By Gary Giacomo
The recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provides funding and authorizes the Department of the Interior (DOI) to develop and implement a pilot program to provide local governments and Tribal Nations financial assistance to acquire slip-on tanker units to establish fleets of vehicles that can be quickly converted to be operated as fire engines. The department has issued a Request for Information (RFI) and is accepting comments from fire protection agencies until Oct. 9.
The information gather during this process will be used to finalize a plan to award grants for slip-on tankers through a competitive process to fire departments or Tribal Governments over the next few years to improve the wildland firefighting readiness for their areas of protection and service in a location with a population of 25,000 or less.
Please see full RFI for further details on the scope and how to respond
