IB 

Union Calendar No. 191 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3791 

[Report No. 111–333, Part I] 

To amend sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control 

Act of 1974, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 13, 2009 

Mr. MITCHELL (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. HOYER, Mr. GORDON of 

Tennessee, Mr. WU, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 

ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. 

CARNAHAN, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. PETERS, Mr. HOLDEN, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. HIGGINS, Mrs. 

HALVORSON, Mr. ROSS, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. MCINTYRE, 

Mr. DELAHUNT, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. RICHARDSON, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. CUELLAR, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona, Ms. CLARKE, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, 

Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. 

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, and Mr. DOYLE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 

Reported with an amendment and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security for a period ending not later than November 7, 2009, for consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendments as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(i), rule X 

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

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. SPRATT, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. MURPHY of 

New York, Mrs. BIGGERT, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

WEINER, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. MASSA, Mr. 

NYE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. PIERLUISI, Ms. 

PINGREE of Maine, Ms. CHU, Mr. KING of New York, Mrs. EMERSON, 

Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. NADLER of New 

York, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. HARE, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. MURPHY of ConVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Nov 13, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3791.RH H3791

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necticut, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. KILDEE, 

Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, 

Mr. BOCCIERI, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. BOUCHER, 

Mr. SCHAUER, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. 

LATOURETTE, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FILNER, Mr. KRATOVIL, Mr. LARSON of 

Connecticut, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

HEINRICH, Mr. HODES, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MARIO

DIAZ-BALART of Florida, and Mr. CAO

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 

Committee on Homeland Security discharged; committed to the Committee of 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 13, 2009] 

A BILL 

To amend sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention 

and Control Act of 1974, and for other purposes. 


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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 Grants Reauthor5 ization Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM 

7 REAUTHORIZATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 33 of the Federal Fire Pre9 vention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is 

10 amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE. 

12 ‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this sec14 tion, the Director may— 

15 ‘‘(A) make grants on a competitive basis di16 rectly to fire departments of a State, in consulta17 tion with the chief executive of the State, for the 

18 purpose of protecting the health and safety of the 

19 public and firefighting personnel throughout the 

20 Nation against fire and fire-related hazards; 

21 ‘‘(B) make grants on a competitive basis di22 rectly to State fire training academies, in con23 sultation with the chief executive of the State, in 

24 accordance with paragraph (11)(C); 


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1 ‘‘(C) provide assistance for fire prevention 

2 and firefighter safety research and development 

3 programs and fire prevention or fire safety pro4 grams and activities in accordance with para5 graph (4); and 

6 ‘‘(D) provide assistance for volunteer, non7 fire service EMS and rescue organizations for the 

8 purpose of paragraph (3)(F). 

9 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Direc10 tor shall establish specific criteria for the selection of 

11 recipients of assistance under this section and shall 

12 provide grant-writing assistance to applicants. 

13 ‘‘(3) USE OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT

14 FUNDS.—The Director may make a grant under 

15 paragraph (1)(A) only if the applicant for the grant 

16 agrees to use the grant funds for one or more of the 

17 following purposes: 

18 ‘‘(A) To hire additional firefighting per19 sonnel. 

20 ‘‘(B) To train firefighting personnel in fire21 fighting, emergency medical services and other 

22 emergency response (including response to a ter23 rorism incident or use of a weapon of mass de24 struction), arson prevention and detection, mari25 time firefighting, or the handling of hazardous 


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1 materials or to train firefighting personnel to 

2 provide any of the training described in this sub3 paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(C) To fund the creation of rapid interven5 tion teams to protect firefighting personnel at the 

6 scenes of fires and other emergencies. 

7 ‘‘(D) To certify fire and building inspectors 

8 employed by a fire department or serving as a 

9 volunteer building inspector with a fire depart10 ment. 

11 ‘‘(E) To establish wellness and fitness pro12 grams for firefighting personnel to ensure that 

13 the firefighting personnel can carry out their du14 ties, including programs dedicated to raising 

15 awareness of, and prevention of, job-related men16 tal health issues. 

17 ‘‘(F) To fund emergency medical services 

18 provided by fire departments and volunteer, non19 fire service EMS and rescue organizations. 

20 ‘‘(G) To acquire additional firefighting ve21 hicles, including fire trucks. 

