I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1168

To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

to make grants to fire departments for the purpose of protecting the

public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HOYER, Mr.

ANDREWS, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr.

BISHOP, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms.

BROWN of Florida, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. COYNE, Mr.

CUMMINGS, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. ENGLISH,

Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FRANK of

Massachusetts, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of

Florida, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of

Texas, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island,

Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KLINK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LARSON, Mr. LEWIS of

Georgia, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mrs.

MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. METCALF, Mrs.

NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEY, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr.

PICKETT, Mr. QUINN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. REYES, Mr.

SWEENEY, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. TERRY, Mr. UPTON, Mr.

WEYGAND, Mr. WISE, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. FROST, Mrs. MORELLA,

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. FORD, Mr. ROTHMAN, and Ms. MCKINNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Manage-
2

•HR 1168 IH

ment Agency to make grants to fire departments for

the purpose of protecting the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards.

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 ‘‘Firefighter Investment

5 and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Increased demands on firefighting personnel

9 have made it difficult for local governments to ade10 quately fund necessary fire safety precautions.

11 (2) The Federal government has an obligation

12 to protect the health and safety of the firefighting

13 personnel of the United States and to ensure that

14 they have the financial resources to protect the pub15 lic.

16 (3) The high rates in the United States of

17 death, injury, and property damage caused by fires

18 demonstrates a critical need for Federal investment

19 in support of firefighting personnel.

20 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

21 (a) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this Act, the

22 Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

23 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) may make
3

•HR 1168 IH

1 grants on a competitive basis to fire departments for the

2 purpose of protecting the health and safety of the public

3 and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related

4 hazards.

5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRA6 TION OF GRANTS.—Before making grants under sub7 section (a), the Director shall establish an office in the

8 Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish spe9 cific criteria for the selection of grant recipients and to

10 administer the grants.

11 (c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—The Director may make

12 a grant under subsection (a) only if the applicant for the

13 grant agrees to use grant funds for any of the following:

14 (1) To hire additional firefighting personnel.

15 (2) To train firefighting personnel in fire16 fighting, emergency response, arson prevention and

17 detection, or the handling of hazardous materials, or

18 to train such personnel to provide any of the train19 ing described in this paragraph.

20 (3) To fund the creation of rapid intervention

21 teams to protect firefighting personnel at the scenes

22 of fires and other emergencies.

23 (4) To certify fire inspectors.
4

•HR 1168 IH

1 (5) To establish wellness and fitness programs

2 for firefighting personnel to ensure that such per3 sonnel can carry out their duties.

4 (6) To fund emergency medical services pro5 vided by fire departments.

6 (7) To acquire additional firefighting vehicles,

7 including fire trucks.

8 (8) To acquire additional firefighting equip9 ment, including equipment for communications and

10 monitoring.

11 (9) To acquire personal protective equipment

12 required for firefighting personnel by the Occupa13 tional Safety and Health Administration, and other

14 personal protective equipment for firefighting per15 sonnel.

16 (10) To modify fire stations, fire training facili17 ties, and other facilities to protect the health and

18 safety of firefighting personnel.

19 (11) To enforce fire codes.

20 (12) To fund fire prevention programs.

21 (13) To educate the public about arson preven22 tion and detection.

23 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Director may

24 make a grant under subsection (a) only if the applicant

25 for the grant agrees to match with non-Federal funds 10
5

•HR 1168 IH

1 percent of the funds received under subsection (a) in any

2 fiscal year.

3 (e) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES—The Direc4 tor may make a grant under subsection (a) only if the

5 applicant for the grant agrees to maintain for the fiscal

6 year in which the grant will be received its aggregate ex7 penditures for uses described in subsection (c) at or above

8 the average level of such expenditures in the 2 fiscal years

9 preceding the fiscal year in which the grant will be re10 ceived.

11 (f) REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.—The Director may

12 make a grant under subsection (a) only if the applicant

13 for the grant agrees to submit to the Director a report,

14 including a description of how grant funds were used, with

15 respect to each fiscal year for which a grant was received.

16 (g) VARIETY OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The Director

17 shall ensure that grants under subsection (a) for a fiscal

18 year are made to a variety of fire departments, including,

19 to the extent that there are eligible applicants—

20 (1) paid, volunteer, and combination fire de21 partments;

22 (2) fire departments located in communities of

23 varying size; and

24 (3) fire departments located in urban, subur25 ban, and rural communities.
6

•HR 1168 IH

1 (h) LIMITATION ON FIREFIGHTING VEHICLES.—The

2 Director shall ensure that not more than 25 percent of

3 the assistance made available under subsection (a) in a

4 fiscal year is used for purposes authorized under section

5 (c)(7).

6 (i) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of

7 amounts made available under section 4 for a fiscal year,

8 the Director may use not more than 10 percent for the

9 administrative costs of carrying out this Act.

10 (j) APPLICATION.—The Director may make a grant

11 under subsection (a) only if the fire department seeking

12 the grant submits to the Director an application in such

13 form and containing such information as the Director may

14 require.

15 (k) FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL DEFINED.—In this

16 Act the term ‘‘firefighting personnel’’ means individuals,

17 including volunteers, who are firefighters, officers of fire

18 departments, or emergency medical service personnel of

19 fire departments.

20 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 For the purposes of carrying out this Act, there is

22 authorized to be appropriated to the Director

23 $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

24 2005.

Æ