I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5647 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support fire 
safety education programs on college campuses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2020 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. BOST, Mr. PAYNE, 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. MALINOWSKI) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 
to support fire safety education programs on college cam-
puses. 
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 
Education Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to help provide fire safety 
education and training to students attending institutions 
of higher education. 
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SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 
States Fire Administration of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency. 
(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means an institution of higher education, or con-
sortium of institutions of higher education located in 
the same State, in a collaborative partnership with 
a nonprofit organization or a public safety depart-
ment. Such a collaborative partnership may also in-
clude a social fraternity or sorority exempt from tax-
ation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986, the active membership of which con-
sists primarily of students enrolled at the institution 
or institutions. 
(3) FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION PROGRAM.—The 
term ‘‘fire safety education program’’ means a pro-
gram that provides fire safety and prevention activi-
ties. 
(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given to such term in section 101 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
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(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CAMPUS FIRE SAFETY 
EDUCATION COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.—From 
the amounts appropriated under section 7, the Secretary, 
in consultation with the Administrator, shall establish a 
grant program to award grants, on a competitive basis, 
to eligible entities for— 
(1) initiating, expanding, or improving fire safe-
ty education programs at institutions of higher edu-
cation; and 
(2) increasing fire safety awareness among stu-
dents enrolled at such institutions, including stu-
dents living in off-campus housing. 
(b) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this Act, 
an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require. 
(c) SELECTION PRIORITY.—In making grants under 
this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible enti-
ties that plan to use grant funds to initiate, expand, or 
improve fire safety education programs that include edu-
cational material specifically prepared for students with 
disabilities. 
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(d) GRANT PERIOD.—Grants under this Act shall be 
awarded for not longer than a 2-year period, and may be 
renewed for an additional 2-year period, at the Secretary’s 
discretion. 
(e) GRANT SIZE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
the Secretary shall ensure that grants awarded 
under this Act are of sufficient size and scope to en-
able eligible entities to carry out all required activi-
ties and otherwise meet the purpose of this Act. 
(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—An eligible entity may 
not be awarded more than $250,000 per fiscal year 
under this Act. 
(f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible entity re-
ceiving a grant under this Act shall provide non-Federal 
matching funds in an amount equal to not less than 25 
percent of the costs of the activities for which assistance 
is sought. Such non-Federal matching funds may be in 
cash or in-kind. 
(g) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 
available under this Act shall be used to supplement, not 
supplant, other Federal, State, or private funds that would 
otherwise be expended to carry out fire safety education 
programs. 
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SEC. 5. REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS. 
(a) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 
receiving a grant under this Act shall use grant funds to 
initiate, expand, or improve a fire safety education pro-
gram that— 
(1) in the case of an eligible entity that is an 
institution of higher education, reaches, to the ex-
tent practicable, all students enrolled in the institu-
tion of higher education, including students living 
on-campus and off-campus; 
(2) is carried out in a manner to ensure max-
imum exposure to, increase awareness of, and effec-
tuate change in behavior with respect to fire safety 
by students through— 
(A) conducting outreach to students at a 
minimum of twice per academic year (at the be-
ginning of the fall and spring semesters, or the 
equivalent); and 
(B) measures that provide fire safety infor-
mation to any student upon the request of the 
student; 
(3) includes minimum instruction with respect 
to— 
(A) awareness of fire behavior; 
(B) mechanisms of fire injury and death; 
(C) common ignition scenarios; 
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(D) fire safety systems such as automatic 
fire sprinklers; 
(E) fire alarms; 
(F) fire extinguishers; 
(G) importance of means of egress; 
(H) fire prevention techniques that may 
prevent a fire from occurring (such as candle 
safety, cooking safety, and smoking safety); and 
(I) fire safety actions to be taken if a fire 
occurs to minimize the potential for death, in-
jury, and property damage (such as knowing 
how to use a fire extinguisher, how to put out 
a cooking fire, calling 911, and evacuating); 
and 
(4) includes a mechanism for carrying out the 
evaluations described in subsection (b). 
(b) EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 
the end of an eligible entity’s grant period, the eligible en-
tity shall— 
(1) conduct an evaluation on the effectiveness 
of the program carried out by the eligible entity in 
increasing awareness or improving fire safety behav-
ior at such eligible entity; and 
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(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary a re-
port on the results of the evaluation conducted by 
the entity. 
SEC. 6. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 
months after the date of receipt of the first report sub-
mitted pursuant to section 5(b)(2) and annually there-
after, the Secretary shall provide to Congress a report that 
includes the following: 
(1) The number and types of eligible entities re-
ceiving assistance under this Act. 
(2) The fire safety education programs being 
implemented with assistance under this Act and the 
costs of such programs. 
(3) Any other information determined by the 
Secretary to be useful in evaluating the overall effec-
tiveness of the program established under this Act in 
improving the fire safety knowledge of college stu-
dents. 
(b) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with the Administrator, shall use the infor-
mation provided under subsection (a) to publish a report 
of best practices for initiating, expanding, or improving 
fire safety education programs that shall be made avail-
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able to all institutions of higher education and other inter-
ested parties. 
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 
through 2025. 
Æ 
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