FY 2026 Supplemental Public Sector Training (SPST) Grant

FY 2026 Supplemental Public Sector Training (SPST) Grant

Historical reference: the FY 2026 cycle is closed

The FY 2026 Supplemental Public Sector Training (SPST) Grant was a federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) funding opportunity for national nonprofit fire service organizations. The official U.S. Department of Transportation grant page lists the opportunity status as Closed and gives June 22, 2026, as the close date. The Simpler.Grants.gov record is archived, and its history shows an archive date of July 22, 2026. Applications are no longer being accepted for this cycle.

No replacement SPST notice is identified on the official DOT program page, the PHMSA program page, or the archived FY 2026 listing linked from this record. This page therefore keeps the FY 2026 opportunity as a historical reference. It does not present the closed deadline as an active application window, and it does not invent a future deadline. Organizations interested in a later round should monitor PHMSA, DOT, and Grants.gov for a new notice with its own opportunity number and instructions.

At a glance

The award figures describe the FY 2026 notice, not a promise of funding to any applicant. PHMSA stated that the total amount was anticipated and subject to available funds. The expected individual range was also a planning range. An application was not a guarantee of an award, and PHMSA reserved discretion to fund an application in full, fund only part of a proposal, or make no award.

What SPST funded

SPST is a train-the-trainer program. Its central purpose is to support national nonprofit fire service organizations that can train instructors to deliver hazardous-materials response training to people with statutory responsibility for responding to HAZMAT accidents and incidents. The FY 2026 notice also allowed funds, when PHMSA determined it appropriate, to train people responsible for responding directly to hazardous-materials accidents and incidents.

The program was authorized by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act of 1994, which amended 49 U.S.C. section 5116 and added the supplemental training provision in subsection (i). The intended result is a stronger instructor pipeline and better-prepared public-sector responders. A proposal needed to connect its activities to HAZMAT transportation safety and to explain how instructors, courses, students, locations, and monitoring would fit together.

This was not a general operating grant, a scholarship, or an equipment-only opportunity. The notice asked applicants to describe a training program with concrete outputs. An organization considering a future notice should be ready to explain the training model, the target responder population, the need for the work, the expected number of courses and students, and the cost associated with each planned course.

Who was eligible

The FY 2026 notice limited the opportunity to national nonprofit fire service organizations. The listing identified eligible applicants as nonprofit organizations, including nonprofits with or without section 501(c)(3) status, provided they were not institutions of higher education. The NOFO described an IRS nonprofit as an organization recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) or another section of the Internal Revenue Code. For-profit organizations were not eligible.

The national and fire-service qualifications mattered. A local or regional group could not assume that a fire-related project alone made it eligible. The applicant needed to be the qualifying national nonprofit fire service organization responsible for the proposed federal application and award administration. Its legal identity, UEI, SAM record, Grants.gov profile, budget, and supporting documents needed to align.

The notice also restricted the use of federal funds for lobbying activities defined in the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Applicants needed to distinguish eligible training work from advocacy or other activities that could not be charged to the grant. Cost sharing or matching was not required, but every proposed cost still needed to be allowable, allocable, necessary, and reasonable under the applicable federal requirements.

Funding and project planning

PHMSA anticipated $2,000,000 for the FY 2026 program, with expected individual awards from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The performance period had to be at least 12 months from the effective date of the award, and an applicant could request up to 24 months. The request needed to be sized to work that could reasonably be completed during the proposed period.

The NOFO specifically called for a clear output structure. Applicants were asked to identify each planned course, the expected course count, the expected number of students trained, the expected cost, and the expected location when known. That table was more than a formatting exercise: it gave reviewers a way to compare the proposed scope with the budget and judge whether the cost per trained student was reasonable.

