106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1550

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for the United States

2001, and for other purposes.Fire Administration for fiscal years 2000 and
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1550

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for the United States Fire Administration for fiscal years 2000 and 2001, 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.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Administration

3 Authorization Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 Section 17 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Con6 trol Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216) is amended to read

7 as follows:

8 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

9 ‘‘SEC. 17. Except as otherwise specifically provided

10 with respect to the payment of claims under section 11

11 of this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated to

12 carry out the purposes of this Act—

13 ‘‘(1) $30,554,000 for fiscal year 1999;

14 ‘‘(2) $46,130,000 for fiscal year 2000, of which

15 $2,200,000 shall be used for research activities, and

16 $250,000 shall be used for contracts or grants to

17 non-Federal entities for data analysis, including gen18 eral fire profiles and special fire analyses and report

19 projects, and of which $6,000,000 shall be for anti20 terrorism training, including associated curriculum

21 development, for fire and emergency services per22 sonnel; and

23 ‘‘(3) $49,500,000 for fiscal year 2001, of which

24 $3,000,000 shall be used for research activities, and

25 $250,000 shall be used for contracts or grants to

26 non-Federal entities for data analysis, including gen-
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1 eral fire profiles and special fire analyses and report

2 projects, and of which $8,000,000 shall be for anti3 terrorism training, including associated curriculum

4 development, for fire and emergency services per5 sonnel.

6 None of the funds authorized by paragraph (3) may be

7 obligated unless the Administrator has certified to the

8 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives

9 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor10 tation of the Senate that the obligation of funds is con11 sistent with the strategic plan transmitted under section

12 3 of the Fire Administration Authorization Act of 1999.’’.

13 SEC. 3. STRATEGIC PLAN.

14 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than April 30, 2000,

15 the Administrator of the United States Fire Administra16 tion shall prepare and transmit to the Committee on

17 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com18 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the

19 Senate a 5-year strategic plan of program activities for

20 the United States Fire Administration.

21 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan required by sub22 section (a) shall include—

23 (1) a comprehensive mission statement covering

24 the major functions and operations of the United

25 States Fire Administration in the areas of training,
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1 research, data collection and analysis, and public

2 education;

3 (2) general goals and objectives, including those

4 related to outcomes, for the major functions and op5 erations of the United States Fire Administration;

6 (3) a description of how the goals and objec7 tives identified under paragraph (2) are to be

8 achieved, including operational processes, skills and

9 technology, and the human, capital, information, and

10 other resources required to meet those goals and ob11 jectives;

12 (4) an identification of the fire-related activities

13 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech14 nology, the Department of Defense, and other Fed15 eral agencies, and a discussion of how those activi16 ties can be coordinated with and contribute to the

17 achievement of the goals and objectives identified

18 under paragraph (2);

19 (5) a description of objective, quantifiable per20 formance goals needed to define the level of perform21 ance achieved by program activities in training, re22 search, data collection and analysis, and public edu23 cation, and how these performance goals relate to

24 the general goals and objectives in the strategic

25 plan;
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1 (6) an identification of key factors external to

2 the United States Fire Administration and beyond

3 its control that could affect significantly the achieve4 ment of the general goals and objectives;

5 (7) a description of program evaluations used in

6 establishing or revising general goals and objectives,

7 with a schedule for future program evaluations;

8 (8) a plan for the timely distribution of infor9 mation and educational materials to State and local

10 firefighting services, including volunteer, career, and

11 combination services throughout the United States;

12 (9) a description of how the strategic plan pre13 pared under this section will be incorporated into the

14 strategic plan and the performance plans and re15 ports of the Federal Emergency Management Agen16 cy; and

17 (10)(A) a description of the current and

18 planned use of the Internet for the delivery of train19 ing courses by the National Fire Academy, including

20 a listing of the types of courses and whether they

21 provide real time interaction between instructor and

22 students, and including the number of students en23 rolled, and the geographic distribution of students,

24 for the most recent fiscal year;
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1 (B) an assessment of the availability and actual

2 use by the National Fire Academy of Federal facili3 ties suitable for distance education applications, in4 cluding facilities with teleconferencing capabilities;

5 and

6 (C) an assessment of the benefits and problems

7 associated with delivery of instructional courses

8 using the Internet, including limitations due to net9 work bandwidth at training sites, the availability of

10 suitable course materials, and the effectiveness of

11 such courses in terms of student performance.

12 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AGENDA.

