I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1118
To establish the SAFER Firefighter Grant Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2003
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. QUINN, and Mr. GREEN of 
Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Science 
A BILL 
To establish the SAFER Firefighter Grant Program.
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 ‘‘Staffing for Adequate 
Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF GRANT MANAGEMENT. 
The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
(15 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by redesignating the 
second section 33 and section 34 as sections 35 and 36, 
respectively, and by inserting after the first section 33 the 
following new section:
‘‘SEC. 34. GRANT AUTHORITY. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—(1) The Ad-
ministrator shall make grants directly to career, volunteer, 
and combination fire departments, in consultation with the 
chief executive of the State in which the applicant is lo-
cated, for the purpose of increasing the number of fire-
fighters to help communities meet industry minimum 
standards to provide adequate protection from fire and 
fire-related hazards, including acts of terrorism. 
‘‘(2)(A) Grants made under paragraph (1) shall be 
for 4 years and be used for programs to hire new, addi-
tional firefighters. 
‘‘(B) Grantees are required to commit to retaining 
for at least 1 year beyond the termination of their grants 
those firefighters hired under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) In awarding grants under this section, the Ad-
ministrator may give preferential consideration to applica-
tions that involve a non-Federal contribution exceeding the 
minimums under paragraph (5). 
‘‘(4) The Administrator may provide technical assist-
ance to States, units of local government, Indian tribal 
governments, and to other public entities, in furtherance 
of the purposes of this section. 
‘‘(5) The portion of the costs of hiring firefighters 
provided by a grant under paragraph (1) may not ex-
ceed—
‘‘(A) 90 percent in the first year of the grant; 
‘‘(B) 80 percent in the second year of the 
grant; 
‘‘(C) 50 percent in the third year of the grant; 
and 
‘‘(D) 30 percent in the fourth year of the grant. 
‘‘(6) The authority under paragraph (1) of this sec-
tion to make grants for the hiring of additional firefighters 
shall lapse at the conclusion of 10 years from the date 
of enactment of this section. Prior to the expiration of this 
grant authority, the Administrator shall submit a report 
to Congress concerning the experience with and effects of 
such grants. The report may include any recommendations 
the Administrator may have for amendments to this sec-
tion and related provisions of law. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—(1) No grant may be made 
under this section unless an application has been sub-
mitted to, and approved by, the Administrator. 
‘‘(2) An application for a grant under this section 
shall be submitted in such form, and contain such infor-
mation, as the Administrator may prescribe. 
‘‘(3) At a minimum, each application for a grant 
under this section shall—
‘‘(A) explain the applicant’s inability to address 
the need without Federal assistance;
‘‘(B) explain how the applicant plans to meet 
the requirements of subsection (a)(2)(B) and (5); 
‘‘(C) specify long-term plans for retaining fire-
fighters following the conclusion of Federal support 
provided under this section; and 
‘‘(D) provide assurances that the applicant will, 
to the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire 
members of racial and ethnic minority groups and 
women in order to increase their ranks within fire-
fighting. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—(1) Funds 
made available under this section to fire departments of 
a State for salaries and benefits to hire new, additional 
firefighters shall not be used to supplant State or local 
funds, or, in the case of Indian tribal governments, funds 
supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but shall be used 
to increase the amount of funds that would, in the absence 
of Federal funds received under this section, be made 
available from State or local sources, or in the case of In-
dian tribal governments, from funds supplied by the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs. 
‘‘(2) Funds appropriated by the Congress for the ac-
tivities of any agency of an Indian tribal government or 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing firefighting func-
tions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-
Federal share of the cost of programs or projects funded 
under this section. 
‘‘(3)(A) Total funding provided under this section 
over 4 years for hiring a firefighter may not exceed 
$100,000. 
‘‘(B) The $100,000 cap shall be adjusted annually 
for inflation beginning in fiscal year 2005. 
‘‘(d) PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.—The Adminis-
trator may require a grant recipient to submit any infor-
mation the Administrator considers reasonably necessary 
to evaluate the program. 
‘‘(e) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING.—
If the Administrator determines that a grant recipient 
under this section is not in substantial compliance with 
the terms and requirements of an approved grant applica-
tion submitted under this section, the Administrator may 
revoke or suspend funding of that grant, in whole or in 
part. 
‘‘(f) ACCESS
TO DOCUMENTS.—(1) The Adminis-
trator shall have access for the purpose of audit and exam-
ination to any pertinent books, documents, papers, or 
records of a grant recipient under this section and to the 
pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of State 
and local governments, persons, businesses, and other en-
tities that are involved in programs, projects, or activities 
for which assistance is provided under this section. 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to audits 
and examinations conducted by the Comptroller General 
of the United States or by an authorized representative 
of the Comptroller General. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term—
‘‘(1) ‘firefighter’ has the meaning given the 
term ‘employee in fire protection activities’ under 
section 3(y) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 
U.S.C. 203(y)); and 
‘‘(2) ‘Indian tribe’ means a tribe, band, pueblo, 
nation, or other organized group or community of 
Indians, including an Alaska Native village (as de-
fined in or established under the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), 
that is recognized as eligible for the special pro-
grams and services provided by the United States to 
Indians because of their status as Indians. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for the pur-
poses of carrying out this section—
‘‘(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
‘‘(2) $1,030,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 
‘‘(3) $1,061,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
‘‘(4) $1,093,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 
‘‘(5) $1,126,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
‘‘(6) $1,159,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 
‘‘(7) $1,194,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.’’.
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