17972 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 74 / Monday, April 20, 2009 / Notices 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. The submission 

describes the nature of the information 

collection, the categories of 

respondents, the estimated burden (i.e., 

the time, effort and resources used by 

respondents to respond) and cost, and 

includes the actual data collection 

instruments FEMA will use. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before May 20, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

on the proposed information collection 

to the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget. Comments 

should be addressed to the Desk Officer 

for the Department of Homeland 

Security, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, and sent via 

electronic mail to 

oira.submission@omb.eop.gov or faxed 

to (202) 395–6974. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

should be made to Director, Records 

Management Division, 1800 South Bell 

Street, Arlington, VA 20598–3005, 

facsimile number (202) 646–3347, or 

e-mail address FEMA-InformationCollections@dhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Community Disaster Loan (CDL) 

Program is authorized by Section 417 of 

the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

and Emergency Assistance Act, Public 

Law 93–288, as amended, and provides 

loans to any local government which 

has suffered a substantial loss of tax or 

other revenues as a result of a major 

disaster or emergency and which 

demonstrates a need for Federal 

financial assistance in order to perform 

its governmental functions. FEMA 

regulations at 44 CFR 206.360–206.367 

contain the procedures and 

requirements that implement the 

statutory authority for this program. 

The title (Formerly titled Application 

for Community Disaster Loan (CDL) and 

the Special Community Disaster Loan 

(SCDL) Program) previously reported in 

the 60-Day Federal Register Notice (73 

FR 76370, Dec. 16, 2008) has been 

changed because the Special 

Community Disaster Loan (SCDL) 

Program was only authorized to provide 

loans to communities affected by 

Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita. The 

application period for that program 

closed at the end of fiscal year 2006 

(October 1, 2006). Because FEMA is no 

longer accepting applications for the 

SCDL Program, it has been removed 

from this collection. 

Collection of Information 

Title: Application for Community 

Disaster Loan (CDL) Program. 

Type of information collection: 

Revision of a currently approved 

collection. 

OMB Number: 1660–0083. 

Form Titles and Numbers: FEMA 

Form 116–0–1, Promissory Note, FEMA 

Form 085–0–1, Local Government 

Resolution Collateral Security, FEMA 

Form 090–0–1, Certification of 

Eligibility for Community Disaster 

Loans, and FEMA Form 090–0–2, 

Application for Community Disaster 

Loan. These form numbers previously 

reported in the 60-Day Federal Register 

Notice (73 FR 76370, Dec. 16, 2008) 

have been changed in accordance with 

the Federal Enterprise Architecture 

(FEA) numbering system. FEMA Form 

090–0–2 (Former FEMA Form 90–7), 

Application for Community Disaster 

Loan was inadvertently not included in 

the 60-Day Federal Register Notice 

mentioned above and has since been 

added to this collection. 

Abstract: The Loan Package for the 

Community Disaster Loan Program 

provides States, Local and Tribal 

governments that have suffered 

substantial loss of tax or other revenues 

as a result of a major disaster or 

emergency, the opportunity to obtain 

financial assistance in order to perform 

their governmental functions. Local 

governments can submit a loan package 

for the Community Disaster Loan 

Program. This loan must be justified on 

the basis of need and actual expenses. 

Affected Public: ‘‘State, Local, or 

Tribal Government’’. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

50. 

Frequency of Response: Once. 

Estimated Average Hour Burden per 

Respondent: 19.5 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 975. The estimated total annual 

burden hours previously reported in the 

60-day Federal Register Notice (73 FR 

76370, Dec. 16, 2008) has been 

increased. 

Estimated Cost: The estimated total 

annual respondent administrative cost 

based on wage rate categories is 

$44,892.32. The estimated total annual 

respondent administrative cost based on 

wage rate categories previously reported 

in the 60-day Federal Register Notice 

(73 FR 76370, Dec. 16, 2008) has been 

increased. There are no capital 

expenditure costs associated with this 

collection. 

Larry Gray, 

Director, Records Management Division, 

Office of Management, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, Department of 

Homeland Security. 

[FR Doc. E9–8996 Filed 4–17–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–23–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

Assistance to Firefighters Grant 

Program 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of guidance. 

SUMMARY: This Notice provides 

guidelines that describe the application 

process for grants and the criteria for 

awarding grants in the 2009 Assistance 

to Firefighters Grant program year, as 

well as an explanation for any 

differences with the guidelines 

recommended by representatives of the 

Nation’s fire service leadership during 

the annual Criteria Development 

meeting. The program makes grants 

directly to fire departments and 

nonaffiliated emergency medical 

services organizations for the purpose of 

enhancing first-responders’ abilities to 

protect the health and safety of the 

public as well as that of first-responder 

personnel facing fire and fire-related 

hazards. In addition, the authorizing 

statute requires that a minimum of 5 

percent of appropriated funds be 

expended for fire prevention and safety 

grants, which are also made directly to 

local fire departments and to local, 

regional, State or national entities 

recognized for their expertise in the 

field of fire prevention and firefighter 

safety research and development. 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2229, 2229a. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian Cowan, Director, Assistance to 

Firefighters Program Office, U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security/ 

FEMA, Assistance to Firefighters Grant 

Program, TechWorld Building—5th 

Floor South Tower, 800 K Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20472–3620. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the Assistance to Firefighters 

Grant (AFG) Program is to provide 

grants directly to fire departments and 

nonaffiliated Emergency Medical 

Services (EMS) organizations to enhance 

their ability to protect the health and 

safety of the public, as well as that of 


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first-responder personnel, with respect 

to fire and fire-related hazards. 

Appropriations 

For fiscal year 2009, Congress 

appropriated $565,000,000 to carry out 

the activities of the AFG Program. The 

Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) is authorized to use up to 

$28,250,000 for administration of the 

AFG program (5 percent of the 

appropriated amount); however, the 

Executive Branch has limited the funds 

available for administration to 4 percent 

of the appropriation ($22,600,000). In 

addition, DHS must set aside no less 

than $28,250,000 of the funds (5 percent 

of the appropriation) for the Fire 

Prevention and Safety Grants (FP&S). 

