15 U.S.C. § 2229 : US Code - Section 2229: Firefighter assistance

Search 15 U.S.C. § 2229 : US Code - Section 2229: Firefighter assistance

(a) Definition of firefighting personnel
In this section, the term "firefighting personnel" means
individuals, including volunteers, who are firefighters, officers
of fire departments, or emergency medical service personnel of fire
departments.
(b) Assistance program
(1) Authority
In accordance with this section, the Director may -
(A) make grants on a competitive basis directly to fire
departments of a State, in consultation with the chief
executive of the State, for the purpose of protecting the
health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel
throughout the Nation against fire and fire-related hazards;
(B) provide assistance for fire prevention and firefighter
safety research and development programs in accordance with
paragraph (4); and
(C) provide assistance for nonaffiliated EMS organizations
for the purpose of paragraph (3)(F).
(2) Administrative assistance
The Director shall establish specific criteria for the
selection of recipients of assistance under this section and
shall provide grant-writing assistance to applicants.
(3) Use of fire department grant funds
The Director may make a grant under paragraph (1)(A) only if
the applicant for the grant agrees to use the grant funds for one
or more of the following purposes:
(A) To hire additional firefighting personnel.
(B) To train firefighting personnel in firefighting,
emergency response (including response to a terrorism incident
or use of a weapon of mass destruction), arson prevention and
detection, maritime firefighting, or the handling of hazardous
materials, or to train firefighting personnel to provide any of
the training described in this subparagraph.
(C) To fund the creation of rapid intervention teams to
protect firefighting personnel at the scenes of fires and other
emergencies.
(D) To certify fire inspectors.
(E) To establish wellness and fitness programs for
firefighting personnel to ensure that the firefighting
personnel can carry out their duties.
(F) To fund emergency medical services provided by fire
departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations.
(G) To acquire additional firefighting vehicles, including
fire trucks.
(H) To acquire additional firefighting equipment, including
equipment for fighting fires with foam in remote areas without
access to water, and equipment for communications, monitoring,
and response to a terrorism incident or use of a weapon of mass
destruction.
(I) To acquire personal protective equipment required for
firefighting personnel by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, and other personal protective equipment for
firefighting personnel, including protective equipment to
respond to a terrorism incident or the use of a weapon of mass
destruction.
(J) To modify fire stations, fire training facilities, and
other facilities to protect the health and safety of
firefighting personnel.
(K) To enforce fire codes.
(L) To fund fire prevention programs.
(M) To educate the public about arson prevention and
detection.
(N) To provide incentives for the recruitment and retention
of volunteer firefighting personnel for volunteer firefighting
departments and other firefighting departments that utilize
volunteers.
(4) Fire prevention and firefighter safety research and
development programs
(A) In general
For each fiscal year, the Director shall use not less than 5
percent of the funds made available under subsection (e) of
this section -
(i) to make grants to fire departments for the purpose
described in paragraph (3)(L); and
(ii) to make grants to, or enter into contracts or
cooperative agreements with, national, State, local, or
community organizations that are not fire departments and
that are recognized for their experience and expertise with
respect to fire prevention or fire safety programs and
activities, and firefighter research and development
programs, for the purpose of carrying out fire prevention
programs and research to improve firefighter health and life
safety.
(B) Priority
In selecting organizations described in subparagraph (A)(ii)
to receive assistance under this paragraph, the Director shall
give priority to organizations that focus on prevention of
injuries to high risk groups from fire, as well as research
programs that demonstrate the potential to improve firefighter
safety.
(C) Grant limitation
A grant under this paragraph shall not be greater than
$1,000,000 for a fiscal year.
(5) Application
The Director may provide assistance to a fire department or
organization under this subsection only if the fire department or
organization seeking the assistance submits to the Director an
application that meets the following requirements:
(A) Form
The application shall be in such form as the Director may
require.
(B) Information
The application shall include the following information:
(i) Financial need
Information that demonstrates the financial need of the
applicant for the assistance for which applied.
(ii) Cost-benefit analysis
An analysis of the costs and benefits, with respect to
public safety, of the use of the assistance.
(iii) Reporting systems data
An agreement to provide information to the national fire
incident reporting system for the period covered by the
assistance.
(iv) Other Federal support
A list of other sources of Federal funding received by the
applicant. The Director, in coordination with the Secretary
of Homeland Security, shall use such list to prevent
unnecessary duplication of grant funds.
(v) Other information
Any other information that the Director may require.
(6) Matching requirement
(A) In general
Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Director may
provide assistance under this subsection only if the applicant
for such assistance agrees to match 20 percent of such
assistance for any fiscal year with an equal amount of non-
Federal funds.
(B) Requirement for small community organizations
In the case of an applicant whose personnel -
(i) serve jurisdictions of 50,000 or fewer residents, the
percent applied under the matching requirement of
subparagraph (A) shall be 10 percent; and
(ii) serve jurisdictions of 20,000 or fewer residents, the
percent applied under the matching requirement of
subparagraph (A) shall be 5 percent.
(C) Fire prevention and firefighter safety grants
There shall be no matching requirement for a grant described
in paragraph (4)(A)(ii).
(7) Maintenance of expenditures
The Director may provide assistance under this subsection only
if the applicant for the assistance agrees to maintain in the
fiscal year for which the assistance will be received the
applicant's aggregate expenditures for the uses described in
paragraph (3) or (4) at or above the average level of such
expenditures in the two fiscal years preceding the fiscal year
for which the assistance will be received.
(8) Report to the Director
The Director may provide assistance under this subsection only
if the applicant for the assistance agrees to submit to the
Director a report, including a description of how the assistance
was used, with respect to each fiscal year for which the
assistance was received.
(9) Variety of fire department grant recipients
The Director shall ensure that grants under paragraph (1)(A)
for a fiscal year are made to a variety of fire departments,
including, to the extent that there are eligible applicants -
(A) paid, volunteer, and combination fire departments;
(B) fire departments located in communities of varying sizes;
and
(C) fire departments located in urban, suburban, and rural
communities.
(10) Grant limitations
(A) Recipient limitations
A grant recipient under subsection (b)(1)(A) of this section -

