (LGR) program provides federal funds to local governments for costs related to temporary emergency measures conducted in response to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances. The program serves as a safety net to provide supplemental funding to local governments that do not have funds available to pay for these response actions. Eligible local governments may submit applications to EPA for reimbursement of up to $25,000 per incident.

Contact:
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
401 M. Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: (800) 431-9209
www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/er/lgr


National Fire Academy Training Assistance
(Student Stipend Reimbursement Program)
Presently, the program covers reimbursement for the cost of a 21-day pre-purchase, nonrefundable ticket for round-trip transportation by common carrier, or privately owned vehicle mileage reimbursement not to exceed the cost of the airline ticket, for the resident program courses at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and a limited stipend for selected regional delivery courses throughout the nation. For Regional Delivery courses, a limited stipend of up to $100 for a one-week course and up to $200 for a two-week course is provided to help offset students' transportation and lodging.
Any student who is a member of a fire department or has significant responsibility for fire prevention and control and has been accepted into an eligible course at the National Fire Academy may apply for stipend reimbursement. Reimbursements are not made to federal employees who are attending on behalf of their employer, employees from private industry, or foreign students.

Contact:
National Emergency Training Center
Office of Admissions
16825 S. Seton Avenue
Emmitsburg, MD 21727
Phone: (301) 447-1000
www.usfa.dhs.gov/training/nfa

State Fire Training Assistance
As partners with the National Fire Academy (NFA), state fire service training systems are enfranchised to deliver 2-day and 6-day NFA courses. States bear the entire cost of the courses. Currently there is a grant program to provide that funding. NFA will provide a master set of course materials, a list of qualified NFA instructors, and quality control oversight. States will continue to report student participation in all courses for inclusion in the NFA database, and students may receive NFA course certificates.

Contact:
Diane Close
National Fire Academy
16825 South Seton Avenue
Emmitsburg, MD  21727
Phone: 301-447-1376  
Email: diane.close@dhs.gov