22 ‘‘(H) To acquire additional firefighting 

23 equipment, including equipment for communica24 tions, monitoring, and response to a terrorism 

25 incident or use of a weapon of mass destruction. 


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1 ‘‘(I) To acquire personal protective equip2 ment required for firefighting personnel by the 

3 Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

4 and other personal protective equipment for fire5 fighting personnel, including protective equip6 ment to respond to a terrorism incident or the 

7 use of a weapon of mass destruction. 

8 ‘‘(J) To modify fire stations, fire training 

9 facilities, and other facilities to protect the health 

10 and safety of firefighting personnel. 

11 ‘‘(K) To enforce fire codes and standards. 

12 ‘‘(L) To fund fire prevention programs. 

13 ‘‘(M) To educate the public about arson pre14 vention and detection. 

15 ‘‘(N) To provide incentives for the recruit16 ment and retention of volunteer firefighting per17 sonnel for volunteer firefighting departments and 

18 other firefighting departments that utilize volun19 teers. 

20 ‘‘(4) FIRE PREVENTION AND FIREFIGHTER SAFE21 TY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, 

23 the Director shall use not less than 10 percent of 

24 the funds made available under subsection (e)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to make grants to fire departments 

2 for the purpose described in paragraph 

3 (3)(L); 

4 ‘‘(ii) to make grants to, or enter into 

5 contracts or cooperative agreements with, 

6 national, State, local, or community orga7 nizations that are not fire departments 

8 but— 

9 ‘‘(I) that are recognized for their 

10 experience and expertise with respect to 

11 fire prevention or fire safety programs 

12 and activities and that partner with 

13 fire departments, for the purpose of 

14 carrying out such programs and ac15 tivities; 

16 ‘‘(II) engage in fire- and life safe17 ty-related activities as a primary pur18 pose or function, for the purpose of 

19 carrying out fire prevention or fire 

20 safety programs and activities; or 

21 ‘‘(III) that are recognized for their 

22 experience and expertise with respect to 

23 firefighter research and development 

24 programs, for the purpose of carrying 

25 out research on fire prevention or fire 


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1 safety programs and activities or to 

2 improve firefighter health and life safe3 ty; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) if the Director determines that it 

5 is necessary, to make grants or enter into 

6 contracts in accordance with subsection (c). 

7 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In selecting organizations 

8 described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to receive as9 sistance under this paragraph, the Director shall 

10 give priority to organizations that focus on pre11 vention of injuries to high risk groups from fire, 

12 as well as research programs that demonstrate 

13 the potential to improve firefighter safety. 

14 ‘‘(C) GRANT LIMITATION.—A grant under 

15 this paragraph shall not exceed $1,500,000 for a 

16 fiscal year. 

17 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION.—None of the funds made 

18 available under this paragraph may be provided 

19 to the Association of Community Organizations 

20 for Reform Now (ACORN) or any of its affili21 ates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations. 

22 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—The Director may provide 

23 assistance to a fire department or organization (in24 cluding a State fire training academy) under this 

25 subsection only if the fire department or organization 


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1 seeking the assistance submits to the Director an ap2 plication that meets the following requirements: 

3 ‘‘(A) FORM.—The application shall be in 

4 such form as the Director may require. 

5 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION.—The application shall 

6 include the following information: 

7 ‘‘(i) Information that demonstrates the 

8 financial need of the applicant for the as9 sistance for which applied. 

10 ‘‘(ii) An analysis of the costs and bene11 fits, with respect to public safety, of the use 

12 of the assistance. 

13 ‘‘(iii) An agreement to provide infor14 mation to the national fire incident report15 ing system for the period covered by the as16 sistance. 

17 ‘‘(iv) A list of other sources of Federal 

18 funding received by the applicant. 

19 ‘‘(v) Any other information that the 

20 Director may require. 

21 ‘‘(C) UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION.—The Di22 rector, in coordination with the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security, shall use the list provided 

24 under subparagraph (B)(iv) to prevent the un25 necessary duplication of grant funds. 


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1 ‘‘(6) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara3 graphs (B) and (C) and paragraph (8), the Di4 rector may provide assistance under this sub5 section only if the applicant for such assistance 

6 agrees to match 10 percent of such assistance for 

7 any fiscal year with an equal amount of non8 Federal funds. 

