I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3728 

To provide grants for fire station construction through the Administrator 

of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BOST, Mr. GARAMENDI, 

Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. CARBAJAL, and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide grants for fire station construction through the 

Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS FIRE STATION 

4 CONSTRUCTION GRANTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 

6 Emergency Management Agency shall establish a grant 


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1 program to provide financial assistance to modify, up2 grade, and construct fire and (EMS) department facilities. 

3 (b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—The Administrator may 

4 make a grant under this section to the following: 

5 (1) Career, volunteer, and combination fire de6 partments. 

7 (2) Fire training facilities. 

8 (3) Nonaffiliated EMS organizations, combina9 tion and volunteer emergency medical stations (ex10 cept that for-profit EMS organizations are not eligi11 ble for a grant under this section). 

12 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

13 this section, an entity specified in subsection (b) shall sub14 mit to the Administrator an application in such form, at 

15 such time, and containing such information as the Admin16 istrator determines is appropriate. 

17 (d) MEETING FOR RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall con19 vene a meeting of qualified members of national fire 

20 service organizations and, at the discretion of the 

21 Administrator, qualified members of emergency med22 ical service organizations to obtain recommendations 

23 regarding the criteria for the awarding of grants 

24 under this section. 


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1 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—For purposes of this 

2 subsection, a qualified member of an organization is 

3 a member who— 

4 (A) is recognized for expertise in fire5 fighting or emergency medical services; 

6 (B) is not an employee of the Federal Gov7 ernment; and 

8 (C) in the case of a member of an emer9 gency medical service organization, is a member 

10 of an organization that represents— 

11 (i) providers of emergency medical 

12 services that are affiliated with fire depart13 ments; or 

14 (ii) nonaffiliated EMS providers. 

15 (e) PEER REVIEW OF GRANT APPLICATION.—The 

16 Administrator shall, after consultation with national fire 

17 service and emergency medical services organizations, ap18 point fire service personnel to conduct peer reviews of ap19 plications received under subsection (c). 

20 (f) PRIORITY OF GRANTS.—In awarding grants 

21 under this section, the Administrator shall consider the 

22 findings and recommendations of the peer reviews carried 

23 out under subsection (e). 

24 (g) USES OF FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant under 

2 this section may use funds received for the following: 

3 (A) Build, rebuild, or renovate fire and 

4 EMS department facilities. 

5 (B) Upgrade existing facilities to install 

6 exhaust emission control systems, install backup 

7 power systems, upgrade or replace environ8 mental control systems (such as HVAC sys9 tems), remove or remediate mold, and construct 

10 or modify living quarters for use by male and 

11 female personnel. 

12 (C) Upgrade fire and EMS stations or 

13 build new stations. 

14 (2) CODE COMPLIANT.—In using funds under 

15 paragraph (1), a grant recipient is required to meet 

16 1 of the 2 most recently published editions of build17 ing codes and standards established by the National 

18 Fire Protection Association and International Code 

19 Council, including NFPA 101, Life Safety Code and 

20 NFPA 1581, Standard on Fire Department Infec21 tion Control Program. 

22 (h) GRANT FUNDING.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall al24 locate grant funds as follows: 


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1 (A) 25 percent for career fire and EMS 

2 departments. 

3 (B) 25 percent for combination fire and 

4 EMS departments. 

5 (C) 25 percent for volunteer fire and EMS 

6 departments. 

7 (D) 25 percent to remain available for 

8 competition between the various department 

9 types. 

10 (2) INSUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—If the Ad11 ministrator does not receive sufficient funding re12 quests from a particular department type specified 

13 in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1), 

14 the Administrator may make awards to other de15 partments in such paragraphs. 

16 (3) LIMITATION ON AWARDS AMOUNTS.—A 

17 grant recipient may not receive more than 

18 $7,500,000 under this section. 

19 (i) PREVAILING RATE OF WAGE AND PUBLIC CON20 TRACTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—All laborers and mechanics 

22 employed by contractors or subcontractors in the 

23 performance of construction work financed with the 

24 assistance of any contribution of Federal funds 

25 made by the Administrator under this section shall 


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1 be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing 

2 on similar construction in the locality as determined 

3 by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with sub4 chapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40 (commonly 

5 known as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’), and every such 

6 employee shall receive compensation at a rate not 

less than one and 1 7 ⁄2 times the basic rate of pay of 

8 the employee for all hours worked in any workweek 

9 in excess of eight hours in any workday or 40 hours 

10 in the workweek, as the case may be. The Adminis11 trator shall make no contribution of Federal funds 

12 without first obtaining adequate assurance that 

13 these labor standards will be maintained upon the 

14 construction work. The Secretary of Labor shall 

15 have, with respect to the labor standards specified in 

16 this subsection, the authority and functions set forth 

17 in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (5 

18 U.S.C. App.) and section 2 of the Act of June 13, 

19 1934 (40 U.S.C. 276(c)). 

20 (2) PUBLIC CONTRACTS.—In addition to the 

21 wage rate set forth in paragraph (1), contractors 

22 and subcontractors performing construction work 

23 pursuant to this section shall follow the standards 

24 identified in chapter 83 of title 41, United States 

25 Code, including a requirement that all supplies and 


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1 construction materials purchased shall be produced 

2 in the United States, unless such materials are not 

3 reasonably available, or such a purchase would not 

4 be in the public interest. 

5 (j) APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Advisory 

6 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to activi7 ties carried out pursuant to this section. 

8 (k) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

9 following definitions apply: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

12 Emergency Management Agency. 

13 (2) CAREER FIRE DEPARTMENT.—The term 

14 ‘‘career fire department’’ means a fire department 

15 that has an all-paid force of firefighting personnel 

16 other than paid-on-call firefighters. 

17 (3) COMBINATION FIRE DEPARTMENT.—The 

18 term ‘‘combination fire department’’ means a fire 

19 department that has— 

20 (A) paid firefighting personnel; and 

21 (B) volunteer firefighting personnel. 

22 (4) EMS.—The term ‘‘EMS’’ means emergency 

23 medical services. 

24 (5) NONAFFILIATED EMS ORGANIZATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘nonaffiliated EMS organization’’ means a 


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1 public or private nonprofit emergency medical serv2 ices organization that is not affiliated with a hospital 

3 and does not serve a geographic area in which the 

4 Administrator finds that emergency medical services 

5 are adequately provided by a fire department. 

6 (6) VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT.—The 

7 term ‘‘volunteer fire department’’ means a fire de8 partment that has an all-volunteer force of fire9 fighting personnel. 

10 (l) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 (1) ANNUAL REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR OF

12 FEMA.—Beginning 1 year after the date of enact13 ment of this section and every year thereafter during 

14 the term of a grant awarded under this section, a 

15 recipient of the grant shall submit to the Adminis16 trator an annual report describing how the recipient 

17 used such grant amounts. 

18 (2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Begin19 ning 1 year after the date of enactment of this sec20 tion and every year thereafter until the rebuilding or 

21 renovation of fire facilities and stations are com22 pleted using grant funds under this section, the Ad23 ministrator shall submit to the Committee on Home24 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen25 ate and the Committees on Transportation and InVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:41 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3728.IH H3728

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1 frastructure and Science, Space, and Technology of 

2 the House of Representatives a report that provides 

3 an evaluation of the effectiveness of the grants 

4 awarded under this section. 

5 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 for fiscal 

7 year 2022 to carry out this section. Such funds shall re8 main available until expended. 

Æ 


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