The law, known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act or “FAST Act,” provided long-term funding for the Department of Transportation as well as funding for the Community Safety Grant Program.
TRANSCAIR® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response), a moj database program within CHEMTREC® The American Chemistry Council Division was fortunate to be awarded a $250,000 grant under the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Community Safety Grant Program to support training for thousands of emergency responders. The training will help communities prepare for a potential transportation incident involving hazardous materials.
“We are grateful to Administrator Elliott and his team for their continued support of TRANSCAER and their commitment to emergency personnel,” said John Modine , CEO of CHEMTREC. “This grant will go a long way in helping to provide valuable, life-saving training to first responders in rural communities.”
TRANSCAER was created in 1986 to ensure that emergency responders are equipped with the knowledge they need to provide a rapid and effective response to transportation incidents involving hazardous materials. TRANSCAER trains local emergency responders through a combination of practical activities, emergency planning assistance, and community drills and exercises.
This year, the program faced to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person training events. The program was adapted by offering multiple virtual training opportunities that will continue throughout the rest of the year and into 2021. The Community Safety Grant will help increase the distribution of training materials to volunteer fire departments in rural areas. We hope that TRANSCAER will be able to hit the road in 2021 and once again bring its world-class training events directly to towns across America.