9 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL COMMUNITY

10 ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case of an applicant 

11 whose personnel serve jurisdictions of 20,000 or 

12 fewer residents, the percent applied under the 

13 matching requirement of subparagraph (A) shall 

14 be 5 percent. 

15 ‘‘(C) FIRE PREVENTION AND FIREFIGHTER

16 SAFETY GRANTS EXCEPTION.—There shall be no 

17 matching requirement for a grant described in 

18 paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(7) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES.—Subject 

20 to paragraph (8), the Director may provide assistance 

21 under this subsection only if the applicant for the as22 sistance agrees to maintain in the fiscal year for 

23 which the assistance will be received the applicant’s 

24 aggregate expenditures for the uses described in para25 graph (3) or (4) at or above 80 percent of the average 


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1 level of such expenditures in the 2 fiscal years pre2 ceding the fiscal year for which the assistance will be 

3 received. 

4 ‘‘(8) ECONOMIC HARDSHIP WAIVER.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In exceptional cir6 cumstances, the Director may waive or reduce 

7 the matching requirement under paragraph (6) 

8 and the maintenance of expenditures require9 ment under paragraph (7) for applicants facing 

10 demonstrated economic hardship. 

11 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT.—The cri12 teria under which the Director may waive or re13 duce such requirements shall be developed in con14 sultation with individuals who are— 

15 ‘‘(i) recognized for expertise in fire16 fighting, emergency medical services pro17 vided by fire services, or the economic af18 fairs of State and local governments; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) members of national fire service 

20 organizations or national organizations 

21 representing the interests of State and local 

22 governments. 

23 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director 

24 shall make the criteria developed under subpara25 graph (B) publicly available. 


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1 ‘‘(9) VARIETY OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT RE2 CIPIENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made 

4 available under subsection (e), the Director shall 

5 ensure that grants under paragraph (1)(A) for a 

6 fiscal year are allocated, to the extent that there 

7 are eligible applicants to carry out the activities 

8 under paragraph (3), as follows: 

9 ‘‘(i) 25 percent shall be made available 

10 to career fire departments. 

11 ‘‘(ii) 25 percent shall be made avail12 able to volunteer fire departments. 

13 ‘‘(iii) 25 percent shall be made avail14 able to combination fire departments. 

15 ‘‘(B) EVALUATION CRITERIA.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In awarding 

17 grants under paragraph (1)(A), the Director 

18 shall, within each category of applicants 

19 under subparagraph (A), consider a broad 

20 range of factors important to the appli21 cant’s ability to respond to fires and related 

22 hazards, such as population served, geo23 graphic response area, hazard vulnerability, 

24 call volume, financial situation, and need 

25 for training or equipment. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) HIGH POPULATION AND INCIDENT

2 RESPONSE.—In considering such factors 

3 under clause (i), applicants serving areas 

4 with high population and with a high num5 ber of incidents requiring a response shall 

6 receive a higher level of consideration. 

7 ‘‘(C) REMAINDER.—Of the amounts made 

8 available under subsection (e) that are not allo9 cated for use and awarded under subparagraph 

10 (A) or designated for use under any other provi11 sion of this section, the Director shall provide for 

12 an open competition for grants among career fire 

13 departments, volunteer fire departments, and 

14 combination fire departments to carry out the 

15 activities under paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(10) REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.—The Director 

17 may provide assistance under this subsection only if 

18 the applicant for the assistance agrees to submit to 

19 the Director a report, including a description of how 

20 the assistance was used, with respect to each fiscal 

21 year for which the assistance was received. 

22 ‘‘(11) GRANT LIMITATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) RECIPIENT LIMITATIONS.—A grant re24 cipient under paragraph (1)(A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that serves a jurisdiction with 

2 100,000 people or less may not receive 

3 grants in excess of $1,000,000 for any fiscal 

4 year; 

5 ‘‘(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with 

6 more than 100,000 people but less than 

7 500,000 people may not receive grants in 

8 excess of $2,000,000 for any fiscal year; 

9 ‘‘(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with 

10 500,000 people or more but less than 

11 1,000,000 people may not receive grants in 

12 excess of $3,000,000 for any fiscal year; 

13 ‘‘(iv) that serves a jurisdiction with 

14 1,000,000 people or more but less than 

15 2,500,000 people may not receive grants in 

16 excess of $6,000,000 for any fiscal year; and 

17 ‘‘(v) that serves a jurisdiction with 

18 2,500,000 people or more may not receive 

19 grants in excess of $9,000,000 for any fiscal 

20 year. 

