II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2493 

To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with respect 

to campus buildings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2006 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with respect to campus buildings, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Campus Fire Safety 

5 Right-to-Know Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY OF CAMPUS BUILD7 INGS. 

8 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 1092) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub3 paragraph (N); 

4 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

5 subparagraph (O) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

7 subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(P) the fire safety report prepared by the in9 stitution pursuant to subsection (h).’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(h) DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS AND

13 MEASURES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL FIRE SAFETY REPORTS RE15 QUIRED.—Each institution participating in any pro16 gram under this title shall, beginning in the first 

17 academic year that begins after the date of enact18 ment of the Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act 

19 of 2006, and each year thereafter, prepare, publish, 

20 and distribute, through appropriate publications (in21 cluding the Internet) or mailings, to all current stu22 dents and employees, and to any applicant for en23 rollment or employment upon request, an annual fire 

24 safety report. Such reports shall contain at least the 


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1 following information with respect to the campus fire 

2 safety practices and standards of that institution: 

3 ‘‘(A) A statement that identifies each insti4 tution owned or controlled student housing fa5 cility, and whether or not such facility is 

6 equipped with a fire sprinkler system or other 

7 fire safety system, or has fire escape planning 

8 or protocols. 

9 ‘‘(B) Statistics for each such facility con10 cerning the occurrence of fires and false alarms 

11 in such facility, during the 2 preceding calendar 

12 years for which data are available. 

13 ‘‘(C) For each such occurrence in each 

14 such facility, a summary of the human injuries 

15 or deaths, structural or property damage, or 

16 combination thereof. 

17 ‘‘(D) Information regarding rules on port18 able electrical appliances, smoking and open 

19 flames (such as candles), regular mandatory su20 pervised fire drills, and planned and future im21 provements in fire safety. 

22 ‘‘(E) Information about fire safety edu23 cation and training provided to students, fac24 ulty, and staff. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Information concerning fire safety at 

2 any housing facility owned or controlled by a 

3 fraternity, sorority, or student group that is 

4 recognized by the institution, including— 

5 ‘‘(i) information reported to the insti6 tution under paragraph (4); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a statement concerning whether 

8 and how the institution works with recog9 nized student fraternities and sororities, 

10 and other recognized student groups own11 ing or controlling housing facilities, to 

12 make building and property owned or con13 trolled by such fraternities, sororities, and 

14 groups more fire safe. 

15 ‘‘(2) FRATERNITIES, SORORITIES, AND OTHER

16 GROUPS.—Each institution participating in a pro17 gram under this title shall request each fraternity 

18 and sorority that is recognized by the institution, 

19 and any other student group that is recognized by 

20 the institution and that owns or controls housing fa21 cilities, to collect and report to the institution the in22 formation described in subparagraphs (A) through 

23 (E) of paragraph (1), as applied to the fraternity, 

24 sorority, or recognized student group, respectively, 


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1 for each building and property owned or controlled 

2 by the fraternity, sorority, or group, respectively. 

3 ‘‘(3) CURRENT INFORMATION TO CAMPUS COM4 MUNITY.—Each institution participating in any pro5 gram under this title shall make, keep, and maintain 

6 a log, written in a form that can be easily under7 stood, recording all on-campus fires, including the 

8 nature, date, time, and general location of each fire 

9 and all false fire alarms. All entries that are re10 quired pursuant to this paragraph shall, except 

11 where disclosure of such information is prohibited by 

12 law, be open to public inspection, and each such in13 stitution shall make annual reports to the campus 

14 community on such fires and false fire alarms in a 

15 manner that will aid the prevention of similar occur16 rences. 

17 ‘‘(4) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—On an an18 nual basis, each institution participating in any pro19 gram under this title shall submit to the Secretary 

20 a copy of the statistics required to be made available 

21 under paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) review such statistics; 

23 ‘‘(B) make copies of the statistics sub24 mitted to the Secretary available to the public; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) in coordination with nationally recog2 nized fire organizations and representatives of 

3 institutions of higher education, identify exem4 plary fire safety policies, procedures, and prac5 tices and disseminate information concerning 

6 those policies, procedures, and practices that 

7 have proven effective in the reduction of cam8 pus fires. 

9 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

10 this subsection shall be construed to authorize the 

11 Secretary to require particular policies, procedures, 

12 or practices by institutions of higher education with 

13 respect to fire safety. 

14 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

15 term ‘campus’ has the meaning provided in sub16 section (f)(6).’’. 

17 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS BY THE SECRETARY OF 

18 EDUCATION. 

19 (a) DEFINITION OF FACILITY.—In this section the 

20 term ‘‘facility’’ means a student housing facility owned or 

21 controlled by an institution of higher education, or a hous22 ing facility owned or controlled by a fraternity, sorority, 

23 or student group that is recognized by the institution. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—Within two years after the date of en2 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall pre3 pare and submit to the Congress a report containing— 

4 (1) an analysis of the current status of fire 

5 safety systems in facilities of institutions partici6 pating in programs under title IV of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), in8 cluding sprinkler systems; 

9 (2) an analysis of the appropriate fire safety 

10 standards to apply to such facilities, which the Sec11 retary shall prepare after consultation with such fire 

12 safety experts, representatives of institutions of 

13 higher education, and other Federal agencies as the 

14 Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, considers 

15 appropriate; 

16 (3) an estimate of the cost of bringing all non17 conforming such facilities up to current building 

18 codes; and 

19 (4) recommendations from the Secretary con20 cerning the best means of meeting fire safety stand21 ards in all such facilities, including recommendations 

22 for methods to fund such cost. 

Æ 


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