IV

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 413

Providing for the concurrence by the House, with an amendment, in the

amendment by the Senate to the bill H.R. 1727.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 1994

Mr. BOUCHER submitted the following resolution; which was considered under

suspension of rules and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Providing for the concurrence by the House, with an amendment, in the amendment by the Senate to the bill H.R.

1727.

1 Resolved, That, upon adoption of this resolution, the

2 bill (H.R. 1727) to establish a program of grants to States

3 for arson research, prevention, and control, and for other

4 purposes, with the Senate amendment thereto, shall be

5 considered to have been taken from the Speaker’s table,

6 and the same are hereby agreed to with an amendment

7 as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted

8 by the Senate, insert the following:
2

•HRES 413 ATH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arson Prevention Act

3 of 1994’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) arson is a serious and costly problem, and

7 is responsible for approximately 25 percent of all

8 fires in the United States;

9 (2) arson is a leading cause of fire deaths, ac10 counting for approximately 700 deaths annually in

11 the United States, and is the leading cause of prop12 erty damage due to fire in the United States;

13 (3) estimates of arson property losses are in the

14 range of $2,000,000,000 annually, or approximately

15 1 of every 4 dollars lost to fire;

16 (4) the incidence of arson in the United States

17 is seriously underreported, in part because of the

18 lack of adequate participation by local jurisdictions

19 in the National Fire Incident Reporting System

20 (NFIRS) and the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)

21 program;

22 (5) there is a need for expanded training pro23 grams for arson investigators;

24 (6) there is a need for improved programs de25 signed to enable volunteer firefighters to detect
3

•HRES 413 ATH

1 arson crimes and to preserve evidence vital to the in2 vestigation and prosecution of arson cases;

3 (7) according to the National Fire Protection

4 Association, of all the suspicious and incendiary fires

estimated to occur, only 1 5 ⁄3 are confirmed as arson;

6 and

7 (8) improved training of arson investigators will

8 increase the ability of fire departments to identify

9 suspicious and incendiary fires, and will result in in10 creased and more effective prosecution of arson

11 offenses.

12 SEC. 3. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.

13 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

14 is amended by inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2220)

15 the following new section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 25. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

18 ‘‘(1) ARSON.—The term ‘arson’ includes all in19 cendiary and suspicious fires.

20 ‘‘(2) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of21 fice of Fire Prevention and Arson Control of the

22 United States Fire Administration.

23 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Administrator, acting through

24 the Office, shall carry out a demonstration program under

25 which not more than 10 grant awards shall be made to
4

•HRES 413 ATH

1 States, or consortia of States, for programs relating to

2 arson research, prevention, and control.

3 ‘‘(c) GOALS.—In carrying out this section, the Ad4 ministrator shall award 2-year grants on a competitive,

5 merit basis to States, or consortia of States, for projects

6 that promote one or more of the following goals:

7 ‘‘(1) To improve the training by States leading

8 to professional certification of arson investigators, in

9 accordance with nationally recognized certification

10 standards.

11 ‘‘(2) To provide resources for the formation of

12 arson task forces or interagency organizational ar13 rangements involving police and fire departments

14 and other relevant local agencies, such as a State

15 arson bureau and the office of a fire marshal of a

16 State.

17 ‘‘(3) To combat fraud as a cause of arson and

18 to advance research at the State and local levels on

19 the significance and prevention of fraud as a motive

20 for setting fires.

21 ‘‘(4) To provide for the management of arson

22 squads, including—

23 ‘‘(A) training courses for fire departments

24 in arson case management, including standard-
5

•HRES 413 ATH

1 ization of investigative techniques and reporting

2 methodology;

3 ‘‘(B) the preparation of arson unit man4 agement guides; and

5 ‘‘(C) the development and dissemination of

6 new public education materials relating to the

7 arson problem.

8 ‘‘(5) To combat civil unrest as a cause of arson

9 and to advance research at the State and local levels

10 on the prevention and control of arson linked to

11 urban disorders.

12 ‘‘(6) To combat juvenile arson, such as juvenile

13 fire-setter counseling programs and similar interven14 tion programs, and to advance research at the State

15 and local levels on the prevention of juvenile arson.

16 ‘‘(7) To combat drug-related arson and to ad17 vance research at the State and local levels on the

18 causes and prevention of drug-related arson.

19 ‘‘(8) To combat domestic violence as a cause of

20 arson and to advance research at the State and local

21 levels on the prevention of arson arising from do22 mestic violence.

23 ‘‘(9) To combat arson in rural areas and to im24 prove the capability of firefighters to identify and
6

•HRES 413 ATH

1 prevent arson initiated fires in rural areas and pub2 lic forests.

3 ‘‘(10) To improve the capability of firefighters

4 to identify and combat arson through expanded

5 training programs, including—

6 ‘‘(A) training courses at the State fire

7 academies; and

8 ‘‘(B) innovative courses developed with the

9 Academy and made available to volunteer fire10 fighters through regional delivery methods, in11 cluding teleconferencing and satellite delivered

12 television programs.

13 ‘‘(d) STRUCTURING OF APPLICATIONS.—The Admin14 istrator shall assist grant applicants in structuring their

15 applications so as to ensure that at least one grant is

16 awarded for each goal described in subsection (c).

