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Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement SB 1899"-->
Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act (Introduced in the
Senate)
S 1899 IS
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1899
To redesignate the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the `Federal Fire
and Emergency Management Agency', and to amend the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 to authorize the Director of the Federal Fire and Emergency
Management Agency to make grants to fire departments for the purpose of
protecting the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related
hazards.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 10, 1999
Mr. CAMPBELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
A BILL
To redesignate the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the `Federal Fire
and Emergency Management Agency', and to amend the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 to authorize the Director of the Federal Fire and Emergency
Management Agency to make grants to fire departments for the purpose of
protecting the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related
hazards.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement
(FIRE) Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) increased demands on firefighting personnel have made it difficult
for local governments to adequately fund necessary fire safety precautions;
(2) the Federal Government has an obligation to protect the health and
safety of the firefighting personnel of the United States and to help ensure
that the personnel have the financial resources to protect the public;
(3) the United States has serious fire losses, including a fire death
rate that is one of the highest per capita in the industrialized world;
(4) in the United States, fire kills more than 4,000 people and injures
more than 25,000 people each year;
(5) in any single day in the United States, on the average--
(A) 11 people will die because of fire;
(B) 2 of those people are likely to be children under the age of 5;
(C) 68 people will be injured because of fire; and
(D) over $9,000,000,000 in property losses will occur from fire; and
(6) those statistics demonstrate a critical need for Federal investment
in support of firefighting personnel.
SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is redesignated as
the `Federal Fire and Emergency Management Agency'.
(b) REFERENCES- Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or
other record of the United States to the Federal Emergency Management Agency
shall be deemed to be a reference to the Federal Fire and Emergency Management
Agency.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT OF 1974-
Sections 4(4), 17, and 31(a)(5)(B) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control
Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2203(4), 2216, and 2227(a)(5)(B)) are amended by striking
`Federal Emergency Management Agency' each place it appears and inserting
`Federal Fire and Emergency Management Agency'.
SEC. 4. FIREFIGHTER INVESTMENT AND RESPONSE ENHANCEMENT.
The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
`SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER INVESTMENT AND RESPONSE ENHANCEMENT.
`(a) DEFINITION OF FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL- In this section, the term
`firefighting personnel' means individuals, including volunteers, who are
firefighters, officers of fire departments, or emergency medical service
personnel of fire departments.
`(b) GRANT PROGRAM-
`(1) AUTHORITY- In accordance with this section, the Director may make
grants on a competitive basis to fire departments for the purpose of
protecting the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel
against fire and fire-related hazards.
`(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS- Before making
grants under paragraph (1), the Director shall establish an office in the
Federal Fire and Emergency Management Agency that shall have the duties of
establishing specific criteria for the selection of grant recipients, and
administering the grants, under this section.
`(3) USE OF GRANT FUNDS- The Director may make a grant under paragraph
(1) only if the applicant for the grant agrees to use grant funds--
`(A)(i) to train firefighting personnel in firefighting, emergency
response, arson prevention and detection, or the handling of hazardous
materials, which shall include, at a minimum, the removal of any
hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant associated with the
illegal manufacture of amphetamine or methamphetamine; or
`(ii) to train firefighter personnel to provide any of the training
described in clause (i);
`(B) to make effective use of the capabilities of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Commerce, the
Consumer Product Safety Commission, and other public and private sector
entities, for research and development aimed at advancing--
`(i) the health and safety of firefighters;
`(ii) information technologies for fire management;
`(iii) technologies for fire prevention and protection;
`(iv) firefighting technologies; and
`(v) burn care and rehabilitation;
`(C) to fund the creation of rapid intervention teams to protect
firefighting personnel at the scenes of fires and other emergencies;
`(D) to certify fire inspectors;
`(E) to establish wellness and fitness programs for firefighting
personnel to ensure that the firefighting personnel can carry out their
duties;
`(F) to fund emergency medical services provided by fire departments;
`(G) to acquire additional firefighting vehicles, including fire
trucks;
`(H) to acquire additional firefighting equipment, including
equipment for communications and monitoring;
`(I) to acquire personal protective equipment required for
firefighting personnel by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, and other personal protective equipment for firefighting
personnel;
`(J) to modify fire stations, fire training facilities, and other
facilities to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel;
`(K) to enforce fire codes;
`(L) to fund fire prevention programs; or
`(M) to educate the public about arson prevention and detection.
`(4) APPLICATION- The Director may make a grant under paragraph (1) only
if the fire department seeking the grant submits to the Director an
application in such form and containing such information as the Director may
require.
`(5) MATCHING REQUIREMENT- The Director may make a grant under paragraph
(1) only if the applicant for the grant agrees to match with an equal amount
of non-Federal funds 10 percent of the funds received under paragraph (1)
for any fiscal year.
`(6) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES- The Director may make a grant under
paragraph (1) only if the applicant for the grant agrees to maintain in the
fiscal year for which the grant will be received the applicant's aggregate
expenditures for the uses described in paragraph (3) at or above the average
level of such expenditures in the 2 fiscal years preceding the fiscal year
for which the grant will be received.
`(7) REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR- The Director may make a grant under
paragraph (1) only if the applicant for the grant agrees to submit to the
Director a report, including a description of how grant funds were used,
with respect to each fiscal year for which a grant was received.
`(8) VARIETY OF GRANT RECIPIENTS- The Director shall ensure that grants
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year are made to a variety of fire
departments, including, to the extent that there are eligible applicants--
`(A) paid, volunteer, and combination fire departments;
`(B) fire departments located in communities of varying sizes; and
`(C) fire departments located in urban, suburban, and rural
communities.
`(9) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES FOR FIREFIGHTING VEHICLES- The Director
shall ensure that not more than 25 percent of the assistance made available
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year is used for the use described in
paragraph (3)(G).
`(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS-
`(1) IN GENERAL- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Director
such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.
`(2) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS- Of the amounts made available
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Director may use not more than 10
percent for the administrative costs of carrying out this section.'.
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