Union Calendar No. 72

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1550

[Report No. 106–133]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the United States

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

MAY 10, 1999

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
IB

Union Calendar No. 72

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1550

[Report No. 106–133]

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

MAY 10, 1999

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 26, 1999]

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,
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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 Control

6 Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

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

9 with respect to the payment of claims under section 11 of

10 this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry

11 out the purposes of this Act—

12 ‘‘(1) $30,554,000 for fiscal year 1999;

13 ‘‘(2) $46,130,000 for fiscal year 2000, of which

14 $2,200,000 shall be used for research activities, and

15 $250,000 shall be used for contracts or grants to non16 Federal entities for data analysis, including general

17 fire profiles and special fire analyses and report

18 projects, and of which $6,000,000 shall be for anti-ter19 rorism training, including associated curriculum de20 velopment, for fire and emergency services personnel;

21 and

22 ‘‘(3) $49,500,000 for fiscal year 2001, of which

23 $3,000,000 shall be used for research activities, and

24 $250,000 shall be used for contracts or grants to non25 Federal entities for data analysis, including general

26 fire profiles and special fire analyses and report
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1 projects, and of which $8,000,000 shall be for anti-ter2 rorism training, including associated curriculum de3 velopment, for fire and emergency services personnel.

4 None of the funds authorized by paragraph (3) may be obli5 gated unless the Administrator has certified to the Com6 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the

7 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

8 the Senate that the obligation of funds is consistent with

9 the strategic plan transmitted under section 3 of the Fire

10 Administration Authorization Act of 1999.’’.

11 SEC. 3. STRATEGIC PLAN.

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

13 the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration

14 shall prepare and transmit to the Committee on Science

15 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 5-year

17 strategic plan of program activities for the United States

18 Fire Administration.

19 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan required by sub20 section (a) shall include—

21 (1) a comprehensive mission statement covering

22 the major functions and operations of the United

23 States Fire Administration in the areas of training,

24 research, data collection and analysis, and public

25 education;
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1 (2) general goals and objectives, including those

2 related to outcomes, for the major functions and oper3 ations of the United States Fire Administration;

4 (3) a description of how the goals and objectives

5 identified under paragraph (2) are to be achieved, in6 cluding operational processes, skills and technology,

7 and the human, capital, information, and other re8 sources required to meet those goals and objectives;

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

10 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech11 nology, the Department of Defense, and other Federal

12 agencies, and a discussion of how those activities can

13 be coordinated with and contribute to the achievement

14 of the goals and objectives identified under paragraph

15 (2);

16 (5) a description of objective, quantifiable per17 formance goals needed to define the level of perform18 ance achieved by program activities in training, re19 search, data collection and analysis, and public edu20 cation, and how these performance goals relate to the

21 general goals and objectives in the strategic plan;

22 (6) an identification of key factors external to

23 the United States Fire Administration and beyond its

24 control that could affect significantly the achievement

25 of the general goals and objectives;
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1 (7) a description of program evaluations used in

2 establishing or revising general goals and objectives,

3 with a schedule for future program evaluations;

4 (8) a plan for the timely distribution of informa5 tion and educational materials to State and local

6 firefighting services, including volunteer, career, and

7 combination services throughout the United States;

8 (9) a description of how the strategic plan pre9 pared under this section will be incorporated into the

10 strategic plan and the performance plans and reports

11 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and

12 (10)(A) a description of the current and planned

13 use of the Internet for the delivery of training courses

14 by the National Fire Academy, including a listing of

15 the types of courses and whether they provide real

16 time interaction between instructor and students, and

17 including the number of students enrolled, and the ge18 ographic distribution of students, for the most recent

19 fiscal year;

20 (B) an assessment of the availability and actual

21 use by the National Fire Academy of Federal facili22 ties suitable for distance education applications, in23 cluding facilities with teleconferencing capabilities;

24 and
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1 (C) an assessment of the benefits and problems

2 associated with delivery of instructional courses using

3 the Internet, including limitations due to network

4 bandwidth at training sites, the availability of suit5 able course materials, and the effectiveness of such

6 courses in terms of student performance.

7 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AGENDA.

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

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

10 United States Fire Administration, in consultation with

11 the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,

12 the Director of the National Institute of Standards and

13 Technology, representatives of trade associations, State and

14 local firefighting services, and other appropriate entities,

15 shall prepare and transmit to the Committee on Science

16 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com17 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report

18 describing the United States Fire Administration’s research

19 agenda and including a plan for implementing that agen20 da.

