I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 128 

To establish a demonstration incentive program within the Department of 

Education to promote installation of fire sprinkler systems, or other 

fire suppression or prevention technologies, in qualified student housing 

and dormitories, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2005 

Mrs. JONES of Ohio (for herself, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

MCHUGH, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DICKS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. 

LATOURETTE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. WEINER, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, and Mr. ANDREWS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a demonstration incentive program within the 

Department of Education to promote installation of fire 

sprinkler systems, or other fire suppression or prevention 

technologies, in qualified student housing and dormitories, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘College Fire Prevention Act’’. 

4 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) On November 9, 2003, an early morning 

6 fire at the University of Connecticut destroyed a fra7 ternity. Five residents were in the building at the 

8 time of the fire. There were no working fire alarms 

9 in the building. 

10 (2) On September 26, 2003, a fraternity fire at 

11 the University of Wisconsin-Madison occurred in a 

12 secret room. The entrance to the room was made to 

13 look like a wall. Fire fighters were unable to locate 

14 the source of the fire despite an extensive search of 

15 the house. The fire was caused by a candle that ig16 nited some fabric and then spread to a chair. There 

17 were no fire sprinklers present. 

18 (3) On February 22, 2003, a fatal off-campus 

19 house fire at Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn20 sylvania, occurred in a 3-story, wood frame house 

21 that had been converted into apartments. There 

22 were single-station, battery-operated smoke detectors 

23 in the apartments. There were no sprinklers. The 

24 victim, Raymond Tricomi, was 21. 

25 (4) On January 1, 2003, a fire at Pennsylvania 

26 State University displaced 11 Penn State students 
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1 from their off-campus rooming house. Activated 

2 smoke detectors awakened 2 occupants who were 

3 able to escape the building. The other occupants 

4 were away for the holiday break. Fire loss was esti5 mated at $40,000 damage, and the cause of the fire 

6 is under investigation. The building was not 

7 equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system. 

8 (5) On April 7, 2002, an early morning fire at 

9 DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, caused 

10 over $1,000,000 in damage. The fire, which started 

11 from an electrical appliance in a fourth floor room, 

12 forced the evacuation of 116 students from the 

13 building and more than 200 students from adjacent 

14 buildings. The building was not equipped with an 

15 automatic fire sprinkler system. 

16 (6) On February 16, 2002, a halogen lamp at 

17 Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, started 

18 a fire in a residence that had been converted into 

19 student housing. According to fire officials, the fire 

20 started in a second-floor room that was unoccupied 

21 at the time of the fire. A halogen lamp fell over and 

22 ignited combustibles in the area. The building’s fire 

23 alarm system was activated, and an occupant from 

24 another room discovered the fire. He unsuccessfully 

25 attempted to extinguish the fire using a dry chem-
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1 ical fire extinguisher. Smoke and heat damage were 

2 limited to the room of origin. Halogen lamps are 

3 banned by Amherst College. The building is 

4 unsprinklered, equipped with single-station smoke 

5 detectors in the individual rooms and a building fire 

6 alarm system. 

7 (7) On January 19, 2000, a fire occurred at a 

8 Seton Hall University dormitory. Three male fresh9 men, all 18 years of age, died. Fifty-four students, 

10 2 South Orange firefighters, and 2 South Orange 

11 police officers were injured. The dormitory was a 6- 

12 story, 350-room structure built in 1952, that housed 

13 approximately 600 students. It was equipped with 

14 smoke alarms but no fire sprinkler system. 

15 (8) On Mother’s Day in 1996 in Chapel Hill, 

16 North Carolina, a fire in the Phi Gamma Delta Fra17 ternity House killed 5 college juniors and injured 3. 

18 The 3-story plus basement fraternity house was 70 

19 years old. The National Fire Protection Association 

20 identified several factors that contributed to the 

21 tragic fire, including the lack of fire sprinkler pro22 tection. 

23 (9) It is estimated that between 1980 and 

24 1998, an average of 1,800 fires at dormitories, fra25 ternities, and sororities, involving 1 death, 70 inju-
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1 ries, and $8,000,000 in property damage were re2 ported to public fire departments. 

3 (10) Within dormitories, fraternities, and so4 rorities the leading cause of fires is arson or sus5 pected arson. The second leading cause of college 

6 building fires is cooking. The third leading cause is 

7 smoking. 