21 The Director may award grants in excess of the 

22 limitations provided in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), 

23 and (iv) if the Director determines that extraor24 dinary need for assistance by a jurisdiction war25 rants a waiver. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES FOR

2 FIREFIGHTING VEHICLES.—Not more than 25 

3 percent of the funds appropriated to provide 

4 grants under this section for a fiscal year may 

5 be used to assist grant recipients to purchase ve6 hicles, as authorized by paragraph (3)(G). 

7 ‘‘(C) STATE FIRE TRAINING ACADEMIES.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with 

9 clause (ii), the Director shall award not 

10 more than 3 percent of the amounts made 

11 available under subsection (e) for a fiscal 

12 year for grants under this subsection for 

13 State fire training academies. 

14 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The Director 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) award not more than 1 grant 

17 under this subparagraph per State in 

18 a fiscal year; 

19 ‘‘(II) limit the amount of a grant 

20 to a State fire training academy to less 

21 than or equal to$1,000,000 in each fis22 cal year; and 

23 ‘‘(III) ensure that any grant 

24 awarded to a State fire training acad25 emy shall be used for the purposes deVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Nov 13, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3791.RH H3791

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1 scribed in paragraphs 3(G), 3(H), or 

2 3(I). 

3 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS FOR

4 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.—The Director 

5 shall award not more than 2 percent of the 

6 amounts made available under subsection (e) for 

7 a fiscal year to volunteer, non-fire service EMS 

8 and rescue organizations for the purposes de9 scribed in paragraph (3)(F). 

10 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION OF SELECTION CRITERIA

11 TO GRANT APPLICATIONS FROM VOLUNTEER, 

12 NON-FIRE SERVICE EMS AND RESCUE ORGANIZA13 TIONS.—In reviewing applications submitted by 

14 volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue orga15 nizations, the Director shall consider the extent 

16 to which other sources of Federal funding are 

17 available to provide the assistance requested in 

18 such grant applications. 

19 ‘‘(F) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any grant amounts 

21 used to obtain training under this section 

22 shall be limited to training that complies 

23 with applicable national voluntary con24 sensus standards (if applicable national vol25 untary consensus standards have been estabVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Nov 13, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3791.RH H3791

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1 lished), unless a waiver has been granted 

2 under clause (ii). 

3 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER.— 

4 ‘‘(I) EXPLANATION FOR NON5 STANDARD TRAINING.—If an applicant 

6 for a grant seeks to use the assistance 

7 provided under the grant to obtain 

8 training that does not meet or exceed 

9 applicable voluntary consensus stand10 ards, the applicant shall include in the 

11 application an explanation of why 

12 such training will serve the needs of 

13 the applicant better than training that 

14 does meet or exceed such standards. 

15 ‘‘(II) PROCEDURES.—In making 

16 a determination whether or not to 

17 waive the requirement under clause (i) 

18 with respect to a specific standard, the 

19 Director shall, to the greatest extent 

20 practicable— 

21 ‘‘(aa) consult with other 

22 members of the fire services re23 garding the impact on fire depart24 ments of the requirement to meet 

25 or exceed the specific standard; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) take into consideration 

2 the explanation provided by the 

3 applicant under subclause (I); 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(cc) seek to minimize the 

6 impact of the requirement to meet 

7 or exceed the specific standard on 

8 the applicant, particularly if 

9 meeting the standard would im10 pose additional costs. 

11 ‘‘(III) ADDITIONAL REQUESTS.— 

12 Applicants that apply for a grant 

13 under the terms of subclause (I) may 

14 include a second grant request in the 

15 application to be considered by the Di16 rector in the event that the Director 

17 does not approve the primary grant re18 quest on the grounds of the training 

19 not meeting applicable voluntary con20 sensus standards. 

21 ‘‘(12) ELIGIBLE GRANTEE ON BEHALF OF ALAS22 KA NATIVE VILLAGES.—The Alaska Village Initiatives, 

23 a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of 

24 Alaska, shall be considered an eligible grantee for purVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Nov 13, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3791.RH H3791

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1 poses of receiving assistance under this section on be2 half of Alaska Native villages. 

