II 

Calendar No. 168 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 829 

[Report No. 115–128] 

To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants program, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire 

and Emergency Response grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 5 (legislative day, APRIL 4), 2017 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. DONNELLY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. LEAHY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

JULY 11, 2017 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants program, 

and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘AFG and SAFER Pro3 gram Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE TO FIRE5 FIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM AND THE FIRE 

6 PREVENTION AND SAFETY GRANTS PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) REPEAL OF SUNSET.—Section 33 of the Federal 

9 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93– 

10 498; 15 U.S.C. 2229) is amended by striking subsection 

11 (r). 

12 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub13 section (q)(1)(B) of such section is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN TRAINING UNDER

16 ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM.— 

17 Subsection (c)(3) of such section is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(N) To provide specialized training to 

20 firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical 

21 service workers, and other first responders to 

22 recognize individuals who have mental illness 

23 and how to properly intervene with individuals 

24 with mental illness, including strategies for 

25 verbal de-escalation of crisis.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE 

2 FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANT 

3 PROGRAM. 

4 (a) REPEAL OF SUNSET.—Section 34 of the Federal 

5 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93– 

6 498; 15 U.S.C. 2229a) is amended by striking subsection 

7 (k). 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub9 section (j)(1)(I) of such section is amended, in the matter 

10 before clause (i), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘2023’’. 

12 (c) MODIFICATION OF APPLICATION REQUIRE13 MENTS.—Subsection (b)(3)(B) of such section is amended 

14 by striking ‘‘of subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) and (F)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘of subsection (a)(1)(F)’’. 

16 (d) MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection 

17 (c)(2) of such section is amended by striking ‘‘prior to No18 vember 24, 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘prior to the date of the 

19 application for the grant’’. 

20 (e) MODIFICATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Sub21 section (d)(1)(B) of such section is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(E) or subsection (c)(2)’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(E), (c)(2), or (c)(4)’’. 

24 (f) REPEAL OF AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN USE OF

25 GRANT AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED TO ASSISTANCE TO

26 FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM.—Subsection (a)(1)(B) 


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1 of such section is amended by striking ‘‘and to provide’’ 

2 and all that follows through ‘‘of crises’’. 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘AFG and SAFER Pro5 gram Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE TO FIRE7 FIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM AND THE FIRE 

8 PREVENTION AND SAFETY GRANTS PRO9 GRAM. 

10 (a) REPEAL OF SUNSET.—Section 33 of the Federal 

11 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) 

12 is amended by striking subsection (r). 

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub14 section (q)(1)(B) of such section is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 

16 (c) AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN TRAINING UNDER

17 ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM.—Sub18 section (c)(3) of such section is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘(N) To provide specialized training to fire21 fighters, paramedics, emergency medical service 

22 workers, and other first responders to recognize 

23 individuals who have mental illness and how to 

24 properly intervene with individuals with mental 


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1 illness, including strategies for verbal de-esca2 lation of crisis.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE 

4 FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANT 

5 PROGRAM. 

6 (a) REPEAL OF SUNSET.—Section 34 of the Federal 

7 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229a) 

8 is amended by striking subsection (k). 

9 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub10 section (j)(1)(I) of such section is amended, in the matter 

11 before clause (i), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 

12 (c) MODIFICATION OF APPLICATION REQUIRE13 MENTS.—Subsection (b)(3)(B) of such section is amended 

14 by striking ‘‘of subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) and (F)’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘of subsection (a)(1)(F)’’. 

16 (d) MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION.—Subsection (c)(2) 

17 of such section is amended by striking ‘‘prior to November 

18 24, 2003’’ and inserting ‘‘prior to the date of the applica19 tion for the grant’’. 

20 (e) MODIFICATION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Sub21 section (d)(1)(B) of such section is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(E) or subsection (c)(2)’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(E), (c)(2), or (c)(4)’’. 

24 (f) REPEAL OF AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN USE OF

25 GRANT AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED TO ASSISTANCE TO FIREVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Jul 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S829.RS S829

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1 FIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM.—Subsection (a)(1)(B) of 

2 such section is amended by striking ‘‘and to provide’’ and 

3 all that follows through ‘‘of crises’’. 

4 (g) EXPANSION OF STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE

5 AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM.—Sub6 section (a)(1)(B) of such section, as amended by subsection 

7 (f), is further amended by inserting ‘‘or to change the status 

8 of part-time or paid-on-call (as defined in section 33(a)) 

9 firefighters to full-time firefighters’’ after ‘‘firefighters’’. 

10 SEC. 4. TRAINING ON ADMINISTRATION OF FIRE GRANT 

11 PROGRAMS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 

13 Emergency Management Agency, acting through the Ad14 ministrator of the United States Fire Administration, may 

15 develop and make widely available an electronic, online 

16 training course for members of the fire and emergency re17 sponse community on matters relating to the administra18 tion of grants under sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire 

19 Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229 and 

20 2229a). 

21 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator of the Fed22 eral Emergency Management Agency shall ensure that any 

23 training developed and made available under subsection (a) 

24 is— 


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1 (1) tailored to the financial and time constraints 

2 of members of the fire and emergency response com3 munity; and 

4 (2) accessible to all individuals in the career, 

5 combination, paid-on-call, and volunteer fire and 

6 emergency response community. 

7 SEC. 5. FRAMEWORK FOR OVERSIGHT AND MONITORING OF 

8 THE ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS 

9 PROGRAM, THE FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFE10 TY GRANTS PROGRAM, AND THE STAFFING 

11 FOR ADEQUATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY RE12 SPONSE GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) FRAMEWORK.—Not later than 90 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

15 Federal Emergency Management Agency, acting through 

16 the Administrator of the United States Fire Administra17 tion, shall develop and implement a grant monitoring and 

18 oversight framework to mitigate and minimize risks of 

19 fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement relating to the 

20 grants programs under sections 33 and 34 of the Federal 

21 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229 

22 and 2229a). 

23 (b) ELEMENTS.—The framework required by sub24 section (a) shall include the following: 


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1 (1) Developing standardized guidance and train2 ing for all participants in the grant programs de3 scribed in subsection (a). 

4 (2) Conduct of regular risk assessments. 

5 (3) Conducting desk reviews and site visits. 

6 (4) Enforcement actions to recoup potential ques7 tionable costs of grant recipients. 

8 (5) Such other oversight and monitoring tools as 

9 the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Manage10 ment Agency considers necessary to mitigate and 

11 minimize fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement 

12 relating to the grant programs described in subsection 

13 (a). 


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Calendar No. 168 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 829 

[Report No. 115–128] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters 

and for other purposes. Fire and Emergency Response grant program, Grants program, and the Staffing for Adequate Grants program, the Fire Prevention and Safety 

JULY 11, 2017 

Reported with an amendment 


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