17 ‘‘(e) STATE QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.—In order to

18 qualify for a grant under this section, a State, or consor19 tium of States, shall provide assurances adequate to the

20 Administrator that the State or consortium—

21 ‘‘(1) will obtain at least 25 percent of the cost

22 of programs funded by the grant, in cash or in kind,

23 from non-Federal sources;

24 ‘‘(2) will not as a result of receiving the grant

25 decrease the prior level of spending of funds of the
7

•HRES 413 ATH

1 State or consortium from non-Federal sources for

2 arson research, prevention, and control programs;

3 ‘‘(3) will use no more than 10 percent of funds

4 provided under the grant for administrative costs of

5 the programs; and

6 ‘‘(4) is making efforts to ensure that all local

7 jurisdictions will provide arson data to the National

8 Fire Incident Reporting System or the Uniform

9 Crime Reporting program.

10 ‘‘(f) EXTENSION.—A grant awarded under this sec11 tion may be extended for one or more additional periods,

12 at the discretion of the Administrator, subject to the avail13 ability of appropriations.

14 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator

15 shall provide technical assistance to States in carrying out

16 programs funded by grants under this section.

17 ‘‘(h) CONSULTATION AND COOPERATION.—In carry18 ing out this section, the Administrator shall consult and

19 cooperate with other Federal agencies to enhance program

20 effectiveness and avoid duplication of effort, including the

21 conduct of regular meetings initiated by the Administrator

22 with representatives of other Federal agencies concerned

23 with arson and concerned with efforts to develop a more

24 comprehensive profile of the magnitude of the national

25 arson problem.
8

•HRES 413 ATH

1 ‘‘(i) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 18 months after

2 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Adminis3 trator shall submit a report to Congress that—

4 ‘‘(1) identifies grants made under this section;

5 ‘‘(2) specifies the identity of grantees;

6 ‘‘(3) states the goals of each grant; and

7 ‘‘(4) contains a preliminary assessment of the

8 effectiveness of the grant program under this sec9 tion.

10 ‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after

11 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Adminis12 trator shall issue regulations to implement this section, in13 cluding procedures for grant applications.

14 ‘‘(k) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall di15 rectly administer the grant program required by this sec16 tion, and shall not enter into any contract under which

17 the grant program or any portion of the program will be

18 administered by another party.

19 ‘‘(l) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN MADE EQUIPMENT

20 AND PRODUCTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

22 Congress that any recipient of a grant under this

23 section should purchase, when available and cost-ef24 fective, American made equipment and products

25 when expending grant monies.
9

•HRES 413 ATH

1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—

2 In allocating grants under this section, the Adminis3 trator shall provide to each recipient a notice de4 scribing the statement made in paragraph (1) by the

5 Congress.’’.

6 SEC. 4. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER TRAINING.

7 Section 24(a)(2) of the Federal Fire Prevention and

8 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2220(a)(2)) is amended

9 by inserting before the semicolon the following: ‘‘, with

10 particular emphasis on the needs of volunteer firefighters

11 for improved and more widely available arson training

12 courses’’.

13 SEC. 5. CPR TRAINING.

14 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

15 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 32. CPR TRAINING.

17 ‘‘No funds shall be made available to a State or local

18 government under section 25 unless such government has

19 a policy to actively promote the training of its firefighters

20 in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.’’.

21 SEC. 6. FEDERAL EMPLOYEE HOUSING EXCEPTIONS.

22 Section 31(c)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and

23 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2227(c)(1)) is amended—
10

•HRES 413 ATH

1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘No Fed2 eral’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Except as other3 wise provided in this paragraph, no Federal’’; and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub5 paragraphs:

6 ‘‘(C) Housing covered by this paragraph that does

7 not have an adequate and reliable electrical system shall

8 not be subject to the requirement under subparagraph (A)

9 for protection by hard-wired smoke detectors, but shall be

10 protected by battery operated smoke detectors.

11 ‘‘(D) If funding has been programmed or designated

12 for the demolition of housing covered by this paragraph,

13 such housing shall not be subject to the fire protection

14 requirements of subparagraph (A), but shall be protected

15 by battery operated smoke detectors.’’.

16 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 Section 17 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Con18 trol Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216) is amended by adding

19 at the end the following new subsection:

20 ‘‘(h) In addition to any other amounts that are au21 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, there

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act—

23 ‘‘(1) $500,000 for fiscal year 1995 for basic re24 search on the development of an advanced course on

25 arson prevention;
11

•HRES 413 ATH

1 ‘‘(2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1996 for the ex2 pansion of arson investigator training programs at

3 the Academy under section 24 and at the Federal

4 Law Enforcement Training Center, or through re5 gional delivery sites;

6 ‘‘(3) $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995

7 and 1996 for carrying out section 25, except for sal8 aries and expenses for carrying out section 25; and

9 ‘‘(4) $250,000 for each of the fiscal years 1995

10 and 1996 for salaries and expenses for carrying out

11 section 25.’’.

12 SEC. 8. SUNSET.

13 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no

14 funds are authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year

15 after fiscal year 1996 for carrying out the programs for

16 which funds are authorized by this Act, or the amend17 ments made by this Act.

Æ