4 critical AFG 2013 changes you need to know

By Jerry Brant

The 2013 Assistance to Firefighters Grant has opened, and this year’s program has nearly $289 million available to help fund the needs of area fire departments and EMS agencies. The application period will close Friday, Dec. 6, 2013.

Under this authorization, a minimum of 25 percent of this funding will be awarded to career departments; 25 percent to volunteer departments; and 25 percent to combination departments. In addition, minimums of 3.5 percent have been authorized for EMS and 3 percent for state fire academies.

This year’s program also features a number of critical changes from the 2012 AFG application. If you were thinking of waiting until the last minute to recycle and resubmit last year’s rejected project, you should reconsider that plan. The four big changes are to:

• Application system compliance
• Matching requirements
• Multi-agency requirements
• Age of equipment replaced

Applicant registration in the System for Award Management is a requirement prior to any AFG Applications submission for FY2013. Registration in SAM is free.

Per 2 CFR § 25.205, FEMA will not process any payment request or consider any amendment until the grantee has complied with the requirements to provide a valid DUNS number and an active SAM registration with current information. Application information must match the organization’s SAM profile.

Also, we recommend that you mark your SAM profile as “public.” If your profile is “private,” FEMA grants management specialists will not be able to verify your active SAM registration. Sensitive banking and financial data are not revealed in the public profile.

Additional matches are now allowed
The next change in the 2013 period deals with the application’s match requirement. This year, if your population is less than 20,000, your match will be 5 percent. If it is between 20,000 and 1 million, your match will be 10 percent, and 20 percent if it is more than 1 million.

This year the AFG application allows you to provide an additional match above the required amount. You will find a question in the Applicant Characteristic section asking you if you intend to provide a higher match and if so how much more.

Under the Request Information section you will be asked if this grant will benefit more than one organization. If you answer yes, you must provide the name and contact information for the benefiting organization.

In the past, a number of departments simply answered by stating that the requested equipment would benefit mutual-aid departments. This can still be the case, but now you have to provide their specific information. If you are going to include your neighboring departments under this section, contact them directly and let them know prior to submitting your application.

Also under the Request Information section, you will be given the choice of applying for a micro grant. This is an application under the Firefighter Operations and Safety category that has a total federal request of less than $25,000. Remember, if you select micro grant you cannot apply for an additional request under the Firefighter Operations and Safety category.

Replacing equipment versus PPE 
If you are requesting financial assistance to purchase equipment there are several changes to this year’s application. First to be competitive the equipment you are replacing must be at least 15 years old. Also, rapid intervention team kits, flashlights and gear bags are now considered equipment and safety and personal bailout systems are now considered PPE.

As stated earlier in this article, state fire academies are now eligible to receive funding under AFG. Eligible SFTA applicants may apply for all activities under the AFG component program vehicle acquisition, but are only eligible to apply for the activities of equipment and PPE under the component program operations and safety, and are not eligible to apply for any activities under the component program joint/regional.

Finally, AFG-funded projects that involve the installation of equipment (including but not limited to antennas, sprinklers, alarm systems, generators, vehicle exhaust systems, air improvement systems, permanent mounted signs, or renovations to facilities) are subject to FEMA’s environmental and historic preservation screening process.

This screening form and instructions are now available through the AFG portal.

Good luck with the 2013 application, and remember, Fire Grants Help is always available to assist you.