I 

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111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3791 

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 

A BILL 

To amend sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention 

and Control Act of 1974, 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 ‘‘Fire Grants Reauthor5 ization Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION AND 

2 CONTROL ACT OF 1974. 

3 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

4 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

5 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 

6 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

7 a section or other provision of the Federal Fire Prevention 

8 and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.). 

9 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM 

10 AMENDMENTS. 

11 (a) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Section 33(b)(1) is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘State, in 

14 consultation’’ and inserting ‘‘State or State fire 

15 training academies, in consultation’’; and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘non17 affiliated EMS’’ and inserting ‘‘volunteer, non-fire 

18 service EMS and rescue’’. 

19 (b) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Section 33(b)(3) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘in fire22 fighting,’’ and by inserting ‘‘in firefighting, emer23 gency medical services and other’’; 

24 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘inspec25 tors’’ and inserting ‘‘and building inspectors emVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:02 Oct 14, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3791.IH H3791

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1 ployed by a fire department or serving as a volunteer 

2 building inspector with a fire department’’; 

3 (3) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘non4 affiliated EMS’’ and inserting ‘‘volunteer, non-fire 

5 service EMS and rescue’’; 

6 (4) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘for fight7 ing fires with foam in remote areas without access 

8 to water, and equipment’’; and 

9 (5) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘codes’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘codes and standards’’. 

11 (c) FIRE PREVENTION AND FIREFIGHTER SAFETY

12 PROGRAMS.—Section 33(b)(4) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘5 per14 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘10 percent’’; and 

15 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

16 ‘‘$1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,500,000’’. 

17 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Section 33(b)(6) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘20 per20 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘10 percent’’; 

21 (2) by amending subparagraph B to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL COMMU24 NITY ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case of an appli25 cant whose personnel serve jurisdictions of 


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1 20,000 or fewer residents, the percent applied 

2 under the matching requirement of subpara3 graph (A) shall be 5 percent.’’; and 

4 (3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘(A)(ii)’’. 

5 (e) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES.—Section 

6 33(b)(7) is amended by striking ‘‘above the’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘above 80 percent of the’’. 

8 (f) VARIETY OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT RECIPI9 ENTS.—Section 33(b)(9) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(9) VARIETY OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT

11 RECIPIENTS.— 

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

13 available under subsection (e), the Director 

14 shall ensure that grants under paragraph 

15 (1)(A) for a fiscal year are allocated, to the ex16 tent that there are eligible applicants to carry 

17 out the activities under paragraph (3), as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(i) 25 percent shall be made avail20 able to career fire departments; 

21 ‘‘(ii) 25 percent shall be made avail22 able to volunteer fire departments; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) 25 percent shall be made avail24 able to combination fire departments. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY FOR HIGH POPULATION

2 AND INCIDENT RESPONSE.—In awarding grants 

3 under paragraph (1)(A), the Director shall give 

4 priority within each category of applicants 

5 under subparagraph (A) to an applicant that is 

6 serving an area with high population and with 

7 a high number of incidents requiring a re8 sponse. 

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

10 available under subsection (e) that are not allo11 cated for use and awarded under subparagraph 

12 (A) or designated for use under any other pro13 vision of this section, the Director shall provide 

14 for an open competition for grants among ca15 reer fire departments, volunteer fire depart16 ments, and combination fire departments to 

17 carry out the activities under paragraph (3).’’. 

18 (g) RECIPIENT LIMITATIONS.—Section 33(b)(10) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) RECIPIENT LIMITATIONS.—A grant 

23 recipient under paragraph (1)(A)— 

24 ‘‘(i) that serves a jurisdiction with 

25 100,000 people or less may not receive 


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1 grants in excess of $1,000,000 for any fis2 cal year; 

3 ‘‘(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with 

4 more than 100,000 people but less than 

5 500,000 people may not receive grants in 

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

7 ‘‘(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with 

8 500,000 people or more but less than 

9 1,000,000 people may not receive grants in 

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

11 ‘‘(iv) that serves a jurisdiction with 

12 1,000,000 people or more but less than 

13 2,500,000 people may not receive grants in 

14 excess of $6,000,000 for any fiscal year; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(v) that serves a jurisdiction with 

17 2,500,000 people or more may not receive 

18 grants in excess of $9,000,000 for any fis19 cal year. 

20 The Director may award grants in excess of the 

21 limitations provided in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and 

22 (iv) if the Director determines that extraor23 dinary need for assistance by a jurisdiction war24 rants a waiver.’’; 

25 (2) by striking subparagraph (B); 


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1 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub2 paragraph (B); 

3 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B), as re4 designated by paragraph (3) of this Act, the fol5 lowing new subparagraph: 

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

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that 

8 there are eligible applicants and in accord9 ance with clause (ii), the Director shall 

10 award not more than 3 percent of the 

11 amounts made available under subsection 

12 (e) for grants under this subsection for 

13 State fire training academies. 

14 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The Director shall 

15 not make a grant to a State fire training 

16 academy in excess of $1,000,000 and shall 

17 ensure that any grant awarded to a State 

18 fire training academy shall be used for the 

19 purposes described in paragraphs 3(G), 

20 3(H), and 3(I).’’; 

21 (5) in subparagraph (E)— 

22 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘NON23 AFFILIATED EMS’’ and inserting ‘‘VOLUNTEER, 

