The Renewable Fuels Association has received a $50,000 federal grant to help continue the its ethanol safety training program efforts.

The Assistance for Local Emergency Response Training (ALERT) grant, from the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, was awarded to the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). RFA is among several partners in the grant.

The grant, which RFA has previously received in partnership with IAFC, provides hazmat training for volunteer or remote emergency responders to effectively manage emergency events involving incidents involving the transportation of ethanol, crude and other flammable liquids by rail.

“Training is critical to ensure the safety of first responders and communities,” said John Woulfe, assistant director of Programs and Technology for IAFC. “RFA’s ethanol safety training program has done a great job of educating emergency personnel on how to effectively respond to hazmat incidents. We look forward to another successful year of RFA ethanol training events,” he said.

As part of the grant, RFA will conduct 10 ethanol safety seminars through mid-September 2018. Since 2010, RFA has received a total of $546,000 in state and federal grant funding to help local communities in 38 states train on ethanol emergency response tactics and procedures, held 222 ethanol safety seminars, conducted 12 “Train the Trainer” webinars and conducted numerous online ethanol safety training courses.