3 ‘‘(13) ANNUAL MEETING.—The Director shall 

4 convene an annual meeting of individuals who are 

5 members of national fire service organizations and 

6 are recognized for expertise in firefighting or emer7 gency medical services provided by fire services, and 

8 who are not employees of the Federal Government, for 

9 the purpose of recommending criteria for awarding 

10 grants under this section for the next fiscal year and 

11 any necessary administrative changes to the grant 

12 program. 

13 ‘‘(14) GUIDELINES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, prior to 

15 making any grants under this section, the Direc16 tor shall publish in the Federal Register— 

17 ‘‘(i) guidelines that describe the process 

18 for applying for grants and the criteria for 

19 awarding grants; 

20 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of any differences 

21 between the guidelines and the recommenda22 tions made pursuant to paragraph (13); 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(iii) the criteria developed under 

25 paragraph (8) which the Director will use 


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1 to evaluate applicants for waivers from pro2 gram requirements. 

3 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT.—The cri4 teria for awarding grants under paragraph 

5 (1)(A) shall include the extent to which the grant 

6 would enhance the daily operations of the appli7 cant and the impact of such a grant on the pro8 tection of lives and property. 

9 ‘‘(15) PEER REVIEW.—The Director, after con10 sultation with national fire service organizations, 

11 shall appoint fire service personnel to conduct peer re12 view of applications received under paragraph (5). In 

13 making grants under this section, the Director shall 

14 consider the results of such peer review evaluations. 

15 ‘‘(16) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

16 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee 

17 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to activities 

18 under paragraphs (13) and (15). 

19 ‘‘(17) ACCOUNTING DETERMINATION.—Notwith20 standing any other provision of law, rule, regulation, 

21 or guidance, for purposes of receiving assistance 

22 under this section, equipment costs shall include all 

23 costs attributable to any design, purchase of compo24 nents, assembly, manufacture, and transportation of 

25 equipment not otherwise commercially available. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AUDITS.—A recipient of a grant under this sec2 tion shall be subject to audits to ensure that the grant pro3 ceeds are expended for the intended purposes and that the 

4 grant recipient complies with the requirements of para5 graphs (6) and (7) of subsection (a) unless the Director has 

6 granted a waiver under subsection (a)(8). 

7 ‘‘(c) FIRE SAFETY RESEARCH CENTERS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may make a 

9 grant under subsection (a)(4)(A)(iii) to an institution 

10 of higher education, a national fire service organiza11 tion, or a national fire safety organization to estab12 lish and operate a fire safety research center. 

13 ‘‘(2) OBJECTIVES.—A grant received under this 

14 subsection shall be used by such an institution or or15 ganization to advance significantly the Nation’s abil16 ity to reduce the number of fire-related deaths and in17 juries among firefighters and the general public 

18 through research, development, and technology trans19 fer activities. 

20 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The Director may establish 

21 no more than 3 fire safety research centers. An insti22 tution of higher education, a national fire service or23 ganization, or a national fire safety organization 

24 may not directly receive a grant under this section for 


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1 a fiscal year for more than 1 fire safety research cen2 ter. 

3 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—In order to be eligible to re4 ceive a fire safety research center grant, an institu5 tion of higher education, a national fire service orga6 nization, or a national fire safety organization shall 

7 submit to the Director an application that is in such 

8 form and contains such information and assurances 

9 as the Director may require. 

10 ‘‘(5) GENERAL SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Di11 rector shall select each recipient of a grant under this 

12 subsection through a competitive process on the basis 

13 of the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The demonstrated research and exten15 sion resources available to the recipient to carry 

16 out the research, development, and technology 

17 transfer activities. 

18 ‘‘(B) The capability of the recipient to pro19 vide leadership in making national contributions 

20 to fire safety. 

21 ‘‘(C) The recipient’s ability to disseminate 

22 the results of fire safety research. 

23 ‘‘(D) The strategic plan the recipient pro24 poses to carry out under the grant. 


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1 ‘‘(6) CONSIDERATION.—The Director shall give 

2 special consideration under paragraph (5) to an ap3 plicant for a grant that consists of a partnership be4 tween a national fire service organization or a na5 tional fire safety organization and at least 1 of the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(A) An institution of higher education. 

