Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 117.djvu/1637

 117 STAT. 1618

Deadline.

VerDate 11-MAY-2000

10:15 Aug 27, 2004

PUBLIC LAW 108–136—NOV. 24, 2003

amount of funds appropriated pursuant to this section annually to a competitive grant program for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved with or trained in the operations of firefighting and emergency response. Eligible entities shall include volunteer or combination fire departments, and organizations on a local or statewide basis that represent the interests of volunteer firefighters. ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—(1) No grant may be made under this section unless an application has been submitted to, and approved by, the Administrator. ‘‘(2) An application for a grant under this section shall be submitted in such form, and contain such information, as the Administrator may prescribe. ‘‘(3) At a minimum, each application for a grant under this section shall— ‘‘(A) explain the applicant’s inability to address the need without Federal assistance; ‘‘(B) in the case of a grant under subsection (a)(1), explain how the applicant plans to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) and (F); ‘‘(C) specify long-term plans for retaining firefighters following the conclusion of Federal support provided under this section; and ‘‘(D) provide assurances that the applicant will, to the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire members of racial and ethnic minority groups and women in order to increase their ranks within firefighting. ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—(1) Funds made available under this section to fire departments for salaries and benefits to hire new, additional firefighters shall not be used to supplant State or local funds, or, in the case of Indian tribal governments, funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that would, in the absence of Federal funds received under this section, be made available from State or local sources, or in the case of Indian tribal governments, from funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. ‘‘(2) No grant shall be awarded pursuant to this section to a municipality or other recipient whose annual budget at the time of the application for fire-related programs and emergency response has been reduced below 80 percent of the average funding level in the 3 years prior to the date of enactment of this section. ‘‘(3) Funds appropriated by the Congress for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing firefighting functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the cost of programs or projects funded under this section. ‘‘(4)(A) Total funding provided under this section over 4 years for hiring a firefighter may not exceed $100,000. ‘‘(B) The $100,000 cap shall be adjusted annually for inflation beginning in fiscal year 2005. ‘‘(d) PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.—The Administrator may require a grant recipient to submit any information the Administrator considers reasonably necessary to evaluate the program. ‘‘(e) SUNSET AND REPORTS.—The authority under this section to make grants shall lapse at the conclusion of 10 years from the date of enactment of this section. Not later than 6 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall

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