I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1727

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

and control, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 20, 1993

Mr. BOUCHER (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.

HOYER, Mr. WELDON, Mr. STOKES, Mr. LEACH, Mr. BARLOW, Mr.

MCHUGH, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. MAZZOLI, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr.

TOWNS, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Ms. ESHOO, and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science,

Space, and Technology

A BILL

To establish a program of grants to States for arson

research, prevention, and control, 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. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arson Prevention Act

5 of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) arson is a serious and costly problem, and

2 is responsible for approximately 25 percent of all

3 fires in the United States;

4 (2) arson is a leading cause of fire deaths, ac5 counting for approximately 700 deaths annually in

6 the United States, and is the leading cause of prop7 erty damage due to fire in the United States;

8 (3) estimates of arson property losses are in the

9 range of $2,000,000,000 annually, or approximately

10 1 of every 4 dollars lost to fire;

11 (4) the incidence of arson in the United States

12 is seriously underreported, in part because of the

13 lack of adequate participation by local jurisdictions

14 in the National Fire Incident Reporting System

15 (NFIRS) and the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)

16 program;

17 (5) there is a need for expanded training pro18 grams for arson investigators;

19 (6) there is a need for improved programs de20 signed to enable volunteer firefighters to detect

21 arson crimes and to preserve evidence vital to the in22 vestigation and prosecution of arson cases;

23 (7) according to the National Fire Protection

24 Association, of all the suspicious and incendiary fires
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1 estimated to occur, only one-third are confirmed as

2 arson; and

3 (8) improved training of arson investigators will

4 increase the ability of fire departments to identify

5 suspicious and incendiary fires, and will result in

6 increased and more effective prosecution of arson

7 offenses.

8 SEC. 3. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.

9 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

10 is amended by adding after section 24 the following new

11 section:

12 ‘‘ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS

13 ‘‘SEC. 25. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator,

14 through the Office, shall carry out a demonstration pro15 gram of grant awards, not to exceed 10 in number, to

16 States, or consortia thereof, for programs relating to arson

17 research, prevention, and control. In carrying out the re18 quirements of this section, the Administrator shall award

19 2-year grants on a competitive, merit basis to States for

20 projects which have one or more of the following goals:

21 ‘‘(1) To improve the training by States leading

22 to professional certification of arson investigators, in

23 accordance with nationally recognized certification

24 standards.

25 ‘‘(2) To provide resources for the formation of

26 arson task forces or interagency organizational ar-
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1 rangements involving police and fire departments

2 and other relevant local agencies such as State arson

3 bureaus and the State fire marshal’s office.

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

5 to advance research at the State and local levels on

6 the significance and prevention of fraud as a motive

7 for setting fires.

8 ‘‘(4) To provide for management of arson

9 squads, including—

10 ‘‘(A) training courses for fire departments

11 in arson case management, including standard12 ization of investigative techniques and reporting

13 methodology;

14 ‘‘(B) preparation of arson unit manage15 ment guides; and

16 ‘‘(C) the development and dissemination of

17 new public education materials relating to the

18 arson problem.

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

20 and to advance research at the State and local levels

21 on the prevention and control of arson linked to

22 urban disorders.

23 ‘‘(6) To combat juvenile arson, such as juvenile

24 fire-setter counseling programs and similar interven-
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1 tion programs, and to advance research at the State

2 and local levels on the prevention of juvenile arson.

3 ‘‘(7) To combat drug-related arson and to ad4 vance research at the State and local levels on the

5 causes and prevention of drug-related arson.

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

7 arson and to advance research at the State and local

8 levels on the prevention of arson arising from do9 mestic violence.

10 ‘‘(9) To combat arson in rural areas and to im11 prove the capability of firefighters to identify and

12 prevent arson initiated fires in rural areas and pub13 lic forests.

14 ‘‘(10) To improve the capability of firefighters

15 to identify and combat arson through expanded

16 training programs, including—

17 ‘‘(A) training courses at the State fire

18 academies; and

19 ‘‘(B) innovative courses developed with the

20 National Fire Academy and made available to

21 volunteer firefighters through regional delivery

22 methods, including teleconferencing and sat23 ellite delivered television programs.

24 ‘‘(b) STRUCTURING OF APPLICATIONS.—The Admin25 istrator shall assist grant applicants in structuring their
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1 applications so as to ensure that at least one grant is

2 awarded for each goal described in the paragraphs of sub3 section (a).

4 ‘‘(c) STATE QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.—In order to

5 qualify for a grant under this section, a State or consor6 tium thereof shall provide assurances adequate to the Ad7 ministrator that it—

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

9 of programs funded by the grant, in cash or in kind,

10 from non-Federal sources;

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

12 decrease its prior level of spending of funds from

13 non-Federal sources for arson research, prevention,

14 and control programs;

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

16 provided under the grant for administrative costs of

17 the programs; and

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

19 jurisdictions will provide arson data to the National

20 Fire Incident Reporting System or the Uniform

21 Crime Reporting program.

22 ‘‘(d) EXTENSION.—Grants awarded under this sec23 tion may be extended for additional periods, at the discre24 tion of the Administrator, subject to the availability of ap25 propriations.
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1 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Office shall pro2 vide technical assistance to States in carrying out pro3 grams funded by grants under this section.

4 ‘‘(f) CONSULTATION AND COOPERATION.—In carry5 ing out the requirements of this section, the Administrator

6 shall consult and cooperate with other Federal agencies

7 to enhance program effectiveness and avoid duplication of

8 effort, including the conduct of regular meetings initiated

9 by the Administrator with other Federal agencies con10 cerned with arson and concerned with efforts to develop

11 a more comprehensive profile of the magnitude of the na12 tional arson problem.

13 ‘‘(g) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall, not

14 later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this

15 section, submit a report to the Congress identifying grants

16 made, specifying the identity of grantees, stating the goals

17 of each grant, and containing a preliminary assessment

18 of the effectiveness of the grants program under this

19 section.

20 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—Within 90 days after the date

21 of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall issue

22 regulations to implement this section, which shall establish

23 procedures for grant applications.

24 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘‘arson’’ includes all incendiary

2 and suspicious fires; and

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Fire

4 Prevention and Arson Control of the United States

5 Fire Administration.

6 ‘‘(j) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall di7 rectly administer the grants program required by this sec8 tion, and shall not enter into any contract under which

9 the grants program or any portion thereof will be adminis10 tered by another party.’’.

11 SEC. 4. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER TRAINING.

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

13 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2220(a)(2)) is amended

14 by inserting ‘‘, with particular emphasis on the needs of

15 volunteer firefighters for improved and more widely avail16 able arson training courses’’ after ‘‘detection, and con17 trol’’.

18 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad20 ministrator of the United States Fire Administration—

21 (1) $500,000 for fiscal year 1994 for basic re22 search on the development of an advanced course on

23 arson prevention;

24 (2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 for the ex25 pansion of arson investigator training programs at
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1 the National Fire Academy under section 24 of the

2 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

3 and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Cen4 ter, or through regional delivery sites;

5 (3) $4,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994

6 and 1995 for carrying out section 25 of the Federal

7 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974; and

8 (4) $250,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994

9 and 1995 for salaries and expenses for carrying out

10 such section 25.

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