108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1787

AN ACT

To remove civil liability barriers that discourage the

panies.donation of fire equipment to volunteer fire com-

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1787

AN ACT

To remove civil liability barriers that discourage the donation

of fire equipment to volunteer fire companies.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan Vol3 unteer Firefighter Assistance Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CIVIL LIABILITY BARRIERS THAT DIS5 COURAGE THE DONATION OF FIRE EQUIP6 MENT TO VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANIES.

7 (a) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—A person who donates

8 fire control or fire rescue equipment to a volunteer fire

9 company shall not be liable for civil damages under any

10 State or Federal law for personal injuries, property dam11 age or loss, or death proximately caused by the equipment

12 after the donation.

13 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not apply to

14 a person if—

15 (1) the person’s act or omission proximately

16 causing the injury, damage, loss, or death con17 stitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct;

18 or

19 (2) the person is the manufacturer of the fire

20 control or fire rescue equipment.

21 (c) PREEMPTION.—This Act preempts the laws of

22 any State to the extent that such laws are inconsistent

23 with this Act, except that notwithstanding subsection (b)

24 this Act shall not preempt any State law that provides

25 additional protection from liability for a person who do-
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1 nates fire control or fire rescue equipment to a volunteer

2 fire company.

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

4 (1) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes any

5 governmental or other entity.

6 (2) FIRE CONTROL OR RESCUE EQUIPMENT.—

7 The term ‘‘fire control or fire rescue equipment’’ in8 cludes any fire vehicle, fire fighting tool, communica9 tions equipment, protective gear, fire hose, or

10 breathing apparatus.

11 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the

12 several States, the District of Columbia, the Com13 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the

14 Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam,

15 the Virgin Islands, any other territory or possession

16 of the United States, and any political subdivision of

17 any such State, territory, or possession.

18 (4) VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY.—The term

19 ‘‘volunteer fire company’’ means an association of

20 individuals who provide fire protection and other

21 emergency services, where at least 30 percent of the

22 individuals receive little or no compensation com23 pared with an entry level full-time paid individual in

24 that association or in the nearest such association

25 with an entry level full-time paid individual.
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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act applies only to li2 ability for injury, damage, loss, or death caused by equip3 ment that, for purposes of subsection (a), is donated on

4 or after the date that is 30 days after the date of the

5 enactment of this Act.

6 SEC. 3. STATE-BY-STATE REVIEW OF DONATION OF FIRE7 FIGHTER EQUIPMENT.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General of the

9 United States shall conduct a State-by-State review of the

10 donation of firefighter equipment to volunteer firefighter

11 companies during the 5-year period ending on the date

12 of the enactment of this Act.

13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date

14 of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General of the

15 United States shall publish and submit to the Congress

16 a report on the results of the review conducted under sub17 section (a). The report shall include, for each State, the

18 most effective way to fund firefighter companies, whether

19 first responder funding is sufficient to respond to the Na20 tion’s needs, and the best method to ensure that the equip-
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1 ment donated to volunteer firefighter companies is in usa2 ble condition.

Passed the House of Representatives September 14,

2004.

Attest:

Clerk.