H. R. 1727

One Hundred Third Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four

An Act

To establish a program of grants to states for arson research, prevention, and

control, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arson Prevention Act of 1994’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that— (1) arson is a serious and costly problem, and is responsible for approximately 25 percent of all fires in the United States; (2) arson is a leading cause of fire deaths, accounting for approximately 700 deaths annually in the United States,

and is the leading cause of property damage due to fire in

the United States;

(3) estimates of arson property losses are in the range of $2,000,000,000 annually, or approximately 1 of every 4 dollars lost to fire;

(4) the incidence of arson in the United States is seriously underreported, in part because of the lack of adequate participation by local jurisdictions in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)

program; (5) there is a need for expanded training programs for

arson investigators; (6) there is a need for improved programs designed to enable volunteer firefighters to detect arson crimes and to

preserve evidence vital to the investigation and prosecution

of arson cases;

(7) according to the National Fire Protection Association, of all the suspicious and incendiary fires estimated to occur,

only 1⁄3 are confirmed as arson; and

(8) improved training of arson investigators will increase

the ability of fire departments to identify suspicious and incendiary fires, and will result in increased and more effective

prosecution of arson offenses.

SEC. 3. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.

The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 is

amended by inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2220) the following

new section:

‘‘SEC. 25. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.

‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
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‘‘(1) ARSON.—The term ‘arson’ includes all incendiary and

suspicious fires.

‘‘(2) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Office of Fire

Prevention and Arson Control of the United States Fire

Administration.

‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Administrator, acting through the Office,

shall carry out a demonstration program under which not more

than 10 grant awards shall be made to States, or consortia of

States, for programs relating to arson research, prevention, and

control.

‘‘(c) GOALS.—In carrying out this section, the Administrator

shall award 2-year grants on a competitive, merit basis to States,

or consortia of States, for projects that promote one or more of

the following goals:

‘‘(1) To improve the training by States leading to professional certification of arson investigators, in accordance with

nationally recognized certification standards.

‘‘(2) To provide resources for the formation of arson task

forces or interagency organizational arrangements involving

police and fire departments and other relevant local agencies,

such as a State arson bureau and the office of a fire marshal

of a State.

‘‘(3) To combat fraud as a cause of arson and to advance

research at the State and local levels on the significance and

prevention of fraud as a motive for setting fires.

‘‘(4) To provide for the management of arson squads,

including—

‘‘(A) training courses for fire departments in arson

case management, including standardization of investigative techniques and reporting methodology;

‘‘(B) the preparation of arson unit management guides;

and

‘‘(C) the development and dissemination of new public

education materials relating to the arson problem.

‘‘(5) To combat civil unrest as a cause of arson and to

advance research at the State and local levels on the prevention

and control of arson linked to urban disorders.

‘‘(6) To combat juvenile arson, such as juvenile fire-setter

counseling programs and similar intervention programs, and

to advance research at the State and local levels on the prevention of juvenile arson.

‘‘(7) To combat drug-related arson and to advance research

at the State and local levels on the causes and prevention

of drug-related arson.

‘‘(8) To combat domestic violence as a cause of arson and

to advance research at the State and local levels on the prevention of arson arising from domestic violence.

‘‘(9) To combat arson in rural areas and to improve the

capability of firefighters to identify and prevent arson initiated

fires in rural areas and public forests.

‘‘(10) To improve the capability of firefighters to identify

and combat arson through expanded training programs,

including—

‘‘(A) training courses at the State fire academies; and

‘‘(B) innovative courses developed with the Academy

and made available to volunteer firefighters through
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regional delivery methods, including teleconferencing and

satellite delivered television programs.

‘‘(d) STRUCTURING OF APPLICATIONS.—The Administrator shall

assist grant applicants in structuring their applications so as to

ensure that at least one grant is awarded for each goal described

in subsection (c).

