I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1550

To authorize appropriations for the United States Fire Administration for

fiscal years 2000 and 2001, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 1999

Mr. SMITH of Michigan (for himself and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of

Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Science

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Authorization Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 Section 17 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Con8 trol Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216) is amended to read

9 as follows:
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1 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

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

3 with respect to the payment of claims under section 11

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

5 carry out the purposes of this Act—

6 ‘‘(1) $30,554,000 for fiscal year 1999;

7 ‘‘(2) $45,130,000 for fiscal year 2000, of which

8 $2,200,000 shall be used for research activities; and

9 ‘‘(3) $47,500,000 for fiscal year 2001, of which

10 $3,000,000 shall be used for research activities.

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

12 obligated unless the Administrator has certified to the

13 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives

14 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor15 tation of the Senate that the obligation of funds is con16 sistent with the strategic plan transmitted under section

17 3 of the Fire Administration Authorization Act of 1999.’’.

18 SEC. 3. STRATEGIC PLAN.

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

20 the Administrator of the United States Fire Administra21 tion shall prepare and transmit to the Committee on

22 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com23 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the

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

25 the United States Fire Administration.
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1 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan required by sub2 section (a) shall include—

3 (1) a comprehensive mission statement covering

4 the major functions and operations of the United

5 States Fire Administration in the areas of training,

6 research, data collection and analysis, and public

7 education;

8 (2) general goals and objectives, including those

9 related to outcomes, for the major functions and op10 erations of the United States Fire Administration;

11 (3) a description of how the goals and objec12 tives identified under paragraph (2) are to be

13 achieved, including operational processes, skills and

14 technology, and the human, capital, information, and

15 other resources required to meet those goals and ob16 jectives;

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

18 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech19 nology, the Department of Defense, and other Fed20 eral agencies, and a discussion of how those activi21 ties can be coordinated with and contribute to the

22 achievement of the goals and objectives identified

23 under paragraph (2);

24 (5) a description of objective, quantifiable per25 formance goals needed to define the level of perform-
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1 ance achieved by program activities in training, re2 search, data collection and analysis, and public edu3 cation, and how these performance goals relate to

4 the general goals and objectives in the strategic

5 plan;

6 (6) an identification of key factors external to

7 the United States Fire Administration and beyond

8 its control that could affect significantly the achieve9 ment of the general goals and objectives;

10 (7) a description of program evaluations used in

11 establishing or revising general goals and objectives,

12 with a schedule for future program evaluations; and

13 (8) a description of how the strategic plan pre14 pared under this section will be incorporated into the

15 strategic plan and the performance plans and re16 ports of the Federal Emergency Management Agen17 cy.

18 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AGENDA.

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

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

21 of the United States Fire Administration, in consultation

22 with the Director of the Federal Emergency Management

23 Agency, the Director of the National Institute of Stand24 ards and Technology, representatives of trade associa25 tions, State and local firefighting services, and other ap-
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1 propriate entities, shall prepare and transmit to the Com2 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the

3 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

4 the Senate a report describing the United States Fire Ad5 ministration’s research agenda and including a plan for

6 implementing that agenda.

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

8 subsection (a) shall—

9 (1) identify research priorities;

10 (2) describe how the proposed research agenda

11 will be coordinated and integrated with the programs

12 and capabilities of the National Institute of Stand13 ards and Technology, the Department of Defense,

14 and other Federal agencies;

15 (3) identify potential roles of academic and

16 other research institutions in achieving the research

17 agenda;

18 (4) provide cost estimates, anticipated per19 sonnel needs, and a schedule for completing the var20 ious elements of the research agenda;

21 (5) describe ways to leverage resources through

22 partnerships, cooperative agreements, and other

23 means; and

24 (6) discuss how the proposed research agenda

25 will enhance training, improve State and local fire-
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1 fighting services, impact standards and codes, in2 crease firefighter and public safety, and advance

3 firefighting techniques.

4 (c) USE IN PREPARING STRATEGIC PLAN.—The re5 search agenda prepared under this section shall be used

6 in the preparation of the strategic plan required by section

7 3.

8 SEC. 5. SURPLUS AND EXCESS FEDERAL EQUIPMENT.

9 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

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

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

12 ‘‘The Administrator shall make publicly available, in13 cluding through the Internet, information on procedures

14 for acquiring surplus and excess Federal fire, emergency,

15 hazardous material, or other equipment or property that

16 may be useful to State and local fire and emergency serv17 ices.’’.

18 SEC. 6. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL FA19 CILITIES.

20 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

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

22 ‘‘SEC. 34. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL FA23 CILITIES.

24 ‘‘The Administrator shall make publicly available, in25 cluding through the Internet, information on procedures
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1 for establishing cooperative agreements between State and

2 local fire and emergency services and Federal facilities in

3 their region relating to the provision of fire and emergency

4 services.’’.

5 SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS REPEALS.

6 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

7 is amended—

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

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

10 (2) by repealing section 23;

11 (3) in section 24—

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

13 ‘‘The’’; and

14 (B) by repealing subsection (b);

15 (4) by repealing section 26; and

16 (5) by repealing section 27.

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