FIRE COMPANIES

Pursuant to the Agriculture Appropriations Act, Section 7(b)3 of P.L. 95-313 (Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978), the Department of Environmental Conservation hereby gives notice of the following:

The Department of Environmental Conservation will administer the Volunteer Fire Assistance matching grant to assist rural fire companies in the purchase of fire suppression equipment. Applications will be accepted through June 15, 2011.

It is expected that $350,000 in federal funding will be available to award fire companies matching grants for the purchase of wildland fire suppression equipment and wildland fire suppression safety equipment. Grants are based on federal guidelines and are for use in fire districts serving a rural area or a rural community with a population of 10,000 or less.

Applications are scored on population, the I.S.O Fire Prevention Insurance rating, the date of the last VFA grant received and the presence of Native American communities in the district.

Applications are available on-line at http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/2364.html. For further information, contact: Lynne Korona, Division of Forest Protection, 625 Broadway, 8th Fl., Albany, NY 12233-2560, (518) 402-8839

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations eligible to apply for funds under this initiative must be nonprofit organizations such as school districts, Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), community colleges and community based organizations that can satisfy the local funding requirement. Since local departments of social services (LDSS) already have access to FSET funds, they are not eligible applicants. Applicant organizations will be asked to secure LDSS support of their proposal, and if selected, be required to work with the LDSS to coordinate services provided to eligible food stamp recipients.

The purpose of the Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET) Venture II Request for Proposals (RFP) is to secure the services of eligible organizations that can assist OTDA in addressing the employment and training needs of food stamp work registrants, including those in receipt of Safety Net Assistance, or individuals who are exempt from food stamp work requirements but volunteer to participate. Food Stamp recipients who receive TANF funded public assistance benefits are not eligible to participate. This initiative will combine eligible private funding sources with 50% federal FSET funds to expand work focused education and training services to low income households receiving food stamps in New York State.

A total of $8,000,000 in federal FSET funds is available to support selected programs for a 12-month period beginning October 1, 2011, and will request this same amount to be available in each of the following four years covered by the procurement. Funds for the initial and any subsequent period are subject to approval by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Awards of up to $300,000 will be made, and at least 26 projects are expected to be funded. OTDA is limiting the number of awardees to no more than one per county outside of NYC. Selected contractors will earn reimbursement on a performance basis as program participants achieve specific milestones (i.e. Educational Gains, Job Skill Certificates, Job Entry and Retentions).

Proposals are due by July 15, 2011 at 3:00 pm.

Program requirements and application instructions are outlined in the Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET) Venture II Request For Proposal, which can be found on the OTDA website at www.otda.ny.gov in the Contract & Grant Opportunities page, or you may fax your request to: Luke Posniewski at (518) 473-7993.

For an application contact: Luke Posniewski, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, 40 North Pearl St., Albany, NY 12243, (518) 473-7993 (fax), e-mail: [email protected]