8 ‘‘(B) A minority-serving institution (de9 fined as an eligible institution under section 

10 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 

12 ‘‘(7) RESEARCH NEEDS.—Within 90 days after 

13 the date of enactment of the Fire Grants Reauthoriza14 tion Act of 2009, the Director shall convene a work15 shop of the fire safety research community, fire service 

16 organizations, and other appropriate stakeholders to 

17 identify and prioritize fire safety research needs. The 

18 results of the workshop shall be made public, and the 

19 Director shall consider such results in making awards 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi22 nitions apply: 

23 ‘‘(1) CAREER FIRE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘ca24 reer fire department’ means a firefighting department 


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1 that has an all professional force of firefighting per2 sonnel. 

3 ‘‘(2) COMBINATION FIRE DEPARTMENT.—The 

4 term ‘combination fire department’ means a fire5 fighting department that has a combined force of pro6 fessional and volunteer firefighting personnel. 

7 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means the 

8 Director, acting through the Administrator. 

9 ‘‘(4) FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL.—The term 

10 ‘firefighting personnel’ means individuals, including 

11 volunteers, who are firefighters, officers of fire depart12 ments, or emergency medical service personnel of fire 

13 departments. 

14 ‘‘(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

15 term ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning 

16 given such term in section 101 of the Higher Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

18 ‘‘(6) VOLUNTEER, NON-FIRE SERVICE EMS AND

19 RESCUE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘volunteer, non20 fire service EMS and rescue organization’ means a 

21 public or private nonprofit emergency medical serv22 ices organization that— 

23 ‘‘(A) is not affiliated with a hospital; 

24 ‘‘(B) does not serve a geographic area in 

25 which the Director finds that emergency medical 


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1 services are adequately provided by a fire de2 partment; and 

3 ‘‘(C) is staffed primarily by volunteers. 

4 ‘‘(7) VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT.—The term 

5 ‘volunteer fire department’ means a firefighting de6 partment that has an all volunteer force of fire7 fighting personnel. 

8 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

10 appropriated for the purposes of this section 

11 $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 

12 through 2014. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds appro15 priated pursuant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal 

16 year, the Director may use not more than 3 per17 cent of the funds to cover salaries and expenses 

18 and other administrative costs incurred by the 

19 Director to make grants and provide assistance 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘(B) FORMULA.—The Director shall sub22 tract the amount to be used for subparagraph 

23 (A) from the amount appropriated pursuant to 

24 paragraph (1) before making any allocations or 


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1 apportioning any funds under subsections (a) or 

2 (c).’’. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

4 that— 

5 (1) from fiscal years 2003 through 2008— 

6 (A) the funding appropriated for activities 

7 under section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention 

8 and Control Act of 1974 declined by approxi9 mately 30 percent; and 

10 (B) the number of fire departments receiv11 ing awards declined by nearly 40 percent, while 

12 the number of applicants increased, resulting in 

13 a reduction in applicant success rates from over 

14 43 percent to just 25 percent; 

15 (2) the House-passed conference report for the 

16 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations 

17 Act, 2010 appropriates $390 million for activities 

18 under such section 33, a decrease of over 30 percent 

19 below that provided in fiscal year 2009; 

20 (3) declining funding reduces the Director’s abil21 ity to successfully carry out the primary purpose of 

22 such section, which is to protect the health and safety 

23 of the public and firefighting personnel throughout the 

24 Nation against fire and fire-related hazards; and 


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1 (4) halting and reversing the decline in appro2 priations to ensure a high level of funding for the ac3 tivities under such section 33 should be a top pri4 ority. 

5 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE 

6 GRANT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION. 

7 Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control 

8 Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229a) is amended to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 34. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE 

11 GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 ‘‘(a) EXPANDED AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) HIRING GRANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

15 make grants directly to career, volunteer, and 

16 combination fire departments, in consultation 

17 with the chief executive of the State in which the 

18 applicant is located, for the purpose of increas19 ing the number of firefighters to help commu20 nities meet industry minimum standards and 

21 attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate pro22 tection from fire and fire-related hazards and to 

23 fulfill traditional missions of fire departments 

24 that antedate the creation of the Department of 

25 Homeland Security. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) DURATION AND USE.—Grants 

3 made under this paragraph shall be for 3 

4 years and shall be used for programs to hire 

5 new, additional firefighters. 

