On January 9, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) opened the 2022 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Application. While this is a welcome development, the announcement creates potential conflicts because there are literally hundreds of 2021 grant awards that have not been announced. The AFG program has never experienced this type of situation and it is causing confusion among departments that have not heard anything about their 2021 application.
What brought about this situation? For 2021, FEMA had an extra $90 million in funding—compliments of the American Rescue Plan—attached to the AFG program. The regular awards comprising $332 million were completed in a timely fashion before October 1. The extra $90 million was not subject to the same deadline, so FEMA has continued to sporadically announce awards. As of publication, FEMA still has approximately $85 million in awards to announce for 2021 AFG. Read More...