SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Administration
Authorization Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 17(g)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216(g)(1)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (E);
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (F) and inserting in lieu thereof a semi-
colon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs:
‘‘(G) $29,600,000 for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1998; and
‘‘(H) $30,500,000 for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1999.’’.
SEC. 3. SUCCESSOR FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS.
The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974
is amended—
(1) in section 29(a)(1), by inserting ‘‘, or any
successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Association
Standard 74’’;
(2) in section 29(a)(2), by inserting ‘‘or any
successor standards thereto,’’ after ‘‘whichever is ap-
propriate,’’;
(3) in section 29(b)(2), by inserting ‘‘, or any
successor standards thereto’’ after ‘‘Association
Standard 13 or 13–R’’;
(4) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(i), by inserting ‘‘or
any successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Life Safety
Code),’’; and
(5) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or
any successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Association
Standard 101,’’.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OR PRIVATIZATION OF FUNCTIONS.
The Administrator of the United States Fire Admin-
istration shall transmit to Congress a report providing no-
tice at least 60 days in advance of the termination or
transfer to a private sector entity of any significant func-
tion of the United States Fire Administration.
SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS.
(a) PROHIBITION OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES.—None
of the funds authorized by the amendments made by this
Act shall be available for any activity whose purpose is
to influence legislation pending before the Congress, ex-
cept that this subsection shall not prevent officers or em-
ployees of the United States or of its departments or agen-
cies from communicating to Members of Congress on the
request of any Member or to Congress, through the proper
channels, requests for legislation or appropriations which
they deem necessary for the efficient conduct of the public
business.
(b) LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATIONS.—No sums are
authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the
United States Fire Administration for fiscal years 1998
and 1999 for the activities for which sums are authorized
by the amendments made by this Act, unless such sums
are specifically authorized to be appropriated by the
amendments made by this Act.
(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator of the
United States Fire Administration shall exclude
from consideration for grant agreements made by
the Administration after fiscal year 1997 any person
who received funds, other than those described in
paragraph (2), appropriated for a fiscal year after
fiscal year 1997, under a grant agreement from any
Federal funding source for a project that was not
subjected to a competitive, merit-based award proc-
ess. Any exclusion from consideration pursuant to
this subsection shall be effective for a period of 5
years after the person receives such Federal funds.
(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to the receipt of Federal funds by a person
due to the membership of that person in a class
specified by law for which assistance is awarded to
members of the class according to a formula pro-
vided by law.
(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal
instrument whose principal purpose is to transfer a
thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public
purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a
law of the United States, and does not include the
acquisition (by purchase, lease, or barter) of prop-
erty or services for the direct benefit or use of the
United States Government. Such term does not in-
clude a cooperative agreement (as such term is used
in section 6305 of title 31, United States Code) or
a cooperative research and development agreement
(as such term is defined in section 12(d)(1) of the
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of
1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).
SEC. 6. NOTICE.
(a) NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING.—If any funds au-
thorized by the amendments made by this Act are subject
to a reprogramming action that requires notice to be pro-
vided to the Appropriations Committees of the House of
Representatives and the Senate, notice of such action shall
concurrently be provided to the Committee on Science of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(b) NOTICE
OF REORGANIZATION.—The Adminis-
trator of the United States Fire Administration shall pro-
vide notice to the Committees on Science and Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives, and the Committees
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Appro-
priations of the Senate, not later than 15 days before any
major reorganization of any program, project, or activity
of the United States Fire Administration.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM.
With the year 2000 fast approaching, it is the sense
of Congress that the United States Fire Administration
should—
(1) give high priority to correcting all 2-digit
date-related problems in its computer systems to en-
sure that those systems continue to operate effec-
tively in the year 2000 and beyond;
(2) assess immediately the extent of the risk to
the operations of the United States Fire Administra-
tion posed by the problems referred to in paragraph
(1), and plan and budget for achieving Year 2000
compliance for all of its mission-critical systems; and
(3) develop contingency plans for those systems
that the United States Fire Administration is unable
to correct in time.
SEC. 8. BUY AMERICAN.
(a) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN ACT.—No
funds appropriated pursuant to the amendments made by
this Act may be expended by an entity unless the entity
agrees that in expending the assistance the entity will
comply with sections 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3,
1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a-10c, popularly known as the ‘‘Buy
American Act’’).
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—In the case of any equip-
ment or products that may be authorized to be purchased
with financial assistance provided under the amendments
made by this Act, it is the sense of Congress that entities
receiving such assistance should, in expending the assist-
ance, purchase only American-made equipment and prod-
ucts.
(c) NOTICE
TO RECIPIENTS
OF ASSISTANCE.—In
providing financial assistance under the amendments
made by this Act, the Administrator of the United States
Fire Administration shall provide to each recipient of the