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Never Forget 343
Gave It All On
9-11-2001
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REGIONAL APPLICATIONS
A regional project
is one in which multiple organizations serving more than one local
jurisdiction benefit directly
from the activities implemented with the grant funds.
Connectivity is a key
characteristic of a project that affects interoperability. Standardization
does NOT necessarily equate to interoperability. Regional projects are based on the total
population of all of the partners involved in the regional project.
WINNING NARRATIVES and FAQ - BELOW
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What you need to do to
prepare
The first and most obvious step is to get approval from your governing
authority to be the host or a partner in this regional project.
If you are the host you will have to sell this concept to all of the
potential
partners so you need some facts and data. In the case of a
communications application, the items below need to be considered.
- What is the State Radio Boards plan and time lines for your
county so your plan meshes correctly?
- How many and what type of radios (mobiles, portables,
repeaters, base stations, accessories) does your project require for
each community?
- How much will this cost EACH community in match dollars?
- Are the radios on the Statewide Approved Subscriber
Equipment list?
- Are the radios you are looking for listed under Minnesota
Contract?
- Who’s gonna maintain the equipment?
- When a radio falls off a truck on the way to an incident,
who replaces the radio?
- How does the host believe the equipment will be disposed of?
Be prepared
to fully explain how the proposed project will enhance the
department’s operations, and predict any potentially negative impact to
the department’s operations if a potential partner chooses not to go
along with the project.
Your
budget should include all costs associated with the project’s
implementation: equipment, accessories, additional training if
required, etc.
Contact your prospective partners to get their buy in to the project
and pass a resolution that binds them to the match dollars and the
project
NEW FOR 2009
- •Eligible
applicants may act as a host for a regional application.
- Regional
projects are designed to facilitate
interoperability and efficiency among participants.
- Standardization
does NOT necessarily equate to
interoperability.
-
The following activities are
eligible for Regional Grant Applications:
-
SCBA is not an eligible project under a
regional application! As stated earlier,
standardization is not considered to be a viable regional activity.
-
Any regional
communications plan must comply with your Statewide Communications
Interoperability Plan (SCIP) and the SCIP must have been approved by
DHS.
-
All States’
SCIPs have been approved. Any funding for
communications must comply with the approved plan
-
Statewide Radio Board
Scott Wiggins, Director
Division of Emergency Communication Networks
(ARMER/9-1-1 Programs)
444 Cedar Street, Suite 137
St. Paul, MN 55101
Office: 651-201-7546
Cell: 651-983-9306
- The
State radio Board has a system standard that all radios operated on the
800 trunked system have to be tested and approved before we allow them
on the system. This was required since the trunked radios actually send
messages back and forth to the system controllers and interface with
the
system in order to operate on the trunked system. Therefore only 800
MHz radios have been tested and listed on the Statewide Approved
subscriber list.
- A
regional project
is one in which multiple organizations serving more than one local
jurisdiction benefit directly
from the activities implemented with the grant funds.
Connectivity is a key characteristic of a project that
affects interoperability.
- Regional projects
are based on the total pop of the region.
FAQ
Additional FAQ on the AFG
Website
QUESTION: What is the
definition of interoperability?
ANSWER:
Interoperability is described as fire department technology, equipment,
programs, and/or procedures that give the department the capability of
operating with a variety of other departments and/or communities within
a region, and/or with Federal and State agencies.
QUESTION: Can a
Regional FD hosted application for radios include a hospital based
ambulance service as a recipient of radios or a law enforcement agency?
ANSWER: We’ve allowed
non-eligible
entities to be a “by-product” beneficiary of communications projects,
i.e., for a dispatch system, the sheriff’s department or the local cops
can also be dispatched from the AFG purchased equipment. But we have
not allowed
not-eligible applicants to be a direct beneficiary, i.e., to
have and to hold an AFG purchased radio.
QUESTION: Are
organizations or agencies normally considered ineligible
for an AFG grant, eligible to be included as a beneficiary of a
regional application?
ANSWER: Yes. Law
enforcement, public
works, or the local emergency management offices could be beneficiaries
of Assistance to Firefighters grants. For example, local law
enforcement could be users of a new dispatch system funded by the grant
program or the emergency management staff could be issued radios by the
grantee in order to foster interoperability.
