I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4107 
To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program under section 
33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 1, 2004 
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, 
Mr. HOYER, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. COX, Mr. 
TURNER of Texas, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Science 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program 
under section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974, 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 ‘‘Assistance to Fire-
fighters Grant Reauthorization Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) there are 1,100,000 firefighters serving in 
over 30,000 fire departments in the United States; 
(2) fire departments responded to nearly 
1,700,000 fires in 2002; 
(3) every 19 seconds a fire department re-
sponds to a fire somewhere in the United States; 
(4) in 2003, 110 firefighters died in the line of 
duty; 
(5) fires resulted in the deaths of 3,380 civil-
ians in 2002; 
(6) nationwide there is a civilian fire death 
every 156 minutes; 
(7) in 2002, 18,425 people sustained injuries 
from fires; 
(8) 
in 
2002 
there 
was 
an 
estimated 
$10,337,000,000 in property damage caused by 
fires, including $6,055,000,000 worth of property 
loss to residential properties; 
(9) for communities with populations between 
10,000 and 1,000,000, it is estimated that approxi-
mately 1⁄4 of emergency responders on a shift lack 
radios, and this percentage increases as community 
size decreases;
(10) an estimated one-third of firefighters per 
shift are not equipped with self-contained breathing 
apparatus (SCBA); 
(11) nearly half of all self-contained breathing 
apparatus units are at least 10 years old; 
(12) nearly half of firefighters on a shift lack 
personal alert system (PASS) devices; 
(13) an estimated 57,000 firefighters lack per-
sonal protective clothing; 
(14) one-third of personal protective clothing is 
at least 10 years old; 
(15) half of all fire engines are at least 15 
years old; 
(16) only one-fourth of fire departments have 
the ability to communicate with Federal, State, and 
local partners; 
(17) only one-fourth of fire departments have 
thermal imaging cameras; 
(18) only one fire department in 28 has mobile 
data terminals; 
(19) only one fire department in 50 has ad-
vanced personnel location equipment; 
(20) only one fire department in 23 has equip-
ment to collect chemical or biological samples;
(21) an estimated 42 percent of the population 
is protected by fire departments that do not have a 
program for free distribution of home smoke alarms; 
(22) an estimated 48 percent of the population 
is protected by fire departments that do not have a 
juvenile firesetter program; 
(23) an estimated 27 percent of the population 
is protected by fire departments that do not have a 
fire safety education program based on a national 
curriculum; 
(24) only 11 percent of fire departments can re-
spond to a technical rescue involving emergency 
medical services at a building collapse with local per-
sonnel, and nearly half of all departments consider 
such an incident outside their scope; 
(25) only 13 percent of fire departments can re-
spond to a hazmat incident involving emergency 
medical services with local personnel, and two-fifths 
of all departments consider such an incident outside 
their scope; 
(26) only 26 percent of fire departments can re-
spond to a wildland/urban interface fire affecting 
500 acres with local personnel, and one-third of all 
departments consider such an incident outside their 
scope; and
(27) only 12 percent of fire departments can 
handle mitigation of a developing major flood with 
local personnel, and a majority of fire departments 
consider such an incident outside their scope. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS. 
Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Con-
trol Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘Administrator’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 
volunteer emergency medical service squads’’ after 
‘‘fire departments’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘and 
firefighter safety research and development’’ after 
‘‘fire prevention’’; 
(4) in subsection (b)(3)(F), by inserting ‘‘and 
volunteer emergency medical service squads that are 
not affiliated with a fire department, hospital, or 
for-profit entity’’ after ‘‘fire departments’’; 
(5) in subsection (b)(4)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘AND FIREFIGHTER SAFE-
TY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT’’ after ‘‘PRE-
VENTION’’ in the paragraph heading; 
(B) in subparagraph (A)(ii)—
(i) by inserting ‘‘that are not fire de-
partments and’’ after ‘‘community organi-
zations’’; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘and firefighter re-
search and development programs,’’ after 
‘‘fire safety programs and activities,’’; and 
(iii) by inserting ‘‘and research to im-
prove firefighter health and life safety’’ 
after ‘‘fire prevention programs’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘to 
children from fire’’ and inserting ‘‘to high risk 
groups from fire, as well as research programs 
that demonstrate the potential to improve fire-
fighter safety’’; 
(6) in subsection (b)(6)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and 
(C)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘30 percent’’ and in-
serting ‘‘20 percent’’; and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) FIRE PREVENTION AND FIREFIGHTER 
SAFETY GRANTS.—There shall be no matching
requirement for a grant described in paragraph 
(4)(A)(ii).’’; 
(7) in subsection (b)(10)— 
(A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(A) RECIPIENT
LIMITATIONS.—A grant 
recipient under this section— 
‘‘(i) that serves a jurisdiction with 
500,000 people or less may not receive 
grants in excess of $1,000,000 for any fis-
cal year; 
‘‘(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with 
more than 500,000 but not more than 
1,000,000 people may not receive grants in 
excess of $2,000,000 for any fiscal year; 
and 
‘‘(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with 
more than 1,000,000 people may not re-
ceive grants in excess of $3,000,000 for 
any fiscal year. 
