[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 44, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 44CFR152.5]

[Page 393-394]
 
              TITLE 44--EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE
 
 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 
                                SECURITY
 
PART 152--ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 152.5  Review process and evaluation criteria.

    (a) Every application will be evaluated based on the answers to the 
activity-specific questions during our initial screening. The 
applications that are determined to best address the Assistance to 
Firefighters Grant Program's established priorities during this initial 
screening will be in the ``competitive range'' and subject to a second 
level of review. We will use the narratives/supplemental information 
provided by the applicants in their grant applications to evaluate, on a 
competitive basis, the merits and benefits of each request for funding. 
In selecting applications for award, we will evaluate each application 
for assistance independently based on established eligibility criteria 
and the program priorities. Eligible applicants that best address the 
priorities will advance to a second level of review. The second level of 
review involves an assessment of the financial needs of the applicant, 
and an analysis of the benefits that would result from the grant award.
    (b) In order to be successful at this second level of the 
evaluation, an applicant must complete the narrative section of the 
application package. The narrative should include a detailed description 
of the planned program, uses for the grant funds including details of 
each budget line item. For example, if personnel costs are included in 
the budget, please provide a break down of what those costs are for. The 
narrative should explain why the grant funds are needed and why the 
department has not been able to obtain funding for the planned 
activities on its own. A discussion of financial need should include a 
discussion of any Federal funding received for similar activities. 
Finally, the applicant's narrative should detail the benefits the 
department or community will realize as a result of the grant award.
    (c) This second level of review will be conducted using a panel of 
technical evaluation panelists. These panelists are largely made up of 
non-Federal experts with a fire service background. The panelists will 
assess the application's merits with respect to the clarity and detail 
provided in the narrative

[[Page 394]]

about the project, the applicant's financial need, and the project's 
purported benefit to be derived from the cost. Technical evaluation 
panelists will independently score each application before them and then 
discuss the merits/shortcomings of the application in an effort to 
reconcile any major discrepancies. A consensus on the score is not 
required. The highest scoring applications resulting from this second 
level of review will then be considered for award. We seek to maximize 
the benefits derived from the funding by crediting applicants with the 
greatest financial need and whose proposed activities provide the 
greatest benefit versus the cost.
    (d) In addition to the project narrative, the applicant must provide 
an itemized budget detailing the use of the grant funds. If an applicant 
is seeking funds in more than one eligible activity within a program, 
separate budgets will have to be generated for each activity and then an 
overall or summary budget will have to be generated. For those 
applicants applying on line, the summary budget will be automatically 
generated by the e-grants system.
    (e) Specific rating criteria for each of the eligible programs will 
be published in a Notice of Funding Availability that we will publish 
pursuant to the program's annual appropriation.