Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response: The SAFER Grant Program

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. 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) funded SAFER and AFG at $337 million each. Additionally, SAFER and AFG were subject to sequestration. Both programs are part of FEMA’s State and Local Programs budget account, which was subject to a 5.0% cut. According to DHS, the post-sequester FY2013 budget level for SAFER and AFG was $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 provided that administrative costs are to be derived from the FEMA Salaries and Expense account.

The Administration’s FY2014 budget proposed $670 million for firefighter assistance, including $335 million for SAFER and $335 million for AFG. The FY2014 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2217), as passed by the House on June 6, 2013, provided $680 million for firefighter assistance, including $340 million for SAFER and $340 million for AFG. On July 18, 2013, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $675 million for firefighter assistance, including $337.5 million for SAFER and $337.5 million for AFG.

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: September 10, 2013
Number of Pages: 15
Order Number: RL33375
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Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of Fire Grant Funding

Lennard G. Kruger
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, also known as fire grants or the FIRE Act grant program, was established by Title XVII of the FY2001 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 106-398). Currently administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the program provides federal grants directly to local fire departments and unaffiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations to help address a variety of equipment, training, and other firefighter-related and EMS needs. A related program is the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters (SAFER) program, which provides grants for hiring, recruiting, and retaining firefighters.

The fire grant program is now in its 13th year. The Fire Act statute was reauthorized in 2012 (Title XVIII of P.L. 112-239) and provides new guidelines on how fire grant money should be distributed. There is no set geographical formula for the distribution of fire grants—fire departments throughout the nation apply, and award decisions are made by a peer panel based on the merits of the application and the needs of the community. However, the law does require that fire grants be distributed to a diverse mix of fire departments, with respect to type of department (paid, volunteer, or combination), geographic location, and type of community served (e.g., urban, suburban, or rural).

The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6) funds AFG and SAFER at $337 million each. Additionally, AFG and SAFER 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 AFG and SAFER is $320.92 million for AFG and $320.92 million for SAFER. However, the amount of grant money available for AFG and SAFER 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, rather than (as is typically the case) from a 5% carve-out from the firefighter assistance (AFG and SAFER) appropriations account.

The Administration’s FY2014 budget proposed $670 million for firefighter assistance, including $335 million for AFG and $335 million for SAFER. The FY2014 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 2217) as passed by the House on June 6, 2013, provides $680 million for firefighter assistance, including $340 million for AFG and $340 million for SAFER. On July 18, 2013, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $675 million for firefighter assistance, including $337.5 million for AFG and $337.5 million for SAFER.

The 113th Congress will likely consider FY2014 and FY2015 budget appropriations for AFG and SAFER. As is the case with many federal programs, concerns over the federal budget deficit could impact budget levels for AFG and SAFER. 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 facing. 

Date of Report: September 11, 2013
Number of Pages: 21
Order Number: RL32341
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Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2014

John F. Sargent Jr., Coordinator
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy

Congress has received President Obama’s budget request for FY2014, which includes $142.773 billion for research and development (R&D), a $1.861 billion (1.3%) increase from the FY2012 actual funding level of $140.912 billion. The request represents the President’s R&D priorities; Congress may opt to agree with part or all of the request, or may express different priorities through the appropriations process. In particular, Congress will play a central role in determining the extent to which the federal R&D investment can grow in the context of increased pressure on discretionary spending and how available funding will be prioritized and allocated. Low or negative growth in the overall R&D investment may require movement of resources across disciplines, programs, or agencies to address priorities.

Funding for R&D is highly concentrated in a few departments. Under President Obama’s FY2014 budget request, seven federal agencies would receive 95.3% of total federal R&D funding, with the Department of Defense (47.8%) and the Department of Health and Human Services (22.4%, primarily for the National Institutes of Health) accounting for more than 70% of all federal R&D funding.

Among the largest changes proposed in the President’s request, the R&D budget of the Department of Defense would fall by $4.625 billion (6.3%), while R&D funding for the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) would increase by $1.428 billion. The NIST growth is fueled by increases in funding for its core research laboratories and by the establishment of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation with $1 billion in mandatory funding. The NNMI seeks to promote the development of manufacturing technologies with broad applications.

President Obama has requested increases in the R&D budgets of NIST, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science that were targeted for doubling over 7 years, from their FY2006 levels, by the America COMPETES Act, and over 10 years by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. The FY2014 request breaks with President Obama’s earlier budgets, which explicitly stated the goal of doubling funding for these accounts over their FY2006 aggregate level. Instead the Office of Science and Technology Policy asserts that the FY2014 request “maintains the President’s commitment to increase funding for research at these three science agencies.” The President’s FY2014 request sets a pace that would result in doubling of the FY2006 level over a period of more than 17 years, much longer than authorized by either act.

The President’s FY2014 request continues support for three multi-agency R&D initiatives in FY2014, proposing $1.704 billion for the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a reduction of $159 million (8.6%) over FY2012, due primarily to reductions in NNI funding at DOD and NSF; $3.968 billion for the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, an increase of $159 million (4.2%) over FY2012; and $2.652 billion for the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), an increase of $151 million (6.0%) over FY2012.

In recent years, Congress has used a variety of mechanisms to complete the annual appropriations process after the start of the fiscal year. This may affect agencies’ execution of their R&D budgets, including delaying or canceling some planned R&D and equipment acquisition.


Date of Report: September 5, 2013
Number of Pages: 61
Order Number: R43086
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Issues for Congress

Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources

Rita Tehan
Information Research Specialist

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities challenge governments, businesses, and individuals worldwide. Attacks have been initiated by individuals, as well as countries. Targets have included government networks, military defenses, companies, or political organizations, depending upon whether the attacker was seeking military intelligence, conducting diplomatic or industrial espionage, or intimidating political activists. In addition, national borders mean little or nothing to cyberattackers, and attributing an attack to a specific location can be difficult, which also makes a response problematic.

Congress has been actively involved in cybersecurity issues, holding hearings every year since 2001. There is no shortage of data on this topic: government agencies, academic institutions, think tanks, security consultants, and trade associations have issued hundreds of reports, studies, analyses, and statistics.

This report provides links to selected authoritative resources related to cybersecurity issues. This report includes information on

• “Legislation”

• “Executive Orders and Presidential Directives”

• “Data and Statistics”

• “Cybersecurity Glossaries”

• “CRS Reports by Topic”

• Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports

• White House/Office of Management and Budget reports

• Military/DOD

• Cloud Computing

• Critical Infrastructure

• National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC)

• Cybercrime/Cyberwar

• International

• Education/Training/Workforce

• Research and Development (R&D)

• “Related Resources: Other Websites”


Date of Report: August 16, 2013
Number of Pages: 106
Order Number: R42507
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