I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2683
To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with respect 
to campus buildings, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2003
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. LANGEVIN, 
Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WALSH, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. OWENS, Mr. AN-
DREWS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and Mrs. MCCAR-
THY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and meas-
ures with respect to campus buildings, and for other 
purposes.
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 ‘‘Campus Fire Safety 
Right-to-Know Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY OF CAMPUS BUILD-
INGS. 
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1092) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (N); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (O) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(P) the fire safety report prepared by the in-
stitution pursuant to subsection (h).’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(h) DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS AND 
MEASURES.—
‘‘(1) ANNUAL
FIRE
SAFETY
REPORTS
RE-
QUIRED.—Each eligible institution participating in 
any program under this title shall, beginning in aca-
demic year 2004–2005, and each year thereafter, 
prepare, publish, and distribute, through appropriate 
publications (including the Internet) or mailings, to 
all current students and employees, and to any ap-
plicant for enrollment or employment upon request, 
an annual fire safety report containing at least the
following information with respect to the campus fire 
safety practices and standards of that institution: 
‘‘(A) A statement that identifies each stu-
dent housing facility of the institution, and 
whether or not that facility is equipped with a 
fire sprinkler system or other fire safety sys-
tems, or both. 
‘‘(B) Statistics concerning the occurrence 
on campus, during the 2 preceding academic 
years for which data are available, of fires and 
false fire alarms in student housing facilities. 
‘‘(C) For each such occurrence, a state-
ment of the human injuries or deaths and the 
structural damage caused by the occurrence. 
‘‘(D) Information regarding fire alarms, 
smoke alarms, the presence of adequate fire es-
cape planning or protocols (as defined in local 
fire codes), rules on portable electrical appli-
ances, smoking and open flames (such as can-
dles), regular mandatory supervised fire drills, 
and planned and future improvement in fire 
safety. 
‘‘(E) Information about fire safety edu-
cation and training provided to students, fac-
ulty, and staff, including the percentage of stu-
false fire alarms in a manner that will aid the pre-
vention of similar occurrences. 
‘‘(3) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—On an annual 
basis, each institution participating in any program 
under this title shall submit to the Secretary a copy 
of the statistics required to be made available under 
paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary shall—
‘‘(A) review such statistics; 
‘‘(B) make copies of the statistics sub-
mitted to the Secretary available to the public; 
and 
‘‘(C) in coordination with nationally recog-
nized fire organizations and representatives of 
institutions of higher education, identify exem-
plary fire safety policies, procedures, and prac-
tices and disseminate information concerning 
those policies, procedures, and practices that 
have proven effective in the reduction of cam-
pus fires. 
‘‘(4) FRATERNITIES
AND
SORORITIES.—Each 
institution participating in a program under this 
title shall request each fraternity and sorority that 
is recognized by the institution to collect and report 
to the institution the information described in sub-
paragraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1), as ap-
plied to the fraternity or sorority, for each building 
and property owned or controlled by the fraternity 
or sorority, respectively. 
‘‘(5) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to authorize the 
Secretary to require particular policies, procedures, 
or practices by institutions of higher education with 
respect to fire safety. 
‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘campus’ has the meaning provided in sub-
section (f)(6).’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS BY SECRETARY OF EDU-
CATION. 
Within two years after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Education shall prepare and submit 
to the Congress a report containing—
(1) an analysis of the current status of fire 
safety systems in college and university facilities, in-
cluding sprinkler systems; 
(2) an analysis of the appropriate fire safety 
standards to apply to these facilities, which the Sec-
retary shall prepare after consultation with such fire 
safety experts, representatives of institutions of 
higher education, and other Federal agencies as the
Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, considers 
appropriate; 
(3) an estimate of the cost of bringing all non-
conforming dormitories and other campus buildings 
up to current new building codes; and 
(4) recommendations from the Secretary con-
cerning the best means of meeting fire safety stand-
ards in all college facilities, including recommenda-
tions for methods to fund such cost.
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