H. Res. 413
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
April 26, 1994.
Resolved, That, upon adoption of this resolution, the bill
(H.R. 1727) to establish a program of grants to States for
arson research, prevention, and control, and for other pur-
poses, with the Senate amendment thereto, shall be consid-
ered to have been taken from the Speaker’s table, and the
same are hereby agreed to with an amendment as follows: In
lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the Senate, in-
sert the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arson Prevention Act of
1994’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) arson is a serious and costly problem, and is re-
sponsible for approximately 25 percent of all fires in the
United States;
(2) arson is a leading cause of fire deaths, account-
ing for approximately 700 deaths annually in the United
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States, and is the leading cause of property damage due
to fire in the United States;
(3) estimates of arson property losses are in the
range of $2,000,000,000 annually, or approximately 1 of
every 4 dollars lost to fire;
(4) the incidence of arson in the United States is
seriously underreported, in part because of the lack of
adequate participation by local jurisdictions in the Na-
tional Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program;
(5) there is a need for expanded training programs
for arson investigators;
(6) there is a need for improved programs designed
to enable volunteer firefighters to detect arson crimes
and to preserve evidence vital to the investigation and
prosecution of arson cases;
(7) according to the National Fire Protection Asso-
ciation, of all the suspicious and incendiary fires esti-
mated to occur, only 1⁄3 are confirmed as arson; and
(8) improved training of arson investigators will in-
crease the ability of fire departments to identify sus-
picious and incendiary fires, and will result in increased
and more effective prosecution of arson offenses.
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SEC. 3. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.
The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 is
amended by inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2220) the
following new section:
‘‘SEC. 25. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS.
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) ARSON.—The term ‘arson’ includes all incendi-
ary and suspicious fires.
‘‘(2) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Office
of Fire Prevention and Arson Control of the United
States Fire Administration.
‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Administrator, acting through the
Office, shall carry out a demonstration program under which
not more than 10 grant awards shall be made to States, or
consortia of States, for programs relating to arson research,
prevention, and control.
‘‘(c) GOALS.—In carrying out this section, the Adminis-
trator shall award 2-year grants on a competitive, merit basis
to States, or consortia of States, for projects that promote
one or more of the following goals:
‘‘(1) To improve the training by States leading to
professional certification of arson investigators, in ac-
cordance with nationally recognized certification stand-
ards.
‘‘(2) To provide resources for the formation of
arson task forces or interagency organizational arrange-
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ments involving police and fire departments and other
relevant local agencies, such as a State arson bureau and
the office of a fire marshal of a State.
‘‘(3) To combat fraud as a cause of arson and to
advance research at the State and local levels on the sig-
nificance and prevention of fraud as a motive for setting
fires.
‘‘(4) To provide for the management of arson
squads, including—
‘‘(A) training courses for fire departments in
arson case management, including standardization
of investigative techniques and reporting methodol-
ogy;
‘‘(B) the preparation of arson unit manage-
ment guides; and
‘‘(C) the development and dissemination of new
public education materials relating to the arson
problem.
‘‘(5) To combat civil unrest as a cause of arson and
to advance research at the State and local levels on the
prevention and control of arson linked to urban dis-
orders.
‘‘(6) To combat juvenile arson, such as juvenile fire-
setter counseling programs and similar intervention pro-