I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4736
To remove civil liability barriers surrounding donating fire equipment to
volunteer fire companies.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 23, 2000
Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. TALENT, and
Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To remove civil liability barriers surrounding donating fire
equipment to volunteer fire companies.
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 ‘‘Good Samaritan Vol-
unteer Firefighter Assistance Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) heavy industry is constantly improving and
updating its fire protection equipment to take ad-
vantage of new state-of-the-art innovation and sur-
plus equipment may be almost new or never used to
put out a single fire;
(2) if donated fire-fighting equipment malfunc-
tions, the threat of civil liability extends to both the
original manufacturer and the entity that donates
the equipment;
(3) this threat of civil liability causes many
heavy industry organizations to destroy, rather than
donate, millions of dollars of quality fire equipment;
(4) according to some estimates, the generosity
of over 800,000 volunteer firefighters nationwide
save State and local governments $36,800,000,000 a
year;
(5) many volunteer fire companies, particularly
in rural areas, lack the resources to purchase new
fire equipment;
(6) taxpayers spend millions of dollars pur-
chasing new equipment for volunteer fire companies;
(7) volunteer firefighters spend a large amount
of time raising money for new equipment and that
time could be better spent training to respond to
emergencies;
(8) volunteer fire companies have received mil-
lions of dollars in quality fire fighting equipment in
States that have removed liability barriers that ob-
struct the generosity and good will of private entities
that wish to donate used fire equipment to volunteer
fire companies;
(9) donated fire equipment should be recertified
to meet manufacturer’s specifications in order to
mitigate the risk that firefighters and the public will
receive defective equipment; and
(10) the Congress should respond to the needs
of volunteer fire companies by encouraging States to
remove civil liability barriers that obstruct donations
to volunteer fire companies.
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CIVIL LIABILITY BARRIERS.
(a) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—
(1) INDIVIDUAL RULE.—A person who donates
qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment to a
volunteer fire company shall not be liable in civil
damages in any State or Federal Court for personal
injuries, property damage, or death proximately
caused by a defect in the equipment.
(2) STATE OR LOCAL RULE.—A State or local
agency or its agents that administer the distribution
of qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment to
a volunteer fire company shall not be liable in civil
damages in any State or Federal Court for personal
injuries, property damage, or death proximately
caused by a defect in the equipment.
(b) EXCEPTIONS TO LIABILITY PROTECTION.—The
liability protection in subsection (a) does not cover a per-
son or agency if—
(1) the person’s act or omission proximately
causing the injury, damage, or loss constitutes mal-
ice, gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional
misconduct; or
(2) the person is the manufacturer of the quali-
fied fire control or fire rescue equipment.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any
individual, corporation, company, association, firm,
partnership, society, joint stock company, or any
other entity (including any governmental entity).
(2) FIRE CONTROL OR RESCUE EQUIPMENT.—
The term ‘‘fire control or fire rescue equipment’’ in-
cludes fire vehicles, fire fighting tools, protective
gear, fire hose, and breathing apparatus.
(3) QUALIFIED FIRE CONTROL
OR RESCUE
EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘qualified fire control or
fire rescue equipment’’ means fire control or fire res-
cue equipment that has been recertified by an au-
thorized technician as meeting the manufacturer’s
specifications and has been distributed through a
State or local agency to the volunteer fire company.
(4) AUTHORIZED TECHNICIAN.—The term ‘‘au-
thorized technician’’ means a technician that has
been certified by the manufacturer to inspect fire
control or fire rescue equipment. The technician
need not be employed by the State or local agency
administering the distribution of the fire control or
fire rescue equipment.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 30 days from the date of
its enactment and only applies to a cause of action that
accrues on or after that date.
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