QUESTION: A fire department
wants to apply for a regional radio project. The county decides they
will help pay for the required match. The FD figures they do
not need to contact each individual city within the county for
agreements because the county pays the match. Can we or should we do
this?
ANSWER:
The
match is only one piece of the “agreement” between the host and the
participants. Who’s gonna maintain the equipment? When a
radio falls off a truck on the way to an incident, who replaces the
radio? How does the host believe the equipment will be disposed
of? They should have an
agreement with each participants.
QUESTION: Can a county GIVE dollars
to a city so they have the match dollars for the cities portion of the
project?
ANSWER: We don’t care where the cash
comes from as long as the funds are not from the Federal Gov. via
another grant or Federal source. Example: if the city gave the FD $$
for a match and the city was supposed to use the money to build a
Federally funded library, then the city is in trouble, not the FD. The
FD has no knowledge of the source of funds.
QUESTION:
Regional applications
this year in the equipment category, only communications equipment will
be allowed. Is this correct?
ANSWER:
Any equipment that is interoperable and/or where interoperability is
enhanced with the use of the equipment is eligible. Generally,
communications equipment is the epitome of interoperability, thus it is
the overwhelming request under a regional request. I’ve seen
applicants request LDH under a regional and we may have even awarded
one or two, but it is a much harder sell.
QUESTION:
Regional
training this year what will be allowed as far as types of training?
ANSWER:
Any basic FF training would be considered under a regional
request. Case must be made, as always.
Regional
Projects
For the purposes of this program, applications for regional projects
will not be included in the host applicant’s funding limitations
detailed above. Regional applications will be considered independent
of, and unrelated to, any other applications that the host applicant
may submit and thus will not be included when assessing the host
applicant’s Federal funding limits. Regional applications, however,
will be subject to their own limitation based on the total population
that the regional project will serve. For example, a regional project
that serves a population of fewer than 500,000 people will be limited
to $1,000,000.
Regional projects’ cost-share will be based on the total population and
demographics of the entire region – not the population of the host
applicant. All non-Federal match funds must be in cash; in-kind
contributions are not acceptable. No waivers of this requirement will
be granted except for applicants located in Insular Areas as provided
for in 48 U.S.C. § 1469a (which limits the waiver to grants under
$200,000).
In FY 2009, you may submit one application per application period in
each of the program areas, (i.e., one application under Operations and
Safety, one under Vehicle Acquisition, and/or a separate application as
a regional host).
3.
Regional Projects
Any
eligible applicant, whether a fire department or a nonaffiliated EMS organization, may act
as a “host applicant” and apply for large-scale or regional projects on behalf of
itself and any number of organizations in neighboring jurisdictions. A
regional project is one in which multiple organizations serving more than one local
jurisdiction benefit directly from the activities implemented with the grant funds. A county
fire department applying for a countywide communications system is NOT a
regional project because it does not benefit multiple
“seats-ofgovernment.”
Regional projects are designed to facilitate interoperability and efficiency among the
participating jurisdictions. As such, the only activities available for
application under a regional project are training and equipment acquisition (such as
communications equipment) that positively affect interoperability
between jurisdictions. Purchase of turnouts, SCBA, wellness and fitness, modification
to facilities, and vehicle acquisition activities are not eligible as
regional
projects.
Regional projects require one eligible applicant to act as the “host”
for the project. Regional applications
may only include activities that are meant to address the identified regional
risk. Regional applications cannot include the purchase of resources or any
activities meant solely for the host applicant. As in last year’s program, host
applicants in FY 2009 may apply for funding to address their own needs beyond the
scope of the regional project in a separate application(s). The “host” will be
responsible for fulfilling all grant requirements such as reporting to NFIRS, control of and
accounting for the funds, and distribution and control of the
property.
Additionally, the host is responsible for assuring that the cost share
is met.
The cost share for regional projects is based on the total population
and demographics
of the entire region.
DHS has the discretion to waive the legislatively established funding
limits under AFG. In order to
encourage interest and participation in this critical strategy to address
interoperability, DHS may exercise that discretion if the funding of a regional application
is at risk of exceeding statutory funding caps, (i.e., the funding of the regional
request combined with other AFG awards would cause the host applicant to exceed
the legislatively established funding limits).
