IB 

Union Calendar No. 135

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2692

[Report No. 108–245] 

To authorize appropriations for activities under the Federal Fire Prevention 

and Control Act of 1974 for fiscal years 2004 through 2006, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2003

Mr. SMITH of Michigan (for himself and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Science 

AUGUST 4, 2003

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 10, 2003] 

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for activities under the Federal 

Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 for fiscal years 

2004 through 2006, 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,
2

•HR 2692 RH 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Fire Ad3 ministration Authorization Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES FIRE ADMINISTRATOR. 

5 Notwithstanding section 1513 of the Homeland Secu6 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 553), the Administrator of the 

7 United States Fire Administration shall continue to be ap8 pointed and compensated as provided under section 5(b) of 

9 the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 

10 U.S.C. 2204(b)). 

11 SEC. 3. NATIONAL RESIDENTIAL FIRE SPRINKLER STRAT12 EGY. 

13 Section 30 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control 

14 Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2226) is amended—

15 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

16 ‘‘The Director, acting’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL RESIDENTIAL FIRE SPRINKLER

20 STRATEGY.—The Administrator shall develop and imple21 ment a strategy for promoting the installation and use of 

22 residential fire sprinklers. The strategy shall include—

23 ‘‘(1) advocacy and informational support to rel24 evant stakeholders, including builders, insurers, and 

25 State and local decisionmakers; 
3

•HR 2692 RH 

1 ‘‘(2) promotion of residential sprinklers in resi2 dences supported by the Federal Government; 

3 ‘‘(3) a particular focus on residences—

4 ‘‘(A) at high risk to fire hazards; and 

5 ‘‘(B) with occupants at high risk to fire 

6 hazards, such as senior citizens and persons with 

7 disabilities; and 

8 ‘‘(4) a particular focus on localized fire suppres9 sion in high-risk areas of residences.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR TRAINING TO FIGHT MARITIME 

11 FIRES. 

12 Subsection (b)(3)(B) of the first section 33 of the Fed13 eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 

14 2229(b)(3)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘maritime fire15 fighting,’’ after ‘‘arson prevention and detection,’’. 

16 SEC. 5. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE GRANTS PROGRAM. 

17 The first section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

18 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears 

20 and inserting ‘‘Administrator’’; 

21 (2) by amending subsection (b)(2) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Ad24 ministrator shall establish specific criteria for the se25 lection of recipients of assistance under this section 
4

•HR 2692 RH 

1 and shall provide grant-writing assistance to appli2 cants.’’; and 

3 (3) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ‘‘operate the 

4 office established under subsection (b)(2) and’’. 

5 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 Section 17(g)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

7 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216(g)(1)) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘to carry out the purposes’’ and all that follows 

9 through the end of subparagraph (K) and inserting ‘‘to the 

10 Administrator to carry out the purposes of this Act, other 

11 than the firefighter assistance program under section 33—

12 ‘‘(A) $58,928,000 for fiscal year 2004; 

13 ‘‘(B) $60,700,000 for fiscal year 2005; and 

14 ‘‘(C) $62,520,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. COURSES AND TRAINING ASSISTANCE. 

16 Section 7(l) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Con17 trol Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(l)) is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following: ‘‘The Superintendent shall offer, 

19 at the Academy and at other sites, courses and training 

20 assistance as necessary to accommodate all geographic re21 gions and needs of career and volunteer firefighters.’’. 

22 SEC. 8. NEW FIREFIGHTING TECHNOLOGY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the Federal Fire Pre24 vention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2207) is 

25 amended—
5

•HR 2692 RH 

1 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection 

2 (f); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(e) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to, or as part of, 

7 the program conducted under subsection (a), the Ad8 ministrator, in consultation with the National Insti9 tute of Standards and Technology, the Inter-Agency 

10 Board for Equipment Standardization and Inter11 Operability, national voluntary consensus standards 

12 development organizations, interested Federal, State, 

13 and local agencies, and other interested parties, 

14 shall—

15 ‘‘(A) develop new, and utilize existing, 

16 measurement techniques and testing methodolo17 gies for evaluating new firefighting technologies, 

18 including—

19 ‘‘(i) personal protection equipment; 

20 ‘‘(ii) devices for advance warning of 

21 extreme hazard; 

22 ‘‘(iii) equipment for enhanced vision; 

23 ‘‘(iv) devices to locate victims, fire24 fighters, and other rescue personnel in 

25 above-ground and below-ground structures;
6

•HR 2692 RH 

1 ‘‘(v) equipment and methods to provide 

2 information for incident command, includ3 ing the monitoring and reporting of indi4 vidual personnel welfare; 

5 ‘‘(vi) equipment and methods for train6 ing, especially for virtual reality training; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(vii) robotics and other remote-con9 trolled devices; 

10 ‘‘(B) evaluate the compatibility of new 

11 equipment and technology with existing fire12 fighting technology; and 

13 ‘‘(C) support the development of new vol14 untary consensus standards through national 

15 voluntary consensus standards organizations for 

16 new firefighting technologies based on techniques 

17 and methodologies described in subparagraph 

18 (A).

19 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR NEW EQUIPMENT.—(A) 

20 The Administrator shall, by regulation, require that 

21 new equipment or systems purchased through the as22 sistance program established by section 33 meet or ex23 ceed applicable voluntary consensus standards for 

24 such equipment or systems for which applicable vol25 untary consensus standards have been established. The 
7

•HR 2692 RH 

1 Administrator may waive the requirement under this 

2 subparagraph with respect to specific standards. 

