In the Senate of the United States, 

December 6, 2022. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 7077) entitled ‘‘An Act to require the United 

States Fire Administration to conduct on-site investigations 

of major fires, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 

following: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empowering the U.S. 

3 Fire Administration Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FIRE SAFETY INVESTIGATIONS. 

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: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 38. INVESTIGATION AUTHORITIES. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a major fire, the 

3 Administrator may send incident investigators, which may 

4 include safety specialists, fire protection engineers, codes 

5 and standards experts, researchers, and fire training spe6 cialists, to the site of the fire to conduct a fire safety inves7 tigation as described in subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘(b) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—A fire safety inves9 tigation conducted under this section— 

10 ‘‘(1) shall be conducted in coordination and co11 operation with appropriate Federal, State, local, 

12 Tribal, and territorial authorities, including Federal 

13 agencies that are authorized to investigate any fire; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(2) shall examine the previously determined 

16 cause and origin of the fire and assess broader sys17 tematic matters to include use of codes and standards, 

18 demographics, structural characteristics, smoke and 

19 fire dynamics (movement) during the event, and costs 

20 of associated injuries and deaths. 

21 ‘‘(c) REPORT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

23 upon concluding any fire safety investigation under 

24 this section, the Administrator shall— 

25 ‘‘(A) issue a public report to the appro26 priate Federal, State, local, Tribal, and terri-
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1 torial authorities on the findings of such inves2 tigation; or 

3 ‘‘(B) collaborate with another investigating 

4 Federal, State, local, Tribal, or territorial agen5 cy on the report of that agency. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If the Administrator, in con7 sultation with appropriate Federal, State, local, Trib8 al, and territorial authorities determines that issuing 

9 a report under paragraph (1) would have a negative 

10 impact on a potential or ongoing criminal investiga11 tion, the Administrator is not required to issue such 

12 report. 

13 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each public report issued 

14 under paragraph (1) shall include recommendations 

15 on— 

16 ‘‘(A) any other buildings with similar char17 acteristics that may bear similar fire risks; 

18 ‘‘(B) improving tactical response to similar 

19 fires; 

20 ‘‘(C) improving civilian safety practices; 

21 ‘‘(D) assessing the costs and benefits to the 

22 community of adding fire safety features; and 

23 ‘‘(E) how to mitigate the causes of the fire. 

24 ‘‘(d) DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY.—In addition to a 

25 fire safety investigation conducted pursuant to subsection 
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1 (a), provided doing so would not have a negative impact 

2 on a potential or ongoing criminal investigation, the Ad3 ministrator may send fire investigators to conduct a fire 

4 safety investigation at the site of any fire with unusual or 

5 remarkable context that results in losses less severe than 

6 those occurring as a result of a major fire, in coordination 

7 and cooperation with the appropriate Federal, State, local, 

8 Tribal, and territorial authorities, including Federal agen9 cies that are authorized to investigate the fire. 

10 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 

11 construed to— 

12 ‘‘(1) affect or otherwise diminish the authorities 

13 or the mandates vested in other Federal agencies; 

14 ‘‘(2) grant the Administrator authority to inves15 tigate a major fire for the purpose of an enforcement 

16 action or criminal prosecution; or 

17 ‘‘(3) require the Administrator to send investiga18 tors or issue a report for a major fire when the Ad19 ministrator, in coordination and cooperation with the 

20 appropriate Federal, State, local, Tribal, and terri21 torial authorities, determine that it may compromise 

22 a potential or ongoing criminal investigation. 
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1 ‘‘(f) MAJOR FIRE DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, the term ‘major fire’ shall have the meaning given such 

3 term under regulations to be issued by the Administrator.’’. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H.R. 7077 

AMENDMENT