II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2411

To amend the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to provide 

financial assistance for the improvement of the health and safety of 

firefighters, promote the use of life saving technologies, achieve greater 

equity for departments serving large jurisdictions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2004

Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. WARNER, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 

SPECTER, Mr. BIDEN, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. GRAHAM of 

South Carolina, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SMITH, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

GREGG, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, 

Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. REID, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KERRY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, 

Mr. CORZINE, Mr. REED, Mr. CARPER, and Mr. DAYTON) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act 

of 1974 to provide financial assistance for the improvement of the health and safety of firefighters, promote 

the use of life saving technologies, achieve greater equity 

for departments serving large jurisdictions, and for other 

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assistance to Fire3 fighters Act of 2004’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECU5 RITY FOR FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE PRO6 GRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b)(1) of section 33 of 

8 the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 

9 U.S.C. 2229) is amended by striking ‘‘Director’’ in the 

10 matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘‘Sec11 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Ad12 ministrator,’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Such section is fur14 ther amended by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears 

15 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’. 

16 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading of sub17 section (b)(8) of such section is amended by striking ‘‘DI18 RECTOR’’ and inserting ‘‘SECRETARY’’. 

19 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY MEDICAL 

20 SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. 

21 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS TO VOLUNTEER

22 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE SQUADS.—Paragraph 

23 (1)(A) of section 33(b) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

24 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)) is amended by 

25 inserting ‘‘or to volunteer emergency medical service orga26 nizations’’ after ‘‘fire departments’’. 
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1 (b) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Paragraph (3)(F) of 

2 such section is amended by inserting ‘‘or volunteer emer3 gency medical service organizations that are not affiliated 

4 with a for-profit entity’’ after ‘‘fire departments’’. 

5 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR APPLICATIONS FOR VOLUN6 TEER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.—Paragraph (5) 

7 of such section is amended by adding at the end, the fol8 lowing new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR VOLUNTEER

10 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.—The Sec11 retary of Homeland Security shall permit an 

12 applicant seeking grant funds for volunteer 

13 emergency medical services under paragraph 

14 (3)(F) to use the same application form to seek 

15 grant funds for one or more of the other pur16 poses set out in subparagraphs (A) through (O) 

17 of paragraph (3).’’. 

18 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR AUTOMATED EXTERNAL 

19 DEFIBRILLATOR DEVICES. 

20 Paragraph (3) of section 33(b) of the Federal Fire 

21 Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)) 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(O) To obtain automated external 

25 defibrillator devices.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR REVIEWING GRANT APPLICATIONS. 

2 Paragraph (2) of section 33(b) of the Federal Fire 

3 Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)) 

4 is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA AND REVIEW OF APPLICA6 TIONS.—

7 ‘‘(A) PRELIMINARY REVIEW CRITERIA.—

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security shall establish specific 

10 criteria for the preliminary review of an 

11 application submitted under this section. If 

12 an application does not meet such criteria, 

13 the application may not receive further 

14 consideration for a grant under this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(ii) ANNUAL REVIEW OF CRITERIA.—

17 Not less often than once each year, the 

18 Secretary of Homeland Security, in con19 sultation with the Administrator, shall con20 vene a meeting of individuals who are 

21 members of a fire service and are recog22 nized for expertise in firefighting or in 

23 emergency medical services provided by 

24 fire services, and who are not employees of 

25 the Federal Government for the purpose of
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1 reviewing and proposing changes to the 

2 criteria established under clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(B) SELECTION THROUGH REVIEW BY

4 EXPERTS.—

5 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT FOR REVIEW.—

6 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

7 award grants under this section based on 

8 the review of applications for such grants 

9 by a panel of fire service personnel ap10 pointed by a national organization recog11 nized for expertise in the operation and ad12 ministration of fire services. 

13 ‘‘(ii) ROLE OF THE SECRETARY.—The 

14 Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro15 vide for the administration of the review 

16 panel described in clause (i) and shall en17 sure that an individual appointed to such 

18 panel is a recognized expert in firefighting, 

19 medical services provided by fire services, 

20 fire prevention, or research on firefighter 

21 safety.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR FIREFIGHTER SAFETY 

23 PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) AUTHORITY.—Paragraph (1)(B) of section 33(b) 

25 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
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1 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and fire2 fighter safety’’ after ‘‘prevention’’. 

3 (b) EXPANSION OF EXISTING PROGRAM.—

4 (1) FIREFIGHTER SAFETY ASSISTANCE.—Para5 graph (4) of such section is amended—

6 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 

7 ‘‘organizations that are recognized’’ and all that 

8 follows and inserting ‘‘organizations eligible 

9 under subparagraph (B) for the purposes de10 scribed in subparagraph (C).’’; and 

11 (B) by striking subparagraph (B), and in12 serting the following new subparagraphs: 

13 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.—An 

14 organization may be eligible for assistance 

15 under subparagraph (A)(ii), if such organiza16 tion is a national, State, local, or community 

17 organization that is not a fire service and that 

18 is recognized for experience and expertise with 

19 respect to programs and activities that pro20 mote—

21 ‘‘(i) fire prevention or fire safety; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) the health and safety of fire23 fighting personnel. 

