II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1615 

To provide loans and grants for fire sprinkler retrofitting in nursing facilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2007 

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. BURR) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide loans and grants for fire sprinkler retrofitting 

in nursing facilities. 

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 ‘‘Nursing Home Fire 

5 Safety Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) An estimated 1,500,000 Americans reside in 

9 approximately 16,300 nursing facilities nationwide, 


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1 an estimated 20 to 30 percent of which lack an 

2 automatic fire sprinkler system. 

3 (2) In a July 2004 report, the Government Ac4 countability Office found that ‘‘the substantial loss 

5 of life in [recent nursing home] fires could have been 

6 reduced or eliminated by the presence of properly 

7 functioning automatic sprinkler systems’’ and that 

8 ‘‘Federal oversight of nursing home compliance with 

9 fire safety standards is inadequate’’. 

10 (3) Many nursing facilities lack the financial 

11 capital to install sprinklers on their own and must 

12 consider closure as an alternative to taking on large 

13 loans or other financing options in order to install 

14 sprinklers. 

15 (4) Recognizing that automatic fire sprinkler 

16 systems greatly improve the chances of survival for 

17 older adults in the event of a fire, the National Fire 

18 Protection Association, with the support of the 

19 American Health Care Association, the fire safety 

20 community, and the nursing facility profession, re21 cently adopted requirements for automatic sprinklers 

22 in all existing nursing facilities. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that— 


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1 (1) within 5 years, every nursing facility in 

2 America should be equipped with automatic fire 

3 sprinklers in order to ensure patient, resident, and 

4 staff safety; 

5 (2) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv6 ices (CMS) should require all nursing homes to be 

7 fully sprinklered as recently required by the Life 

8 Safety Code of the National Fire Protection Associa9 tion with the support of the nursing home industry, 

10 which includes the requirement that all nursing fa11 cilities be fully sprinklered; and 

12 (3) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv13 ices, in collaboration with Congress, should take into 

14 consideration the costs of retrofitting existing nurs15 ing home facilities and commit itself to providing fa16 cilities with the critical financial resources necessary 

17 to ensure the speedy and full installation of life sav18 ing sprinkler systems. 

19 SEC. 3. DIRECT LOANS FOR FIRE SPRINKLERS RETROFITS. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 120 days after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services shall establish a program of direct loans 

23 to existing nursing facilities to finance retrofitting the fa24 cilities with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Such loans 


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1 shall be made under terms and conditions specified by the 

2 Secretary. 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

6 2008 through 2012. 

7 SEC. 4. SPRINKLER RETROFIT ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

8 (a) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 120 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services shall establish a program to award grants 

11 to nursing facilities for the purposes of retrofitting them 

12 with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Such grants shall 

13 be awarded under terms and conditions specified by the 

14 Secretary. 

15 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec16 tion, the Secretary shall give a priority to applications that 

17 demonstrate a need or hardship. In determining hardship, 

18 the Secretary may take into account factors such as the 

19 number of residents who are entitled to or enrolled in the 

20 medicare program under title 18 of the Social Security 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) or receiving assistance under 

22 the medicaid program under title 19 of such Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the age and condition of the facility, 

24 and the need for nursing facility beds in the community 

25 involved. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

4 2008 through 2012. 

Æ 


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