(i) that serves a jurisdiction with 500,000 people or less
may not receive grants in excess of $1,000,000 for any fiscal
year;
(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with more than 500,000 but
not more than 1,000,000 people may not receive grants in
excess of $1,750,000 for any fiscal year; and
(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with more than 1,000,000
people may not receive grants in excess of $2,750,000 for any
fiscal year.
The Director may award grants in excess of the limitations
provided in clause (!1) (i) and (ii) if the Director determines
that extraordinary need for assistance by a jurisdiction
warrants a waiver.
(B) Distribution
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), no single recipient may
receive more than the lesser of $2,750,000 or one half of one
percent of the funds appropriated under this section for a
single fiscal year.
(C) Limitation on expenditures for firefighting vehicles
Not more than 25 percent of the funds appropriated to provide
grants under this section for a fiscal year may be used to
assist grant recipients to purchase vehicles, as authorized by
paragraph (3)(G).
(D) Requirements for grants for emergency medical services
Subject to the restrictions in subparagraph (E), not less
than 3.5 percent of the funds appropriated under this section
for a fiscal year shall be awarded for purposes described in
paragraph (3)(F).
(E) Nonaffiliated EMS limitation
Not more than 2 percent of the funds appropriated to provide
grants under this section for a fiscal year shall be awarded to
nonaffiliated EMS organizations.
(F) Application of selection criteria to grant applications
from nonaffiliated EMS organizations
In reviewing applications submitted by nonaffiliated EMS
organizations, the Director shall consider the extent to which
other sources of Federal funding are available to provide
assistance requested in such grant applications.
(11) Reservation of grant funds for volunteer departments
In making grants to firefighting departments, the Director
shall ensure that those firefighting departments that have either
all-volunteer forces of firefighting personnel or combined forces
of volunteer and professional firefighting personnel receive a
proportion of the total grant funding that is not less than the
proportion of the United States population that those
firefighting departments protect.
(12) Eligible grantee on behalf of Alaska Native villages
The Alaska Village Initiatives, a non-profit organization
incorporated in the State of Alaska, shall be considered an
eligible grantee for purposes of receiving assistance under this
section on behalf of Alaska Native villages.
(13) Annual meeting
The Director shall convene an annual meeting of individuals who
are members of national fire service organizations and are
recognized for expertise in firefighting or emergency medical
services provided by fire services, and who are not employees of
the Federal Government, for the purpose of recommending criteria
for awarding grants under this section for the next fiscal year
and recommending any necessary administrative changes to the
grant program.
(14) Guidelines
(A) Each year, prior to making any grants under this section,
the Director shall publish in the Federal Register -
(i) guidelines that describe the process for applying for
grants and the criteria for awarding grants; and
(ii) an explanation of any differences between the guidelines
and the recommendations made pursuant to paragraph (13).
(B) The criteria for awarding grants under subsection (b)(1)(A)
of this section shall include the extent to which the grant would
enhance the daily operations of the applicant and the impact of
such a grant on the protection of lives and property.
(15) Peer review
The Director shall, after consultation with national fire
service organizations, appoint fire service personnel to conduct
peer review of applications received under paragraph (5). In
making grants under this section, the Director shall consider the
results of such peer review evaluations.
(16) Applicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not
apply to activities under paragraphs (13) and (15).
(17) Accounting determination
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule, regulation,
or guidance, for purposes of receiving assistance under this
section, equipment costs shall include, but not be limited to,
all costs attributable to any design, purchase of components,
assembly, manufacture, and transportation of equipment not
otherwise commercially available.
(c) Audits
A recipient of a grant under this section shall be subject to
audits to ensure that the grant proceeds are expended for the
intended purposes and that the grant recipient complies with the
requirements of paragraphs (6) and (7) of subsection (b) of this
section.
(d) Definitions
In this section -
(1) the term "Director" means the Director, acting through the
Administrator;
(2) the term "nonaffiliated EMS organization" means a public or
private nonprofit emergency medical services organization that is
not affiliated with a hospital and does not serve a geographic
area in which the Director finds that emergency medical services
are adequately provided by a fire department; and
(3) the term "State" includes the District of Columbia and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(e) Authorization of appropriations
(1) In general
There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of
this section $900,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $950,000,000 for
fiscal year 2006, and $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years
2007 through 2009. Of the amounts authorized in this paragraph,
$3,000,000 shall be made available each year through fiscal year
2008 for foam firefighting equipment.
(2) Administrative expenses
Of the funds appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for a
fiscal year, the Director may use not more than three percent of
the funds to cover salaries and expenses and other administrative
costs incurred by the Director to make grants and provide
assistance under this section.