However, for fiscal year 2009, DHS will 

award $35,000,000 for FP&S. Under 

FP&S, DHS may make grants to, or enter 

into contracts or cooperative agreements 

with, national, State, local or 

community organizations or agencies, 

including fire departments, for the 

purpose of carrying out fire prevention 

grants and firefighter safety research and 

development grants. 

The $507,400,000 will be used for 

competitive grants to fire departments 

and nonaffiliated EMS organizations for 

equipment, training and first 

responders’ safety. Within the portion of 

funding available for these competitive 

grants, DHS must assure that no less 

than 3.5 percent of the appropriation, or 

$19,775,000, is awarded for EMS 

equipment and training. However, 

awards to nonaffiliated EMS 

organizations are limited to no more 

than 2 percent of the appropriation or 

$11,300,000. Therefore, at least the 

balance of the requisite awards for EMS 

equipment and training must go to fire 

departments. 

Background 

DHS awards the grants on a 

competitive basis to the applicants that 

best address the AFG program’s 

priorities and provide the most 

compelling justification. Applicants 

whose requests best address the 

program’s priorities will be reviewed by 

a panel composed of fire service 

personnel. The panel will review the 

narrative and evaluate the application in 

four different areas: (1) The clarity of the 

proposed project description, (2) the 

organization’s financial need, (3) the 

benefit to be derived from the proposed 

project relative to the cost, and (4) the 

extent to which the grant would 

enhance the applicant’s daily operations 

and/or how the grant would positively 

impact the applicant’s ability to protect 

life and property. 

The AFG program for 2009 generally 

mirrors previous years’ AFG programs. 

The program will again segregate the 

FP&S program from the AFG. DHS will 

have a separate application period 

devoted solely to FP&S tentatively 

scheduled to occur in the Fall of 2009. 

All applications will be accessible from 

https://portal.fema.gov. 

Congress has enacted statutory limits 

to the amount of funding that a grantee 

may receive from the AFG program in 

any fiscal year (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)(10)). 

These limits are based on population 

served. A grantee that serves a 

jurisdiction with 500,000 people or less 

may not receive grant funding in excess 

of $1,000,000 in any fiscal year. A 

grantee 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 in any fiscal 

year. A grantee that serves a jurisdiction 

with more than 1,000,000 people may 

not receive grants in excess of 

$2,750,000 in any fiscal year. DHS may 

waive these established limits to any 

grantee serving a jurisdiction of 

1,000,000 people or less if DHS 

determines that extraordinary need for 

assistance warrants the waiver. No 

grantee, under any circumstance, 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.’’ (15 

U.S.C. 2229(b)(10)(B)). 

Grantees must share in the costs of the 

projects funded under this grant 

program (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)(6)). Fire 

departments and nonaffiliated EMS 

organizations that serve populations of 

less than 20,000 must match the Federal 

grant funds with an amount of nonFederal funds equal to 5 percent of the 

total project cost. Fire departments and 

nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving 

areas with a population between 20,000 

and 50,000, inclusive, must match the 

Federal grant funds with an amount of 

non-Federal funds equal to 10 percent of 

the total project cost. Fire departments 

and nonaffiliated EMS organizations 

that serve populations of over 50,000 

must match the Federal grant funds 

with an amount of non-Federal funds 

equal to 20 percent of the total project 

costs. All non-Federal funds must be in 

cash, i.e., in-kind contributions are not 

eligible. The only waiver granted for 

this requirement will be for applicants 

located in Insular Areas as provided for 

in 48 U.S.C. 1469a. 

The authorizing statute imposes 

additional requirements on ensuring a 

distribution of grant funds among 

career, volunteer, and combination 

(volunteer and career personnel) fire 

departments, and among urban, 

suburban and rural communities. More 

specifically with respect to department 

types, DHS must ensure that allvolunteer or combination fire 

departments receive a portion of the 

total grant funding that is not less than 

the proportion of the United States 

population that those departments 

protect (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)(11)). There is 

no corresponding minimum for career 

departments. Therefore, subject to the 

other statutory limitations on DHS 

ability to award funds, DHS will ensure 

that, for the 2009 program year, no less 

than 34 percent of the funding available 

for grants will be awarded to 

combination departments, and no less 

than 21 percent will be awarded to allvolunteer departments. These figures 

were obtained from the National Fire 

Protection Association report entitled 

U.S. Department Profile Through 2007, 

issued October 2008. If, and only if, 

other statutory limitations inhibit DHS 

ability to ensure this distribution of 

funding, DHS will ensure that the 

aggregate combined total percent of 

funding provided to both combination 

and volunteer departments is no less 

than 55 percent. 

DHS generally makes funding 

decisions using rank order resulting 

from the panel evaluation. However, 

DHS may deviate from rank order and 

make funding decisions based on the 

type of department (career, 

combination, or volunteer) and/or the 

size and character of the community the 

applicant serves (urban, suburban, or 

rural) to the extent it is required to 

satisfy statutory provisions. 

Fire Prevention and Safety Grant 

Program 

In addition to the grants available to 

fire departments in fiscal year 2009 

through the competitive grant program, 

DHS will set aside $35,000,000 of the 

funds available under the AFG program 

to make grants to, or enter into contracts 

or cooperative agreements with, 

national, State, local or community 

organizations or agencies, including fire 

departments, for the purpose of carrying 

out fire prevention and injury 

prevention projects, and for research 

and development grants that address 

firefighter safety. 

In accordance with the statutory 

requirement to fund fire prevention 

activities, support to Fire Prevention 

and Safety Grant activities concentrates 

on organizations that focus on the 

prevention of injuries to children from 

fire. In addition to this priority, DHS 

places an emphasis on funding 

innovative projects that focus on 

protecting children under 14, seniors 

over 65, and firefighters. Because the 


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victims of burns experience both shortand long-term physical and 

psychological effects, DHS places a 

priority on programs that focus on 

reducing the immediate and long-range 

effects of fire and burn injuries. 