In general, equipment purchased as a result of a regional project will
be physically distributed to all
the departments that are beneficiaries of the project. This physical distribution of the
equipment to other first responder organizations is the single characteristic that
distinguishes eligible regional projects from projects that are not regional in nature
but may have an impact on a region via mutual aid. For example, a project
that would not be considered to have an affect on interoperability (and
thus would not be considered a regional project) would be an
application
for an air compressor or a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) response vehicle. In this
example, the assets would be shared with neighboring departments under
mutual or automatic aid agreements, but physically located in the awardee’s
department and not disseminated among the participants; as such, this project would
not qualify as a regional project.
Examples
of viable regional projects would be a multi-jurisdictional communications system
or standardization of training. As stated above, regional projects should be
designed to address issues of communications or equipment interoperability
among multiple jurisdictions.
In
order to apply for a regional project, the host organization must:
1) be an eligible
applicant, (i.e., either a fire department or a nonaffiliated EMS organization – a
county, county association, city, or an emergency management
organization is not eligible and could not apply for a regional project), and
2) agree, if awarded, to be responsible for all aspects of the grant
including, but
not
limited to, accountability for the assets and all reporting
requirements.
In the regional application, the host organization will be required to
describe the characteristics of
the entire region that will be affected by the project (i.e., the population of the
affected region, not the applicant’s “first-due” population). The applicant must
provide detailed information in the project narrative describing the nature of the project
including the project’s budget, the effect the project will have on the
region, and the need for the project. This includes a detailed
description of the following:
- The
proposed project and the project budget.
- The
financial need for the project.
- The
benefits that would result.
- The
extent to which the grant would enhance daily operations.
- How
the grant will positively impact the regional ability to protect life
and property.
In addition, the
applicant must include a list of all the participating organizations that will benefit
from the regional project, if the project is approved. Fire departments or
nonaffiliated EMS organizations that will benefit from a regional project may also
apply for funding under AFG, as long as they are not requesting the same items as the
host applicant for the regional project. For example, if a host applicant
applies for a multi-jurisdictional communications project, a
participating
organization that will receive some of the communications equipment can apply for other
needs as long as it does not apply for duplicative communications
equipment.
Host applicants MAY NOT apply
for items to address other needs beyond
the regional project on the regional application; but, as indicated above, a
host applicant may submit a request to meet its own, non-regional needs in a
separate application.
When
evaluating the benefits of any regional project, we will take into
account the other partners that
will be involved in the project, whether they are other fire departments,
nonaffiliated EMS organizations, or other public service organizations. We
will also take into consideration the extent to which the non-fire/EMS partners
will contribute to the overall costs of the regional project.
B.
Grantee Responsibilities
(2) Share
in the costs of the projects funded under this grant program. Fire
departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving populations of
over 50,000 or more must match the Federal grant funds with an amount
of non-Federal funds equal to 20 percent of the total project cost.
Fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving
populations between 20,000 and 50,000 must agree to match the Federal
grant funds with an amount of
non-Federal funds equal to 10 percent of the total project cost. Fire
departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations serving areas with a
population of 20,000 or fewer must match the Federal grant funds with
an amount of non-Federal funds equal to 5 percent of the total project
cost. Regional project cost-share will be based on the total population
and demographics of the entire region. All non-Federal match funds must
be in cash; in-kind contributions are not acceptable. No waivers of
this requirement will be granted except for applicants located in
Insular Areas as provided for in 48 U.S.C. § 1469a.
OMB
Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and
Non-Profit Organizations (06/24/1997) (includes revisions published in
Federal Register 06/27/2003) HTML or
PDF (33 pages, 127 kb)
-- March 2008
Compliance Supplement
-- March 2007
Compliance Supplement
-- March 2006
Compliance Supplement
-- Appendix
A: Data Collection Form (Form SF-SAC)
REGIONAL WINNING NARRATIVES
- Narrative
- 2008 - Regional Radio
Project, $404,706.00 for a regional interoperable
- radio
project 6 departments 6
base radios,
- 34
single head mobile radios, 10 dual mobile
radios, 64
handheld portables, 155 Motorola Minitor V Pager, 12 Accessories
Headset, Dual Ear Muff, Behind Head, with PTT,Training
- Narrative
-
2007 - Regional Radio
Project: 190
Portable (Handheld) Radios,
- 87
Mobile Radios, 12 Base Units, Installation/Accessory Fees, Training,
Total $1,011,595
- Narrative - 2006
- Regional Training Project
FF1, FF2, NIMS Incident Command System

wrjorgenGWDT
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