Lennard G. Kruger
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy
In
response to concerns over the adequacy of firefighter staffing, the Staffing
for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Act, known as the SAFER Act, was
enacted by the 108th Congress as Section 1057 of
the FY2004 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 108-136). The SAFER Act authorizes
grants to career, volunteer, and combination local fire departments for the
purpose of increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet
industry-minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate
protection from fire and fire-related hazards. Also authorized are grants
to volunteer fire departments for recruitment and retention of volunteers. SAFER
is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS).
With the economic turndown adversely affecting budgets of local governments,
concerns arose that modifications to the SAFER statute may be necessary to
enable fire departments to more effectively and affordably participate in
the program. Since FY2009, annual appropriations bills have contained
provisions that waive certain provisions of the SAFER statute. These provisions included
the length of the grant, maintenance of expenditure requirements, local
matching requirements, and grant caps. The waivers served to reduce the
financial obligation on SAFER grant recipients, and allowed SAFER grants
to be used to rehire laid-off firefighters and to fill positions lost
through attrition.
The 112th Congress enacted the Fire Grants
Reauthorization Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-239), which reauthorized SAFER
through FY2017; altered the grant distribution formula among career, volunteer,
combination, and paid-on-call fire departments; raised available funding for
higher population areas; and addressed waiver issues previously addressed
in annual appropriations legislation.
The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6)
funds SAFER and AFG at $337 million each. Additionally, SAFER and AFG are
subject to sequestration. Both programs are part of FEMA’s State and Local
Programs budget account, which is subject to a 5.0% cut. According to DHS,
the post-sequester FY2013 budget level for SAFER and AFG is $320.92
million for AFG and $320.92 million for SAFER. However, the amount of grant
money available for SAFER and AFG is expected to be virtually unchanged
from FY2012, because appropriations language provides that administrative
costs are to be derived from the FEMA Salaries and Expense account.
The Administration’s FY2014 budget proposes $670 million for firefighter
assistance, including $335 million for SAFER and $335 million for AFG.
Funding for management and administration would be drawn from a separate
FEMA account (Salaries and Expenses).
The 113th Congress will likely consider
FY2014 and FY2015 budget appropriations for SAFER. As is the case with
many federal programs, concerns over the federal budget deficit could impact budget
levels. At the same time, firefighter assistance budgets will likely receive
heightened scrutiny from the fire community, given the local budgetary
cutbacks that many fire departments are now facing. The 113th Congress will also likely examine the impact of new SAFER hiring grant
guidelines mandated by P.L. 112-239, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of
2012. The continuing issue is how 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.
Date of Report: March 7, 2013
Number of Pages: 14
Order Number: RL33375
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