[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1231 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1231

  To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the 
       United States Fire Administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 1997

Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Hollings, and Mr. Rockefeller) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the 
       United States Fire Administration, 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 ``United States Fire Administration 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 17(g)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 
1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216(g)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (E);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (F) 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(G) $29,664,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
        1998; and
            ``(H) $30,554,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
        1999.''.

SEC. 3. SUCCESSOR FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS.

    The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2201 
et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 29(a)(1), by inserting ``or any successor 
        standard to that standard'' after ``Association Standard 74'';
            (2) in section 29(a)(2), by inserting ``, or any successor 
        standard to that standard'' before ``, whichever is 
        appropriate,'';
            (3) in section 29(b)(2), by inserting ``, or any successor 
        standard to that standard'' after ``Association Standard 13 or 
        13-R'';
            (4) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(i), by inserting ``or any 
        successor standard to that standard'' after ``Life Safety 
        Code)''; and
            (5) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(ii), by inserting ``or any 
        successor standard to that standard'' after ``Association 
        Standard 101''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OR PRIVATIZATION OF FUNCTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days before the termination or 
transfer to a private sector person or entity of any significant 
function of the United States Fire Administration, as described in 
subsection (b), the Administrator of the United States Fire 
Administration shall transmit to Congress a report providing notice of 
that termination or transfer.
    (b) Covered Terminations and Transfers.--For purposes of subsection 
(a), a termination or transfer to a person or entity described in that 
subsection shall be considered to be a termination or transfer of a 
significant function of the United States Fire Administration if the 
termination or transfer--
            (1) relates to a function of the Administration that 
        requires the expenditure of more than 5 percent of the total 
        amount of funds made available by appropriations to the 
        Administration; or
            (2) involves the termination of more than 5 percent of the 
        employees of the Administration.

SEC. 5. NOTICE.

    (a) Major Reorganization Defined.--With respect to the United 
States Fire Administration, the term ``major reorganization'' means any 
reorganization of the Administration that involves the reassignment of 
more than 25 percent of the employees of the Administration.
    (b) Notice of Reprogramming.--If any funds appropriated pursuant to 
the amendments made by this Act are subject to a reprogramming action 
that requires notice to be provided to the Committees on Appropriations 
of the Senate and the House of Representatives, notice of that action 
shall concurrently be provided to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science of the 
House of Representatives.
    (c) Notice of Reorganization.--Not later than 15 days before any 
major reorganization of any program, project, or activity of the United 
States Fire Administration, the Administrator of the United States Fire 
Administration shall provide notice to the Committees on Science and 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committees on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Appropriations of the Senate.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM.

    With the year 2000 rapidly approaching, it is the sense of Congress 
that the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration 
should--
            (1) give high priority to correcting all 2-digit date-
        related problems in the computer systems of the United States 
        Fire Administration to ensure that those systems continue to 
        operate effectively in the year 2000 and in subsequent years;
            (2) as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, assess the extent of the risk to the operations of 
        the United States Fire Administration posed by the problems 
        referred to in paragraph (1), and plan and budget for achieving 
        compliance for all of the mission-critical systems of the 
        system by the year 2000; and
            (3) develop contingency plans for those systems that the 
        United States Fire Administration is unable to correct by the 
        year 2000.

SEC. 7. ENHANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS PROGRAMS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Fire Administration.
            (2) Educationally useful federal equipment.--The term 
        ``educationally useful Federal equipment'' means computers and 
        related peripheral tools and research equipment that is 
        appropriate for use in schools.
            (3) School.--The term ``school'' means a public or private 
        educational institution that serves any of the grades of 
        kindergarten through grade 12.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--
            (1) In general.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
        Administrator should, to the greatest extent practicable and in 
        a manner consistent with applicable Federal law (including 
        Executive Order No. 12999), donate educationally useful Federal 
        equipment to schools in order to enhance the science and 
        mathematics programs of those schools.
            (2) Reports.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
                the Administrator shall prepare and submit to the 
                President a report that meets the requirements of this 
                paragraph. The President shall submit that report to 
                Congress at the same time as the President submits a 
                budget request to Congress under section 1105(a) of 
                title 31, United States Code.
                    (B) Contents of report.--The report prepared by the 
                Administrator under this paragraph shall describe any 
                donations of educationally useful Federal equipment to 
                schools made during the period covered by the report.

SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States Fire 
Administration (referred to in this section as the ``Administrator'') 
shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science of the House 
of Representatives a report that meets the requirements of this 
section.
    (b) Contents of Report.--The report under this section shall--
            (1) examine the risks to firefighters in suppressing fires 
        caused by burning tires;
            (2) address any risks that are uniquely attributable to 
        fires described in paragraph (1), including any risks relating 
        to--
                    (A) exposure to toxic substances (as that term is 
                defined by the Administrator);
                    (B) personal protection;
                    (C) the duration of those fires; and
                    (D) site hazards associated with those fires;
            (3) identify any special training that may be necessary for 
        firefighters to suppress those fires; and
            (4) assess how the training referred to in paragraph (3) 
        may be provided by the United States Fire Administration.
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