WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Congressman David Wu led the Science Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation in passing legislation that will benefit firefighters in Oregon and across the country.

The Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009, H.R. 3791, renews programs that provide critical resources to fire departments across the country.  The bill includes the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program; it reauthorizes both programs for five years.

In 2008, Oregon received a total of $10.5 million from 73 grants through the AFG and SAFER programs.

“Since the AFG program was created in 2000, nearly $5 billion has gone directly to fire departments to purchase equipment, training, fire trucks, and other resources,” said Congressman Wu.  “The SAFER program has provided nearly $700 million to local fire departments in the past four years to ensure that they can respond as quickly as possible with enough firefighters to meet safety needs.  At a time when many cities and towns are facing major budget shortfalls and cuts in services, federal support to fire departments is crucial to public safety.”

To inform development of this legislation, Wu’s subcommittee held a hearing in July 2009 that explored the best way to reauthorize the fire grant programs.

During that hearing, Jeff Johnson, fire chief of Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, whose department has 500 members and protects more than 432,500 people in nine cities and portions of three counties in the Portland metropolitan region, explained how the current economic situation has affected fire departments.

“In light of the recent economic downturn, many fire departments across the country have seen their budgets cut,” Johnson said.  “To respond to these budget cuts, fire stations have been shut down, firefighters have been laid off, and training, equipment, and fire prevention budgets have been cut.”

Johnson went on to say that the funds provided by the FIRE Grant programs are essential to helping fire departments respond appropriately, even as budgets are cut, saying that the programs “play a vital role in making sure that local fire departments are prepared to respond to all-hazards and they have a proven record of effectiveness.”

Jack Carriger, chief of the Stayton Fire Department in northwest Oregon, also testified during the hearing.  He explained that a 2007 program assessment by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program was one of the most effective in the DHS.

“The Assessment found that AFG has been particularly successful at reducing on-scene firefighter injuries and reducing the percentage of grant dollars spent per firefighters trained,” Carriger said.

He continued, “AFG is particularly important to volunteer departments because it addresses the pressing needs that represent the largest proportion of their budgets—equipment, training, and apparatus expenditures.”

Carriger’s own department recently received three AFG grants that allowed them to replace 20-year-old breathing apparatus that was no longer compatible with neighboring departments; replace 15-year-old gear, including helmets, gloves, and boots, with new equipment that meets current national standards; and establish a firefighter rehabilitation unit to provide onsite care and treatment to firefighters and other emergency service personnel.

H.R. 3791 has been endorsed by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Arson Investigators, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.

The bill has the following provisions for the AFG program: 

• It provides an authorization of $1 billion per fiscal year from FY2010 to FY2014.
• It apportions the total AFG funding as follows: Sets aside 25 percent for career fire departments, 25 percent for combination departments, and 25 percent for volunteer fire departments.  It further provides that 10 percent of the funds shall be used for Fire Prevention and Safety Grants, 2 percent shall be used for volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue organizations, 3 percent may be used for state fire training academies, and the remaining 10 percent shall be left for open competition to all types of fire departments for the traditional AFG grants. 
• It sets reduces the matching requirements for applicants from jurisdictions of a population of 20,000 or more at 10 percent.  (Jurisdictions of less than 20,000 will continue to provide a 5 percent match.)
• It adds an economic hardship waiver for departments that are unable to reach the matching requirements or maintenance of budget requirements.  Also, sets the maintenance of budget requirement at 80 percent or above the applicant’s previous two fiscal year budgets.
  

The bill sets the following provisions for the SAFER program:

• It provides an authorization of $1.194 billion per fiscal year from FY2010 to FY2014.
• It sets the grant at three years (with the requirement that the department retain the hire for the entire three-year grant period). 
• It sets the matching requirements at 20 percent per year of the grant. 
• It includes an economic hardship waiver for departments that are unable to meet the matching requirements or maintenance of budget requirements.  It also provides waivers for requirements that departments use the fund to supplement, rather supplant, local funds, as well as the requirement that the funds be used to hire additional firefighters rather than retain existing personnel.  
  

For more information on today’s markup and the July 2009 hearing, including complete witness testimonies, please visit the Science Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation’s website.