I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1168
To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to make grants to fire departments for the purpose of protecting the
public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 17, 1999
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HOYER, Mr.
ANDREWS, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr.
BISHOP, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms.
BROWN of Florida, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. COYNE, Mr.
CUMMINGS, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. ENGLISH,
Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FRANK of
Massachusetts, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of
Florida, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of
Texas, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island,
Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KLINK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LARSON, Mr. LEWIS of
Georgia, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mrs.
MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. METCALF, Mrs.
NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEY, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr.
PICKETT, Mr. QUINN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. REYES, Mr.
SWEENEY, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. TERRY, Mr. UPTON, Mr.
WEYGAND, Mr. WISE, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. FROST, Mrs. MORELLA,
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. FORD, Mr. ROTHMAN, and Ms. MCKIN-
NEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency to make grants to fire departments for
the purpose of protecting the public and firefighting per-
sonnel against fire and fire-related hazards.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Firefighter Investment
and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Increased demands on firefighting personnel
have made it difficult for local governments to ade-
quately fund necessary fire safety precautions.
(2) The Federal government has an obligation
to protect the health and safety of the firefighting
personnel of the United States and to ensure that
they have the financial resources to protect the pub-
lic.
(3) The high rates in the United States of
death, injury, and property damage caused by fires
demonstrates a critical need for Federal investment
in support of firefighting personnel.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this Act, the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) may make
grants on a competitive basis to fire departments for the
purpose of protecting the health and safety of the public
and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related
hazards.
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRA-
TION
OF GRANTS.—Before making grants under sub-
section (a), the Director shall establish an office in the
Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish spe-
cific criteria for the selection of grant recipients and to
administer the grants.
(c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—The Director may make
a grant under subsection (a) only if the applicant for the
grant agrees to use grant funds for any of the following:
(1) To hire additional firefighting personnel.
(2) To train firefighting personnel in fire-
fighting, emergency response, arson prevention and
detection, or the handling of hazardous materials, or
to train such personnel to provide any of the train-
ing described in this paragraph.
(3) To fund the creation of rapid intervention
teams to protect firefighting personnel at the scenes
of fires and other emergencies.
(4) To certify fire inspectors.
(5) To establish wellness and fitness programs
for firefighting personnel to ensure that such per-
sonnel can carry out their duties.
(6) To fund emergency medical services pro-
vided by fire departments.
(7) To acquire additional firefighting vehicles,
including fire trucks.
(8) To acquire additional firefighting equip-
ment, including equipment for communications and
monitoring.
(9) To acquire personal protective equipment
required for firefighting personnel by the Occupa-
tional Safety and Health Administration, and other
personal protective equipment for firefighting per-
sonnel.
(10) To modify fire stations, fire training facili-
ties, and other facilities to protect the health and
safety of firefighting personnel.
(11) To enforce fire codes.
(12) To fund fire prevention programs.
(13) To educate the public about arson preven-
tion and detection.
(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Director may
make a grant under subsection (a) only if the applicant
for the grant agrees to match with non-Federal funds 10
percent of the funds received under subsection (a) in any
fiscal year.
(e) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES—The Direc-
tor may make a grant under subsection (a) only if the
applicant for the grant agrees to maintain for the fiscal
year in which the grant will be received its aggregate ex-
penditures for uses described in subsection (c) at or above
the average level of such expenditures in the 2 fiscal years
preceding the fiscal year in which the grant will be re-
ceived.
(f) REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.—The Director may
make a grant under subsection (a) only if the applicant
for the grant agrees to submit to the Director a report,
including a description of how grant funds were used, with
respect to each fiscal year for which a grant was received.
(g) VARIETY OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The Director
shall ensure that grants under subsection (a) for a fiscal
year are made to a variety of fire departments, including,
to the extent that there are eligible applicants—
(1) paid, volunteer, and combination fire de-
partments;
(2) fire departments located in communities of
varying size; and
(3) fire departments located in urban, subur-
ban, and rural communities.
(h) LIMITATION ON FIREFIGHTING VEHICLES.—The
Director shall ensure that not more than 25 percent of
the assistance made available under subsection (a) in a
fiscal year is used for purposes authorized under section
(c)(7).
(i) LIMITATION
ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of
amounts made available under section 4 for a fiscal year,
the Director may use not more than 10 percent for the
administrative costs of carrying out this Act.
(j) APPLICATION.—The Director may make a grant
under subsection (a) only if the fire department seeking
the grant submits to the Director an application in such
form and containing such information as the Director may
require.
(k) FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL DEFINED.—In this
Act the term ‘‘firefighting personnel’’ means individuals,
including volunteers, who are firefighters, officers of fire
departments, or emergency medical service personnel of
fire departments.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
For the purposes of carrying out this Act, there is
authorized 
to 
be 
appropriated 
to 
the 
Director
$1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through
2005.
Æ