The Administrator may award grants in excess 
of the limitations provided in clause (i) or (ii) 
to a recipient that serves a population close to 
the relevant threshold, upon a showing of suffi-
cient need.’’;
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
subparagraph (C); 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) 
DISTRIBUTION.—Notwithstanding 
subparagraph (A), no single recipient may re-
ceive more than one half of one percent of the 
funds appropriated under this section for a sin-
gle fiscal year.’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) VOLUNTEER
EMERGENCY
MEDICAL 
SERVICE LIMITATION.—Not more than 4 per-
cent of the funds appropriated to provide grants 
under this section for a fiscal year may be 
awarded to volunteer emergency medical service 
squads.’’; 
(8) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 
following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(13) ANNUAL MEETING.—The Administrator 
shall convene an annual meeting of non-Federal fire 
service experts, including representatives from a 
wide range of fire service organizations, to rec-
ommend criteria for awarding grants under this sec-
tion for the next fiscal year and recommend any nec-
essary administrative changes to the grant program. 
‘‘(14) GUIDELINES.—(A) Each year, prior to 
making any grants under this section, the Adminis-
trator shall publish in the Federal Register— 
‘‘(i) guidelines that describe the process for 
applying for grants and the criteria for award-
ing grants; and 
‘‘(ii) an explanation of any differences be-
tween the guidelines and the recommendations 
made pursuant to paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) The criteria for awarding grants shall in-
clude the extent to which the grant would enhance 
the daily operations of a fire department and the im-
pact of such a grant on the protection of lives and 
property. 
‘‘(15) PEER REVIEW.—The Administrator shall, 
after consultation with national fire service organiza-
tions, appoint fire service personnel to conduct peer 
review of applications received under paragraph (5). 
In making grants under this section, the Adminis-
trator shall consider the results of such peer review 
evaluations. 
‘‘(16) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTEERS FROM DIS-
CRIMINATION.—A fire department receiving funds
provided under this section shall not discriminate 
against, or prohibit its members from engaging in, 
volunteer activities in another jurisdiction during 
off-duty hours.’’; and 
(9) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘2002 
through 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘2005 through 2007’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORTS. 
(a) STUDY ON NEED FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO 
STATE
AND
LOCAL
COMMUNITIES
TO
FUND
FIRE-
FIGHTING
AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES.— 
The Administrator of the United States Fire Administra-
tion shall— 
(1) reconduct the study required under section 
1701(b) of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, in conjunc-
tion with the National Fire Protection Association, 
to— 
(A) define the current role and activities 
associated with the fire services; 
(B) analyze the extent to which grant 
awards fulfill the goals of applicants; and 
(C) provide a needs assessment to identify 
shortfalls;
(2) express the needs assessment under sub-
paragraph (A)(iii) on a national and State-by-State 
basis; and 
(3) measure the impact the Assistance to Fire-
fighters Grant program under section 33 of the Fed-
eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 has 
had in meeting the shortfalls identified in the origi-
nal report conducted under such section 1701(b). 
(b) TIME FOR COMPLETION OF STUDY; REPORT.— 
The Administrator shall complete the study under sub-
section (a), and submit a report on the results of the study 
to Congress, not later than 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the United States 
Fire Administration $300,000 for fiscal year 2005 to 
carry out the study required by subsection (a). 
Æ