Fire grant news from FEMA
Each month, we supply information regarding the management of current Assistance to Firefighters Grants, as well as helpful details on upcoming grant opportunities.
In this month’s update:
- FY 2023 AFG Programs Status Update
- FY 2024 AFG Programs Status Update
- FEMA GO Login.gov Training
- Did You Know? – Economic Hardship Waivers of Cost Share
- DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool Technical Assistance
- September Fire Prevention Message – Heating Fire Safety
- Grants Management Training – Cost Principles
- Closeout Module Available in FEMA GO
- AFGP Success Stories
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FY 2023 AFG Programs Status Update
Fiscal Year 2023 AFG Awards
Round 10 of FY 2023 AFG awards were sent on Sept. 13, 2024. Awards will continue until funds are exhausted. Visit Assistance to Firefighters Grants | FEMA.gov for award information.
Fiscal Year 2023 FP&S Awards
Round 6 of FY 2023 FP&S awards were sent on Sept. 13, 2024. Awards will continue until funds are exhausted. Visit Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) | FEMA.gov for award information.
Fiscal Year 2023 SAFER Awards
Round 5 of the FY 2023 SAFER awards were sent Sept. 13, 2024. Awards will continue until funds are exhausted. Visit Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) | FEMA.gov for award information.
All awards will be made by Sept. 30, 2024.
FY 2024 AFG Programs Status Update
FY 2024 AFG Application Period
The FY 2024 AFG application period is tentatively scheduled to begin this fall. Below is a list of actions you can take NOW to start preparing. The links are to resources for the FY23 program that will be relevant for use in FY24.
- Verify your organization’s SAM.gov account is Active.
- Ensure grant writing staff have accounts with SAM.gov and appropriate permissions in FEMA GO.
- Conduct a Risk Assessment to determine your greatest needs. Compare your needs to the priorities of the program once the FY24 funding notice is released to identify what you should request.
- Poll vendors to start determining the costs of items you plan to request.
- If requesting a vehicle, establish your committee and develop specifications.
- Use the Application Checklist to gather information needed to complete the application.
- Use the Self-Evaluation Sheets to start drafting the four scored sections of the application narrative. These documents provide the exact criteria that panelists will be looking for in your narrative at panel review. There is one for Operations and Safetyand another for Vehicle
- Use the Narrative Development Toolkit to help identify ways that you can address the criteria outlined in the Self-Evaluation Sheets.
- Write your narrative now. It is easily pasted into the application once the application period opens. This will allow ample time for others to review what you’ve written and provide feedback.
- Contact your Regional Fire Program Representative with any questions.
New FEMA GO Training for Login.gov Transition
To prepare users for the planned integration of FEMA GO with Login.gov, the training team updated the FEMA GO Startup Guide to include step-by-step instructions on how to sign in with Login.gov. As of July 2, 2024, external users of the FEMA GO system are required to access FEMA GO using login.gov. The Startup Guide includes important information about:
- Best Practices to Create a Login.gov Account
- New FEMA GO User Account Creation
- Internal FEMA Employees
- Account Scenarios
- Managing Emails
- Managing Email Notifications
For questions related to the adoption of login.gov, users are encouraged to contact the FEMA GO Help Desk. The FEMA GO Help Desk hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The Help Desk accepts phone calls at (877) 585-3242 and emails at [email protected].
Did you Know?
AFGP applicants can request Economic Hardship Waivers of Cost Share
In cases of demonstrated economic hardship, and upon the request of the recipient, the FEMA Administrator may waive or reduce an AFG Program cost share requirement for certain recipients (15 U.S.C. § 2229(k)(4)(A)). As required by statute, the FEMA Administrator established guidelines for determining what constitutes economic hardship and published these guidelines in Information Bulletin No. 427.
The applicant is required to submit documentation supporting their request for an Economic Hardship Waiver at the time of the application by attaching the supporting document to the grant application.
To receive an Economic Hardship Waiver, the applicant must address the specific conditions as well as format the waiver request submission as specified in Section III – Guidance, Part D: Eligibility – Demonstrating Economic Hardship of Information Bulletin No. 427.
Failure to provide documentation at the time of application or address the conditions or following the prescribed format in Information Bulletin No. 427 may result in a denial of the waiver.
Technical Assistance – DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool
The Civil Rights Evaluation Tool is a technical assistance tool to assist recipients in understanding and meeting their federal civil rights obligations as a condition of receiving federal financial assistance. Recipients of Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or one of it awarding component agencies must complete this tool within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Notice of Award for the first award under which this term applies. Recipients of multiple awards of DHS financial assistance should only submit one completed tool for their organization, not per award. For additional information, please visit https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhs-civil-rights-evaluation-tool.
September Fire Prevention Message
Heating Fire Safety
Key Messages:
Although trending downward since the early 1980s, heating fires remained the second leading cause of home fires in 2021. An estimated 32,200 home heating fires were reported to fire departments within the United States. These fires caused an estimated 190 deaths, 625 injuries and $442 million in property loss. Provide students with a program for fire safety and prevention.
- Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet from all heat sources including fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators, space heaters or candles.
- Never use an oven to heat your home.
- Turn space heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
- Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected each year by a professional.