24 ‘‘(C) USE OF FUNDS.—Assistance provided 

25 under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be used—
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1 ‘‘(i) to carry out fire prevention pro2 grams; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) to fund research to improve the 

4 health and safety of firefighting personnel. 

5 ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—In selecting organiza6 tions described in subparagraph (B) to receive 

7 assistance under this paragraph, the Secretary 

8 of Homeland Security shall give priority—

9 ‘‘(i) to organizations that focus on 

10 preventing injuries from fire to members of 

11 groups at high risk of such injuries, with 

12 an emphasis on children; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) to organizations that focus on re14 searching methods to improve the health 

15 and safety of firefighting personnel. 

16 ‘‘(E) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Not less 

17 than 66 percent of the total amount of funds 

18 made available in a fiscal year to carry out this 

19 paragraph shall be made available of the pro20 grams described in subparagraph (A)(ii).’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading 

22 of such paragraph is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(4) FIRE PREVENTION AND FIREFIGHTER

24 SAFETY PROGRAMS.—’’. 
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1 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR FIRE PREVENTION

2 AND FIREFIGHTER SAFETY PROGRAMS.—Paragraph 

3 (4)(A) of such section, as amended by subsection (b), is 

4 further amended in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

5 striking ‘‘5 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘6 percent’’. 

6 SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE FOR APPLICATIONS. 

7 Paragraph (5) of section 33(b) of the Federal Fire 

8 Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)), 

9 as amended by section 3(c), is further amended by adding 

10 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(D) ASSISTANCE TO PREPARE AN APPLI12 CATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 

13 shall provide assistance with the preparation of 

14 applications for grants under this section.’’. 

15 SEC. 8. REDUCED REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING FUNDS. 

16 (a) AMOUNT REQUIRED.—Paragraph (6) of section 

17 33(b) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 

18 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)) is amended by striking sub19 paragraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara21 graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security may provide assistance under this sub23 section only if the applicant for such assistance 

24 agrees to match 20 percent of such assistance
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1 for any fiscal year with an equal amount of 

2 non-Federal funds. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL COMMU4 NITY ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case of an appli5 cant whose personnel—

6 ‘‘(i) serve jurisdictions of 50,000 or 

7 fewer residents, the percent applied under 

8 the matching requirement of subparagraph 

9 (A) shall be 10 percent; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) serve jurisdictions of 20,000 or 

11 fewer residents, the percent applied under 

12 the matching requirement of subparagraph 

13 (A) shall be 5 percent.’’. 

14 (b) EXCEPTION.—Such paragraph, as amended by 

15 subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—No matching funds 

18 may be required under this subsection for as19 sistance provided under subparagraph (A)(ii) of 

20 paragraph (4) to an organization described in 

21 subparagraph (B) of such paragraph.’’. 

22 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR REQUESTS FOR AUTOMATED

23 EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR DEVICES.—Section 33(b) of 

24 such Act is further amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(13) SPECIAL RULES FOR GRANTS FOR AUTO2 MATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR DEVICES.—

3 ‘‘(A) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security shall reduce the percentage 

5 of non-Federal matching funds for a grant as 

6 described in subparagraph (B) if—

7 ‘‘(i) the applicant is requesting grant 

8 funds to obtain one or more automated ex9 ternal defibrillator devices, as authorized 

10 by paragraph (3)(O); 

11 ‘‘(ii) the award of such grant will re12 sult in the applicant possessing exactly one 

13 such device for each first-due emergency 

14 vehicle operated by the applicant; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the applicant certifies to the 

16 Secretary of Homeland Security that the 

17 applicant possesses, at the time such appli18 cation is filed, a number of such devices 

19 that is less than the number of first-due 

20 emergency vehicles operated by the appli21 cant and that the applicant is capable of 

22 storing, in a manner conducive to rapid 

23 use, such devices on each such vehicle; and 
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1 ‘‘(iv) the applicant has not previously 

2 received a grant under this subsection to 

3 obtain such devices. 

4 ‘‘(B) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—If an 

5 applicant meets the criteria set out in clauses 

6 (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) of subparagraph (A), the 

7 Secretary of Homeland Security shall reduce 

8 the percentage of non-Federal matching funds 

9 required by paragraph (6) by 2 percentage 

10 points for all assistance requested in the appli11 cation submitted by such applicant. 

12 ‘‘(C) FIRST-DUE DEFINED.—In this para13 graph, the term ‘first-due’ means the fire14 fighting and emergency medical services vehi15 cles that are utilized by a fire service for imme16 diate response to an emergency situation.’’. 

17 SEC. 9. GRANT RECIPIENT LIMITATIONS. 

18 (a) LIMITATIONS ON GRANT AMOUNTS.—Subpara19 graph (A) of section 33(b)(10) of the Federal Fire Preven20 tion and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)(10)) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) LIMITATIONS ON GRANT AMOUNT.—

23 ‘‘(i) GENERAL LIMITATION.—Subject 

24 to clause (ii), a recipient of assistance 

25 under this section may not receive in a fis-
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1 cal year an amount of such assistance that 

2 exceeds the greater of $2,250,000 or the 

3 amount equal to 0.5 percent of the total 

4 amount of funds appropriated for such as5 sistance for such fiscal year. 