13 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 days after

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator

15 of the United States Fire Administration, in consultation

16 with the Director of the Federal Emergency Management

17 Agency, the Director of the National Institute of Stand18 ards and Technology, representatives of trade associa19 tions, State and local firefighting services, and other ap20 propriate entities, shall prepare and transmit to the Com21 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the

22 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

23 the Senate a report describing the United States Fire Ad24 ministration’s research agenda and including a plan for

25 implementing that agenda.
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1 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required by

2 subsection (a) shall—

3 (1) identify research priorities;

4 (2) describe how the proposed research agenda

5 will be coordinated and integrated with the programs

6 and capabilities of the National Institute of Stand7 ards and Technology, the Department of Defense,

8 and other Federal agencies;

9 (3) identify potential roles of academic and

10 other research institutions in achieving the research

11 agenda;

12 (4) provide cost estimates, anticipated per13 sonnel needs, and a schedule for completing the var14 ious elements of the research agenda;

15 (5) describe ways to leverage resources through

16 partnerships, cooperative agreements, and other

17 means; and

18 (6) discuss how the proposed research agenda

19 will enhance training, improve State and local fire20 fighting services, impact standards and codes, in21 crease firefighter and public safety, and advance

22 firefighting techniques.

23 (c) USE IN PREPARING STRATEGIC PLAN.—The re24 search agenda prepared under this section shall be used
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1 in the preparation of the strategic plan required by section

2 3.

3 SEC. 5. SURPLUS AND EXCESS FEDERAL EQUIPMENT.

4 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

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

6 ‘‘SEC. 33. SURPLUS AND EXCESS FEDERAL EQUIPMENT.

7 ‘‘The Administrator shall make publicly available, in8 cluding through the Internet, information on procedures

9 for acquiring surplus and excess Federal fire, emergency,

10 hazardous material, or other equipment or property that

11 may be useful to State and local fire and emergency serv12 ices.’’.

13 SEC. 6. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL FA14 CILITIES.

15 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

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

17 ‘‘SEC. 34. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL FA18 CILITIES.

19 ‘‘The Administrator shall make publicly available, in20 cluding through the Internet, information on procedures

21 for establishing cooperative agreements between State and

22 local fire and emergency services and Federal facilities in

23 their region relating to the provision of fire and emergency

24 services.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS REPEALS.

2 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

3 is amended—

4 (1) by repealing section 10(b) and redesignating

5 subsection (c) of that section as subsection (b);

6 (2) by repealing section 23;

7 (3) in section 24—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) The’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘The’’; and

10 (B) by repealing subsection (b);

11 (4) by repealing section 26; and

12 (5) by repealing section 27.

13 SEC. 8. NEED FOR ADDITIONAL TRAINING IN

14 COUNTERTERRORISM.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United

16 States Fire Administration shall conduct an assessment

17 of the need for additional capabilities for Federal

18 counterterrorism training of emergency response per19 sonnel.

20 (b) CONTENTS OF ASSESSMENT.—The assessment

21 conducted under this section shall include—

22 (1) a review of the counterterrorism training

23 programs offered by the United States Fire Admin24 istration and other Federal agencies;

25 (2) an estimate of the number and types of

26 emergency response personnel that have, during the
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1 period between January 1, 1994, and June 1, 1999,

2 sought training described in paragraph (1), but have

3 been unable to receive that training as a result of

4 the oversubscription of the training capabilities; and

5 (3) a recommendation on the need to provide

6 additional Federal counterterrorism training centers,

7 including—

8 (A) an analysis of existing Federal facili9 ties that could be used as counterterrorism

10 training facilities; and

11 (B) a cost-benefit analysis of the establish12 ment of counterterrorism training facilities in

13 regions where many applicants for such training

14 reside.

15 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall pre17 pare and submit to the Congress a report on the results

18 of the assessment conducted under this section.

19 SEC. 9. NATIONAL FIRE ACADEMY CURRICULUM REVIEW.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United

21 States Fire Administration, in consultation with the

22 Board of Visitors and representatives of trade and profes23 sional associations, State and local firefighting services,

24 and other appropriate entities, shall conduct a review of

25 the courses of instruction available at the National Fire
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1 Academy to ensure that they are up-to-date and com2 plement, not duplicate, courses of instruction offered else3 where. Not later than 180 days after the date of enact4 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall prepare and sub5 mit a report to the Committee on Science of the House

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,

7 Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

8 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required by

9 subsection (a) shall—

10 (1) examine and assess the courses of instruc11 tion offered by the National Fire Academy;

12 (2) identify redundant and out-of-date courses

13 of instruction;

14 (3) examine the current and future impact of

15 information technology on National Fire Academy

16 curricula, methods of instruction, and delivery of

17 services; and

18 (4) make recommendations for updating the

19 curriculum, methods of instruction, and delivery of

20 services by the National Fire Academy considering

21 current and future needs, State-based curricula, ad22 vances in information technologies, and other rel23 evant factors.
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1 SEC. 10. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

2 The Administrator of the United States Fire Admin3 istration shall make available through the Internet home

4 page of the United States Fire Administration the ab5 stracts relating to all research grants and awards made

6 with funds authorized by the amendments made by this

7 Act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require

8 or permit the release of any information prohibited by law

9 or regulation from being released to the public.

10 SEC. 11. REPEAL OF EXCEPTION TO FIRE SAFETY REQUIRE11 MENT.

12 (a) REPEAL.—Section 4 of Public Law 103–195 (107

13 Stat. 2298) is hereby repealed.

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take ef15 fect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section.

Passed the House of Representatives May 11, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.