8 (11) New dormitories are generally required to 

9 have advanced safety systems such as fire sprinklers. 

10 But such requirements are rarely imposed retro11 actively on existing buildings. 

12 (12) In 1998, 93 percent of the campus build13 ing fires reported to fire departments occurred in 

14 buildings where there were smoke alarms present. 

15 However, only 34 percent had fire sprinklers 

16 present. 

17 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRE SUPPRESSION DEM18 ONSTRATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. 

19 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Education (in this 

20 Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in consultation with 

21 the United States Fire Administration, shall establish a 

22 demonstration program to award grants on a competitive 

23 basis to eligible entities for the purpose of installing fire 

24 sprinkler systems, or other fire suppression or prevention 
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1 technologies, in student housing and dormitories owned or 

2 controlled by such entities. 

3 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this Act, the 

4 term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any of the following: 

5 (1) An accredited public or private institution 

6 of higher education (as that term is defined in sec7 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1001)). 

9 (2) An accredited historically Black college or 

10 university (as that term is used in section 322 of the 

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)). 

12 (3) An accredited Hispanic-serving institution 

13 (as that term is defined in section 502 of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a)). 

15 (4) An accredited tribally controlled college or 

16 university (as that term is defined in section 2 of the 

17 Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance 

18 Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801)). 

19 (5) A social fraternity or sorority exempt from 

20 taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Rev21 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(a)), the active 

22 membership of which consists primarily of students 

23 in attendance at an accredited institution of higher 

24 education. 
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1 (c) SELECTION PRIORITY.—In making grants under 

2 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 

3 entities that demonstrate the greatest financial need. 

4 (d) RESERVATIONS.—Of the amount made available 

5 to the Secretary for grants under this section for each fis6 cal year, the Secretary shall award— 

7 (1) not less than 10 percent to eligible entities 

8 that are historically Black colleges and universities, 

9 Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribally controlled 

10 colleges and universities; and 

11 (2) not less than 10 percent to eligible entities 

12 that are social fraternities and sororities. 

13 (e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec14 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

15 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied 

16 by such information as the Secretary may require. 

17 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—As a condition on re18 ceipt of a grant under subsection (a), the applicant shall 

19 provide (directly or through donations from public or pri20 vate entities) non-Federal matching funds in an amount 

21 equal to not less than 50 percent of the cost of the activi22 ties for which assistance is sought. 

23 (g) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

24 Not more than 10 percent of a grant made under sub-
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1 section (a) may be expended for administrative expenses 

2 with respect to the grant. 

3 (h) REPORTS.—Not later than 12 months after the 

4 date of the first award of a grant under this section and 

5 annually thereafter until completion of the program, the 

6 Secretary shall provide to the Congress a report that in7 cludes the following: 

8 (1) The number and types of eligible entities re9 ceiving assistance under this section. 

10 (2) The amounts of such assistance, the 

11 amounts and sources of non-Federal funding lever12 aged for activities under grants under this section, 

13 and any other relevant financial information. 

14 (3) The number and types of student housing 

15 fitted with fire suppression or prevention tech16 nologies with assistance under this section, and the 

17 number of students protected by such technologies. 

18 (4) The types of fire suppression or prevention 

19 technologies installed with assistance under this sec20 tion, and the costs of such technologies. 

21 (5) Identification of Federal and State policies 

22 that present impediments to the development and in23 stallation of fire suppression or prevention tech24 nologies. 
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1 (6) Any other information determined by the 

2 Secretary to be useful to evaluating the overall effec3 tiveness of the program established under this sec4 tion in improving the fire safety of student housing. 

5 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

7 $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 

8 2009. At the end of fiscal year 2009, all unobligated ap9 propriations authorized under this subsection shall revert 

10 to the general fund of the Treasury. 

11 SEC. 3. ADMISSIBILITY AS EVIDENCE. 

12 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law and subject to subsection (b), any application 

14 for assistance under this Act, any negative determination 

15 on the part of the Secretary with respect to such applica16 tion, or any statement of reasons for the determination, 

17 shall not be admissible as evidence in any proceeding of 

18 any court, agency, board, or other entity. 

19 (b) EXCEPTION.—This section does not apply to the 

20 admission of an application, determination, or statement 

21 described in subsection (a) as evidence in a proceeding to 

22 enforce an agreement entered into between the Secretary 

23 and an eligible entity under section 2. 

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