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 ‘‘Fire Grants Reauthor-
ization Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM 
REAUTHORIZATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 33 of the Federal Fire Pre-
vention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE. 
‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this sec-
tion, the Director may— 
‘‘(A) make grants on a competitive basis di-
rectly to fire departments of a State, in consulta-
tion with the chief executive of the State, for the 
purpose of protecting the health and safety of the 
public and firefighting personnel throughout the 
Nation against fire and fire-related hazards; 
‘‘(B) make grants on a competitive basis di-
rectly to State fire training academies, in con-
sultation with the chief executive of the State, in 
accordance with paragraph (11)(C); 
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‘‘(C) provide assistance for fire prevention 
and firefighter safety research and development 
programs and fire prevention or fire safety pro-
grams and activities in accordance with para-
graph (4); and 
‘‘(D) provide assistance for volunteer, non- 
fire service EMS and rescue organizations for the 
purpose of paragraph (3)(F). 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.—The Direc-
tor shall establish specific criteria for the selection of 
recipients of assistance under this section and shall 
provide grant-writing assistance to applicants. 
‘‘(3) 
USE
OF
FIRE
DEPARTMENT
GRANT 
FUNDS.—The Director may make a grant under 
paragraph (1)(A) only if the applicant for the grant 
agrees to use the grant funds for one or more of the 
following purposes: 
‘‘(A) To hire additional firefighting per-
sonnel. 
‘‘(B) To train firefighting personnel in fire-
fighting, emergency medical services and other 
emergency response (including response to a ter-
rorism incident or use of a weapon of mass de-
struction), arson prevention and detection, mari-
time firefighting, or the handling of hazardous 
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materials or to train firefighting personnel to 
provide any of the training described in this sub-
paragraph. 
‘‘(C) To fund the creation of rapid interven-
tion teams to protect firefighting personnel at the 
scenes of fires and other emergencies. 
‘‘(D) To certify fire and building inspectors 
employed by a fire department or serving as a 
volunteer building inspector with a fire depart-
ment. 
‘‘(E) To establish wellness and fitness pro-
grams for firefighting personnel to ensure that 
the firefighting personnel can carry out their du-
ties, including programs dedicated to raising 
awareness of, and prevention of, job-related men-
tal health issues. 
‘‘(F) To fund emergency medical services 
provided by fire departments and volunteer, non- 
fire service EMS and rescue organizations. 
‘‘(G) To acquire additional firefighting ve-
hicles, including fire trucks. 
‘‘(H) To acquire additional firefighting 
equipment, including equipment for communica-
tions, monitoring, and response to a terrorism 
incident or use of a weapon of mass destruction. 
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‘‘(I) To acquire personal protective equip-
ment required for firefighting personnel by the 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
and other personal protective equipment for fire-
fighting personnel, including protective equip-
ment to respond to a terrorism incident or the 
use of a weapon of mass destruction. 
‘‘(J) To modify fire stations, fire training 
facilities, and other facilities to protect the health 
and safety of firefighting personnel. 
‘‘(K) To enforce fire codes and standards. 
‘‘(L) To fund fire prevention programs. 
‘‘(M) To educate the public about arson pre-
vention and detection. 
‘‘(N) To provide incentives for the recruit-
ment and retention of volunteer firefighting per-
sonnel for volunteer firefighting departments and 
other firefighting departments that utilize volun-
teers. 
‘‘(4) FIRE PREVENTION AND FIREFIGHTER SAFE-
TY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, 
the Director shall use not less than 10 percent of 
the funds made available under subsection (e)— 
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‘‘(i) to make grants to fire departments 
for the purpose described in paragraph 
(3)(L); 
‘‘(ii) to make grants to, or enter into 
contracts or cooperative agreements with, 
national, State, local, or community orga-
nizations that are not fire departments 
but— 
‘‘(I) that are recognized for their 
experience and expertise with respect to 
fire prevention or fire safety programs 
and activities and that partner with 
fire departments, for the purpose of 
carrying out such programs and ac-
tivities; 
‘‘(II) engage in fire- and life safe-
ty-related activities as a primary pur-
pose or function, for the purpose of 
carrying out fire prevention or fire 
safety programs and activities; or 
‘‘(III) that are recognized for their 
experience and expertise with respect to 
firefighter research and development 
programs, for the purpose of carrying 
out research on fire prevention or fire 
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safety programs and activities or to 
improve firefighter health and life safe-
ty; and 
‘‘(iii) if the Director determines that it 
is necessary, to make grants or enter into 
contracts in accordance with subsection (c). 
‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In selecting organizations 
described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to receive as-
sistance under this paragraph, the Director shall 
give priority to organizations that focus on pre-
vention of injuries to high risk groups from fire, 
as well as research programs that demonstrate 
the potential to improve firefighter safety. 
‘‘(C) GRANT LIMITATION.—A grant under 
this paragraph shall not exceed $1,500,000 for a 
fiscal year. 
‘‘(D) LIMITATION.—None of the funds made 
available under this paragraph may be provided 
to the Association of Community Organizations 
for Reform Now (ACORN) or any of its affili-
ates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations. 
‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—The Director may provide 
assistance to a fire department or organization (in-
cluding a State fire training academy) under this 
subsection only if the fire department or organization 
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