Title: AFG and SAFER Program Reauthorization Act of 2017
Policy area: Emergency Management

Summary:
AFG and SAFER Program Reauthorization Act of 2017
This bill amends the the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to: (1) repeal the expiration dates of, and to reauthorize through FY2023, the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program, the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants (FPSG) Program, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant (SAFER) Program; and (2) authorize the use of AFG Program grants, instead of SAFER Program grants, to provide specialized training to first responders on how to recognize and properly intervene with individuals with mental illness.
The SAFER Program is revised to permit the use of grants to change the status of part-time or paid-on-call firefighters to full-time firefighters.
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) may develop and make widely available an electronic, online training course for members of the fire and emergency response community on matters related to the administration of AFG, FPSG, and SAFER grants.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shall ensure that any such training is: (1) tailored to the financial and time constraints of members of the fire and emergency response community; and (2) accessible to all individuals in the career, combination, paid-on-call, and volunteer fire and emergency response community.
The USFA shall develop and implement a grant monitoring and oversight framework to mitigate and minimize risks of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement relating to such grants programs.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3881 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3881

To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, the Fire 
  Prevention and Safety Grants program, and the Staffing for Adequate 
   Fire and Emergency Response grant program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2017

    Mr. Pascrell (for himself, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. 
   Reichert, and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
                             and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, the Fire 
  Prevention and Safety Grants program, and the Staffing for Adequate 
   Fire and Emergency Response grant program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``AFG and SAFER Program 
Reauthorization Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM 
              AND THE FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY GRANTS PROGRAM.

    (a) Repeal of Sunset.--Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention 
and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is amended by striking 
subsection (r).
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subsection (q)(1)(B) of such 
section is amended by striking ``2017'' and inserting ``2023''.
    (c) Authorization for Certain Training Under Assistance to 
Firefighters Grants Program.--Subsection (c)(3) of such section is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(N) To provide specialized training to 
                firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical service 
                workers, and other first responders to recognize 
                individuals who have mental illness and how to properly 
                intervene with individuals with mental illness, 
                including strategies for verbal de-escalation of 
                crisis.''.

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY 
              RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Repeal of Sunset.--Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention 
and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229a) is amended by striking 
subsection (k).
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subsection (j)(1)(I) of such 
section is amended, in the matter before clause (i), by striking 
``2017'' and inserting ``2023''.
    (c) Modification of Application Requirements.--Subsection (b)(3)(B) 
of such section is amended by striking ``of subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) 
and (F)'' and inserting ``of subsection (a)(1)(F)''.
    (d) Modification of Limitation.--Subsection (c)(2) of such section 
is amended by striking ``prior to November 24, 2003'' and inserting 
``prior to the date of the application for the grant''.
    (e) Modification of Waiver Authority.--Subsection (d)(1)(B) of such 
section is amended by striking ``subsection (a)(1)(E) or subsection 
(c)(2)'' and inserting ``subsection (a)(1)(E), (c)(2), or (c)(4)''.
    (f) Repeal of Authority for Certain Use of Grant Amounts 
Transferred to Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program.--Subsection 
(a)(1)(B) of such section is amended by striking ``and to provide'' and 
all that follows through ``of crises''.
    (g) Expansion of Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response 
Grant Program.--Subsection (a)(1)(B) of such section, as amended by 
subsection (f), is further amended by inserting ``or to change the 
status of part-time or paid-on-call (as defined in section 33(a)) 
firefighters to full-time firefighters'' after ``firefighters''.

SEC. 4. TRAINING ON ADMINISTRATION OF FIRE GRANT PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, acting through the Administrator of the United 
States Fire Administration, may develop and make widely available an 
electronic, online training course for members of the fire and 
emergency response community on matters relating to the administration 
of grants under sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229 and 2229a).
    (b) Requirements.--The Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency shall ensure that any training developed and made 
available under subsection (a) is--
            (1) tailored to the financial and time constraints of 
        members of the fire and emergency response community; and
            (2) accessible to all individuals in the career, 
        combination, paid-on-call, and volunteer fire and emergency 
        response community.

SEC. 5. FRAMEWORK FOR OVERSIGHT AND MONITORING OF THE ASSISTANCE TO 
              FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS PROGRAM, THE FIRE PREVENTION AND 
              SAFETY GRANTS PROGRAM, AND THE STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE 
              AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Framework.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, acting through the Administrator of the United 
States Fire Administration, shall develop and implement a grant 
monitoring and oversight framework to mitigate and minimize risks of 
fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement relating to the grants programs 
under sections 33 and 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act 
of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229 and 2229a).
    (b) Elements.--The framework required by subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            (1) Developing standardized guidance and training for all 
        participants in the grant programs described in subsection (a).
            (2) Conduct of regular risk assessments.
            (3) Conducting desk reviews and site visits.
            (4) Enforcement actions to recoup potential questionable 
        costs of grant recipients.
            (5) Such other oversight and monitoring tools as the 
        Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
        considers necessary to mitigate and minimize fraud, waste, 
        abuse, and mismanagement relating to the grant programs 
        described in subsection (a).
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