‘‘(e) STATE QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.—In order to qualify for

a grant under this section, a State, or consortium of States, shall

provide assurances adequate to the Administrator that the State

or consortium—

‘‘(1) will obtain at least 25 percent of the cost of programs

funded by the grant, in cash or in kind, from non-Federal

sources;

‘‘(2) will not as a result of receiving the grant decrease

the prior level of spending of funds of the State or consortium

from non-Federal sources for arson research, prevention, and

control programs;

‘‘(3) will use no more than 10 percent of funds provided

under the grant for administrative costs of the programs; and

‘‘(4) is making efforts to ensure that all local jurisdictions

will provide arson data to the National Fire Incident Reporting

System or the Uniform Crime Reporting program.

‘‘(f) EXTENSION.—A grant awarded under this section may be

extended for one or more additional periods, at the discretion of

the Administrator, subject to the availability of appropriations.

‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall provide

technical assistance to States in carrying out programs funded

by grants under this section.

‘‘(h) CONSULTATION AND COOPERATION.—In carrying out this

section, the Administrator shall consult and cooperate with other

Federal agencies to enhance program effectiveness and avoid

duplication of effort, including the conduct of regular meetings

initiated by the Administrator with representatives of other Federal

agencies concerned with arson and concerned with efforts to develop

a more comprehensive profile of the magnitude of the national

arson problem.

‘‘(i) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 18 months after the date

of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall submit

a report to Congress that—

‘‘(1) identifies grants made under this section;

‘‘(2) specifies the identity of grantees;

‘‘(3) states the goals of each grant; and

‘‘(4) contains a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness

of the grant program under this section.

‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of

enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall issue regulations to implement this section, including procedures for grant

applications.

‘‘(k) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall directly administer the grant program required by this section, and shall not

enter into any contract under which the grant program or any

portion of the program will be administered by another party.

‘‘(l) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN MADE EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTS.—

‘‘(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that

any recipient of a grant under this section should purchase,
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when available and cost-effective, American made equipment

and products when expending grant monies.

‘‘(2) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—In allocating

grants under this section, the Administrator shall provide to

each recipient a notice describing the statement made in paragraph (1) by the Congress.’’.

SEC. 4. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER TRAINING.

Section 24(a)(2) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control

Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2220(a)(2)) is amended by inserting before

the semicolon the following: ‘‘, with particular emphasis on the

needs of volunteer firefighters for improved and more widely available arson training courses’’.

SEC. 5. CPR TRAINING.

The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 is

amended by adding at the end the following new section:

‘‘SEC. 32. CPR TRAINING.

‘‘No funds shall be made available to a State or local government under section 25 unless such government has a policy to

actively promote the training of its firefighters in cardiopulmonary

resuscitation.’’.

SEC. 6. FEDERAL EMPLOYEE HOUSING EXCEPTIONS.

Section 31(c)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control

Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2227(c)(1)) is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘No Federal’’ and

inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this

paragraph, no Federal’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:

‘‘(C) Housing covered by this paragraph that does not have

an adequate and reliable electrical system shall not be subject

to the requirement under subparagraph (A) for protection by hardwired smoke detectors, but shall be protected by battery operated

smoke detectors.

‘‘(D) If funding has been programmed or designated for the

demolition of housing covered by this paragraph, such housing

shall not be subject to the fire protection requirements of subparagraph (A), but shall be protected by battery operated smoke

detectors.’’.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

Section 17 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act

of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216) is amended by adding at the end the

following new subsection:

‘‘(h) In addition to any other amounts that are authorized

to be appropriated to carry out this Act, there are authorized

to be appropriated to carry out this Act—

‘‘(1) $500,000 for fiscal year 1995 for basic research on

the development of an advanced course on arson prevention;

‘‘(2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1996 for the expansion of

arson investigator training programs at the Academy under

section 24 and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, or through regional delivery sites;

‘‘(3) $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995 and 1996

for carrying out section 25, except for salaries and expenses

for carrying out section 25; and
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‘‘(4) $250,000 for each of the fiscal years 1995 and 1996

for salaries and expenses for carrying out section 25.’’.

SEC. 8. SUNSET.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no funds are

authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year after fiscal year

1996 for carrying out the programs for which funds are authorized

by this Act, or the amendments made by this Act.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.