The notice listed several funding restrictions. An applicant could not charge expenses already claimed or reimbursed by another program, costs counted as matching funds for another federal program, or costs disallowed by 2 CFR Part 200. Entertainment, alcohol, morale costs, excessive general office supplies or equipment, excessive software, printing and copying, and personnel costs such as overtime, backfill, stipends, or fees for personnel receiving training were identified as ineligible. Pre-award costs required PHMSA approval consistent with 2 CFR section 200.458.

How the FY 2026 application was submitted

The application window has closed, but the following steps describe the official FY 2026 process for historical reference and future-cycle preparation:

1. The organization registered in Grants.gov and downloaded the application package associated with opportunity 693JK326NF0011. The NOFO recommended starting registration early because registration could delay submission.
2. The organization registered in SAM before submitting, supplied a valid UEI, and kept the SAM registration and UEI information active and current. PHMSA could decline to make an award if these requirements were not satisfied when award decisions were ready.
3. The applicant was encouraged to create a FedConnect account before applying. FedConnect provided a way to communicate with PHMSA, and the organization’s SAM MPIN was needed to create the account.
4. The applicant completed the required standard forms: SF-424, SF-424A, Certifications Regarding Lobbying, and the Title VI/Non-Discrimination Assurances.
5. The applicant created and uploaded the project narrative and budget narrative. Where applicable, it also supplied an indirect-cost agreement or a statement claiming the 15 percent de minimis rate, letters of support from partner organizations, and other optional attachments.
6. The completed package was submitted electronically through Grants.gov. Physical mail was not accepted, and the NOFO stated that only one application per applicant would be accepted.

For the FY 2026 cycle, questions were due through FedConnect or to the program contact by June 18, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Completed applications were due electronically by June 22, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST; late applications might not have been considered. Those dates have passed and should not be used as a current submission schedule for a future announcement.

What reviewers looked for

PHMSA described administrative, technical, and programmatic review. Technical review included whether the proposed training was consistent with NFPA 470 or 29 CFR section 1910.120(q)(2), and whether the applicant could deliver a successful train-the-trainer program for emergency responders handling HAZMAT transportation incidents.

Programmatic review considered the organization’s experience, its ability to reach the target responder population, and the details of each planned course. The application needed a detailed needs assessment supported by national quantitative and qualitative information, a clear connection between identified gaps and proposed activities, an approximate project timeline, and measurable goals and objectives related to reducing risk during HAZMAT response.

Budget quality was also central. Reviewers checked whether the SF-424A and budget narrative aligned, whether personnel and fringe calculations were explained, whether travel and supplies were justified, and whether contractual or other costs were described in enough detail. If indirect costs were requested, the application needed the current approved indirect-cost agreement or the applicable de minimis statement. The notice also asked for a monitoring and evaluation strategy so PHMSA could assess whether the approved project was accomplishing its stated needs and outputs.

What happens to this page now

This record is intentionally retained for organizations researching the FY 2026 program, comparing prior PHMSA notices, or preparing for a possible future announcement. Its deadline remains the real FY 2026 deadline because the record is an archive entry, while historicalReference = true signals that the page is not an open opportunity. The official listing URL remains available and was checked successfully at the metadata timestamp.

Before relying on any future SPST information, an organization should open the new PHMSA or Grants.gov notice itself. Confirm the cycle year, opportunity number, application deadline, eligible applicant language, award range, performance period, forms, and submission channel from that notice. A later announcement could change any of those details. Until an official replacement notice is published, the FY 2026 SPST opportunity described here should be treated as closed historical information.

Official sources

• Official DOT grant dashboard entry, which identifies the FY 2026 opportunity as closed and provides its program, eligibility, funding, and close-date information.
• Archived Simpler.Grants.gov opportunity listing, which records the opportunity number, funding, documents, and July 22, 2026 archive date.
• FY 2026 PHMSA Notice of Funding Opportunity, which contains the application, eligibility, budget, review, and submission requirements.
• PHMSA SPST program page, which provides the agency’s program context and identifies PHMSA as the administering organization.