DHS will issue an announcement 

regarding pertinent details of the Fire 

Prevention and Safety Grant portion of 

this program prior to the application 

period. 

Application Process 

Prior to the start of the application 

period, DHS will conduct applicant 

workshops across the country to inform 

potential applicants about the AFG 

program for 2009. In addition, DHS will 

provide applicants an online Web-based 

tutorial and other information to use in 

preparing a quality application. 

Applicants are advised to access the 

application electronically at https:// 

portal.fema.gov. New applicants will 

have to register and establish a 

username and password for secure 

access to their application. Applicants 

that have applied to any AFG funding 

opportunities in the past will have to 

use their established username and 

passwords. In completing the 

application, applicants will provide 

relevant information on the applicant’s 

characteristics, call volume, and 

existing capacities. Applicants will 

answer questions regarding their 

assistance request that reflects the 

funding priorities (iterated below). In 

addition, each applicant will complete a 

narrative addressing statutory 

competitive factors: financial need, 

benefits/costs, and improvement to the 

organization’s daily operations. During 

the application period, applicants will 

be encouraged to contact DHS via a toll 

free number or online help desk with 

any questions. The electronic 

application process will permit the 

applicant to enter data and save the 

application for further use, and will not 

permit the submission of incomplete 

applications. Except for the narrative, 

the application uses a ‘‘point-and-click’’ 

selection process, or requires the entry 

of information (e.g., name and address, 

call volume numbers, etc.). 

The application period for the AFG 

grants will open on or about April 16, 

2009, and close on or about May 15, 

2009. Interested applicants are 

encouraged to read the Program 

Guidance for more details. During the 

approaching application season, the 

program office expects to receive 

between 20,000 and 25,000 

applications. 

Application Review Process 

DHS evaluates all applications in the 

preliminary screening process to 

determine which applications best 

address the program’s announced 

funding priorities. This preliminary 

screening evaluates and scores the 

applicants’ answers to the activity 

specific questions. Applications 

containing multiple activities will be 

given prorated scores based on the 

amount of funding requested for each 

activity. The best applications as 

determined in the preliminary step are 

deemed to be in the ‘‘competitive 

range.’’ 

Once the competitive range is 

established DHS will review the list of 

applicants that are not included in the 

competitive range to determine if any of 

those applicants are responsible for 

protecting DHS-specified critical 

infrastructure or key resources. If it is 

determined that an applicant has 

responsibility for protecting one or more 

critical infrastructure or key resources 

but is not included in the competitive 

range, DHS will determine whether it is 

appropriate to place that application 

before the peer review panel due to the 

importance of its mission to protect 

these critical resources. Adding 

additional applications to peer review 

will not affect the number of 

applications that would have been 

reviewed by the peer reviewers or 

otherwise undermine the process used 

to determine the competitive range. Peer 

review panelists will not be aware of 

which applications may have been 

added to the universe of applications at 

panel as a result of this initiative. All 

applications will be peer reviewed 

against the criteria described in this 

document. 

All applications in the competitive 

range are subject to a second level 

review by a technical evaluation panel 

made up of individuals from the fire 

service including, but not limited to, 

firefighters, fire marshals, and fire 

training instructors. The panelists will 

assess the application’s merits with 

respect to the clarity and detail 

provided about the project, the 

applicant’s financial need, the project’s 

purported benefit to be derived from the 

cost, and the effectiveness of the project 

to enhance the health and safety of the 

public and fire service personnel. 

Using the evaluation criteria included 

here, the panelists will independently 

score each application before them and 

then discuss the merits and 

shortcomings of the application in an 

effort to reconcile any major 

discrepancies. A consensus on the score 

is not required. The panelists will assign 

a score to each of the elements detailed 

above. DHS will then consider the 

highest scoring applications resulting 

from this second level of review for 

awards. Applications that involve 

interoperable communications projects 

will undergo a separate review by the 

State Administrative Agency to assure 

that the communications project is 

consistent with the Statewide 

Communications Interoperability Plan 

(SCIP). If the State determines that the 

project is inconsistent with the State 

SCIP, the project will not be funded. 

After the completion of the reviews, 

DHS will select a sufficient number of 

awardees from this application period to 

obligate all of the available grant 

funding. DHS will announce the awards 

over several months and will notify 

non-successful applicants as soon as 

feasible. DHS will not make awards in 

any specified order, i.e., not by State, 

program, nor any other characteristic. 

Modification to facility projects 

(including renovations associated with 

equipment installations) are subject to 

all applicable environmental and 

historic preservation requirements. 

Applicants seeking assistance to modify 

their facilities or to install equipment 

requiring renovations may undergo 

additional screening. Specifically, DHS 

is required to ascertain to what degree 

the proposed modifications and 

renovations might affect an applicant’s 

facility relative to the National 

Environmental Policy Act, National 

Historic Preservation Act of 1966, 

National Flood Insurance Program 

regulations, and any other applicable 

laws and Executive Orders. No project 

that involves a modification to facility 

can proceed—except for project 

planning—prior to formal written 

approval from DHS. If your award 

includes a modification to a facility, you 

are responsible for contacting the 

Program Office so you can be given 

direction on how to proceed. 

Noncompliance with these provisions 

may jeopardize an applicant’s award 

and subsequent funding. 

Criteria Development Process 

Each year, DHS conducts a criteria 

development meeting to develop the 

program’s priorities for the coming year. 

DHS brings together a panel of fire 

service professionals representing the 

leadership of the nine major fire service 

organizations: 

• Congressional Fire Service Institute 

(CFSI), 

• International Association of Arson 

Investigators (IAAI), 

• International Association of Fire 

Chiefs (IAFC), 


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• International Association of 

Firefighters (IAFF), 

• International Society of Fire Service 

Instructors (ISFSI), 

• National Association of State Fire 

Marshals (NASFM), 

• National Fire Protection 

Association (NFPA), 

• National Volunteer Fire Council 

(NVFC), and 

• North American Fire Training 

Directors (NAFTD). 