3 ‘‘(B) If an applicant for a grant under section 

4 33 proposes to purchase, with assistance provided 

5 under the grant, new equipment or systems that do 

6 not meet or exceed applicable voluntary consensus 

7 standards, the applicant shall include in the applica8 tion an explanation of why such equipment or sys9 tems will serve the needs of the applicant better than 

10 equipment or systems that do meet or exceed such 

11 standards. 

12 ‘‘(C) In making a determination whether or not 

13 to waive the requirement under subparagraph (A) 

14 with respect to a specific standard, the Administrator 

15 shall, to the greatest extent practicable—

16 ‘‘(i) consult with grant applicants and 

17 other members of the fire services regarding the 

18 impact on fire departments of the requirement to 

19 meet or exceed the specific standard; 

20 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration the explanation 

21 provided by the applicant under subparagraph 

22 (B); and 

23 ‘‘(iii) seek to minimize the impact of the re24 quirement to meet or exceed the specific standard 
8

•HR 2692 RH 

1 on the applicant, particularly if meeting the 

2 standard would impose additional costs. 

3 ‘‘(D) Applicants that apply for a grant under 

4 the terms of subparagraph (B) may include a second 

5 grant request in the application to be considered by 

6 the Administrator in the event that the Administrator 

7 does not approve the primary grant request on the 

8 grounds of the equipment not meeting applicable vol9 untary consensus standards.’’. 

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 17 

11 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 

12 U.S.C. 2216) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY.—In addi14 tion to sums otherwise authorized under this Act, there are 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry 

16 out section 8(e)—

17 ‘‘(1) $2,200,000 for fiscal year 2004; 

18 ‘‘(2) $2,250,000 for fiscal year 2005; and 

19 ‘‘(3) $2,300,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’. 

20 SEC. 9. COORDINATION OF RESPONSE TO NATIONAL EMER21 GENCY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10 of the Federal Fire Pre23 vention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2209) is 

24 amended—
9

•HR 2692 RH 

1 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection 

2 (c); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(b) MUTUAL AID SYSTEMS.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, after 

7 consultation with the Director of the Federal Emer8 gency Management Agency, shall provide technical as9 sistance and training to State and local fire service 

10 officials to establish nationwide and State mutual aid 

11 systems for dealing with national emergencies that—

12 ‘‘(A) include threat assessment and equip13 ment deployment strategies; 

14 ‘‘(B) include means of collecting asset and 

15 resource information to provide accurate and 

16 timely data for regional deployment; and 

17 ‘‘(C) are consistent with the Federal Emer18 gency Management Agency’s Federal Response 

19 Plan. 

20 ‘‘(2) MODEL MUTUAL AID PLANS.—The Adminis21 trator, in consultation with the Director of the Fed22 eral Emergency Management Agency, shall develop 

23 and make available to State and local fire service offi24 cials model mutual aid plans for both intrastate and 

25 interstate assistance.’’.
10

•HR 2692 RH 

1 (b) REPORT ON STRATEGIC NEEDS.—Within 90 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

3 of the United States Fire Administration shall report to 

4 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans5 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

6 Science on the need for a strategy concerning deployment 

7 of volunteers and emergency response personnel (as defined 

8 in section 6 of the Firefighters’ Safety Study Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 2223e), including a national credentialing system, in the 

10 event of a national emergency. 

11 (c) UPDATE OF FEDERAL RESPONSE PLAN.—Within 

12 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Direc13 tor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall—

14 (1) revise that Agency’s Federal Response Plan 

15 to incorporate plans for responding to terrorist at16 tacks, particularly in urban areas, including fire de17 tection and suppression and related emergency serv18 ices; and 

19 (2) transmit a report to the Senate Committee 

20 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 

21 House of Representatives Committee on Science de22 scribing the action taken to comply with paragraph 

23 (1). 
11

•HR 2692 RH 

1 SEC. 10. TRAINING. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(d)(1) of the Federal Fire 

3 Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(d)(1)) 

4 is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in sub6 paragraph (E); 

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub8 paragraph (N); and 

9 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(F) strategies for building collapse rescue; 

12 ‘‘(G) the use of technology in response to 

13 fires, including terrorist incidents and other na14 tional emergencies; 

15 ‘‘(H) response, tactics, and strategies for 

16 dealing with terrorist-caused national catas17 trophes; 

18 ‘‘(I) use of and familiarity with the Federal 

19 Emergency Management Agency’s Federal Re20 sponse Plan; 

21 ‘‘(J) leadership and strategic skills, includ22 ing integrated management systems operations 

23 and integrated response; 

24 ‘‘(K) applying new technology and devel25 oping strategies and tactics for fighting forest 

26 fires; 
12

•HR 2692 RH 

1 ‘‘(L) integrating terrorism response agencies 

2 into the national terrorism incident response 

3 system; 

4 ‘‘(M) response tactics and strategies for 

5 fighting fires at United States ports, including 

6 fires on the water and aboard vessels; and’’. 

7 (b) CONSULTATION ON FIRE ACADEMY CLASSES.—The 

8 Superintendent of the National Fire Academy may consult 

9 with other Federal, State, and local agency officials in de10 veloping curricula for classes offered by the Academy. 

11 (c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS TO AVOID

12 DUPLICATION.—The Administrator of the United States 

13 Fire Administration shall, where appropriate, coordinate 

14 training provided under section 7(d)(1) of the Federal Fire 

15 Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(d)(1)) 

16 with the heads of other Federal agencies—

17 (1) to ensure that such training does not dupli18 cate existing courses available to fire service per19 sonnel; and 

20 (2) to establish a mechanism for eliminating du21 plicative training programs.

Union Calendar No. 135

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2692

[Report No. 108–245] 

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for activities under the 

Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 for fiscal years 2004 through 2006, and for other purposes. 

AUGUST 4, 2003

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

and ordered to be printed