Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) is sponsored by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The SAFER program provides funding to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to increase the number of trained, frontline firefighters. Recipients can use this money to pay salaries for firefighters and recruit more people.

Note: This Assistance Listing was not updated by the issuing agency in 2026. Please contact the issuing agency listed under "Contact Information" for more information. HOMELAND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF Hiring new firefighters, retaining firefighters that are at risk of imminent lay-off, and activities related to the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - CU Fire Protection Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-498, as amended (15 U.S.C § 2229a); and Section 4013 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub.

L. No. 117-2 _These funding amounts do not reflect the award amounts that are displayed on USASpending. gov_ _***** The totals shown do not include any amounts that are unidentifiable or unavailable_ **This listing is NOT funded for the current fiscal year.

** Award amounts for the SAFER program vary based on approved project costs, item eligibility, and applicable funding caps. There is no minimum nor maximum funding request. The average previous Hiring Activity awards was $3,253,266 and the lowest award amount was $293,000 while the highest was over $27 million.

The average R&R Activity award was $308,960 and the lowest award amount was $5200 while the largest was over $2. 8 million. Applicant must certify that they are an eligible applicant, i.e., a fire department, as described in program guidance documents.

Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity document for specific information. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.

Local (includes State-designated lndian Tribes, excludes institutions of higher education and hospitals, Other public institution/organization, Specialized group (e.g. health professionals, students, veterans) This program is restricted to the jurisdictions/organizations described in program guidance documents.

In summary, for the purpose of this program, "State" is defined as the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Alaska Village Initiative, a nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Alaska, shall also be considered eligible for purposes of receiving assistance under this program on behalf of Alaska Native villages.

A "fire department" is defined as an agency or organization that has a formally recognized arrangement with a State, territory, local, or tribal authority (city, county, parish, fire district, township, town, or other governing body) to provide fire suppression on a first-due basis to a population within a fixed geographical area.

Fire departments may be comprised of members who are all volunteer, combination volunteer/career, or all career. Industrialist/ Business person, Local or tribal communities serviced by the fire department including, local businesses, homeowners and property owners. The hiring grants have a three-year performance period.

The recruitment and retention grants are made in one-year increments up to a possible four-year period of performance. Please refer to the SAFER Notice of Funding Opportunity for specific details: FY 22 Staffing For Adequate Fire And Emergency Response (SAFER) NOFO. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Civil Defense/Disaster Prevention and Relief/Emergency Preparedness Not all fire departments will be eligible to apply.

Training, equipment, overtime, and administrative expenses are not eligible under the Hiring of Firefighters Grant activity. Individuals seeking personal assistance are not eligible. This program is intended to assist fire departments and recognized organizations as identified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity, and only those fire departments and organizations as specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity are eligible.

Funds may be used to recruit and hire firefighters, but cannot be used to retain or supplant (replace) the applicants’ funds budgeted for that purpose. Recipients must maintain pre-existing staffing levels and retain grant funded personnel throughout the period of performance. This program is restricted to the jurisdictions/organizations described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

For specific information, refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity. In summary, for the purpose of this program, "State" is defined as the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Alaska Village Initiative, a nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Alaska, shall also be considered eligible for purposes of receiving assistance under this program on behalf of Alaska Native villages.

A "fire department" is defined as an agency or organization that has a formally recognized arrangement with a State, territory, local, or tribal authority (city, county, parish, fire district, township, town, or other governing body) to provide fire suppression on a first-due basis to a population within a fixed geographical area.

Fire departments may be comprised of members who are all volunteer, combination volunteer/career, or all career. All costs charged to awards covered by this NOFO must comply with the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements at 2 C. F.

R. Part 200, unless otherwise indicated in the NOFO or the terms and conditions of the award. This includes, among other requirements, that costs must be incurred, and products and services must be delivered, within the period of performance of the award.

See 2 C. F. R.

§ 200. 403(h) (referring to budget periods, which for FEMA awards under this program is the same as the period of performance). In general, the Cost Principles establish standards for the allowability of costs, provide detailed guidance on the cost accounting treatment of costs as direct or administrative costs, and set forth allowability principles for selected items of cost.

More specifically, except as otherwise stated in this NOFO, the terms and condition of an award, or other program materials, costs charged to awards covered by this NOFO must be consistent with the Cost Principles for Federal Awards located at 2 C. F. R.

Part 200, Subpart E. In order to be allowable, all costs charged to a FEMA award or applied to the cost share must be reasonable in nature and amount and allocable to the particular FEMA award. Additionally, all costs charged to awards must comply with the grant program’s applicable statutes, policies, requirements in this NOFO as well as with the terms and conditions of the award.

If FEMA staff identify costs that are inconsistent with any of these requirements, these costs may be disallowed, and FEMA may recover funds as appropriate, consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and policies. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Preapplication coordination is required. Environmental impact information is not required for this program.