The criteria development panel is 

charged with making recommendations 

to the grants program office regarding 

the creation and/or modification of 

program priorities as well as 

development of criteria and definitions 

as necessary. 

The governing statute requires that 

DHS publish each year in the Federal 

Register the guidelines that describe the 

application process and the criteria for 

grant awards. DHS must also include an 

explanation of any differences between 

the published guidelines and the 

recommendations made by the criteria 

development panel. The guidelines and 

the statement regarding the differences 

between the guidelines and the criteria 

development panel recommendations 

must be published in the Federal 

Register prior to making any grants 

under the program. 15 U.S.C. 

2229(b)(14). 

The Fiscal year 2009 criteria 

development panel meeting occurred 

July 9–10, 2008. For the 2009 program 

year, DHS implemented all 

recommendations presented by the 

criteria development panel. However, 

DHS implemented additional program 

changes that were not considered during 

the criteria development panel’s 

deliberations. Those changes are as 

follows: 

• In determining when to allow 

applicants to request funding for video 

conferencing systems, the criteria 

development group recommended that 

DHS limit eligibility of the systems to 

organizations that planned to use said 

systems for asynchronous training only. 

Asynchronous training enables students 

to increase knowledge and skills 

through self-paced and self-directed 

modules when convenient for the 

student versus systems that support 

synchronous training. They 

recommended that video conferencing 

systems not be eligible for synchronous 

training as synchronous training is too 

inflexible. In considering this 

recommendation, DHS determined that 

the delivery of asynchronous training 

does not need elaborate video 

conferencing systems; rather, 

asynchronous training only requires a 

computer. Since computers are already 

eligible and asynchronous training 

delivery does not require video 

conferencing systems, DHS expanded 

the criteria development panel’s 

recommendation to deem video 

conferencing systems ineligible in their 

entirety. 

• In review of the priorities under 

vehicle acquisition, the criteria 

development panel recommended 

adjusting the emphasis placed on call 

volume. The panel’s recommendation 

was based on the belief that any 

emphasis on call volume is a 

disadvantage for small departments 

(e.g., volunteer departments). However, 

the AFG authorizing legislation requires 

DHS to take into account the benefit to 

be derived from the costs of the grant 

activity when considering each 

application for award. Previous criteria 

development panels have 

recommended, and DHS has agreed, that 

a risk-based focus achieves this cost/ 

benefit consideration and that the 

frequency of use is a legitimate measure 

of risk as well as indicator of the benefit 

that could be derived from an award. 

Also, there is no empirical data to show 

that small departments are 

disadvantaged by the consideration of 

call volume. Statistically, volunteer 

departments have received 87 percent of 

all AFG vehicle awards. Finally, criteria 

for all grant activities include 

consideration for call volume for 

reasons cited above but the panel only 

recommended changing the 

consideration for the vehicle category. 

This is inconsistent. Due to the 

legislative requirement to take cost/ 

benefit into consideration; the 

realization that call volume is a measure 

of cost/benefit; the lack of data that 

shows any group is disadvantaged by 

the measure; and for the sake of 

consistent implementation of the 

program, DHS elected to leave the level 

of consideration call volume unchanged 

from that in previous years. 

• Also under the vehicle acquisition 

activity, the criteria development panel 

recommended that DHS provide extra 

consideration for vehicles that do not 

have seatbelts and that cannot be 

economically retrofitted with seatbelts 

under the belief that such vehicles are 

inherently unsafe. The criteria 

development panel did not provide any 

guidance to assess what was meant by 

the term ‘‘economical,’’ but it is the 

opinion that any retrofitting effort 

would be far more economical than the 

purchase of a new vehicle. For this 

reason DHS has elected not to 

implement this recommendation. 

• In their deliberations on firefighting 

equipment, the criteria development 

panel recommended that DHS highlight 

the eligibility of, and place more 

emphasis on, ‘‘alternative’’ fuel 

firefighting foam and equipment (over 

the consideration provided for 

‘‘conventional’’ fuel firefighting foam 

and equipment). DHS believes this to be 

a difference without a distinction. Foam 

firefighting equipment and supplies 

have always been eligible, thus DHS 

saw no need to differentiate between the 

various uses of foam and foam 

firefighting equipment. 

• Across all activities, the criteria 

development panel recommended that 

all applicants base their pricing on 

formal bids. DHS believed that this 

would be too onerous a task for an 

application and too onerous to enforce, 

thus DHS did not implement the 

recommendation. However, DHS 

provides more instruction and guidance 

regarding Federal procurement 

requirements in the 2009 program 

guidance. 

• The criteria development panel 

recommended that DHS require 

applicants to request vehicle mounted 

exhaust control devices under the 

firefighting equipment acquisition 

activity rather than under modifications 

to facility activity. DHS agrees that, by 

definition, the devices are more 

‘‘equipment’’ than they are part of a 

‘‘facility.’’ However, the function of the 

devices is absolutely relative to the 

affect that the devices will have on the 

facility. Therefore, DHS will continue to 

require applicants to apply for the 

devices under modifications to facilities 

and to answer the questions regarding 

their facility in order to qualify. 

• Finally, the criteria development 

group recommended that DHS add a 

question to the application whereby the 

applicant could declare that they have 

temporary, transient population in their 

first-due over and above their 

permanent resident population. DHS 

did not believe this to be necessary as 

there are very few jurisdictions in this 

Nation that do not have fluctuations in 

their populations and because the 

applicants are free to discuss their 

fluctuating population in their narrative. 

