[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4736 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4736

To remove civil liability barriers surrounding donating fire equipment 
                      to volunteer fire companies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2000

 Mr. Castle (for himself, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Boucher, Mr. Talent, and 
 Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To remove civil liability barriers surrounding donating fire equipment 
                      to volunteer fire companies.

    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 ``Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter 
Assistance Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) heavy industry is constantly improving and updating its 
        fire protection equipment to take advantage of new state-of-
        the-art innovation and surplus equipment may be almost new or 
        never used to put out a single fire;
            (2) if donated fire-fighting equipment malfunctions, the 
        threat of civil liability extends to both the original 
        manufacturer and the entity that donates the equipment;
            (3) this threat of civil liability causes many heavy 
        industry organizations to destroy, rather than donate, millions 
        of dollars of quality fire equipment;
            (4) according to some estimates, the generosity of over 
        800,000 volunteer firefighters nationwide save State and local 
        governments $36,800,000,000 a year;
            (5) many volunteer fire companies, particularly in rural 
        areas, lack the resources to purchase new fire equipment;
            (6) taxpayers spend millions of dollars purchasing new 
        equipment for volunteer fire companies;
            (7) volunteer firefighters spend a large amount of time 
        raising money for new equipment and that time could be better 
        spent training to respond to emergencies;
            (8) volunteer fire companies have received millions of 
        dollars in quality fire fighting equipment in States that have 
        removed liability barriers that obstruct the generosity and 
        good will of private entities that wish to donate used fire 
        equipment to volunteer fire companies;
            (9) donated fire equipment should be recertified to meet 
        manufacturer's specifications in order to mitigate the risk 
        that firefighters and the public will receive defective 
        equipment; and
            (10) the Congress should respond to the needs of volunteer 
        fire companies by encouraging States to remove civil liability 
        barriers that obstruct donations to volunteer fire companies.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CIVIL LIABILITY BARRIERS.

    (a) Liability Protection.--
            (1) Individual rule.--A person who donates qualified fire 
        control or fire rescue equipment to a volunteer fire company 
        shall not be liable in civil damages in any State or Federal 
        Court for personal injuries, property damage, or death 
        proximately caused by a defect in the equipment.
            (2) State or local rule.--A State or local agency or its 
        agents that administer the distribution of qualified fire 
        control or fire rescue equipment to a volunteer fire company 
        shall not be liable in civil damages in any State or Federal 
        Court for personal injuries, property damage, or death 
        proximately caused by a defect in the equipment.
    (b) Exceptions to Liability Protection.--The liability protection 
in subsection (a) does not cover a person or agency if--
            (1) the person's act or omission proximately causing the 
        injury, damage, or loss constitutes malice, gross negligence, 
        recklessness, or intentional misconduct; or
            (2) the person is the manufacturer of the qualified fire 
        control or fire rescue equipment.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual, 
        corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, 
        joint stock company, or any other entity (including any 
        governmental entity).
            (2) Fire control or rescue equipment.--The term ``fire 
        control or fire rescue equipment'' includes fire vehicles, fire 
        fighting tools, protective gear, fire hose, and breathing 
        apparatus.
            (3) Qualified Fire Control or Rescue Equipment.--The term 
        ``qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment'' means fire 
        control or fire rescue equipment that has been recertified by 
        an authorized technician as meeting the manufacturer's 
        specifications and has been distributed through a State or 
        local agency to the volunteer fire company.
            (4) Authorized Technician.--The term ``authorized 
        technician'' means a technician that has been certified by the 
        manufacturer to inspect fire control or fire rescue equipment. 
        The technician need not be employed by the State or local 
        agency administering the distribution of the fire control or 
        fire rescue equipment.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect 30 days from the date of its enactment 
and only applies to a cause of action that accrues on or after that 
date.
                                 <all>