II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2108

To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with respect

to campus buildings, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 28, 2000

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

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

A BILL

To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with respect to campus buildings, 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 ‘‘Campus Fire Safety

5 Right to Know Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS AND

7 MEASURES WITH RESPECT TO CAMPUS

8 BUILDINGS.

9 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

10 U.S.C. 1092) is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1)—

2 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub3 paragraph (N);

4 (B) by striking the period at the end of

5 subparagraph (O) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

7 subparagraph:

8 ‘‘(P) the fire safety report prepared by the in9 stitution pursuant to subsection (h).’’; and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub11 section:

12 ‘‘(h) DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS AND

13 MEASURES.—

14 ‘‘(1) FIRE SAFETY REPORTS REQUIRED.—Each

15 eligible institution participating in any program

16 under this title shall, beginning in 2001, and each

17 year thereafter, prepare, publish, and distribute,

18 through appropriate publications or mailings, to all

19 current students and employees, and to any appli20 cant for enrollment or employment upon request, an

21 annual fire safety report containing at least the fol22 lowing information with respect to the campus fire

23 safety practices and standards of that institution:

24 ‘‘(A) A statement that identifies each stu25 dent housing facility of the institution, and
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1 whether or not each such facility is equipped

2 with a fire sprinkler system or another equally

3 protective fire safety system.

4 ‘‘(B) Statistics concerning the occurrence

5 on campus, during the 2 preceding calendar

6 years for which data are available, of fires and

7 false fire alarms.

8 ‘‘(C) For each such occurrence, a state9 ment of the human injuries or deaths and the

10 structural damage caused by the occurrence.

11 ‘‘(D) Information regarding fire alarms,

12 smoke alarms, the presence of adequate fire es13 cape planning or protocols, rules on portable

14 electrical appliances, smoking and open flames

15 (such as candles), regular mandatory supervised

16 fire drills, and planned and future improvement

17 in fire safety.

18 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in

19 this subsection shall be construed to authorize the

20 Secretary to require particular policies, procedures,

21 or practices by institutions of higher education with

22 respect to fire safety.

23 ‘‘(3) REPORTS.—Each institution participating

24 in any program under this title shall make timely re25 ports to the campus community on fires that are re-
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1 ported to local fire departments and the incidence of

2 false fire alarms on campus. Such reports shall be

3 provided to students and employees in a manner

4 that is timely and that will aid in the prevention of

5 similar occurrences.

6 ‘‘(4) LOGS.—Each institution participating in

7 any program under this title shall make, keep, and

8 maintain a log, written in a form that can be easily

9 understood, recording all fires reported to local fire

10 departments, including the nature, date, time, and

11 general location of each fire, and all false fire

12 alarms. All entries that are required pursuant to this

13 paragraph shall, except where disclosure of such in14 formation is prohibited by law, be open to public in15 spection.

16 ‘‘(5) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—On an annual

17 basis, each institution participating in any program

18 under this title shall submit to the Secretary a copy

19 of the statistics required to be made available under

20 paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(A) review such statistics;

22 ‘‘(B) make copies of the statistics sub23 mitted to the Secretary available to the public;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(C) in coordination with representatives

2 of institutions of higher education, identify ex3 emplary fire safety policies, procedures, and

4 practices and disseminate information con5 cerning those policies, procedures, and practices

6 that have proven effective in the reduction of

7 campus fires.

8 ‘‘(6) DEFINITION OF CAMPUS.—In this sub9 section the term ‘campus’ has the meaning provided

10 in subsection (f)(6).’’.

11 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS BY SECRETARY OF EDU12 CATION.

13 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment

14 of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall prepare and

15 submit to the Congress a report containing—

16 (1) an analysis of the current status of fire

17 safety systems in college and university facilities, in18 cluding sprinkler systems;

19 (2) an analysis of the appropriate fire safety

20 standards to apply to these facilities, which the Sec21 retary shall prepare after consultation with such fire

22 safety experts, representatives of institutions of

23 higher education, and other Federal agencies as the

24 Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, considers

25 appropriate;
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1 (3) an estimate of the cost of bringing all non2 conforming dormitories and other campus buildings

3 up to current new building codes; and

4 (4) recommendations from the Secretary con5 cerning the best means of meeting fire safety stand6 ards in all college and university facilities, including

7 recommendations for methods to fund such cost.

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