Review Considerations 

Fire Department Priorities 

Specific rating criteria for each of the 

eligible programs and activities are 

discussed below. The funding priorities 

described in this Notice have been 

recommended by a panel of 

representatives from the Nation’s fire 

service leadership and have been 

accepted by DHS for the purposes of 

implementing the AFG. These rating 

criteria provide an understanding of the 

grant program’s priorities and the 


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expected cost-effectiveness of any 

proposed project(s). The activities listed 

below are in no particular order of 

priority. Within each activity, DHS will 

consider the population served by the 

applicant with higher populations 

afforded a higher consideration than 

applicants with lower populations. DHS 

will further explain program priorities 

in program guidance to be published 

separately. 

(1) Operations and Firefighter Safety 

Program 

(i) Training Activities. In 

implementing the fire service’s 

recommendations, DHS has determined 

that the most benefit will be derived 

from instructor-led, hands-on training 

that leads to a nationally sanctioned or 

State certification. Training requests 

that include Web-based home study or 

distance learning or the purchase of 

training materials, equipment, or props 

are a lower priority. Therefore, 

applications focused on national or 

State certification training, including 

train-the-trainer initiatives, will receive 

a higher competitive rating. Training 

that (1) involves instructors, (2) requires 

the students to demonstrate their grasp 

of knowledge of the training material via 

testing, and (3) is integral to a 

certification will receive a high 

competitive rating. Instructor-led 

training that does not lead to a 

certification, and any self-taught 

courses, are of lower benefit, and 

therefore will not receive a high 

priority. 

DHS will give higher priority, within 

the limitations imposed by statute, to 

training proposals which improve 

coordination capabilities across 

disciplines (Fire, EMS, and Police), and 

jurisdictions (local, State, and Federal). 

Training related to coordinated incident 

response (i.e., bomb threat or 

Improvised Explosive Device response), 

tactical emergency communications 

procedures, or similar types of interdisciplinary, inter-jurisdictional training 

will receive the highest competitive 

rating. 

Due to the inherent differences 

between urban, suburban, and rural 

firefighting characteristics, DHS has 

accepted the recommendations of the 

criteria development panel for different 

priorities in the training activities of 

departments that service these different 

types of communities. CBRNE 

awareness training has a high benefit, 

however, and will receive the highest 

consideration regardless of the type of 

community served and regardless of the 

absence of any national standard. 

For fire departments serving rural 

communities, DHS has determined that 

funding basic, operational-level 

firefighting, operational-level rescue, 

driver training, and first-responder 

EMS, Emergency Medical TechnicianBasic (EMT–B), and Emergency Medical 

Technician—Intermediate (EMT–I) 

training (i.e., training in basic 

firefighting, EMS, and rescue duties) has 

greater benefit than funding officer 

training, safety officer training, or 

incident-command training. In rural 

communities, after basic training, there 

is a greater cost-benefit ratio for officer 

training than for other specialized types 

of training such as mass casualty, 

hazardous materials (HAZMAT), 

advanced rescue and Emergency 

Medical Technician—Paramedic (EMT– 

P), or inspector training. 

Conversely, for departments that are 

serving urban or suburban communities, 

DHS has determined that, due to the 

number of firefighters and the relatively 

high percentage of the population 

protected, any training requests will 

receive a high priority rating regardless 

of the level of training requested. As 

such, when considering applications for 

training from departments serving urban 

and suburban communities, DHS will 

give higher priority to training proposals 

which improve coordination 

capabilities across first-responder 

disciplines (fire, EMS, and law 

enforcement), and jurisdictions (local, 

State, and Federal). Training related to 

coordinated incident response (e.g., 

weapons of mass destruction awareness 

and incident operations, chemical or 

biological operations, or bomb threats), 

tactical emergency communications 

procedures, or similar types of interdisciplinary, inter-jurisdictional training 

will receive the highest competitive 

rating. 

(ii) Wellness and Fitness Activities. In 

implementing the criteria panel’s 

recommendations, DHS has determined 

that fire departments must offer periodic 

health screenings, entry physical 

examinations, and an immunization 

program to have an effective wellness/ 

fitness program. Accordingly, applicants 

for grants in this category must 

currently offer or plan to offer with 

grant funds all three benefits to receive 

funding for any other initiatives in this 

activity. After the provision of the three 

requisite benefits, the criteria 

development panel recommended 

providing the highest consideration to 

candidate physical agility evaluations. 

DHS will give a lower priority to formal 

fitness and injury prevention programs. 

DHS will give the lowest priority to 

stress management, injury/illness 

rehabilitation, and employee assistance. 

DHS has determined the greatest 

relative benefit will be realized by 

supporting new wellness and fitness 

programs. Therefore, applicants for new 

wellness/fitness programs will receive 

higher competitive ratings when 

compared with applicants whose 

wellness/fitness programs lack one or 

more of the three top priority items 

cited above, and applicants that already 

employ the requisite three activities of 

a wellness/fitness program. Finally, 

because participation is critical to 

achieving any benefits from a wellness 

or fitness program, applications that 

mandate participation and are open to 

all personnel or provide incentives for 

participation will receive higher 

competitive ratings. 

(iii) Equipment Acquisition. As stated 

in the AFG statute, DHS administers 

this grant program to protect the health 

and safety of firefighters and the public 

from fire and fire-related hazards. As 

such, equipment that has a direct effect 

on the health and safety of either 

firefighters or the public will receive a 

higher competitive rating than 

equipment that has no such effect. 

Equipment that promotes 

interoperability with neighboring 

jurisdictions (especially for 

communications equipment 

interoperable with a regional shared 

system) will receive additional 

consideration in the cost-benefit 

assessment if the application makes it 

into the competitive range. 

The criteria development panel 

concluded that this grant program will 

achieve the greatest benefits if the grant 

program provides funds to purchase 

firefighting equipment (including 

rescue, EMS, and/or CBRNE 

preparedness) that the applicant has not 

owned prior to the grant, or to replace 

used or obsolete equipment. 

