II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2178

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require colleges and universities to disclose to students and their parents the incidents of fires

in dormitories, and their plans to reduce fire safety hazards in dormitories, to require the United States Fire Administration to establish

fire safety standards for dormitories, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 2, 2000

Mr. LAUTENBERG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require

colleges and universities to disclose to students and their

parents the incidents of fires in dormitories, and their

plans to reduce fire safety hazards in dormitories, to

require the United States Fire Administration to establish fire safety standards for dormitories, 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 Safe Dorm Act

5 of 2000’’.
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1 TITLE I—OBLIGATIONS OF INSTI2 TUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU3 CATION

4 SEC. 101. IMPROVED DISCLOSURE OF FIRES AND FIRE PRE5 VENTION MEASURES IN COLLEGE DOR6 MITORIES.

7 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965

8 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the

10 following new subparagraphs:

11 ‘‘(I) Statistics concerning the occurrence of

12 fires and fire alarms in dormitories on campus dur13 ing the most recent calendar year, and during the 5

14 preceding calendar years for which data are avail15 able.

16 ‘‘(J) A statement describing whether the insti17 tutions’ dormitory rooms currently have sprinklers,

18 smoke detectors, and furniture made of flame re19 tardant material.’’;

20 (2) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the

21 following new subparagraph:

22 ‘‘(C) Each institution participating in any program

23 under this title shall make, keep, and maintain a daily log,

24 written in a form that can be easily understood, recording

25 all fires reported to local fire departments, including the
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1 nature, date, time, and general location of each fire. Such

2 logs shall be open to public inspection.’’; and

3 (3) in paragraph (5)—

4 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

5 (A), by inserting ‘‘or paragraph (1)(I)’’ after

6 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’; and

7 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting

8 ‘‘and campus fires’’ after ‘‘campus crime’’.

9 SEC. 102. DISCLOSURE OF PLANS TO BRING RESIDENTIAL

10 FACILITIES INTO COMPLIANCE WITH NEW

11 BUILDING CODES.

12 Section 485(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara15 graph (N);

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub17 paragraph (O) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

18 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub19 paragraph:

20 ‘‘(P) a summary of the specific plans that the

21 institution has adopted for construction or renova22 tion to ensure that all campus residential facilities

23 comply, by January 1, 2010, with the standards es24 tablished by the Administrator of the United States
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1 Fire Administration under section 201 of the Fire

2 Safe Dorm Act of 2000.’’.

3 SEC. 103. COMPLIANCE WITH FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS

4 FOR DORMITORIES.

5 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965

6 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the

7 following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(24) The institution will adopt, within 10

9 years after the date of enactment of the Fire Safe

10 Dorm Act of 2000, plans to install sprinklers, smoke

11 detectors, and open flame resistant furniture in dor12 mitories in compliance with the standards estab13 lished by the Administrator of the United States

14 Fire Administration under section 201 of such

15 Act.’’.

16 SEC. 104. EXEMPTION.

17 The amendments made by this title shall not be con18 strued to require the installation of sprinklers in any

19 building or other structure that is listed on the National

20 Register for Historic Places as maintained by the National

21 Park Service under the authority of the National Historic

22 Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), if such installa23 tion would destroy historic materials, features, and spatial

24 relationships that characterize the historic nature of the

25 property. The Secretary of Education shall determine dis-
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1 putes concerning the application of this exemption by ref2 erence of the matter to the Secretary of the Interior.

3 TITLE II—DORMITORY FIRE

4 SAFETY STANDARDS

5 SEC. 201. STANDARDS.

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after

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

8 of the United States Fire Administration shall establish

9 measurable standards for dormitory fire safety. Such

10 standards shall include mandatory fire sprinklers, smoke

11 detectors, and open flame resistant furniture and mat12 tresses.

13 (b) OUTREACH.—The Administrator of the United

14 States Fire Administration shall undertake appropriate

15 activities to encourage the adoption by State and local au16 thorities of the standards established under subsection (a).

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