NVFC Announces Passage of FIRE Bill

Package Marks New Era of Federal Government Assistance to Firefighters

WASHINGTON - On October 30, President Clinton signed the Fiscal Year 2001 Department of Defense Authorization Act. Included in the bill was a measure to provide federal assistance to firefighters originally known as the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act. The provision is the culmination of a two-year effort waged by the fire service and their allies on Capitol Hill.

"This is a historic day for the NVFC and the fire service as a whole," said NVFC Chairman Fred G. Allinson. "The fire service has remained unified and worked together throughout the 106th Congress to get this bill passed."

The largest provision of the package is an unprecedented $400 million authorization which would create a grant program for local volunteer, combination and paid fire departments. Besides the new grant program, the bill also includes authorized funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance Program, burn research programs, a study of Hepatitis C in the fire service, a needs assessment study of America's fire service, and a study of Department of Defense spectrum's potential use by local fire and EMS agencies. Additionally, there is language regarding fire departments obtaining excess Department of Defense equipment and the creation of a task force to identify defense technologies that can be put to civilian use by local emergency responders.

"Firefighters, 75% of which are volunteers, put their lives on the line every day to protect their local communities," said Chairman Allinson. He added, "These departments are struggling to provide their members with adequate protective clothing, safety devices and training to protect their communities. At the same time, the federal government is asking the fire service to respond to calls involving terrorism, hazardous materials on interstate highways, natural and man-made disasters and wildland/urban interface fires."

As an authorization bill, this measure only provides Congress with the description of how the money is to be allocated and the maximum amount to be spent. The passage of this authorization is being followed by a coordinated effort by the major fire service organizations to obtain an appropriation of funds to get the program started sometime next year.

The FIRE Bill was originally introduced in the House by Representatives Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Curt Weldon (R-PA) and in the Senate by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Mike DeWine (R-OH). Support for the FIRE Act in Congress has been bipartisan and overwhelming, with 284 cosponsors in the House and 35 cosponsors in the Senate. Other members of Congress, such as Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John Warner (R-VA) were also instrumental in passage of the bill.

"Without literally thousands of members of the volunteer fire service educating their members of Congress, this crucial legislation would not have received the support that it did," Allinson said. "We need to keep up these grassroots efforts to make sure this bill gets actual funding from Congress."

An outline of the large grant program authorization is as follows:

# Authorizes $100 million and $300 million for fiscal years 2001 and 2002, respectively. The FEMA Director may make direct grants to fire departments for personal protective equipment, training, public education, EMS expenses, recruitment and retention programs, wellness and fitness programs, personnel, apparatus, and arson prevention efforts.

# Volunteer, career and combination fire departments are all eligible for grant funding. Fire departments applying for assistance under the program will be subject to a non-federal matching requirement. A 10% match will be required of fire departments that serve populations of under 50,000. A 30% match will be required for all departments protecting over 50,000 population. There is no difference in matching requirements for volunteer, career or combination departments, except that volunteer and combination departments overall will be guaranteed funding proportionate to the national population protected by these departments.

# FEMA is authorized to establish an office for the administration of the grant program. The legislation also states that the office will provide grant-writing assistance to applicants who may need it.

# Grant awards will be capped at a maximum of $750,000. Grants will be awarded on the basis of need as determined by criteria to be developed by the FEMA Director.

# The program will restrict 25% of a grant award for the purpose of apparatus purchase. In addition, not less than 5% of the total spent shall be for fire prevention programs.

Additional provisions of the authorization include:

   1. The legislation authorizes the Volunteer Fire Assistance program within the U.S Forest Service at $10 million for FY 2001 and $20 million in FY 2002.
   2. A study of the fire service that will address the current role and activities of the fire service, determine the adequacy of current funding levels and complete a needs assessment to identify shortfalls. The study will be required in a report to Congress due 18 months after the Act is signed into law.
   3. $10 million in FY 2001 and $20 million in FY 2002 for burn research programs.
   4. A report on public safety radio spectrum sharing with the Department of Defense.
   5. An authorization for $10 million to fund a study, through the Department of Labor, on Hepatitis C among emergency response personnel.
   6. An authorization to fund a task force on the feasibility of defense technology that could be shared with the fire service. The seven major fire service organizations, including the NVFC are named in the legislation as a member of the authorized task force.
   7. Language regarding excess Department of Defense property for use by the fire service.