This program is eligible for coverage under E. O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs."

An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. Preapplication coordination is required. Environmental impact information is not required for this program.

This program is eligible for coverage under E. O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs."

An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program.

2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. The NOFO for this listing will be posted on Grants. gov. SAFER application materials are available through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program’s FEMA GO (FEMA Grants Outcomes) application portal, at https://go.

fema. gov. All applicants for this award must: 1. Be registered and active in System for Award Management (SAM) in order to apply; 2.

Provide a valid Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number in its application; and 3. Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by DHS FEMA. Refer to the NOFO for information on criteria for selecting proposals.

Applications or plans are peer reviewed and subsequently also reviewed by DHS program and administrative staff. Any issues or concerns noted in the application might be addressed with the successful applicant prior to the award being issued. Applicants that receive an adverse decision or denial, can request reconsideration of the decision.

Request for reconsideration must be submitted in writing, to the address contained on the program's website within 30 days of the notification of denial by the administering program office.

The following 2CFR policy requirements apply to this assistance listing: Subpart B, General provisions Subpart C, Pre-Federal Award Requirements and Contents of Federal Awards Subpart D, Post Federal; Award Requirements Subpart E, Cost Principles Subpart F, Audit Requirements The following 2CFR policy requirements are excluded from coverage under this assistance listing: Additional Information: The following 2CFR policy requirements apply to this assistance listing: Subpart A, Acronyms and Definitions Subpart B, General provisions Subpart C, Pre-Federal Award Requirements and Contents of Federal Awards Subpart D, Post Federal; Award Requirements Subpart E, Cost Principles Subpart F, Audit Requirements **Program Reports:**Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity document.

**Cash Reports:**Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity document. **Progress Reports:**Quarterly progress reports. **Expenditure Reports:**Quarterly Financial Status Reports.

**Performance Reports:**Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity document Additional audit requirements: In accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR 200, Subpart F - Audit Requirements, nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $750,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year.

Non-Federal entities that expend less than $750,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in 2 CFR 200. 503 For fiscal years beginning on or after December 26, 2014, recipients that expend $750,000.

00 or more from all federal funding sources during their fiscal year are required to submit an organization-wide financial and compliance audit report, also known as a “single audit” report. The audit must be performed in accordance with the requirements of Government and Accountability Office’s (GAO) Government Auditing Standards, located at https://www. gao.

gov/yellowbook/overview, and the requirements of Subpart F of 2 C. F. R.

Part 200, located at http://www. ecfr. gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?

node=sp2. 1. 200.

f. , Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-federal entity records pertinent to a federal award generally must be maintained for at least three years from the date the final Federal Financial Report (FFR) is submitted. See 2 C.

F. R. § 200.

334. Further, if the recipient does not submit a final FFR and the award is administratively closed, FEMA uses the date of administrative closeout as the start of the general record retention period. The record retention period may be longer than three years or have a different start date in certain cases.

These include: • Records for real property and equipment acquired with federal funds must be retained for three years after final disposition of the property. See 2 C. F.

R. § 200. 334(c).

• If any litigation, claim, or audit is started before the expiration of the three-year period, the records must be retained until all litigation, claims, or audit findings involving the records have been resolved and final action taken. See 2 C. F.

R. § 200. 334(a).

• The record retention period will be extended if the recipient is notified in writing of the extension by FEMA, the cognizant or oversight agency for audit, or the cognizant agency for indirect costs. See 2 C. F.

R. § 200. 334(b).

• Where FEMA requires recipients to report program income after the period of performance ends, the program income record retention period begins at the end of the recipient’s fiscal year in which program income is earned. See 2 C. F.

R. § 200. 334(e).

• For indirect cost rate proposals, cost allocation plans, or other rate computations records, the start of the record retention period depends on whether the indirect cost rate documents were submitted for negotiation. If the indirect cost rate documents were submitted for negotiation, the record retention period begins from the date those documents were submitted for negotiation.

If indirect cost rate documents were not submitted for negotiation, the record retention period begins at the end of the recipient’s fiscal year or other accounting period covered by that indirect cost rate. See 2 C. F.

R. § 200. 334(f).

Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, Public Law 93-498, 15 U.S.C. § 2229a Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, Public Law 93-498, 15 U.S.C. § 2229a Statutory Formula: Title Chapter Part Subpart Public Law See applicable NOFO for more information.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Additional Information: See applicable NOFO for more information.

Domestic Assistance Program that uses Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA): See Regional Assistance Locations. See Regional Assistance Locations. SAFER grants are directed from the FEMA Headquarters Office.

There are 10 regional offices in FEMA who provide monitoring and oversight of FEMA recipients.

Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency 500 C Street, SW Washington, DC 20742, Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)