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 

JUNE 25, 2007 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

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: 


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

2 approximately 16,300 nursing facilities nationwide, 

3 an estimated 20 to 30 percent of which lack an 

4 automatic fire sprinkler system. 

5 (2) In a July 2004 report, the Government Ac6 countability Office found that ‘‘the substantial loss 

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

8 reduced or eliminated by the presence of properly 

9 functioning automatic sprinkler systems’’ and that 

10 ‘‘Federal oversight of nursing home compliance with 

11 fire safety standards is inadequate’’. 

12 (3) Many nursing facilities lack the financial 

13 capital to install sprinklers on their own and must 

14 consider closure as an alternative to taking on large 

15 loans or other financing options in order to install 

16 sprinklers. 

17 (4) Recognizing that automatic fire sprinkler 

18 systems greatly improve the chances of survival for 

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

20 Protection Association, with the support of the 

21 American Health Care Association, the fire safety 

22 community, and the nursing facility profession, re23 cently adopted requirements for automatic sprinklers 

24 in all existing nursing facilities. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that— 

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

4 America should be equipped with automatic fire 

5 sprinklers in order to ensure patient, resident, and 

6 staff safety; 

7 (2) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv8 ices (CMS) should require all nursing homes to be 

9 fully sprinklered as recently required by the Life 

10 Safety Code of the National Fire Protection Associa11 tion with the support of the nursing home industry, 

12 which includes the requirement that all nursing fa13 cilities be fully sprinklered; and 

14 (3) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv15 ices, in collaboration with Congress, should take into 

16 consideration the costs of retrofitting existing nurs17 ing home facilities and commit itself to providing fa18 cilities with the critical financial resources necessary 

19 to ensure the speedy and full installation of life sav20 ing sprinkler systems. 

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

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

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

24 Human Services shall establish a program of direct loans 

25 to existing nursing facilities to finance retrofitting the faVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:41 Jun 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1615.RCS S1615

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1 cilities with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Such loans 

2 shall be made under terms and conditions specified by the 

3 Secretary. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

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

7 2008 through 2012. 

8 SEC. 4. SPRINKLER RETROFIT ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

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

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

11 Human Services shall establish a program to award grants 

12 to nursing facilities for the purposes of retrofitting them 

13 with an automatic fire sprinkler system. Such grants shall 

14 be awarded under terms and conditions specified by the 

15 Secretary. 

16 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec17 tion, the Secretary shall give a priority to applications that 

18 demonstrate a need or hardship. In determining hardship, 

19 the Secretary may take into account factors such as the 

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

21 medicare program under title 18 of the Social Security 

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

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

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


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1 and the need for nursing facility beds in the community 

2 involved. 

3 (c) 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. 

Æ 


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