I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1919

To remove civil liability barriers surrounding donating fire equipment to

volunteer fire companies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 21, 2001

Mr. CASTLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To remove civil liability barriers surrounding donating fire

equipment to volunteer fire companies.

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 ‘‘Good Samaritan Vol5 unteer Firefighter Assistance Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CIVIL LIABILITY BARRIERS.

7 (a) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—

8 (1) INDIVIDUAL RULE.—A person who donates

9 qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment to a

10 volunteer fire company shall not be liable in civil
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1 damages under any State or Federal law for per2 sonal injuries, property damage, or death proxi3 mately caused after the donation by a defect in the

4 equipment.

5 (2) STATE OR LOCAL RULE.—A State or local

6 agency, including a person acting as an agent of

7 such an agency, that administers the distribution of

8 qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment to a

9 volunteer fire company shall not be liable for civil

10 damages under any State or Federal law for per11 sonal injuries, property damage, or death proxi12 mately caused after the distribution by a defect in

13 the equipment.

14 (b) EXCEPTIONS TO LIABILITY PROTECTION.—Sub15 section (a) does not apply to a person or agency if—

16 (1) the defect that proximately causes the in17 jury, damage, or loss resulted from an act or omis18 sion of the person or agency, that constitutes malice,

19 gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional mis20 conduct; or

21 (2) the person or agency is the manufacturer of

22 the qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment.

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

24 In this Act:
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1 (1) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes any

2 individual and any governmental or other entity.

3 (2) FIRE CONTROL OR RESCUE EQUIPMENT.—

4 The term ‘‘fire control or fire rescue equipment’’ in5 cludes fire vehicles, fire fighting tools, protective

6 gear, fire hose, and breathing apparatus.

7 (3) QUALIFIED FIRE CONTROL OR RESCUE

8 EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘qualified fire control or

9 fire rescue equipment’’ means fire control or fire res10 cue equipment that has been recertified by an au11 thorized technician as meeting the manufacturer’s

12 specifications and has been distributed through a

13 State or local agency to the volunteer fire company.

14 (4) AUTHORIZED TECHNICIAN.—The term ‘‘au15 thorized technician’’ means a technician that has

16 been certified by the manufacturer of fire control or

17 fire rescue equipment to inspect such equipment.

18 The technician need not be employed by the State

19 or local agency administering the distribution of the

20 fire control or fire rescue equipment.

21 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.

22 This Act—

23 (1) shall take effect 30 days after the date of

24 its enactment; and
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1 (2) applies only to a cause of action that ac2 crues on or after that date.

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