IB 
Union Calendar No. 342 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4847 
[Report No. 110–559] 
To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2007 
Mr. MITCHELL (for himself and Mr. GINGREY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 
MARCH 31, 2008 
Additional sponsors: Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. 
WU, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, 
Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. COSTELLO, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. HALL 
of New York, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. WIL-
SON of Ohio, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. 
MATHESON, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. GERLACH, Ms. SUTTON, 
Mr. GALLEGLY, and Mr. MICHAUD 
MARCH 31, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 19, 2007] 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration, and 
for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘United States Fire Ad-
ministration Reauthorization Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The loss of life due to fire has dropped sig-
nificantly over the last 25 years in the United States. 
However, the United States still has one of the highest 
fire death rates in the industrialized world. In 2005 
the National Fire Protection Association reported 
3,675 civilian fire deaths, 17,925 civilian fire inju-
ries, and $10,672,000,000 in direct losses due to fire. 
(2) Every year, over 100 firefighters die in the 
line of duty. The United States Fire Administration 
should continue its leadership to help local fire agen-
cies dramatically reduce these fatalities. 
(3) Members of the fire service community should 
continue to work together to further the promotion of 
national voluntary consensus standards that increase 
firefighter safety. 
(4) The United States Fire Administration pro-
vides crucial support to the Nation’s 30,300 fire de-
partments through training, emergency incident data 
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collection, fire awareness and education, and support 
of research and development activities for fire preven-
tion, control, and suppression technologies. 
(5) The collection of data on fire and other emer-
gency incidents is a vital tool both for policy makers 
and emergency responders to identify and develop re-
sponses to emerging hazards. Improving the United 
States Fire Administration’s data collection capabili-
ties is essential for accurately tracking and respond-
ing to the magnitude and nature of the Nation’s fire 
problem. 
(6) The research and development performed by 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
the United States Fire Administration, other govern-
ment agencies, and non-governmental organizations 
on fire technologies, techniques, and tools advance the 
capabilities of the Nation’s fire service to suppress 
and prevent fires. 
(7) The United States Fire Administration is 
one of the strongest voices representing the Nation’s 
fire service within the Federal Government, and, as 
such, it should have a prominent place within the De-
partment of Homeland Security. 
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SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR UNITED 
STATES FIRE ADMINISTRATION. 
Section 17(g)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216(g)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding after subparagraph (D) the fol-
lowing new subparagraphs: 
‘‘(E) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, of 
which $2,520,000 shall be used to carry out sec-
tion 8; 
‘‘(F) $72,100,000 for fiscal year 2010, of 
which $2,595,600 shall be used to carry out sec-
tion 8; 
‘‘(G) $74,263,000 for fiscal year 2011, of 
which $2,673,468 shall be used to carry out sec-
tion 8; and 
‘‘(H) $76,490,890 for fiscal year 2012, of 
which $2,753,672 shall be used to carry out sec-
tion 8.’’. 
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SEC. 4. NATIONAL FIRE ACADEMY TRAINING PROGRAM 
MODIFICATIONS AND REPORTS. 
(a) AMENDMENTS TO FIRE ACADEMY TRAINING.—Sec-
tion 7(d)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act 
of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(d)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘terrorist- 
caused national catastrophes’’ and inserting ‘‘ter-
rorist-caused and other national catastrophes’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘forest’’ 
and inserting ‘‘wildland’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (M), by striking ‘‘response 
tactics and’’ and inserting ‘‘response, tactics, and’’; 
(4) by redesignating subparagraphs (I) through 
(N) as subparagraphs (M) through (R), respectively; 
and 
(5) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol-
lowing new subparagraphs: 
‘‘(I) response, tactics, and strategies for 
fighting large-scale fires or multiple fires in a 
general area that cross jurisdictional boundaries; 
‘‘(J) response, tactics, and strategies for 
fighting fires occurring at the wildland-urban 
interface; 
‘‘(K) response, tactics, and strategies for 
fighting fires involving hazardous materials; 
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‘‘(L) advanced emergency medical services 
training;’’. 
(b) TRIENNIAL REPORTS.—Section 7 of such Act (15 
U.S.C. 2206) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(m) TRIENNIAL REPORT.—In the first annual report 
filed pursuant to section 16 for which the deadline for filing 
is after the expiration of the 18-month period that begins 
on the date of the enactment of the United States Fire Ad-
ministration Reauthorization Act of 2008, and in every 
third annual report thereafter, the Administrator shall in-
clude information about changes made to the Academy cur-
riculum, including— 
‘‘(1) the basis for such changes, including a re-
view of the incorporation of lessons learned by emer-
gency response personnel after significant emergency 
events and emergency preparedness exercises per-
formed under the National Exercise Program; and 
‘‘(2) the desired training outcome of all such 
changes.’’. 
(c) AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATOR TO ENTER 
INTO
CONTRACTS
TO
PROVIDE
ON-SITE
TRAINING 
THROUGH CERTAIN ACCREDITED ORGANIZATIONS.—Sec-
tion 7(f) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2206(f)) is amended to read 
as follows: 
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‘‘(f) ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator is au-
thorized to provide assistance to State and local fire 
service training programs through grants, contracts, 
or otherwise. 
‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION
TO
ENTER
INTO
CON-
TRACTS
TO
PROVIDE
ON-SITE
TRAINING
THROUGH 
CERTAIN ACCREDITED ORGANIZATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is 
authorized to enter into a contract with one or 
more nationally recognized organizations that 
have established on-site training programs that 
comply with national voluntary consensus stand-
ards for fire service personnel to facilitate the de-
livery of the education and training programs 
outlined in subsection (d)(1) directly to fire serv-
ice personnel. 
‘‘(B) RESTRICTIONS.—The Administrator 
shall not enter into a contract with such organi-
zation unless such organization— 
‘‘(i) operates a fire service training 
program accredited by a nationally recog-
nized accreditation organization experi-
enced with accrediting such training; or 
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