The Washington Update – May 22

FEMA Announces Beginning of AFG, SAFER, and FP&S Application Periods
This week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the application periods for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG); Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER); and Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grants. FEMA will be awarding:

• $291.6 million for the AFG program
• $324 million for the SAFER program
• $32.4 million for the FP&S program

The application period is May 19 to 5 PM (Eastern) on June 22. The Notices of Funding Opportunity, application checklists, and other related documents have been released:

• AFG
• SAFER
• FP&S

FEMA also is hosting webinars to help fire and EMS departments apply for the grants.

House Passes Comprehensive Housing Legislation with Single Stairway Language

On May 20, the House passed an amended version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644). This legislation includes direction for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to issue guidelines with model code language, best practices, and technical guidance to facilitate permitting of residential buildings not greater than six stories with single stairways.

The House passed H.R. 6644 on February 9 with language promoting residential buildings with single stairways. The single stairway language was removed when the Senate passed H.R. 6644 on March 12. The House now sent a revised version of H.R. 6644 back to the Senate, but – unfortunately – the House members restored the single stairway language back into the bill.

Please ask your Senators to yet again reject the House-passed single stairway language in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644)

House Appropriations Committee Announces Funding Levels for Transportation Grants

On May 20, the House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2027 bill for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee. The FY 27 bill would request the following funding levels:

The bill also would authorize the use of previously unused state hazmat training grant funds to fund the ALERT grant under the proposal from the House Appropriations Committee.

House Appropriations Committee Releases FY 2027 Wildland Fire Funding Levels

On May 21, the House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2027 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill. The legislation would appropriate:

• $1.164 billion for the U.S. Department of Interior’s U.S. Wildland Fire Service, of which $387.157 million would be for wildland fire suppression operations.
• $380 million for the wildland fire operations reserve fund.
• $2.628 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service for wildland fire management, of which $1.011 billion would be for wildland fire suppression operations.
• $2.57 billion for the wildland fire operations reserve fund.
• $283.5 million for the State, Private, and Tribal Forestry account.

The IAFC will report on the funding levels for the State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance programs when they are released.

FEMA Releases Toolkits to Help Communities Stay Safe During the FIFA World Cup 2026TM

On May 20, FEMA released two toolkits to help communities prepare for the FIFA World Cup 2026TM:

1. The FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stakeholder Toolkit is intended for local emergency managers, fire or police departments, city officials, and faith leaders. Community leaders of all types can use this toolkit to encourage people to stay safe by following these simple steps.
2. The FIFA World Cup 2026™ Safety Messaging Toolkit for Businesses is intended for private-sector companies across industries. This toolkit includes an overview on business continuity, crisis communications, emergency response, and information technology resources.

The IAFC recommends that its members review these toolkits to help prepare for this year’s tournament.