For more information, please visit the U.S. Fire Administration’s website for Fire Prevention and Community Risk Reduction HERE.
Grants Management Training
Cost Principles
Federal regulations provide guidance on basic considerations when determining whether a cost associated with a grant is eligible. In the case of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant, 2 CFR Part 200 provides this guidance beginning at § 200.403. Application reviewer will examine budgets submitted for projects using this guidance to determine whether the costs are allowable, allocable, reasonable and necessary. Keep these cost principles in mind when developing budgets for applications or submitting amendments to revise a budget or change the scope of a project. These cost related factors are considered during the review in each of these situations. Below is an explanation of each cost consideration directly from the regulation.
- 200.403 Factors affecting allowability of costs.
Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria to be allowable under federal awards:
(a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles.
(b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the faward as to types or amount of cost items.
(c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-federal entity.
(d) Be accorded consistent treatment. A cost may not be assigned to a federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the federal award as an indirect cost.
(e) Be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, except for state and local governments and Indian tribes only, as otherwise provided for in this part.
(f) Not be included as a cost or used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements of any other federally financed program in either the current or a prior period. See also § 200.306(b).
(g) Be adequately documented. See also §§ 200.300 through 200.309 of this part.
(h) Cost must be incurred during the approved budget period. The federal awarding agency is authorized, at its discretion, to waive prior written approvals to carry forward unobligated balances to subsequent budget periods pursuant to § 200.308(e)(3).
- 200.404 Reasonable costs.
A cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-federal entity is predominantly federally funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to:
(a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the federal award.
(b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm’s-length bargaining; federal, state, local, tribal and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the award.
(c) Market prices for comparable goods or services for the geographic area.
(d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the federal government.
(e) Whether the non-federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the award’s cost.
- 200.405 Allocable costs.
(a) A cost is allocable to a particular federal award or other cost objective if the goods or services involved are chargeable or assignable to that federal award or cost objective in accordance with relative benefits received. This standard is met if the cost:
(1) Is incurred specifically for the federal award.
(2) Benefits both the federal award and other work of the non-federal entity and can be distributed in proportions that may be approximated using reasonable methods; and
(3) Is necessary to the overall operation of the non-federal entity and is assignable in part to the Federal award in accordance with the principles in this subpart.
(b) All activities which benefit from the non-federal entity’s indirect (F&A) cost, including unallowable activities and donated services by the non-federal entity or third parties, will receive an appropriate allocation of indirect costs.
(c) Any cost allocable to a particular federal award under the principles provided for in this part may not be charged to other Federal awards to overcome fund deficiencies, to avoid restrictions imposed by federal statutes, regulations or terms and conditions of the federal awards, or for other reasons. However, this prohibition would not preclude the non-federal entity from shifting costs that are allowable under two or more federal awards in accordance with existing federal statutes, regulations or the terms and conditions of the federal awards.
(d) Direct cost allocation principles: If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that can be determined without undue effort or cost, the cost must be allocated to the projects based on the proportional benefit. If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that cannot be determined because of the interrelationship of the work involved, then, notwithstanding paragraph (c) of this section, the costs may be allocated or transferred to benefitted projects on any reasonable documented basis. Where the purchase of equipment or other capital asset is specifically authorized under a federal award, the costs are assignable to the Federal award regardless of the use that may be made of the equipment or other capital asset involved when no longer needed for the purpose for which it was originally required. See also §§ 200.310 through 200.316 and 200.439.
(e) If the contract is subject to CAS, costs must be allocated to the contract pursuant to the Cost Accounting Standards. To the extent that CAS is applicable, the allocation of costs in accordance with CAS takes precedence over the allocation provisions in this part.
Closeout Report Available in FEMA GO
The closeout module has been released in FEMA GO for all recipients. If an award still has an open period of performance (POP), the recipient will have to wait until the POP ends to initiate the closeout process and will have 90 days (FY 2019 and before grants) or 120 days (FY 2020 and after grants) to complete the process. Do not start your closeout if there is a chance that more funds or an amendment could be requested as these functions will no longer be available. A tutorial on the closeout process is available by clicking HERE.
For closeout help, contact your Regional Fire Program Representative or the AFG Helpdesk toll-free at 866-274-0960 or email [email protected]
AFGP Success Stories
Shoemakersville Fire Company No. 1 – Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania
Awarded items: Compressor fill station and Booster Pump for Mobile Cascade System
Submitted by: Deputy Chief Mike Hoffert
In December 2021, the Shoemakersville Fire Company No. 1 placed into service an air-driven booster pump for the cascade system on our recue truck awarded through AFG. This was in addition to a compressor fill station installed in our firehouse as part of the same award.
On February 2, 2022, the Shoemakersville Fire Company was dispatched to assist at a two-alarm residential fire in neighboring Jefferson Township. We responded with our engine and rescue truck. We utilized our mobile cascade system, which had the air driven booster pump on it. This gave us the ability to fill an additional 15-4,500 psi air cylinders. Without this system, we would have only been able to fill ten cylinders, which would have resulted in additional mutual aid to the scene away from their primary response areas.
The equipment received through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant is crucial to the safety of our firefighters and community members.