Pallone Announces $36,100 in Federal Funding for First Responders in Asbury Park & Keyport

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced that the Asbury Park Fire Department has been awarded $24,700 and the Keyport Fire Department has been awarded $11,400 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program. The AFG program is part of a coordinated, ongoing effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration to improve the nation’s ability to respond to emergency situations.

"It is critical that our brave first responders have all the tools necessary to protect the health and safety of the public and themselves in the case of an emergency,” said Congressman Pallone. “I am very pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has selected Asbury Park and Keyport to receive these federal grants. These funds will enhance the response capabilities of our emergency personnel, making our community an even safer place to live.”

Grants under the AFG program are awarded directly to fire departments and non-affiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations for emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles, and training. In Fiscal Year 2013, the AFG program will provide approximately $320 million in competitive grants to first-responder organizations.

Pallone Announces $242,820 Grant to Sea Bright Fire Department

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced that the Sea Bright Fire Department in Sea Bright, NJ, has been awarded $242,820 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program. The AFG program is part of a coordinated, ongoing effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration to improve the nation’s ability to respond to emergency situations.

“It is vital that our brave firefighters have all the resources and tools they need to protect the safety of the public and themselves in the case of an emergency situation,” said Pallone. “I am thrilled that the Department of Homeland Security has selected the Sea Bright Fire Departmentto receive this federal grant. These funds will be instrumental in ensuring our emergency personnel will continue to make our community an even safer place to live.”

Grants awarded under the AFG program are given directly to fire departments and non-affiliated Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations for emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles, and training. In Fiscal Year 2013, the AFG program will provide approximately $320 million in competitive grants to first-responder organizations.

Pallone Urges Agencies to Issue Waiver for Rock Salt Shipment

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Transportation, Jeh Johnson and Anthony Foxx, calling on them to issue a waiver that would allow a shipment of rock salt to be delivered to the Port of Newark. The shipment, currently aboard a foreign-flagged vessel, is unable to be unloaded in New Jersey due to a provision in the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act. The provision requires shipments going directly from one port in the United States to another be transported on American-built vessels that are also operated by American crews. Congressman Pallone urged the agencies to work together to provide a waiver before the next winter storm hits New Jersey in order to ensure that the state has the necessary resources.

Below is the full text of the letter:

February 18, 2014

The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
650 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20528

The Honorable Anthony Foxx
Secretary
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary Johnson and Secretary Foxx:

I write today regarding a shipment of rock salt that is being barred from entering the Port of Newark because the shipment is aboard a foreign-flagged vessel that initially docked at a port in Maine. The foreign-flagged vessel is currently not allowed into the Port of Newark due to a provision in the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act. The Jones Act requires that ships with goods traveling between two U.S. ports be delivered on U.S. flagged ships.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation has formally requested a waiver of this provision to enable this shipment to be delivered to the Port of Newark. I support the state’s waiver request and ask that you work expeditiously to ensure that this critical shipment of rock salt can be unloaded in New Jersey.

New Jersey has faced multiple snow and ice storms already this winter, depleting the snow removal budgets and rock salt reserves in the state. If this shipment of rock salt to New Jersey is delayed, many in the state could be endangered should another winter storm strike the state in the coming days.

While I am a supporter of the Jones Act, I believe that this is an urgent public safety issue that must be addressed. I ask that your agencies work together to quickly provide a Jones Act waiver for this shipment to provide New Jersey with additional rock salt reserves to ensure that the state has adequate resources to protect public safety during the next winter storm. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.


Sincerely,

FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress

Pallone Announces $235K Grant to Atlantic Highlands Fire Department

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced that the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department has been awarded $235,030 from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program.

“Firefighters and first responders deserve the best equipment and training we can provide while they risk their lives to protect us every day,” said Congressman Pallone. “This award is a testament to the high quality service the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department provides to our community, and I commend them for putting together this winning grant application.”

Funding through AFG grants may be used towards: professional training, wellness and fitness programs equipment, personal protective equipment, modifications to facilities, and supplies that support firefighting operations and safety.

The AFG program is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security and is part of a coordinated effort to improve the nation’s ability to respond to emergency situations.

Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

Middletown's Forgotten Wet-Siders

If you've been watching or listening to news reports since Hurricane Sandy blew through 6 days ago, you have been seeing and hearing a lot about those that seem to have been forgotten by federal and local officials.

I keep seeing reports from NY's Staten Island and Queens of residents complaining that relief agencies have forgotten them in favor of those living in Manhattan. Their loud complaints to local news media covering the devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, brought swift responses of help from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. The same federal response however can't be said about relief efforts for those that live in Middletown neighborhoods on the "wet" side of Route 36. They seem to have been forgotten in large part due to the devastation along the Jersey Shore.

(The Goodell-Wilson home on Church St.)

I've been getting requests from a few wet-sider friends asking me if I could post something about their plight, in hopes that someone will listen to them and speed up some relief efforts.

One such person is Danae Goodell-Wilson, she is a single mother of a 14 year old daughter who lives on the wet-side of Church St. in Belford.

(The Goodell-Wislon basement)

Danae and her daughter have been trapped in their home for days because Danae's cars  were under water and won't start. Her house smells like mold and sewage (it's everywhere) and has pretty much become a cave, a shell, where they keep their belongings. She and her daughter don't have much of a choice right now, they don't have any family in the area to stay with and they can't leave and go to a shelter because they have pets. She's in a classic Catch 22 situation.

Danae has file a claim with FEMA but has heard nothing, she tried calling 4 times yesterday to get some information, to find out what the rules are for temporary housing and transportation but was hung up on every time with the excuse that those on the other end of the line were too busy. All they will tell her is that she will receive a letter with some type of decision concerning to her circumstances in two weeks, which is unacceptable.

So, she sits in her house waiting, with no clue as to what to do. Not the township, the federal government or any charities are willing to do anything more at this time, than tell her to leave her pets behind and go to a shelter.

All she wants are some answers to her questions and a little help to figure everything out, but no one seems able to do so at this time. It is extremely frustrating.

Logically, she can't continue to stay in her home for much longer but she is fiercely independent and has no real place to go. Hopefully someone will come to her rescue soon.

My heart goes out to her and all the others in a similar situations as her, over on the wet-side of 36 living along the bayshore.

Congressman Pallone Announces $665,000 for Highlands Fire Department

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Funds to go towards updated fire truck

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today announced that the Borough of Highlands Fire Department has been awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG). Highlands Fire Department will receive $665,000 to purchase a new fire truck thanks, in part, to a request by Congressman Pallone.

The Highlands Fire Department is an all-volunteer fire department. Currently the fire department uses two trucks that are more than 25 years old. The funding will go towards the purchase of a newer and safer ladder truck.

“The need for this fire truck is clear, and thanks to this federal grant the volunteers of Highlands Fire Department will have an updated vehicle that will improve the safety of the firefighters and the residents of Highlands,” said Pallone.

The AFG program is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is part of a coordinated effort to improve the nation’s ability to respond to emergency situations. Congressman Pallone co-hosted a workshop on Monday, June 18 for local fire departments that provided information on the federal grants available to fire departments. 

Over the past year, more than one million dollars in grant money has been awarded to fire departments in the sixth Congressional district to improve community emergency services.