Section 291.30  Eligibility

a)         Fire department applicants must have participated in the incident reporting system for fire incidents established by the U.S. Fire Administration (National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) or the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS)) for a minimum of two years prior to the application for the small equipment grant, except that fire departments that were issued a Fire Department Identification Number by the Office less than two years prior to the application are eligible to apply for a small equipment grant if they participated in such incident reporting system since the date their FDID was issued by the Office.

b)         The applicant must have an active registration under the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) [30 ILCS 708] and a status of "qualified" on the GATA Grantee Portal (https://grants.illinois.gov/portal) at the time the application is submitted.  The applicant must also have its own FEIN issued by the Internal Revenue Service for federal income tax purposes.

c)         Fire protection entities that are not a unit of local government are not eligible to apply for a grant under this program.

d)         Units of local government that do not operate fire departments or ambulance services are eligible for grants under this program (e.g., a municipality that contracts for fire suppression or emergency medical service from another municipality, fire protection district, or for-profit or not-for-profit business); however, if a unit of local government contracts for fire protection service or emergency medical service from another unit of local government that has applied for a grant under this program, the unit of local government contracting to receive the services is prohibited from receiving a grant under this program.

e)         For-profit ambulance or emergency medical services are not eligible to apply.

(Source:  Amended at 50 Ill. Reg. 10931, effective August 1, 2026)