The purpose of this program is to provide grants to professional fire departments along the Texas-Mexico border region for specialized equipment, maintenance, and medical supplies to support emergency services associated with the execution of border security activities associated with deterring crimes occurring in the geographic area defined in Article IX, Section 7.10 of the General Appropriations Act.

State funds for these projects are authorized under the Texas General Appropriations Act, Article I, Rider 31 for Trusteed Programs within the Office of the Governor. All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

1. Units of local government
2. Eligible applicants must be located within the following counties:  Aransas, Brazoria, Brewster, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Culberson, Dimmit, El Paso, Galveston, Hidalgo, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Kinney, Kleberg, Matagorda, Maverick, Nueces, Orange, Presidio, San Patricio, Starr, Terrell, Val Verde, Webb, Willacy, or Zapata.

Applicants must access the Office of the Governor’s eGrants grant management website at https://eGrants.gov.texas.gov to register and apply for funding. Additional requirements are included within the online application.

Projects selected for funding must begin on or after 3/1/2022 and may not exceed a 12 month period.

Minimum: $2,500

Maximum: $250,000

Match Requirement: None

Grantees must comply with standards applicable to this fund source cited in the Texas Grant Management Standards (TxGMS), Federal Uniform Grant Guidance, and all statutes, requirements, and guidelines applicable to this funding.

1. EQUIPMENT: Costs for equipment which will be routinely used for emergency services in support of border security activities.
2. SUPPLIES and DIRECT OPERATING EXPENSE: Certain emergency service operational costs are also allowable, such as those described below.
   1. Medical supplies for use during border incident responses.
   2. Maintenance for vehicles, boats, generators, and similar equipment routinely used in border incident responses.
   3. The cost of minor emergency repairs to vehicles or equipment routinely used in support of border security activities.

Only actual expenses, supported by receipts, may be reimbursed under this grant program.

1. Local units of governments must comply with the Cybersecurity Training requirements described in Section 772.012 and Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code. Local governments determined to not be in compliance with the cybersecurity requirements required by Section 2054.5191 of the Texas Government Code are ineligible for OOG grant funds until the second anniversary of the date the local government is determined ineligible. Government entities must annually certify their compliance with the training requirements using the Cybersecurity Training Certification for State and Local Governments. A copy of the Training Certification must be uploaded to your eGrants application. For more information or to access available training programs, visit the Texas Department of Information Resources Statewide Cybersecurity Awareness Training page.

2. Entities receiving funds from PSO must be located in a county that has an average of 90% or above on both adult and juvenile dispositions entered into the computerized criminal history database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) as directed in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 66. The disposition completeness percentage is defined as the percentage of arrest charges a county reports to DPS for which a disposition has been subsequently reported and entered into the computerized criminal history system.

Counties applying for grant awards from the Office of the Governor must commit that the county will report at least 90 percent of convictions within five business days to the Criminal Justice Information System at the Department of Public Safety.

3. Eligible applicants operating a law enforcement agency must be current on reporting complete UCR data and the Texas specific reporting mandated by 411.042 TGC, to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for inclusion in the annual Crime in Texas (CIT) publication. To be considered eligible for funding, applicants must have submitted a full twelve months of accurate data to DPS for the most recent calendar year by the deadline(s) established by DPS. Due to the importance of timely reporting, applicants are required to submit complete and accurate UCR data, as well as the Texas-mandated reporting, on a no less than monthly basis and respond promptly to requests from DPS related to the data submitted.

4. Local units of government, including cities, counties and other general purpose political subdivisions, as appropriate, and institutions of higher education that operate a law enforcement agency, must comply with all aspects of the programs and procedures utilized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to: (1) notify DHS of all information requested by DHS related to illegal aliens in Agency’s custody; and (2) detain such illegal aliens in accordance with requests by DHS. Additionally, counties and municipalities may NOT have in effect, purport to have in effect, or make themselves subject to or bound by, any law, rule, policy, or practice (written or unwritten) that would: (1) require or authorize the public disclosure of federal law enforcement information in order to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection fugitives from justice or aliens illegally in the United States; or (2) impede federal officers from exercising authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), § 1226(c), § 1231(a), § 1357(a), § 1366(1), or § 1366(3). Lastly, eligible applicants must comply with all provisions, policies, and penalties found in Chapter 752, Subchapter C of the Texas Government Code.

Each local unit of government, and institution of higher education that operates a law enforcement agency, must download, complete and then upload into eGrants the CEO/Law Enforcement Certifications and Assurances Form certifying compliance with federal and state immigration enforcement requirements. This Form is required for each application submitted to OOG and is active until August 31, 2024 or the end of the grant period, whichever is later.

5. Eligible applicants must be registered in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) database and have an UEI (Unique Entity ID) number assigned to its agency (to get registered in the SAM database and request an UEI number, go to https://sam.gov/).

Failure to comply with program eligibility requirements may cause funds to be withheld and/or suspension or termination of grant funds.

Grant funds may not be used to support the unallowable costs listed in the Guide to Grants or any of the following unallowable costs:

1. salaries and personnel costs;
2. indirect costs;
3. training and travel costs;
4. weapons, ammunition, tasers, or explosives;
5. any expense or service that is readily available at no cost to the grant project;
6. any use of grant funds to replace (supplant) funds that have been budgeted for the same purpose through non-grant sources;
7. construction, renovation, or remodeling; and
8. any other prohibition imposed by federal, state, or local law.

Application Screening: The Office of the Governor will screen all applications to ensure that they meet the requirements included in the funding announcement.  

Applications will be reviewed by PSO staff members or a review group that consists of subject matter experts selected by the PSO Director.

Final Decisions: PSO will make all final funding decisions based on eligibility, reasonableness, availability of funding, geographic distribution, cost effectiveness, or other relevant factors.

Preference will be given to eligible border region applicants who DO NOT have an existing Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) project supporting activities or services within the fire department. PSO may not fund all applications or may only award part of the amount requested. In the event that funding requests exceed available funds, PSO may revise projects to address a more limited focus.

For more information, contact the eGrants help desk at eGrants@gov.texas.gov or (512) 463-1919.