6 ‘‘(ii) RETENTION.—Grant recipients 

7 are required to commit to retaining for at 

8 least the entire 3 years of the grant period 

9 those firefighters hired under this para10 graph. 

11 ‘‘(iii) MAXIMUM.—The portion of the 

12 cost of hiring firefighters provided by a 

13 grant under this paragraph may not exceed 

14 80 percent of such cost for each fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(C) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants 

16 under this subsection, the Director may give 

17 preferential consideration to applications that 

18 involve a non-Federal contribution exceeding the 

19 minimums under subparagraph (B)(iii). 

20 ‘‘(D) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Direc21 tor may provide technical assistance to States, 

22 units of local government, Indian tribal govern23 ments, and other public entities in furtherance of 

24 the purposes of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(E) VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES ALLOWED.— 

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 

3 firefighter hired with funds provided under this 

4 subsection shall not be discriminated against for, 

5 or be prohibited from, engaging in volunteer ac6 tivities in another jurisdiction during off-duty 

7 hours. 

8 ‘‘(F) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The Director 

9 shall award all grants under this section on a 

10 competitive basis through a neutral peer review 

11 process. 

12 ‘‘(G) SET ASIDE.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of 

14 the fiscal year, the Director shall set aside 

15 10 percent of the funds made available for 

16 carrying out this paragraph for depart17 ments with majority volunteer or all volun18 teer personnel. 

19 ‘‘(ii) TRANSFER.—After awards have 

20 been made, if less than 10 percent of the 

21 funds made available for carrying out this 

22 paragraph are not awarded to departments 

23 with majority volunteer or all volunteer 

24 personnel, the Director shall transfer from 

25 funds made available for carrying out this 


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1 paragraph to funds made available for car2 rying out paragraph (2) an amount equal 

3 to the difference between the amount that is 

4 provided to such fire departments and 10 

5 percent. 

6 ‘‘(2) RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION GRANTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any 

8 amounts transferred under paragraph (1)(G)(ii), 

9 the Director shall direct at least 10 percent of the 

10 total amount of funds made available under this 

11 section annually to a competitive grant program 

12 for the recruitment and retention of volunteer 

13 firefighters who are involved with or trained in 

14 the operations of firefighting and emergency re15 sponse. 

16 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—Eligible entities shall 

17 include volunteer or combination fire depart18 ments and organizations on a local, statewide, or 

19 national basis that represent the interests of vol20 unteer firefighters. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No grant may be made 

23 under this section unless an application has been sub24 mitted to, and approved by, the Director. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application for a grant 

2 under this section shall be submitted in such form 

3 and contain such information and assurances as the 

4 Director may prescribe. 

5 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—At a minimum, each ap6 plication for a grant under this section shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) explain the applicant’s inability to ad8 dress the need without Federal assistance; 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of a grant under subsection 

10 (a)(1), explain how the applicant plans to meet 

11 the requirements of subparagraphs (B)(ii) and 

12 (E) of such subsection; 

13 ‘‘(C) specify long-term plans for retaining 

14 firefighters following the conclusion of Federal 

15 support provided under this section; and 

16 ‘‘(D) provide assurances that the applicant 

17 will, to the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and 

18 hire members of racial and ethnic minority 

19 groups and women in order to increase their 

20 ranks within firefighting. 

21 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds 

23 made available under this section to fire departments 

24 for salaries and benefits to hire new, additional fire25 fighters shall not be used to supplant State or local 


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1 funds, or, in the case of Indian tribal governments, 

2 funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but 

3 shall be used to increase the amount of funds that 

4 would, in the absence of Federal funds received under 

5 this section, be made available from State or local 

6 sources, or in the case of Indian tribal governments, 

7 from funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(2) REPLACEMENT FUNDING PROHIBITED.—No 

9 grant shall be awarded pursuant to this section to a 

10 municipality or other recipient whose annual budget 

11 at the time of the application for fire-related pro12 grams and emergency response has been reduced below 

13 80 percent of the average funding level in the 3 years 

14 prior to the date of application. 

15 ‘‘(3) INDIAN COST-SHARE.—Funds appropriated 

16 by the Congress for the activities of any agency of an 

17 Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Af18 fairs performing firefighting functions on any Indian 

19 lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share 

20 of the cost of programs or projects funded under this 

21 section. 

