[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: 44CFR152.6]

[Page 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. 152.6  Application review and award process.

    (a) As stated in Sec.152.5, we will evaluate each application in the 
preliminary screening process to determine which applications best 
address the program's established priorities. The best applications as 
determined in this preliminary step will be deemed to be in the 
``competitive range.'' All applications in the competitive range will 
advance to a second level review by a technical evaluation panel. Using 
the evaluation criteria detailed in the Program Guidance and in the NOFA 
(both of which are published pursuant to this program's annual 
appropriation), the panelists will score each application they evaluate. 
The assigned score will reflect the degree to which the applicant: 
clearly relates their proposed project; demonstrates financial need; 
and, details a high benefit to cost value of the proposed activities. We 
will provide the panelists the complete application content for their 
evaluation. We will also provide them with reference materials for 
national standards or regulations and guidelines with respect to typical 
costs for proposed apparatus and equipment purchases.
    (b) Our award decisions will be based on the stated priorities of 
the grant program first, then on the demonstrated need of the applicant 
and the benefits to be derived from the proposed projects. We will make 
awards on a competitive basis, i.e., we will fund the highest scored 
applications before considering lower scored applications.
    (c) In a few cases, to fulfill our obligations under the law to make 
grants to a variety of departments, we may also make funding decisions 
using rank order as the preliminary basis, and then analyze the type of 
fire department (paid, volunteer, or combination fire departments), the 
size and character of the community it serves (urban, suburban, or 
rural), and/or the geographic location of the fire department. In these 
instances where we are making decisions based on geographic location, we 
will use States as the basic geographic unit. We may also base our 
funding decisions on previous grant awards funded by this program and/or 
grantees' performance on previous grants and a technical evaluation of 
reasonable costs for labor, services, materials or equipment.