6 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS ON BASIS OF POPU7 LATION.—Subject to clause (iii), a recipi8 ent of assistance under this section that 

9 serves a jurisdiction of less than 1,000,000 

10 individuals may not receive more than 

11 $1,500,000 of such assistance for a fiscal 

12 year, except that such a recipient that 

13 serves a jurisdiction of less than 500,000 

14 individuals may not receive more than 

15 $1,000,000 of such assistance during a fis16 cal year. 

17 ‘‘(iii) WAIVER.—With respect to as18 sistance provided in a fiscal year before fis19 cal year 2007, the Secretary of Homeland 

20 Security, in consultation with the Adminis21 trator, may waive the limitations set out in 

22 clause (ii) if the Secretary determines that 

23 a waiver is warranted by an extraordinary 

24 need for assistance for fire suppression ac25 tivities by a jurisdiction, whether such need
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1 is caused by the likelihood of terrorist at2 tack, natural disaster, destructive fires oc3 curring over a large geographic area, or 

4 some other cause.’’. 

5 (b) LIMITATIONS ON GRANTS FOR VOLUNTEER

6 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.—Such section, as 

7 amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding 

8 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURES FOR

10 VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.—

11 Not more than 3.5 percent of the funds appro12 priated to provide grants under this section for 

13 a fiscal year may be awarded to volunteer emer14 gency medical service organizations.’’. 

15 SEC. 10. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. 

16 Section 33(b) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

17 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(b)), as amended by 

18 section 8, is amended by adding at the end the following 

19 new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(14) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In providing 

21 assistance under this section, the Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security shall—

23 ‘‘(A) consider the extent to which the re24 cipient of such assistance is able to enhance the 

25 daily operations of a fire service and to improve 
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1 the protection of people and property from fire; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) ensure that such assistance awarded 

4 to a volunteer emergency medical service orga5 nization will not be used to provide emergency 

6 medical services in a geographic area if such 

7 services are adequately provided by a fire serv8 ice in such area.’’. 

9 SEC. 11. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

10 (a) STUDY AND REPORT ON ASSISTANCE TO FIRE11 FIGHTERS.—

12 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary, in conjunction with 

13 the National Fire Protection Association, shall con14 duct a study—

15 (A) to assess the types of activities that 

16 are carried out by fire services; 

17 (B) to determine whether the level of Fed18 eral funding made available to fire services is 

19 adequate; 

20 (C) to assess categories of services, includ21 ing emergency medical services, that are not 

22 adequately provided by fire services on either 

23 the national or State level; and 

24 (D) to measure the effect, if any, of the as25 sistance provided under section 33 of the Fed-
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1 eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 

2 (15 U.S.C. 2229) on the needs of fire services 

3 identified in the report submitted to Congress 

4 under section 1701(b) of the Floyd D. Spence 

5 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

6 Year 2001 (as enacted into law by Public Law 

7 106–398; 114 Stat. 1654A–363). 

8 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

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

10 shall submit to Congress a report on the findings of 

11 the study described in paragraph (1). 

12 (b) REPORT BY GAO.—Not later than 18 months 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp14 troller General of the United States shall submit to Con15 gress a report on—

16 (1) the administration of the assistance pro17 vided under section 33 of the Federal Fire Preven18 tion and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229); and 

19 (2) the success of the Secretary in admin20 istering the Federal Emergency Management Agen21 cy. 

22 (c) REPORT ON WAIVER OF AMOUNT LIMITA23 TIONS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Con25 gress a report on the instances, if any, of the use of the 
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1 waiver authority set out in section 33(b)(10)(A)(iii) of the 

2 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 

3 U.S.C. 2229(b)(10)(A)(iii)), as added by section 9. 

4 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) FIRE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘fire service’’ 

6 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

7 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 

8 (15 U.S.C. 2203). 

9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

11 SEC. 12. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

12 (a) REPEAL OF DUPLICATIVE DEFINITION.—Sub13 section (d) of section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention 

14 and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is repealed. 

15 (b) REDESIGNATIONS NECESSITATED BY DUPLICA16 TIVE NUMBERING.—The sections 33 and 34 of the Fed17 eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 

18 2230 and 2231) that were added by sections 105 and 106 

19 of Public Law 106–503 (114 Stat. 2301) are redesignated 

20 as sections 34 and 35, respectively. 

21 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.—Section 

23 33(e) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 

24 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229(e)) is amended by striking the first 

25 sentence and inserting ‘‘There are authorized to be appro-
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1 priated for the purposes of this section $900,000,000 for 

2 fiscal year 2005, $950,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and 

3 $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 through 

4 2010.’’. 

5 (b) STUDY ON ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS.—

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security $300,000 for fiscal year 2005 to 

8 carry out the requirements of section 11(a).

Æ