I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5048

To save lives, prevent injuries, and protect property through improved State

and local fire safety education.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. WELDON, and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space,

and Technology

A BILL

To save lives, prevent injuries, and protect property through

improved State and local fire safety education.

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 ‘‘Fire Safety Education

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Nation’s fire losses are estimated at

9 5,000 deaths and 29,000 injuries annually, produc10 ing an economic loss conservatively estimated at
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1 $10,000,000,000 a year plus more than

2 $1,000,000,000 a year in health care costs;

3 (2) sustained and targeted fire safety education

4 at the State and local levels, particularly in identifi5 able high-risk populations, produces dramatic results

6 in preventing fires, fire deaths, and dollar loss from

7 fire;

8 (3) in recent years, the Nation’s fire depart9 ments have seen their fire safety education budgets

10 cut dramatically and, in many cases, eliminated;

11 (4) there is a need to expand the availability of

12 State and local fire prevention programs and sup13 porting resources and materials to help State agen14 cies and local fire departments in carrying out effec15 tive public education;

16 (5) fire departments in other countries with

17 fewer fire deaths per capita than the United States

18 spend an average of 4–10 percent of their budgets

19 on fire prevention, versus less than 3 percent for

20 United States departments; and

21 (6) only by accurately collecting and analyzing

22 data on fire deaths, injuries and dollar loss can the

23 Nation’s fire departments pinpoint the populations

24 and regions where they most need to direct their
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1 educational efforts, thus leading to a more efficient

2 and effective use of resources.

3 SEC. 3. FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION.

4 (a) AWARDS.—The Administrator may enter into

5 contracts, cooperative agreements, or grants with eligible

6 entities to obtain and distribute at the State and local level

7 fire safety and prevention education programs and sup8 porting educational resources.

9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts received by an

10 entity under subsection (a)—

11 (1) not more than 25 percent may be used for

12 statewide fire safety and prevention programs;

13 (2) not more than 25 percent may be used to

14 implement new regional or local fire safety and pre15 vention programs targeting high risk populations;

16 and

17 (3) at least 50 percent shall be used for awards

18 of not more than $10,000 for existing regional or

19 local fire safety and prevention programs that have

20 been demonstrated to be effective in preventing fires,

21 fire deaths and injuries, and dollar losses from fire.

22 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION.

23 The Administrator may enter into contracts, coopera24 tive agreements, or grants with States for the purpose of

25 implementing the revised National Fire Incident Report-
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1 ing System, established under section 9 of the Federal

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

3 2208), to improve and enhance the collection and analysis

4 of fire data at the State and local levels.

5 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

6 Each eligible entity desiring a contract, cooperative

7 agreement, or grant under this Act shall submit an appli8 cation to the Administrator at such time, in such manner,

9 and accompanied by such information as the Adminis10 trator may reasonably require.

11 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND EVALUATION.

12 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR.—An en13 tity receiving funds under section 3 shall prepare and sub14 mit to the Administrator an annual report which contains

15 such information as the Administrator may require. At a

16 minimum, the report shall describe the program activities

17 undertaken with such funds, including—

18 (1) any program that has been developed di19 rectly or indirectly by the entity, and the target pop20 ulation of such program;

21 (2) support materials that have been obtained

22 and the method by which such materials are distrib23 uted; and

24 (3) any initiatives undertaken by the entity to

25 develop public-private partnerships to secure non-
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1 Federal support for the development and distribu2 tion of programs and material in furtherance of this

3 Act.

4 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall

5 prepare and submit to the Congress an annual report

6 which includes a description of the programs undertaken

7 and materials developed and distributed by entities receiv8 ing funds under section 3.

9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 (a) FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION.—For the purposes of

11 carrying out section 3 of this Act, there are authorized

12 to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

13 1996 and 1997, of which no more than $500,000 may be

14 spent in any fiscal year on administrative costs.

15 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—For the purposes of carry16 ing out section 4 of this Act, there are authorized to be

17 appropriated $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1995, of which no

18 more than $300,000 shall be spent on administrative

19 costs.

20 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

21 As used in this Act—

22 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad23 ministrator of the United States Fire Administra24 tion;
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1 (2) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means the office

2 of the State fire marshal for a State or an equiva3 lent State office having primary responsibility for

4 fire safety and prevention in the State;

5 (3) the term ‘‘fire safety and prevention edu6 cation programs’’ includes publications, audiovisual

7 presentations, and demonstrations; and

8 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the

9 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com10 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin

11 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mar12 iana Islands, and any other territory or possession

13 of the United States.

Æ