The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Responders (SAFER) Grant Program: An Analysis of Fiscal Federalism and How Local Governments Utilize SAFER Grant Funding. Thomas J. Layou ABSTRACT This dissertation presents a comprehensive analysis of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Responders (SAFER) grant program's impact on Virginia's local governments, emphasizing their fiscal strategies, emergency management practices, and demographic relationships. By incorporating theories of fiscal federalism and the political economy, this study explores how SAFER grants, provided by the FEMA, influence local tax policies, economic stability, and the staffing levels in fire and emergency medical service departments, against the backdrop of a critical need for enhanced public safety post the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The second chapter provides a review of the literature tracing the evolution of fiscal federalism from its roots in the political philosophies of the Federalist Papers to its contemporary interpretations and applications. The study found gaps in the literature, providing opportunities for further exploration of how the current scholarship has been built upon the different generations of fiscal federalism. This study seeks to contribute to the literature by examining the relationship that federal grants have with local governments' preparation for emergencies through their local fire and emergency medical service staffing. The dissertation constructs a novel dataset covering SAFER grant allocations, local tax rates, and fire and emergency medical service budgets across Virginia's cities and counties from 2016 to 2022. It evaluates the grants' effects on budgetary decisions and staffing levels, utilizing a methodological framework that includes regression analysis, correlation coefficients, and event series analysis. The third chapter focuses on the socio-political and economic determinants affecting the distribution of the SAFER grant funding, revealing that jurisdictions with higher median household incomes receive more funding, contrary to expectations that economically disadvantaged areas are prioritized. This chapter also highlights the disparities in resource allocation and examines the equitable distribution between volunteer and professional fire departments and the relationship of political leanings on fund allocation. The fourth chapter explores the SAFER grants within the principal-agent framework, investigating their impact on local government tax policy and economic stability. It explores whether SAFER grants lead to changes in local tax policies and how they contribute to fiscal stability, especially during crises such as the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The fifth chapter assesses the SAFER grants' effectiveness in increasing the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and improving public safety. It scrutinizes whether these grants supplement or supplant local budgets and their broader implications for budget allocations and incident reduction, which tie closely with the federal government's national preparedness goals. This dissertation advances emergency management scholarship by offering new insights into the allocation of SAFER grants in Virginia and its impact. It provides a multifaceted understanding of how federal funding influences local emergency services, fiscal policies, and community welfare, contributing valuable knowledge for policymakers, grant administrators, and scholars interested in enhancing public safety and preparedness. / Doctor of Philosophy / The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Responders (SAFER) Grant Program: An Analysis of Fiscal Federalism and How Local Governments Utilize SAFER Grant Funding. Thomas J. Layou GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates how federal money, specifically the SAFER grants aimed at improving fire and emergency services, impacts local communities in Virginia. The SAFER grants are designed to provide a financial boost to a community's fire department in hiring more firefighters. This study goes beyond hiring to determine who receives the grant money and why. It examines if richer areas are more likely to receive funds than poorer ones. The study also considers whether a community's size or the number of emergencies they handle influences the amount of funding they receive. By analyzing the data from Virginia, this study sheds light on the process behind these grants. It finds that wealthier areas often receive more funding, supporting prior research and challenging the idea that such grants primarily benefit economically disadvantaged regions. Additionally, the study examines whether there exists a fair balance in funding between volunteer-based and professional fire departments and how politics may play a role in who receives more or less funding. Furthermore, this dissertation explores the ripple effects of the SAFER grants. It assesses whether these grants encourage local governments to adjust their spending and tax policies. The findings suggest that receiving a SAFER grant does not necessarily lead local governments to increase taxes or decreases spending in other areas. Instead, these governments appear to use these funds strategically to enhance public safety without overburdening local taxpayers. Ultimately, this dissertation not only provides valuable insights into the allocation and impact of the SAFER grants but also raises important questions about equity, fairness, efficiency, and the role of government at all levels in ensuring public safety.

Despite the fact that most of developed countries are succesful in reducing emissions of pollutants, the problem in many places is still deteriorating air quality situation. Air pollution is a problem also for the Czech Republic, where some regions are more affected than others. Therefore was in this thesis chosen one of them, the area of northern Bohemia and specifically the area of Teplice. The work focuses on pollution caused by local heating device because this pollution is not currently regulated. The aim of this work is to determine the behavior of households for heating by local heating device through a questionnaire survey. Especially was monitored the reaction for potential regulatory tool- the motivational subsidy. From these data was in more detail examined the dependence between the amount of subsidies and net monthly income using the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficient. Research showed no major statistical context, however, for the first time was held an investigation of multispecies heating in households thanks to which it can be better analyzed the reasons for frequent heating with solid fuels.

