103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1727

AN ACT

To establish a program of grants to States for

other purposes.arson research, prevention, and control, and for
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1727

AN ACT

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—

8 (1) arson is a serious and costly problem in

9 both rural and urban areas, and is responsible for

10 approximately 25 percent of all fires in the United

11 States;
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1 (2) arson is a leading cause of fire deaths, ac2 counting for approximately 700 deaths annually in

3 the United States, and is the leading cause of prop4 erty damage due to fire in the United States;

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

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

7 1 of every 4 dollars lost to fire;

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

9 is seriously underreported, in part because of the

10 lack of adequate participation by local jurisdictions

11 in the National Fire Incident Reporting System

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

13 program;

14 (5) there is a need for expanded training pro15 grams for arson investigators;

16 (6) there is a need for improved programs de17 signed to enable volunteer firefighters to detect

18 arson crimes and to preserve evidence vital to the in19 vestigation and prosecution of arson cases;

20 (7) according to the National Fire Protection

21 Association, of all the suspicious and incendiary fires

22 estimated to occur, only one-third are confirmed as

23 arson; and

24 (8) improved training of arson investigators will

25 increase the ability of fire departments to identify
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1 suspicious and incendiary fires, and will result in

2 increased and more effective prosecution of arson

3 offenses.

4 SEC. 3. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.

5 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

6 is amended by adding after section 24 the following new

7 section:

8 ‘‘ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS

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

10 through the Office, shall carry out a demonstration pro11 gram of grant awards, not to exceed 10 in number, to

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

13 research, prevention, and control. In carrying out the re14 quirements of this section, the Administrator shall award

15 2-year grants on a competitive, merit basis to States for

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

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

18 to professional certification of arson investigators, in

19 accordance with nationally recognized certification

20 standards.

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

22 arson task forces or interagency organizational ar23 rangements involving police and fire departments

24 and other relevant local agencies such as State arson

25 bureaus and the State fire marshal’s office.
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1 ‘‘(3) To combat fraud as a cause of arson and

2 to advance research at the State and local levels on

3 the significance and prevention of fraud as a motive

4 for setting fires.

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

6 squads, including—

7 ‘‘(A) training courses for fire departments

8 in arson case management, including standard9 ization of investigative techniques and reporting

10 methodology;

11 ‘‘(B) preparation of arson unit manage12 ment guides; and

13 ‘‘(C) the development and dissemination of

14 new public education materials relating to the

15 arson problem.

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

17 and to advance research at the State and local levels

18 on the prevention and control of arson linked to

19 urban disorders.

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

21 fire-setter counseling programs and similar interven22 tion programs, and to advance research at the State

23 and local levels on the prevention of juvenile arson.
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1 ‘‘(7) To combat drug-related arson and to ad2 vance research at the State and local levels on the

3 causes and prevention of drug-related arson.

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

5 arson and to advance research at the State and local

6 levels on the prevention of arson arising from do7 mestic violence.

8 ‘‘(9) To combat arson in rural areas and to im9 prove the capability of firefighters to identify and

10 prevent arson initiated fires in rural areas and pub11 lic forests.

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

13 to identify and combat arson through expanded

14 training programs, including—

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

16 academies; and

17 ‘‘(B) innovative courses developed with the

18 National Fire Academy and made available to

19 volunteer firefighters through regional delivery

20 methods, including teleconferencing and sat21 ellite delivered television programs.

22 ‘‘(b) GOALS TO BE REFLECTED IN GRANT

23 AWARDS.—The Administrator shall ensure that each goal

24 described in subsection (a) is embodied within one or more

25 grant awards.
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1 ‘‘(c) STATE QUALIFICATION CRITERIA.—In order to

2 qualify for a grant under this section, a State or consor3 tium thereof shall provide assurances adequate to the Ad4 ministrator that it—

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

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

7 from non-Federal sources;

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

9 decrease its prior level of spending of funds from

10 non-Federal sources for arson research, prevention,

11 and control programs;

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

13 provided under the grant for administrative costs of

14 the programs; and

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

16 jurisdictions will provide arson data to the National

17 Fire Incident Reporting System or the Uniform

18 Crime Reporting program.

19 ‘‘(d) EXTENSION.—Grants awarded under this sec20 tion may be extended for additional periods, at the discre21 tion of the Administrator, subject to the availability of ap22 propriations.

23 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Office shall pro24 vide technical assistance to States in carrying out pro25 grams funded by grants under this section.
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1 ‘‘(f) CONSULTATION AND COOPERATION.—In carry2 ing out the requirements of this section, the Administrator

3 shall consult and cooperate with other Federal agencies

4 to enhance program effectiveness and avoid duplication of

5 effort, including the conduct of regular meetings initiated

6 by the Administrator with other Federal agencies con7 cerned with arson and concerned with efforts to develop

8 a more comprehensive profile of the magnitude of the na9 tional arson problem.

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

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

12 section, submit a report to the Congress identifying grants

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

14 of each grant, and containing a preliminary assessment

15 of the effectiveness of the grants program under this

16 section.

17 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—Within 180 days after the date

18 of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall issue

19 regulations to implement this section, which shall establish

20 procedures for grant applications.

21 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘arson’ includes all incendiary

23 and suspicious fires; and
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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Office’ means the Office of Fire

2 Prevention and Arson Control of the United States

3 Fire Administration.

4 ‘‘(j) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall di5 rectly administer the grants program required by this sec6 tion, and shall not enter into any contract under which

7 the grants program or any portion thereof will be adminis8 tered by another party.

9 ‘‘(k) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN MADE EQUIPMENT

10 AND PRODUCTS.—

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

12 Congress that any recipient of a grant under this

13 section should purchase, when available and cost-ef14 fective, American made equipment and products

15 when expending grant monies.

16 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—

17 In allocating grants under this section, the Adminis18 trator shall provide to each recipient a notice de19 scribing the statement made in paragraph (1) by the

20 Congress.’’.

21 SEC. 4. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER TRAINING.

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

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

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

25 volunteer firefighters for improved and more widely avail-
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1 able arson training courses’’ after ‘‘detection, and con2 trol’’.

3 SEC. 5. CPR TRAINING.

4 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 32. CPR TRAINING.

7 ‘‘No funds shall be made available to a State or local

8 government under section 25 unless such government has

9 a policy to actively promote the training of its firefighters

10 in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.’’.

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad13 ministrator of the United States Fire Administration—

14 (1) $500,000 for fiscal year 1994 for basic re15 search on the development of an advanced course on

16 arson prevention;

17 (2) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 for the ex18 pansion of arson investigator training programs at

19 the National Fire Academy under section 24 of the

20 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, at

21 the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and

22 at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy, or

23 through regional delivery sites;
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1 (3) $4,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994

2 and 1995 for carrying out section 25 of the Federal

3 Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974; and

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

5 and 1995 for salaries and expenses for carrying out

6 such section 25.

7 SEC. 7. SUNSET.

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no

9 funds are authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year

10 after fiscal year 1995 for carrying out the programs for

11 which funds are authorized by this Act, or the amend12 ments made by this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 1993.

Attest:

Clerk.