I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 771

To save lives, prevent injuries, and protect property through improved State

and local fire safety education.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 1, 1995

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. BOEHLERT)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

A BILL

To save lives, prevent injuries, and protect property through

improved State and local fire safety education.

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 Safety Education

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Nation’s fire losses are estimated at

9 5,000 deaths and 29,000 injuries annually, produc10 ing an economic loss conservatively estimated at
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1 $10,000,000,000 a year plus more than

2 $1,000,000,000 a year in health care costs;

3 (2) sustained and targeted fire safety education

4 at the State and local levels, particularly in identifi5 able high-risk populations, produces dramatic results

6 in preventing fires, fire deaths, and dollar loss from

7 fire;

8 (3) in recent years, the Nation’s fire depart9 ments have seen their fire safety education budgets

10 cut dramatically and, in many cases, eliminated;

11 (4) there is a need to expand the availability of

12 State and local fire prevention programs and sup13 porting resources and materials to help State agen14 cies and local fire departments in carrying out effec15 tive public education;

16 (5) fire departments in other countries with

17 fewer fire deaths per capita than the United States

18 spend an average of 4–10 percent of their budgets

19 on fire prevention, versus less than 3 percent for

20 United States departments; and

21 (6) only by accurately collecting and analyzing

22 data on fire deaths, injuries and dollar loss can the

23 Nation’s fire departments pinpoint the populations

24 and regions where they most need to direct their
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1 educational efforts, thus leading to a more efficient

2 and effective use of resources.

3 SEC. 3. FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION.

4 (a) AWARDS.—The Administrator may enter into

5 contracts, cooperative agreements, or grants with eligible

6 entities to obtain and distribute at the State and local level

7 fire safety and prevention education programs and sup8 porting educational resources.

9 (b) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts re10 ceived by an entity under subsection (a)—

11 (1) not more than 25 percent may be used for

12 statewide fire safety and prevention programs;

13 (2) not more than 25 percent may be used to

14 implement new regional or local fire safety and pre15 vention programs targeting high risk populations;

16 and

17 (3) at least 50 percent shall be used for awards

18 of not more than $10,000 for existing regional or

19 local fire safety and prevention programs that have

20 been demonstrated to be effective in preventing fires,

21 fire deaths and injuries, and dollar losses from fire.

22 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under sub23 section (a) may be used to educate the public in all aspects

24 of fire safety and prevention, including—
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1 (1) the effectiveness and appropriate use of fire

2 suppression and prevention equipment such as auto3 matic sprinklers, smoke detectors, and portable ex4 tinguishers;

5 (2) the organization and conduct of exit drills;

6 and

7 (3) the safe use of products that could contrib8 ute to accidental fires.

9 (d) PRIORITY OF EXISTING MATERIALS.—Fire safety

10 education programs funded under this Act shall give prior11 ity to the use of public education materials that have al12 ready been developed, if such materials meet the demands

13 of the program being funded.

14 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION.

15 The Administrator may enter into contracts, coopera16 tive agreements, or grants with States for the purpose of

17 implementing the revised National Fire Incident Report18 ing System, established under section 9 of the Federal

19 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C.

20 2208), to improve and enhance the collection and analysis

21 of fire data at the State and local levels.

22 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

23 Each eligible entity desiring a contract, cooperative

24 agreement, or grant under this Act shall submit an appli25 cation to the Administrator at such time, in such manner,
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1 and accompanied by such information as the Adminis2 trator may reasonably require.

3 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND EVALUATION.

4 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR.—An en5 tity receiving funds under section 3 shall prepare and sub6 mit to the Administrator an annual report which contains

7 such information as the Administrator may require. At a

8 minimum, the report shall describe the program activities

9 undertaken with such funds, including—

10 (1) any program that has been developed di11 rectly or indirectly by the entity, and the target pop12 ulation of such program;

13 (2) support materials that have been obtained

14 and the method by which such materials are distrib15 uted; and

16 (3) any initiatives undertaken by the entity to

17 develop public-private partnerships to secure non18 Federal support for the development and distribu19 tion of programs and material in furtherance of this

20 Act.

21 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall

22 prepare and submit to the Congress an annual report

23 which includes a description of the programs undertaken

24 and materials developed and distributed by entities receiv25 ing funds under section 3.
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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 (a) FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION.—For the purposes of

3 carrying out section 3 of this Act, there are authorized

4 to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

5 1997 and 1998, of which no more than $500,000 may be

6 spent in any fiscal year on administrative costs.

7 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—For the purposes of carry8 ing out section 4 of this Act, there are authorized to be

9 appropriated $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1996, of which no

10 more than $300,000 shall be spent on administrative

11 costs.

12 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

13 As used in this Act—

14 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad15 ministrator of the United States Fire Administra16 tion;

17 (2) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means the office

18 of the State fire marshal for a State or an equiva19 lent State office having primary responsibility for

20 fire safety and prevention in the State;

21 (3) the term ‘‘fire safety and prevention edu22 cation programs’’ includes publications, audiovisual

23 presentations, and demonstrations; and

24 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the

25 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com26 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
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1 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mar2 iana Islands, and any other territory or possession

3 of the United States.

Æ