Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act

Summary: Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize the FFEMA Director to make grants on a competitive basis for protecting the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards. Requires: (1) ten percent non-Federal matching funds; (2) each grantee to report to the Director on grant uses; and (3) grants to be made to a variety of recipients, including paid and volunteer firefighters and urban, suburban,  and rural fire departments.
Authorizes appropriations.

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.''.