Schumer secures fire department funds

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced earlier this week that he had successfully secured over $650,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide 71 Nassau County Fire Departments and Volunteer Ambulance Corps — including the Oceanside and Island Park Fire Departments — with updated radio equipment in order to meet a looming federal radio mandate.

The mandate, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013, requires that all emergency communications equipment operate on a new frequency that current communications equipment does not support. The Nassau County Police Department, which operates the Emergency Ambulance Bureau through local fire departments and ambulance corps, had applied for the funding to meet the mandate, and if they had not received it, the costs would have been passed on to fire departments — and then on to Nassau County taxpayers.

Schumer, in a press conference in Nassau County in January, and in a personal call to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, had urged the agency to support Nassau County’s application for the funding. Schumer said that today’s announcement was a huge victory for Nassau County and for those who risk their lives to protect local Nassau County residents.

“This is a huge victory for Nassau fire departments that were set to get socked with huge fees to meet this federal mandate,” said Schumer. “Now, help is on the way — FEMA has agreed to pick up the tab, and Nassau taxpayers are spared the cost.”

As of Jan. 1, 2013, the FCC will require that all emergency communications operate on a narrow-band frequency at 12.5 kHz efficiency. Currently, all medical communications between NCPD’s Medical Control, the local FD’s and VAC’s is conducted over a UHF frequency. This antiquated system is plagued with static, interference and compatibility issues. The infrastructure, and the radios which it supports, is in excess of 20 years old and is not technologically advanced enough to be re-programmed to meet FCC requirements. The January frequency upgrade deadline is the result of an FCC effort to ensure more efficient use of limited radio frequency spectrum due to crowding and to create greater spectrum access for public safety and non-public safety users. The change to 12.5 kHz efficiency technology, commonly referred to as Narrowbanding, will allow the creation of additional channel capacity within the same radio spectrum, and support more users. After Jan. 1, anyone not operating at the new frequency could be subject to fines.

In January, Schumer called on FEMA to allocate the full $661,852 grant request in order to take the financial burden off of local fire departments in taxpayers. And in a personal call with FEMA Administrator Fugate, Schumer noted that without support from FEMA, local budget hikes would have been necessary to meet the mandates costs, as individual radios can as much as $3,500. The full amount of the requested grant will be awarded.