24 NON-FIRE SERVICE EMS AND RESCUE ORGANI25 ZATIONS’’; and 


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1 (B) in the text, by striking ‘‘nonaffiliated 

2 EMS’’ and inserting ‘‘volunteer, non-fire service 

3 EMS and rescue’’; 

4 (6) in subparagraph (F)— 

5 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘NON6 AFFILIATED EMS’’ and inserting ‘‘VOLUNTEER, 

7 NON-FIRE SERVICE EMS AND RESCUE’’; and 

8 (B) in the text, by striking ‘‘nonaffiliated 

9 EMS’’ and inserting ‘‘volunteer, non-fire service 

10 EMS and rescue’’; and 

11 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(G) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.—Any grant 

13 amounts used to obtain training under this sec14 tion shall be limited to training that complies 

15 with applicable national voluntary consensus 

16 standards (if applicable national voluntary con17 sensus standards have been established).’’. 

18 (h) ECONOMIC HARDSHIP WAIVER.—Section 

19 33(b)(11) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(11) ECONOMIC HARDSHIP WAIVER.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In exceptional cir22 cumstances, the Director may waive or reduce 

23 the matching requirement under paragraph (6) 

24 and the maintenance of expenditures requireVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:02 Oct 14, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3791.IH H3791

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1 ment under paragraph (7) for applicants facing 

2 demonstrated economic hardship. 

3 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT.—The cri4 teria under which the Director may waive or re5 duce such requirements shall be developed in 

6 consultation with individuals who are— 

7 ‘‘(i) recognized for expertise in fire8 fighting, emergency medical services pro9 vided by fire services, or the economic af10 fairs of State and local governments; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) members of national fire service 

12 organizations or national organizations 

13 representing the interests of State and 

14 local governments. 

15 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Criteria de16 veloped under subparagraph (B) shall be made 

17 publicly available.’’. 

18 (i) GUIDELINES.—Section 33(b)(14)(A) is amend19 ed— 

20 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

21 semicolon; 

22 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 

23 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the criteria developed under 

2 paragraph (11) which the Director will use 

3 to evaluate applicants for waivers from 

4 program requirements.’’. 

5 (j) DEFINITIONS.—Section 33(d) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

7 the semicolon; 

8 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) the term ‘career fire department’ means a 

12 firefighting department that has an all professional 

13 force of firefighting personnel; 

14 ‘‘(5) the term ‘combination fire department’ 

15 means a firefighting department that has a com16 bined force of professional and volunteer firefighting 

17 personnel; and 

18 ‘‘(6) the term ‘volunteer fire department’ means 

19 a firefighting department that has an all volunteer 

20 force of firefighting personnel.’’. 

21 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

22 33(e) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

25 appropriated for the purposes of this section 


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

2 through 2014. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds appro5 priated pursuant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal 

6 year, the Director may use not more than 3 

7 percent of the funds to cover salaries and ex8 penses and other administrative costs incurred 

9 by the Director to make grants and provide as10 sistance under this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) FORMULA.—The Director shall sub12 tract the amount to be used for subparagraph 

13 (A) from the amount appropriated pursuant to 

14 paragraph (1) before making any allocations or 

15 apportioning any funds under subsection (b).’’. 

16 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE 

17 GRANT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) AMENDMENTS TO SUBSECTION (a).—Section 

19 34(a) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘4 years’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘3 years’’; 

24 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘1 year 

25 beyond the termination of their grants’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘the entire 3 years of the 

2 grant period’’; and 

3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new clause: 

5 ‘‘(iii) The portion of the cost of hiring 

6 firefighters provided by a grant under this 

7 paragraph may not exceed 80 percent of 

8 such cost for each fiscal year.’’; 

9 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘sub10 paragraph (E)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

11 (B)(iii)’’; 

12 (C) by striking subparagraph (E); and 

13 (D) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 

14 through (H) as subparagraphs (E) through (G), 

15 respectively; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(H)’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(G)’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘departments, and organi20 zations on a local or statewide’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘departments and organizations on a local, 

22 statewide, or national’’. 

23 (b) AMENDMENT TO SUBSECTION (b).—Section 

24 34(b)(3)(B) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection 


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1 (a)(1)(B)(ii) and (F)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs 

2 (B)(ii) and (E) of such subsection’’. 

3 (c) AMENDMENT TO SUBSECTION (c).—Section 

4 34(c)(4) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(4) WAIVER.—In exceptional circumstances, 

6 the Administrator may waive the requirements of 

7 subsections (a)(1)(B)(ii), (a)(1)(B)(iii), and para8 graphs (1) and (2) of this subsection if the Adminis9 trator determines that the jurisdiction is facing dem10 onstrated economic hardship in accordance with sec11 tion 33(a)(11).’’. 

12 (d) AMENDMENT TO SUBSECTION (e).—Section 34(e) 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘of this section’’ each place it ap14 pears and by inserting ‘‘of the Fire Grants Reauthoriza15 tion Act of 2009’’. 

16 (e) AMENDMENT TO SUBSECTION (i).—Section 34(i) 

17 is amended by striking ‘‘this section’’ and all that follows 

18 through the period at the end and inserting ‘‘this section 

19 $1,194,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 

20 2014.’’ 

21 (f) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

22 Section 34 is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘Administrator’’ each place it 

24 appears and inserting ‘‘Director’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (h)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

2 (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 

3 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 

4 so redesignated) the following: 

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

6 through the Administrator;’’. 

Æ 


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