When a building is exposed to fire, it is required to remain structurally stable for a period of time. The regulations do however allow some types of localised failures within this time frame. The damage area of these failures must be contained and remain proportional to the initial triggering action and not continue into a widespread collapse, commonly referred to as a progressive collapse. In order to prevent progressive collapses, it is necessary to first identify which types of failures that could result in a progressive collapse. In a recent study (Iqbal N., Ph.D. thesis, Luleå University of Technology, 2016), single-storey steel frame buildings affected by localised fires were analysed. In the study it was identified that an initial failure in the truss’ top chord could potentially result in a progressive collapse. The reason for this is because when the top chord fails, the truss and its roof sheeting deflect and transitions into only handling catenary forces. The catenary forces present in the roof sheeting are then transferred to the adjacent trusses which therefore risks collapsing. The analysis could however not determine the possibility of progressive collapses and how factors such as truss span length affect the possibility of progressive collapses. The purpose of this thesis therefore became to analyse how span length affect the roof sheeting’s catenary forces and try to determine if a failure in the top chord could result in a progressive collapse. To answer this, finite element analyses where conducted on two different truss models with varying span lengths, i.e. 18- and 36-meter. Each model consisted of three trusses along with columns, bracings, and roof sheeting. Additionally, a hand calculation model was adopted to determine the strength of the catenary forces. From the finite element analysis, it could be seen that the adjacent trusses of the 36-meter truss model became grossly deformed. Hence indicating that a longer span length would increase the possibility of a progressive collapse. However, the hand calculation model used to calculate the strength of the catenary forces indicated that catenary forces present in the roof sheeting of the longer truss model, was relatively weak compared to the shorter truss model. The reason for this could not be determined, but some adjustments to the hand calculation model might be necessary to make it compatible with the analysed truss model. Consequently, it was impossible to determine the possibility of a progressive collapse. Additionally, during this work it was identified that other factors, such as truss model, bay length and roof sheeting thickness, could affect the possibility of progressive collapses. Hence, further work is necessary to determine the possibility of a progressive collapse. / När en byggnad utsätts för brandpåverkan ska den förbli strukturellt stabil under en viss tidsperiod. Regelverken tillåter dock att vissa typer av lokala skador inträffar redan under denna tidsperiod. Dessa skador måste begränsas till en viss area och förbli proportionerliga mot den initiala skadan och inte resultera i utbredda kollapser, det vill säga fortskridande ras. För att kunna förhindra fortskridande ras är det nödvändigt att först identifiera vilka typer av skador som skulle kunna resultera i fortskridande ras.  I en relativt ny analys (Iqbal N., Doktorsavhandling, Luleå tekniska universitet, 2016) analyserades den bärande konstruktionen i enplans stålhallar då konstruktionen utsattes för lokala bränder. Där det identifierades att ett brott i balkens överram eventuellt skulle kunna resultera i ett fortskridande ras. Brottet i överramen medförde nämligen att balken och dess takplåt sjönk ihop och övergick till att endast hantera linkrafter. Takplåtens linkrafter fördelades ut till de angränsade balkarna som därmed riskerade att kollapsa. Analysen kunde dock inte verifiera att ett fortskridande ras var möjligt eller avgöra hur faktorer såsom balkspännvidd påverkade sannolikheten för ett fortskridande ras. Syftet med detta arbete blev därför att analysera om balkspännvidd påverkade takplåtens linkrafter samt att försöka avgöra om ett brott i överramen kan resultera i ett fortskridande ras eller inte. För att besvara detta genomfördes finita elementanalyser på en 18- och en 36-meter lång balk. Varje modell bestod av tre balkar med tillhörande pelare och takplåt. För att sedan kunna uppskatta styrkan av linkrafterna i takplåten tillämpades en handberäkningsmodell.  Resultatet från finita elementanalyserna visade att den längre balkmodellen utsattes för högre påkänningar i jämförelse med den kortare balkmodellen. Detta indikerar att en längre spännvidd ökar sannolikheten för fortskridande ras. Handberäkningsmodellen som användes för att beräkna styrkan av linkrafterna gav dock generellt mindre linkrafter för den längre balkmodellen jämfört med den kortare balkmodellen. Anledningen till detta gick inte att fastställa men det skulle kunna vara så att handberäkningsmodellen behöver justeras för att kunna tillämpas på den undersökta balkmodellen. I och med detta var det omöjligt att avgöra sannolikheten för ett fortskridande ras. Under detta arbete identifierades det även att andra faktorer så som balkmodell, centrumavstånd mellan fackverk och plåttakstjocklek skulle kunna påverka linkrafternas styrka. På grund av detta är fortsatt arbete nödvändigt för att kunna avgöra möjligheten och sannolikheten för ett fortskridande ras.