According to the panel, a department 

takes on a ‘‘new mission’’ when it 

expands its services into areas not 

previously offered, such as a fire 

department seeking funding to provide 

emergency medical services for the first 

time. A ‘‘new risk’’ presents itself when 

a department must address risks that 

have materialized in the department’s 

area of responsibility, e.g., the 

construction of a plant that uses 

significant levels of certain chemicals 

could constitute a ‘‘new risk.’’ An 

organization taking on ‘‘new risks’’ 

should be afforded higher consideration 

than departments taking on a ‘‘new 

mission.’’ New missions receive a lower 

priority due to the potential that an 

applicant will not be able to financially 

support and sustain the new mission 

beyond the period of the grant. 

Departments responding to high call 

volumes will be afforded a higher 

competitive rating than departments 


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responding to lower call volumes. In 

other words, those departments that are 

required to respond more frequently 

will receive a higher competitive rating 

then those that respond less frequently. 

The purchase of equipment that 

brings the department into statutory or 

regulatory compliance will provide the 

highest benefit and therefore will 

receive the highest consideration. The 

purchase of equipment that brings a 

department into voluntary compliance 

with national standards will also receive 

a high competitive rating, but not as 

high as for the purchase of equipment 

that brings a department into statutory 

compliance. The purchase of equipment 

that does not affect statutory compliance 

or voluntary compliance with a national 

standard will receive a lower 

competitive rating. 

(iv) Personal Protective Equipment 

(PPE) Acquisition. The primary purpose 

of AFG is to protect the health and 

safety of the public and of firefighters. 

To achieve this goal and maximize the 

benefit to the firefighting community, 

the FY 2009 AFG will give higher 

priority to funding applicants needing 

to purchase PPE for the first time (i.e., 

for new firefighters) than departments 

replacing old and obsolete or 

substandard equipment (e.g., equipment 

not meeting current NFPA and 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration standards). In 

applications that request funding to 

replace equipment, the age and 

condition of the PPE that is to be 

replaced will be the primary 

consideration with the replacement of 

older or worn-out equipment receiving 

higher consideration than requests for 

replacement of newer equipment. 

For departments replacing equipment 

such as ‘‘turnout gear,’’ the condition of 

the equipment to be replaced will be 

factored into the score with a higher 

priority given to replacing equipment 

that is damaged, torn, or contaminated 

over equipment that is worn but usable. 

For departments replacing old or 

damaged equipment, departments with 

the oldest equipment will receive the 

highest priority, and departments with 

the newest equipment will receive a low 

priority. 

Finally, DHS takes into account the 

number of fire response calls that a 

department makes in a year with the 

higher priority going to departments 

with higher call volumes, while 

applications from departments with low 

call volumes are afforded lower 

competitive ratings. 

(v) Modifications to Fire Stations and 

Facilities. DHS believes that more 

benefit is derived from modifying fire 

stations than by modifying fire-training 

facilities or other fire-related facilities. 

The highest priority has been assigned 

to sprinkler systems, exhaust evacuation 

systems, and fire/smoke alarm systems. 

Lower priority has been assigned to 

generators, vehicle mounted exhaust 

filtration systems and air-quality 

systems. The frequency of use for any 

structure has a bearing on the benefits 

derived from grant funds. As such, DHS 

will afford facilities occupied 24-hoursper-day/7-days-a-week the highest 

consideration when contrasted with 

facilities used on a part-time or irregular 

basis. Fire stations with sleeping 

quarters will receive higher 

consideration than stations where there 

are no sleeping quarters for firefighters. 

Facilities open for broad usage and have 

a high occupancy capacity receive a 

higher competitive rating than facilities 

that have limited use and/or low 

occupancy capacity. The frequency and 

duration of a facility’s occupancy have 

a direct relationship to the benefits 

realized from funding in this activity. 

(2) Firefighting Vehicle Acquisition 

Program 

Due to the inherent differences 

between urban, suburban, and rural 

firefighting conventions, DHS has 

developed different priorities in the 

vehicle program for departments that 

service different types of communities. 

The following chart delineates the 

priorities in this program area for each 

type of community. Due to the 

competitive nature of this program and 

the imposed limits of funding available 

for this program, it is unlikely that DHS 

will fund many vehicles not listed as a 

Priority One during the 2009 program 

year. 

FIREFIGHTING VEHICLE PROGRAM PRIORITIES

Priority Urban communities Suburban communities Rural communities 

Priority One ........................................... Pumper ................................................ Pumper ................................................ Pumper 

Aerial ................................................... Aerial ................................................... Brush/Attack 

Quint (Aerial < 76′) .............................. Quint (Aerial > 76′) .............................. Tanker/Tender 

Quint (Aerial < 76′) .............................. Quint (Aerial > 76′) .............................. Quint (Aerial > 76′) 

Rescue ................................................

Priority Two ........................................... Command ............................................ Command ............................................ HAZMAT 

HAZMAT .............................................. HAZMAT .............................................. Rescue 

Light/Air ............................................... Rescue ................................................ Aerial 

Rehab .................................................. Tanker/Tender ..................................... (Aerial > 76′) 

Foam Truck ......................................... Brush/Attack ........................................

Foam Truck .........................................

Priority Three ........................................ ARFFV1 ............................................... ARFFV1 ............................................... ARFFV1

Brush/Attack ........................................ Rehab .................................................. Rehab 

Tanker/Tender ..................................... Light/Air ............................................... Command 

Ambulance ........................................... Ambulance ........................................... Ambulance 

Fire Boat .............................................. Fire Boat .............................................. Fire Boat 

Light/Air 

1Airport Rescue and Firefighting Vehicle. 

DHS will evaluate the marginal value 

derived from an additional vehicle of 

any given type on the basis of call 

volume. As a result, departments with 

fewer vehicles of a given type than other 

departments who service comparable 

call volumes are more likely to score 

competitively than departments with 

more vehicles of that type and 

comparable call volume unless the need 

for an additional vehicle of such type is 

made apparent in the application. 

