I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4847 

To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2007 

Mr. MITCHELL (for himself and Mr. GINGREY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration, 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 ‘‘United States Fire 

5 Administration Reauthorization Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The loss of life due to fire has dropped sig9 nificantly over the last 25 years in the United 

10 States. However, the United States still has one of 

11 the highest fire death rates in the industrialized 


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1 world. In 2005 the National Fire Protection Asso2 ciation reported 3,675 civilian fire deaths, 17,925 ci3 vilian fire injuries, and $10,672,000,000 in direct 

4 losses due to fire. 

5 (2) Every year, over 100 firefighters die in the 

6 line of duty. The United States Fire Administration 

7 should continue its leadership to help local fire agen8 cies dramatically reduce these fatalities. 

9 (3) Members of the fire service community 

10 should continue to work together to further the pro11 motion of voluntary consensus standards that in12 crease firefighter safety. 

13 (4) The United States Fire Administration pro14 vides crucial support to the Nation’s 30,300 fire de15 partments through training, emergency incident data 

16 collection, fire awareness and education, and support 

17 of research and development activities for fire pre18 vention, control, and suppression technologies. 

19 (5) The collection of data on fire and other 

20 emergency incidents is a vital tool both for policy 

21 makers and emergency responders to identify and 

22 develop responses to emerging hazards. Improving 

23 the United States Fire Administration’s data collec24 tion capabilities is essential for accurately tracking 


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1 and responding to the magnitude and nature of the 

2 Nation’s fire problem. 

3 (6) The research and development performed by 

4 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

5 the United States Fire Administration, other govern6 ment agencies, and non-governmental organizations 

7 on fire technologies, techniques, and tools advance 

8 the capabilities of the Nation’s fire service to sup9 press and prevent fires. 

10 (7) The United States Fire Administration is 

11 one of the strongest voices representing the Nation’s 

12 fire service within the Federal Government, and, as 

13 such, it should have a prominent place within the 

14 Department of Homeland Security. 

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR UNITED 

16 STATES FIRE ADMINISTRATION. 

17 Section 17(g)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

18 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216(g)(1)) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking the ‘‘and’’ 

20 after the semicolon; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

22 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

23 (3) by adding after subparagraph (D) the fol24 lowing new subparagraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(E) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, of 

2 which $2,520,000 shall be used to carry out 

3 section 8; 

4 ‘‘(F) $72,100,000 for fiscal year 2010, of 

5 which $2,595,600 shall be used to carry out 

6 section 8; 

7 ‘‘(G) $74,263,000 for fiscal year 2011, of 

8 which $2,673,468 shall be used to carry out 

9 section 8; and 

10 ‘‘(H) $76,490,890 for fiscal year 2012, of 

11 which $2,753,672 shall be used to carry out 

12 section 8.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. NATIONAL FIRE ACADEMY TRAINING PROGRAM 

14 MODIFICATIONS AND REPORTS. 

15 (a) AMENDMENTS TO FIRE ACADEMY TRAINING.— 

16 Section 7(d)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Con17 trol Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(d)(1)) is amended— 

18 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘terrorist19 caused national catastrophes’’ and inserting ‘‘ter20 rorist-caused and other national catastrophes’’; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘forest’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘wildland’’; 

23 (3) in subparagraph (M), by striking ‘‘response 

24 tactics and’’ and inserting ‘‘response, tactics, and’’; 


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1 (4) by redesignating subparagraphs (I) through 

2 (N) as subparagraphs (M) through (R), respectively; 

3 and 

4 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol5 lowing new subparagraphs: 

6 ‘‘(I) response, tactics, and strategies for 

7 fighting large-scale fires or multiple fires in a 

8 general area that cross jurisdictional bound9 aries; 

10 ‘‘(J) response, tactics, and strategies for 

11 fighting fires occurring at the wildland-urban 

12 interface; 

13 ‘‘(K) response, tactics, and strategies for 

14 fighting fires involving hazardous materials; 

15 ‘‘(L) advanced emergency medical services 

16 training;’’. 

17 (b) TRIENNIAL REPORTS.—Section 7 of such Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 2206) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(m) TRIENNIAL REPORT.—In the first annual re21 port filed pursuant to section 16 for which the deadline 

22 for filing is after the expiration of the 18-month period 

23 that begins on the date of the enactment of the United 

24 States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2007, 

25 and in every third annual report thereafter, the AdminisVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:37 Dec 22, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4847.IH H4847

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1 trator shall include information about changes made to the 

2 National Fire Academy curriculum, including— 

3 ‘‘(1) the basis for such changes, including a re4 view of the incorporation of lessons learned by emer5 gency response personnel after significant emergency 

6 events and emergency preparedness exercises per7 formed under the National Exercise Program; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the desired training outcome of all such 

9 changes.’’. 

10 (c) AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATOR TO ENTER

11 INTO CONTRACTS TO PROVIDE ON-SITE TRAINING

12 THROUGH CERTAIN ACCREDITED ORGANIZATIONS.—Sec13 tion 7(f) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2206) is amended to read 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘(f) ASSISTANCE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is au17 thorized to provide assistance to State and local fire 

18 service training programs through grants, contracts, 

19 or otherwise. 

20 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO CON21 TRACTS TO PROVIDE ON-SITE TRAINING THROUGH

22 CERTAIN ACCREDITED ORGANIZATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is 

24 authorized to enter into a contract with a na25 tionally recognized organization that has estabVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:37 Dec 22, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4847.IH H4847

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1 lished on-site training programs that comply 

2 with national consensus standards for fire serv3 ice personnel to facilitate the delivery of the 

4 education and training programs outlined in 

5 subsection (d)(1) directly to fire service per6 sonnel. 

