A. When funds are made available for such purpose, the State Department of Agriculture shall administer grants from any monies which may be available for the purpose of the improvement of fire protection in rural areas of the State of Oklahoma, to the end that the hazard of loss by fire and fire insurance rates may be reduced and the public safety thereby promoted. Any such monies shall be distributed in the manner provided by law.

B. The State Department of Agriculture is authorized to allocate such monies obtained pursuant to subsection A of this section to eligible entities on a matching basis and such matching requirements may be fulfilled either in cash or in-kind. In addition, the State Department of Agriculture is authorized to establish preferential matching requirements for eligible entities which have Insurance Service Organization rates of ten (10) or which have other critical circumstances and needs which are determined by the State Department of Agriculture to justify preferential matching requirements.

C. 1. The State Department of Agriculture shall in writing notify the rural fire protection coordination districts of any available grant monies by August 1st of each year.

2. Each rural fire protection coordination district desiring to obtain such grant monies for improvement of fire protection within such district shall submit such request to the Department, in such form and in such manner as required by the Department, by September 1, of each year.

3. The Forestry Division shall submit the final list of grantees and their approved amounts prior to the October meeting of the Board of Agriculture for consideration.

4. By October 1 of each year, the Department shall make a determination on the allocation of such monies to the rural fire protection coordination districts.

5. Upon approval, the Forestry Division shall distribute the forms required by law to all grantees to certify the grant. The prescribed form must be signed by the grantee and returned to the Forestry Division before the grant becomes official.

6. Expenditures made prior to the date of the grant award shall not be considered for reimbursement.

7. Fire departments shall submit copies of paid invoices, canceled checks or other proof of purchase, attached to the prescribed form when requesting reimbursement. No more than three (3) partial payment requests are permitted.

8. Fire departments shall keep complete and accurate records of grant expenditures and make this information available to the Forestry Division or the coordinators on request.

9. Approved claims shall be submitted by the Forestry Division for payment. Checks shall be sent promptly to the fire department's contact person when received.

10. The coordinators shall closely track the progress of all grantees in the assigned district to assure their completion by June 30. As of April 1, an assessment shall be made to determine the amount of grant funds which remain unobligated in each district, and therefore available to make additional grants within that district. The coordinators shall use the original prioritized list of grant applications to make additional grants, and submit a list of additional grantees and amounts to the Forestry Division for processing through the April meeting of the Board of Agriculture for approval. These grants are still subject to the June 30 cutoff for obligating grant funds. The same procedures will be used as for the first round of grants.

11. Follow-up compliance audits shall be performed by the coordinators and the Forestry Division of the State Department of Agriculture. Fire departments are required to cooperate fully during the audit.

D. In determining the amount of grant monies to be awarded to a rural fire protection coordination district pursuant to the provisions of this section, such district shall be eligible to receive an amount resulting from computing the number of fire departments with service area populations of less than ten thousand (10,000) persons in a rural fire protection coordination district divided by the total number of fire departments with service area populations of less than ten thousand (10,000) persons in this state multiplied by the total amount of the grant monies available to rural fire protection coordination districts in the state.

E. In addition to any other criteria established by the State Department of Agriculture for receipt of grant monies for rural fire protection coordination districts, the State Department of Agriculture, pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, Article I, Sections 250.3 through 308.2 and Article II, Sections 309 through 323 of Title 75 of the Oklahoma Statutes, shall establish criteria to rate and prioritize applications for funding such requests of the rural fire protection coordination districts. Such criteria shall include, but not be limited to, consideration for: number of residents, businesses and square miles to be protected; fire runs per calendar year; annual sales and property tax collection; use of volunteers; written fire plan or standard operating procedures plan; fundraising; training; compliance with legal requirements; and workers' compensation and vehicle liability insurance coverage.

Added by Laws 1988, c. 294, § 3, operative July 1, 1988. Amended by Laws 1989, c. 54, § 1, emerg. eff. April 14, 1989; Laws 1989, c. 377, § 14, operative July 1, 1989; Laws 1992, c. 44, § 2, emerg. eff. April 3, 1992.