Applicants from urban and suburban 

communities may submit requests for 

more than one vehicle. Applicants must 

supply sufficient justification for each 

vehicle contained in the request. For 

those applications with multiple 

vehicles, the panelists will be instructed 

to evaluate the marginal benefit to be 

derived from funding the additional 


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vehicle(s) given the potential use and 

the population protected. DHS 

anticipates that the panels will only 

recommend an award for a multiplevehicles application when the costbenefit justification is adequately 

compelling. 

DHS believes that a greater benefit 

will be derived from funding an 

additional vehicle(s) to departments that 

own fewer or no vehicles of the type 

requested. As such, DHS assigns a 

higher competitive rating in the 

apparatus category to fire departments 

that own fewer firefighting vehicles 

relative to other departments serving 

similar types of communities (i.e., 

urban, suburban, and rural). DHS 

assesses all vehicles with similar 

functions when assessing the number of 

vehicles a department possesses within 

a particular type. For example, the 

‘‘pumper’’ category includes: pumpers, 

engines, pumper/tankers (apparatus that 

carries a minimum of 300 gallons of 

water and has a pump with a capacity 

to pump a minimum of 750 gallons per 

minute), rescue-pumpers, quints (with 

aerials less than 76 feet in length), and 

urban interface vehicles (Type I). 

Apparatus that has water capacity in 

excess of 1,000 gallons and a pump with 

pumping capacity of less than 750 

gallons per minute are considered to be 

a tanker/tender. 

DHS assigns a higher competitive 

rating to departments possessing an 

aged fleet of firefighting vehicles. In 

evaluating the age of an applicant’s 

fleet, DHS will take into account the 

oldest vehicle in the class requested as 

well as the youngest vehicle in the class 

requested. DHS will also take into 

account the average age of the 

applicants’ fleet. In each of these 

instances, older vehicles will receive 

higher consideration. DHS will also 

assign a higher competitive rating to 

departments that respond to a high 

volume of incidents. 

DHS will give lower priority to 

funding departments seeking apparatus 

with the goal to expand into new 

mission areas unless the applicant 

demonstrates that they will be able to 

support and sustain the new mission or 

service area beyond the grant program. 

DHS will assign no competitive 

advantage to the purchase of standard 

model commercial vehicles relative to 

custom vehicles, or the purchase of used 

vehicles relative to new vehicles in the 

preliminary evaluation of applications. 

DHS has noted that, depending on the 

type and size of department, the peer 

review panelists often prefer low-cost 

vehicles when evaluating the costbenefit section of the project narratives. 

DHS also reserves the right to consider 

current vehicle costs within the fire 

service vehicle manufacturing industry 

when determining the level of funding 

that will be offered to the potential 

grantee, particularly if those current 

costs indicate that the applicant’s 

proposed purchase costs are excessive. 

DHS will allow departments serving 

urban or suburban communities to 

apply for more than one vehicle. DHS, 

however, will only allow departments 

serving rural communities to apply for 

one vehicle. DHS will limit applications 

from suburban or urban departments to 

one vehicle per station as well as per 

statutory funding limits. DHS will not 

limit 2009 applications because of a 

vehicle award from previous AFG 

program years. 

(3) Administrative Costs 

Panelists will assess the 

reasonableness of the administrative 

costs requested in any application and 

determine if the request is reasonable 

and in the best interest of the program. 

Nonaffiliated EMS Organization 

Priorities 

DHS may make grants for the purpose 

of enhancing the provision of 

emergency medical services by 

nonaffiliated EMS organizations. The 

authorizing statute limits funding for 

these organizations to no more than 2 

percent of the appropriated amount. 

DHS has determined that it is more costeffective to enhance or expand an 

existing emergency medical service 

organization by providing training and/ 

or equipment than to create a new 

service. Communities that do not 

currently offer emergency medical 

services but are turning to this grant 

program to initiate such a service 

received the lowest competitive rating. 

DHS does not believe creating a 

nonaffiliated EMS program is a 

substantial and sufficient benefit under 

the program. 

Specific rating criteria and priorities 

for each of the grant categories are 

provided below following the 

descriptions of this year’s eligible 

programs. The rating criteria, in 

conjunction with the program 

description, provide an understanding 

of the evaluation standards. In each 

activity, the amount of the population 

served by the applicant will be taken 

into consideration with higher 

populations afforded more 

consideration than low populations 

served. DHS will further explain 

program priorities in the Program 

Guidance upon publication thereof. 

(1) EMS Operations and Safety Program 

Five different activities may be 

funded under this program area: EMS 

training, EMS equipment, EMS personal 

protective equipment, wellness and 

fitness, and modifications to facilities. 

Requests for equipment and training to 

prepare for response to incidents 

involving CBRNE were available under 

the applicable equipment and training 

activities. 

(i) Training Activities. DHS believes 

that EMS training is a prerequisite to the 

effective use of EMS equipment, 

organizations whose requests are more 

focused on training activities will 

receive a higher competitive rating than 

organizations whose requests are more 

focused on equipment. A higher 

competitive rating will be given to 

nonaffiliated EMS organizations that are 

planning to upgrade services to 

Advanced Life Support (ALS) level of 

response. Specifically, organizations 

that are seeking to elevate their response 

level from EMT–B to EMT–I will receive 

the highest priority and organizations 

that are seeking to elevate their response 

level from EMT–I to EMT–P will receive 

a high priority. Our second priority is to 

elevate emergency responders’ 

capabilities from first-responder to a 

Basic Life Support (BLS) level of 

response (i.e. EMT–B). Due to the time 

and cost, upgrading an organization’s 

response level from EMT–B to EMT–P is 

a lower priority. Organizations seeking 

training in rescue or HAZMAT or rescue 

operations will receive lower 

consideration than organizations 

seeking training for medical services. 

Our lowest priority is to fund first 

responder training. Organizations that 

are seeking to train a high percentage of 

their active first responders will receive 

additional consideration when applying 

under the training activity. 