7 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTIONS.—The Administrator 

8 shall not enter into a contract with such organi9 zation unless such organization— 

10 ‘‘(i) operates a fire service training 

11 program accredited by a nationally recog12 nized accreditation organization experi13 enced with accrediting such training; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) at the time the Administrator en15 ters into the contract, provides training 

16 under such a program to a Federal agency 

17 under a cooperative agreement with such 

18 agency. 

19 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—The 

20 amounts expended by the Administrator to carry out 

21 this subsection in any fiscal year shall not exceed 4 

22 per centum of the amount authorized to be appro23 priated in such fiscal year pursuant to section 17 of 

24 this Act.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL FIRE INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM UP2 GRADES. 

3 (a) INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM DATABASE.—Sec4 tion 9 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 

5 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2208) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL FIRE INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM

8 UPDATE.—Of the amounts made available pursuant to 

9 subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of section 17(g)(1), the 

10 Administrator shall use no more than an aggregate 

11 amount of $5,000,000 during the 3-year period consisting 

12 of fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011 to carry out activities 

13 necessary to update the National Fire Incident Reporting 

14 system to an Internet-based, real-time incident reporting 

15 database, including capital investment, contractor engage16 ment, and user education.’’. 

17 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 9(b)(2) of 

18 such Act (15 U.S.C. 2208(b)(2)) is amended by striking 

19 ‘‘assist State,’’ and inserting ‘‘assist Federal, State,’’. 

20 SEC. 6. FIRE TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE AND RESEARCH 

21 DISSEMINATION. 

22 (a) ASSISTANCE TO FIRE SERVICES FOR FIRE PRE23 VENTION AND CONTROL IN WILDLAND-URBAN INTER24 FACE.—Section 8(d) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

25 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2207(d)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘RURAL ASSISTANCE’’ in the 

2 heading and inserting ‘‘RURAL AND WILDLAND3 URBAN INTERFACE ASSISTANCE’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘(1) The Administrator’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

7 paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(2) The Administrator is authorized to assist the 

9 Nation’s fire services, directly or through contracts, 

10 grants, or other forms of assistance, to sponsor and en11 courage research into approaches, techniques, systems, 

12 and equipment to improve fire prevention and control in 

13 the wildland-urban interface.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH DISSEMINATION.—Sec15 tion 8 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2207) is amended by adding 

16 at the end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(h) RESEARCH DISSEMINATION.—Beginning 1 year 

18 after the date of the enactment of the United States Fire 

19 Administration Reauthorization Act of 2007, the Adminis20 trator, in collaboration with the relevant departments and 

21 agencies of the Federal Government, shall make available 

22 to the public information about all ongoing and planned 

23 fire-related research funded by the Administration during 

24 fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter, as well 


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1 as the results generated from such research, through a 

2 regularly updated Internet-based database.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. ENCOURAGING ADOPTION OF STANDARDS FOR 

4 FIREFIGHTER HEALTH AND SAFETY. 

5 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 

6 (15 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 37. ENCOURAGING ADOPTION OF STANDARDS FOR 

9 FIREFIGHTER HEALTH AND SAFETY. 

10 ‘‘The Administrator shall promote adoption by fire 

11 services of voluntary national consensus standards for fire12 fighter health and safety, including such standards for 

13 firefighter operations, training, staffing, and fitness, by 

14 educating fire services about such standards, encouraging 

15 the adoption at all levels of government of such standards, 

16 and making recommendations on other ways in which the 

17 Federal government can promote the adoption of such 

18 standards by fire services.’’. 

19 SEC. 8. COORDINATION REGARDING FIRE SERVICE-BASED 

20 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. 

21 Section 21(e) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

22 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2218(e)) is amended to 

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent practicable, 

2 the Administrator shall utilize existing programs, 

3 data, information, and facilities already available in 

4 other Federal Government departments and agencies 

5 and, where appropriate, existing research organiza6 tions, centers, and universities. 

7 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION OF FIRE PREVENTION AND

8 CONTROL PROGRAMS.—The Administrator shall pro9 vide liaison at an appropriate organizational level to 

10 assure coordination of the Administrator’s activities 

11 with State and local government agencies, depart12 ments, bureaus, or offices concerned with any matter 

13 related to programs of fire prevention and control 

14 with private and other Federal organizations and of15 fices so concerned. 

16 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF FIRE SERVICE-BASED

17 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PROGRAMS.—The 

18 Administrator shall provide liaison at an appropriate 

19 organizational level to assure coordination of the Ad20 ministrator’s activities with State and local govern21 ment agencies, departments, bureaus, or offices con22 cerned with programs related to emergency medical 

23 services provided by fire service-based systems with 

24 private and other Federal organizations and offices 

25 so concerned.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 4 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control 

3 Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2203) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Administra5 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘Administration, who is the As6 sistant Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

7 Management Agency’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the ‘‘and’’ 

9 after the semicolon; 

10 (3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 

11 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

12 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), and 

13 (8) as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively; 

14 (5) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol15 lowing new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(6) ‘hazardous materials’ has the meaning 

17 given such term in section 5102(2) of title 49, 

18 United States Code;’’; and 

19 (6) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(10) ‘wildland-urban interface’ has the mean22 ing given such term in section 101(16) of the 

23 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 

24 6511(16)).’’. 

Æ 


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