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

22 subsection (a) shall—

23 (1) identify research priorities;

24 (2) describe how the proposed research agenda

25 will be coordinated and integrated with the programs
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1 and capabilities of the National Institute of Stand2 ards and Technology, the Department of Defense, and

3 other Federal agencies;

4 (3) identify potential roles of academic and other

5 research institutions in achieving the research agenda;

6 (4) provide cost estimates, anticipated personnel

7 needs, and a schedule for completing the various ele8 ments of the research agenda;

9 (5) describe ways to leverage resources through

10 partnerships, cooperative agreements, and other

11 means; and

12 (6) discuss how the proposed research agenda

13 will enhance training, improve State and local fire14 fighting services, impact standards and codes, in15 crease firefighter and public safety, and advance fire16 fighting techniques.

17 (c) USE IN PREPARING STRATEGIC PLAN.—The re18 search agenda prepared under this section shall be used in

19 the preparation of the strategic plan required by section 3.

20 SEC. 5. SURPLUS AND EXCESS FEDERAL EQUIPMENT.

21 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

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

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

24 ‘‘The Administrator shall make publicly available, in25 cluding through the Internet, information on procedures for
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1 acquiring surplus and excess Federal fire, emergency, haz2 ardous material, or other equipment or property that may

3 be useful to State and local fire and emergency services.’’.

4 SEC. 6. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL FACILI5 TIES.

6 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

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

8 ‘‘SEC. 34. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL FA9 CILITIES.

10 ‘‘The Administrator shall make publicly available, in11 cluding through the Internet, information on procedures for

12 establishing cooperative agreements between State and local

13 fire and emergency services and Federal facilities in their

14 region relating to the provision of fire and emergency serv15 ices.’’.

16 SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS REPEALS.

17 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

18 is amended—

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

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

21 (2) by repealing section 23;

22 (3) in section 24—

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

24 ‘‘The’’; and

25 (B) by repealing subsection (b);
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1 (4) by repealing section 26; and

2 (5) by repealing section 27.

3 SEC. 8. NEED FOR ADDITIONAL TRAINING IN

4 COUNTERTERRORISM.

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

6 States Fire Administration shall conduct an assessment of

7 the need for additional capabilities for Federal

8 counterterrorism training of emergency response personnel.

9 (b) CONTENTS OF ASSESSMENT.—The assessment con10 ducted under this section shall include—

11 (1) a review of the counterterrorism training

12 programs offered by the United States Fire Adminis13 tration and other Federal agencies;

14 (2) an estimate of the number and types of emer15 gency response personnel that have, during the period

16 between January 1, 1994, and June 1, 1999, sought

17 training described in paragraph (1), but have been

18 unable to receive that training as a result of the over19 subscription of the training capabilities; and

20 (3) a recommendation on the need to provide ad21 ditional Federal counterterrorism training centers,

22 including—

23 (A) an analysis of existing Federal facilities

24 that could be used as counterterrorism training

25 facilities; and
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1 (B) a cost-benefit analysis of the establish2 ment of counterterrorism training facilities in

3 regions where many applicants for such training

4 reside.

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

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall pre7 pare and submit to the Congress a report on the results of

8 the assessment conducted under this section.

9 SEC. 9. NATIONAL FIRE ACADEMY CURRICULUM REVIEW.

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

11 States Fire Administration, in consultation with the Board

12 of Visitors and representatives of trade and professional as13 sociations, State and local firefighting services, and other

14 appropriate entities, shall conduct a review of the courses

15 of instruction available at the National Fire Academy to

16 ensure that they are up-to-date and complement, not dupli17 cate, courses of instruction offered elsewhere. Not later than

18 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Admin19 istrator shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee

20 on Science of the House of Representatives and the Com21 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the

22 Senate.

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

24 subsection (a) shall—
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1 (1) examine and assess the courses of instruction

2 offered by the National Fire Academy;

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

4 instruction;

5 (3) examine the current and future impact of in6 formation technology on National Fire Academy cur7 ricula, methods of instruction, and delivery of serv8 ices; and

9 (4) make recommendations for updating the cur10 riculum, methods of instruction, and delivery of serv11 ices by the National Fire Academy considering cur12 rent and future needs, State-based curricula, advances

13 in information technologies, and other relevant fac14 tors.

15 SEC. 10. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

16 The Administrator of the United States Fire Adminis17 tration shall make available through the Internet home page

18 of the United States Fire Administration the abstracts re19 lating to all research grants and awards made with funds

20 authorized by the amendments made by this Act. Nothing

21 in this section shall be construed to require or permit the

22 release of any information prohibited by law or regulation

23 from being released to the public.
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1 SEC. 11. REPEAL OF EXCEPTION TO FIRE SAFETY REQUIRE2 MENT.

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

4 Stat. 2298) is hereby repealed.

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take effect

6 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section.