INSIGHTi

Firefighter Assistance Grants: Homeland
Security Issues in the 116th Congress
Updated March 4, 2019
Background
Structural firefighting—which typically refers to fighting fires in residential, commercial, and other types
of buildings—is primarily the responsibility of local governments. During the 1990s, shortfalls in state
and local budgets, coupled with increased responsibilities of local fire departments, led many in the fire
service community to call for additional financial support from the federal government.
In response, Congress established firefighter assistance grant programs within the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to provide additional support for local fire departments. In 2000, the 106th
Congress established the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which provides grants directly
to local fire departments and unaffiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations to help
address a variety of equipment, vehicle, training, and other firefighter-related and EMS needs. AFG also
supports fire prevention projects and firefighter health and safety research and development through the
Firefighter Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant program.
Subsequently, in 2003, the 108th Congress established the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response (SAFER) Program, which provides grants to fund firefighter hiring by career and combination
fire departments, and recruitment and retention by volunteer and combination fire departments.
Funding
Firefighter assistance grants are distributed nationwide to career, volunteer, combination, and paid-on-call
fire departments serving urban, suburban, and rural areas. There is no set geographical formula for the
distribution of AFG or SAFER grants. Award decisions are made by a peer panel based on the merits of
the application and the needs of the community. The majority of AFG funding goes to rural (mostly
volunteer) fire departments, while the majority of SAFER funding goes to urban (mostly career) fire
departments. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-6) appropriated $700 million for
firefighter assistance grants, consisting of $350 million for AFG and $350 million for SAFER, with funds
to remain available through September 30, 2020. Dating back to the programs’ establishment, Congress
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has appropriated a total of $8.325 billion to AFG (since FY2001), and $4.235 billion to SAFER (since
FY2005).
Reauthorization
On January 3, 2018, the President signed the United States Fire Administration, AFG, and SAFER
Program Reauthorization Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-98). P.L. 115-98 extended the AFG and SAFER
authorization through FY2023 at a level of $750 million for each program (plus additional annual
increases based on the Consumer Price Index); extended sunset provisions for AFG and SAFER through
September 30, 2024; provided that the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) may develop and make widely
available an online training course on AFG and SAFER grant administration; expanded SAFER hiring
grant eligibility to cover the conversion of part-time or paid-on-call firefighters to full-time firefighters;
directed FEMA, acting through the Administrator of USFA, to develop and implement a grant monitoring
and oversight framework to mitigate and minimize risks of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement
related to the AFG and SAFER grant programs; and made various technical corrections to the AFG and
SAFER statute.
Impact of Government Shutdown
Firefighter assistance grants were impacted by the partial government shutdown. For all three grant
programs (AFG, SAFER, and FP&S) the application and awards process was delayed. For the 2018
round, the application windows for AFG and FP&S closed in October and December, respectively, but the
processing of those applications could not move forward until the shutdown ended. The opening of the
2018 round application window for SAFER grants was also delayed, and subsequently opened on
February 15, 2019. For grants already awarded (in the 2017 and previous rounds), grant recipients were
unable to draw down funds during the shutdown, which may have disrupted the ability of the grantees to
continue grant-funded activities, including personnel costs covered by SAFER grants. This disruption
may continue after the government shutdown due to a backlog of payment requests that will need to be
processed once furloughed FEMA grant personnel return to work. For additional discussion on the impact
of delayed grant payments due to a government shutdown, see CRS In Focus IF11020, Introduction to the
U.S. Economy: Business Investment.
Issues
An issue for the 116th Congress is how equitably and effectively grants are being distributed and used to
protect the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards.
Another issue is annual appropriations for AFG and SAFER. As is the case with many federal programs,
concerns over the federal budget deficit could impact funding levels for AFG and SAFER. At the same
time, firefighter assistance budgets will likely receive heightened scrutiny from the fire service
community, given the local budgetary shortfalls that many fire departments may face.
Additionally, a continuing issue related to SAFER hiring grants has been whether SAFER
statutory restrictions should be waived to permit grantees to use SAFER funds for retention and
rehiring. Division F, Title III, Section 307 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 states
that FEMA “may” grant SAFER waiver authority. However, for the 2018 round of SAFER
awards, FEMA has chosen not to exercise that authority, and thus will not provide SAFER hiring
grants for retaining or rehiring firefighters. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-
6) (Division A, Title III, Section 307) also includes SAFER waiver authority for the FY2019
round of SAFER awards.

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Author Information

Lennard G. Kruger

Specialist in Science and Technology Policy




Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
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IN11022 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

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