Section 1570.10  Purpose of Grant Program

 

The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, Section 7(b)(3), 16USC 2106(b)(3), as amended,  authorized and directed the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial, technical and related assistance to State Foresters or equivalent State officials in cooperative efforts to organize, train and equip fire agencies in rural areas and communities under 10,000 population to prevent and suppress fires.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)

 

Section 1570.20  Eligibility

 

a)         An applicant must be a fire agency (fire department or fire protection district).

 

b)         Applicants must serve communities under 10,000 population or serve several small communities (each community being under 10,000 people).  A group of applicants, none of which serve communities over 10,000 population, are eligible to submit a joint application.

 

c)         The request for assistance must be for organizing, training and equipment. Special consideration in establishing priorities will be given to applicants asking for help for all three.

 

d)         The applicant share of the cost must be available at the time of application. This can be in the form of planned contributions in kind, such as volunteer labor, in some projects. The applicant share of the cost is 50% of the total amount of money requested from a Rural Community Fire Protection (RCFP) grant by a local fire agency. On the application for such a grant, the requesting fire agency states the total amount of money needed for their project, 50% of that amount and further states that their share (50% of the total amount requested) is available at the time of application.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)

 

Section 1570.30  General Procedures

 

a)         Rural applicants seeking assistance must file an application with the State Forester, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forest Resources, 600 North Grand Avenue West, P.O. Box 19225, Springfield, Illinois 62794-9225. Deadlines for the grant program will comply with the Federal Fiscal Year, October 1 - September 30. The deadline for submission of a grant application will be set by the Department and will vary from year to year because of notice to the Department from the United States Forest Service as to the funding of this grant program.

 

b)         The State Forester will evaluate each proposal to determine if it meets the basic criteria as stated under Section 1570.20 above. He will also evaluate each qualifying proposal to determine the priority of the proposed project. (See Section 1570.40 for further explanation of criteria used in determining priority.)

 

c)         Applicants with qualifying applications will then receive notification from the Department of Natural Resources of availability of cost-share funds within limits of the federal allocation to the State.

 

d)         Notification will be sent to proponents of applications which did not have high enough priority to be funded for the current year. The "year" begins, or corresponds, to the Federal Fiscal Year, October 1-September 30.

 

e)         Claim for reimbursement should be submitted to the State Forester by applicants with approved projects.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)

 

Section 1570.40  Selection Criteria

 

a)         Some of the priority-determining criteria are whether the program will:

 

1)         improve insurance classification;

 

2)         result in an organization formed under improved fire plans (the formation of fire districts or other legal entities will be encouraged);

 

3)         encourage applicant use of all aspects of the program (training, organizing and equipping);

 

4)         encourage applicant in the development of both structural and rural land fire prevention and suppression.

 

b)         Specific criteria are:

 

1)         degree of hazard;

 

2)         number of applicants involved;

 

3)         involvement with Farmers Home Administration (FmHA);

 

4)         aspects of program used (organization, training and equipment);

 

5)         effect on insurance rates;

 

6)         compatibility with state-wide rural protection plans;

 

7)         communication equipment;

 

8)         lack of tax base;

 

9)         written memorandum with Illinois Division of Forest Resources;

 

10)       definite training plans;

 

11)       protection of government land and facilities;

 

12)       protective clothing and equipment;

 

13)       modification of Federal Excess equipment;

 

14)       ground cover tools and equipment;

 

15)       catastrophic loss.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)

 

Section 1570.50  Key Provisions

 

a)         Financial assistance on any project during any fiscal year cannot exceed 50 percent of the actual expenditures or the maximum allowable cost share dollar amount, including expenditures of local public and private non-profit organizations participating in the agreement.

 

b)         This assistance is available to applicants serving communities under 10,000. However, a group of applicants (each serving communities with a population of under 10,000) will qualify for consideration if they meet all requirements under Section 1570.20 above. Each applicant may serve more than 10,000 in the entire protection area.

 

c)         Reimbursement for construction expenses and/or rescue equipment is not authorized.

 

d)         Applications for new fire trucks are not authorized.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)

 

Section 1570.60  Auditing Requirements

 

a)         Applicants will maintain a record of Project Accomplishments including the following:

 

1)         signed agreement with Department of Natural Resources;

 

2)         source documents such as paid invoices, signed time reports showing hours of volunteer work of "in-kind" contributions;

 

3)         source of fire agency funds and how funds were expended;

 

4)         copy of reimbursement of funds documents;

 

5)         accountability records showing current status of equipment over $1,000 in value purchased under agreement.

 

b)         Participating agencies must permit necessary auditing of the above records.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)

 

Section 1570.70  Program Information

 

Information on the Rural Community Fire Protection Program may be obtained by writing the State Forester, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forest Resources, 600 North Grand Avenue West, P.O. Box 19225, Springfield, Illinois 62794-9225.

 

(Source:  Amended at 18 Ill. Reg. 15733, effective October 18, 1994)