(ii) EMS Equipment Acquisition. As 

noted above, training received a higher 

competitive rating than equipment. DHS 

believes that equipment is of no use if 

the operator is not trained to use it. As 

such, applicants must demonstrate that 

users of equipment purchased with the 

grant either are or will be sufficiently 

trained to use the equipment. Inability 

to demonstrate and fulfill this training 

requirement will result in ineligibility 

for equipment funding. 

Organizations that request training to 

the ALS level of response, along with 

basic support equipment, will receive a 

higher priority. Requests seeking 

assistance to purchase equipment to 

support BLS level of response are a 

secondary priority. Organizations 

seeking equipment for rescue or 

HAZMAT operations will receive lower 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 74 / Monday, April 20, 2009 / Notices 17979 

consideration than organizations 

seeking equipment used to provide 

medical services. Our lowest priority is 

to fund first responder training. 

As discussed previously, 

organizations taking on ‘‘new risks’’ will 

be afforded much higher consideration 

than an organization taking on a ‘‘new 

mission.’’ 

(iii) EMS Personal Protective 

Equipment. DHS gives the same 

priorities for EMS PPE as it did for fire 

department PPE discussed above. 

Acquisition of Personal Alert Safety 

Systems or any firefighting PPE is not 

eligible, however, for funding for EMS 

organizations. 

(iv) Wellness and Fitness Activities. 

DHS believes that to have an effective 

wellness/fitness program, nonaffiliated 

EMS organizations must offer periodic 

health screenings, entry physical 

examinations, and an immunization 

program similar to the programs for fire 

departments discussed previously. 

Accordingly, applicants for grants in 

this category must currently offer or 

plan to offer with grant funds all three 

benefits (periodic health screenings, 

entry physical examinations, and an 

immunization program) to receive 

funding for any other initiatives in this 

activity. The priorities for EMS 

wellness/fitness programs are the same 

as for fire departments as discussed 

above. 

(v) Modification to EMS Stations and 

Facilities. DHS believes that the 

competitive rankings and priorities 

applied to modification of fire stations 

and facilities, discussed above, apply 

equally to EMS stations and facilities. 

(2) EMS Vehicle Acquisition Program 

DHS gives the highest funding 

priority to acquisition of ambulances 

and transport vehicles due to the 

inherent benefits to the community and 

EMS service provider. Due to the costs 

associated with obtaining and outfitting 

non-transport rescue vehicles relative to 

the benefits derived from such vehicles, 

DHS will give non-transport rescue 

vehicles a lower competitive rating than 

transport vehicles. DHS anticipates that 

the EMS vehicle awards will be very 

competitive due to very limited 

available funding. Accordingly, DHS 

will likely only fund vehicles that are 

listed as a ‘‘Priority One’’ in the 2009 

program year. 

The following chart delineates the 

priorities in this program area for EMS 

vehicle program. The priorities are the 

same regardless of the type of 

community served. 

EMS VEHICLE PROGRAM PRIORITIES

Priority one Priority two Priority three 

• Ambulance or transport unit to support EMS functions.• First responder non-transport vehicles ...................

• Special operations vehicles ....................................

• Command vehicles 

• Hovercraft 

• Other special access vehicles 

Along with the priorities illustrated 

above, DHS has accepted the fire service 

recommendation that emerged from the 

criteria development process that 

funding applicants that own few or no 

vehicles of the type sought will be more 

beneficial than funding applicants that 

own numerous vehicles of that same 

type. DHS assesses the number of 

vehicles an applicant owns by including 

all vehicles of the same type. For 

example, transport vehicles will be 

considered the same as ambulances. 

DHS will give a higher competitive 

rating to applicants that have an aged 

fleet of emergency vehicles, and to 

applicants with old, high-mileage 

vehicles. DHS will give a higher 

competitive rating to applicants that 

respond to a significant number of 

incidents relative to applicants 

responding less often. Finally, DHS will 

afford applicants with transport vehicles 

with high mileage more consideration 

than applicants with vehicles that are 

not driven extensively. 

(3) Administrative Costs 

Panelists assess the reasonableness of 

the administrative costs requested in 

each application and determined 

whether the request will be reasonable 

and in the best interest of the program. 

Dated: April 14, 2009. 

David Garratt, 

Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. E9–9024 Filed 4–17–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–64–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

[Docket No. USCG 2009–0257] 

National Maritime Security Advisory 

Committee; Meeting 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The National Maritime 

Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC), 

established as a discretionary committee 

in accordance with the provisions of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 

U.S.C. App. (Pub. L. 92–463), will meet 

in Washington, DC to discuss various 

issues relating to national maritime 

security. This meeting will be open to 

the public in the morning and will be 

closed to the public in the afternoon. 

DATES: The Committee will meet on 

Monday, May 4, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 4 

p.m. This meeting may close early if all 

business is finished. Written material 

and requests to make oral presentations 

should reach the Coast Guard on or 

before April 24, 2009. Requests to have 

a copy of your material distributed to 

each member of the committee should 

reach the Coast Guard on or before April 

15, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: The Committee will meet at 

Coast Guard Headquarters, Room 4202, 

2100 2nd Street SW., Washington, DC 

20593. A government-issued photo 

identification (for example, driver’s 

license) will be required for entrance to 

the building. Additionally, this meeting 

will be broadcast via a Web enabled 

interactive online format. Send written 

material and requests to make oral 

presentations to Mr. Ryan Owens, 

Deputy Designated Federal Officer 

(DFO) of the National Maritime Security 

Advisory Committee, 2100 2nd Street 

SW., Room 6228, Washington, DC 

20593. You may also e-mail material to 

ryan.f.owens@uscg.mil. This notice may 

be viewed in our online docket, USCG– 

2009–0257, at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Ryan Owens, Deputy DFO of NMSAC, 

telephone 202–372–1108 or 

ryan.f.owens@uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of 

this meeting is given under the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 

(Pub. L. 92–463). 


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