I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2683

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

to campus buildings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2003

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. LANGEVIN, 

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WALSH, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. OWENS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

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 2003’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY OF CAMPUS BUILD2 INGS. 

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

4 U.S.C. 1092) is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (a)(1)—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub7 paragraph (N); 

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

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

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

11 subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(P) the fire safety report prepared by the in13 stitution pursuant to subsection (h).’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 section: 

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

17 MEASURES.—

18 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL FIRE SAFETY REPORTS RE19 QUIRED.—Each eligible institution participating in 

20 any program under this title shall, beginning in aca21 demic year 2004–2005, and each year thereafter, 

22 prepare, publish, and distribute, through appropriate 

23 publications (including the Internet) or mailings, to 

24 all current students and employees, and to any ap25 plicant for enrollment or employment upon request, 

26 an annual fire safety report containing 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 stu4 dent housing facility of the institution, and 

5 whether or not that facility is equipped with a 

6 fire sprinkler system or other fire safety sys7 tems, or both. 

8 ‘‘(B) Statistics concerning the occurrence 

9 on campus, during the 2 preceding academic 

10 years for which data are available, of fires and 

11 false fire alarms in student housing facilities. 

12 ‘‘(C) For each such occurrence, a state13 ment of the human injuries or deaths and the 

14 structural damage caused by the occurrence. 

15 ‘‘(D) Information regarding fire alarms, 

16 smoke alarms, the presence of adequate fire es17 cape planning or protocols (as defined in local 

18 fire codes), rules on portable electrical appli19 ances, smoking and open flames (such as can20 dles), regular mandatory supervised fire drills, 

21 and planned and future improvement in fire 

22 safety. 

23 ‘‘(E) Information about fire safety edu24 cation and training provided to students, fac25 ulty, and staff, including the percentage of stu-
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1 dents, faculty, and staff who have participated 

2 in such education and training. 

3 ‘‘(F) Information concerning fire safety at 

4 student fraternities and sororities that are rec5 ognized by the institution, including—

6 ‘‘(i) information reported to the insti7 tution under paragraph (4); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) a statement concerning whether 

9 and how the institution works with recog10 nized student fraternities and sororities to 

11 make building and property owned or con12 trolled by such fraternities or sororities 

13 more fire safe. 

14 ‘‘(2) CURRENT INFORMATION TO CAMPUS COM15 MUNITY.—Each institution participating in any pro16 gram under this title shall make, keep, and maintain 

17 a log, written in a form that can be easily under18 stood, recording all fires reported to local fire de19 partments, including the nature, date, time, and 

20 general location of each fire and all false fire alarms. 

21 All entries that are required pursuant to this para22 graph shall, except where disclosure of such informa23 tion is prohibited by law, be open to public inspec24 tion, and each such institution shall make periodic 

25 reports to the campus community on such fires and 
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1 false fire alarms in a manner that will aid the pre2 vention of similar occurrences. 

3 ‘‘(3) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—On an annual 

4 basis, each institution participating in any program 

5 under this title shall submit to the Secretary a copy 

6 of the statistics required to be made available under 

7 paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary shall—

8 ‘‘(A) review such statistics; 

9 ‘‘(B) make copies of the statistics sub10 mitted to the Secretary available to the public; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(C) in coordination with nationally recog13 nized fire organizations and representatives of 

14 institutions of higher education, identify exem15 plary fire safety policies, procedures, and prac16 tices and disseminate information concerning 

17 those policies, procedures, and practices that 

18 have proven effective in the reduction of cam19 pus fires. 

20 ‘‘(4) FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES.—Each 

21 institution participating in a program under this 

22 title shall request each fraternity and sorority that 

23 is recognized by the institution to collect and report 

24 to the institution the information described in sub25 paragraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1), as ap-
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1 plied to the fraternity or sorority, for each building 

2 and property owned or controlled by the fraternity 

3 or sorority, respectively. 

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

5 this subsection shall be construed to authorize the 

6 Secretary to require particular policies, procedures, 

7 or practices by institutions of higher education with 

8 respect to fire safety. 

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

10 term ‘campus’ has the meaning provided in sub11 section (f)(6).’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS BY SECRETARY OF EDU13 CATION. 

14 Within two years after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary of Education shall prepare and submit 

16 to the Congress a report containing—

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

18 safety systems in college and university facilities, in19 cluding sprinkler systems; 

20 (2) an analysis of the appropriate fire safety 

21 standards to apply to these facilities, which the Sec22 retary shall prepare after consultation with such fire 

23 safety experts, representatives of institutions of 

24 higher education, and other Federal agencies as the 
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1 Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, considers 

2 appropriate; 

3 (3) an estimate of the cost of bringing all non4 conforming dormitories and other campus buildings 

5 up to current new building codes; and 

6 (4) recommendations from the Secretary con7 cerning the best means of meeting fire safety stand8 ards in all college facilities, including recommenda9 tions for methods to fund such cost.

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