22 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—In exceptional circumstances, the Di23 rector may waive the requirements of subsections 

24 (a)(1)(B)(ii), (a)(1)(B)(iii), (c)(1), and (c)(2) if the DirecVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Nov 13, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3791.RH H3791

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1 tor determines that the jurisdiction is facing demonstrated 

2 economic hardship in accordance with section 33(a)(8). 

3 ‘‘(e) PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.—The Director may 

4 require a grant recipient to submit any information the Di5 rector considers reasonably necessary to evaluate the pro6 gram. 

7 ‘‘(f) SUNSET; REPORTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) SUNSET.—The authority under this section 

9 to make grants shall lapse at the end of the 10-year 

10 period that begins on the date of enactment of the 

11 Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 years after such 

13 date of enactment, the Director shall submit to Con14 gress a report concerning the experience with, and ef15 fectiveness of, such grants in meeting the objectives of 

16 this section. The report may include any rec17 ommendations the Director may have for amendments 

18 to this section and related provisions of law. 

19 ‘‘(g) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING.—If 

20 the Director determines that a grant recipient under this 

21 section is not in substantial compliance with the terms and 

22 requirements of an approved grant application submitted 

23 under this section, the Director may revoke or suspend 

24 funding of that grant, in whole or in part. 

25 ‘‘(h) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall have ac2 cess for the purpose of audit and examination to any 

3 pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of a 

4 grant recipient under this section and to the pertinent 

5 books, documents, papers, or records of State and 

6 local governments, persons, businesses, and other enti7 ties that are involved in programs, projects, or activi8 ties for which assistance is provided under this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—Paragraph (1) shall apply 

11 with respect to audits and examinations conducted by 

12 the Comptroller General of the United States or by an 

13 authorized representative of the Comptroller General. 

14 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term— 

15 ‘‘(1) ‘Director’ means the Director, acting 

16 through the Administrator; 

17 ‘‘(2) ‘firefighter’ has the meaning given the term 

18 ‘employee in fire protection activities’ under section 

19 3(y) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

20 U.S.C. 203(y)); and 

21 ‘‘(3) ‘Indian tribe’ means a tribe, band, pueblo, 

22 nation, or other organized group or community of In23 dians, including an Alaska Native village (as defined 

24 in or established under the Alaska Native Claims Set25 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is recogVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Nov 13, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3791.RH H3791

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1 nized as eligible for the special programs and services 

2 provided by the United States to Indians because of 

3 their status as Indians. 

4 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

5 authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of carrying 

6 out this section $1,194,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

7 2010 through 2014.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT. 

9 (a) STUDY AND REPORT ON ASSISTANCE TO FIRE10 FIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

11 (1) STUDY.—The Administrator of the United 

12 States Fire Administration, in conjunction with the 

13 National Fire Protection Association, shall conduct a 

14 study to— 

15 (A) define the current roles and activities 

16 associated with the fire services on a national, 

17 State, regional, and local level; 

18 (B) identify the equipment, staffing, and 

19 training required to fulfill the roles and activi20 ties defined under subparagraph (A); 

21 (C) conduct an assessment to identify gaps 

22 between what fire departments currently possess 

23 and what they require to meet the equipment, 

24 staffing, and training needs identified under 


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1 subparagraph (B) on a national and State-by2 State basis; and 

3 (D) measure the impact of the grant pro4 gram under section 33 of the Federal Fire Pre5 vention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 

6 2229) in— 

7 (i) meeting the needs of the fire services 

8 identified in the report submitted to Con9 gress under section 3603(a) of the Ronald 

10 W. Reagan National Defense Authorization 

11 Act for Fiscal Year 2005; and 

12 (ii) filling the gaps identified under 

13 subparagraph (C). 

14 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

16 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

17 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

18 Science and Technology of the House of Representa19 tives a report on the findings of the study described 

20 in paragraph (1). 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

22 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the 

23 United States Fire Administration a total of $300,000 for 

24 fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to carry out subsection (a). 


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Union Calendar No. 191 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3791 

[Report No. 111–333, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire 

other purposes. Prevention and Control Act of 1974, and for 

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 

Reported with an amendment and referred to the Com1(i), rule X the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause provisions of the bill and amendments as fall within later than November 7, 2009, for consideration of such mittee on Homeland Security for a period ending not 

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 

Committee on Homeland Security discharged; committed 

the Union and ordered to be printed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 


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