[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3992 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3992

           To establish the SAFER Firefighter Grant Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2002

Mr. Boehlert (for himself, Mr. Pascrell, and Mr. Quinn) introduced the 
     following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To establish the SAFER Firefighter Grant Program.

    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 ``Staffing for Adequate Fire and 
Emergency Response Firefighters Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to substantially increase the number of 
firefighters so that communities can meet industry minimum standards to 
provide adequate protection from acts of terrorism and hazards by 
establishing a program of grants to provide direct funding to local, 
State and tribal jurisdictions for salaries and benefits to further 
this objective, including an authorization for a period of 7 years.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF GRANT MANAGEMENT.

    The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2201 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 34. OFFICE OF GRANT MANAGEMENT.

    ``(a) Establishment.--A new office within the United States Fire 
Administration shall be established to administer the SAFER Firefighter 
grant program under this section.
    ``(b) Authority To Make Grants.--
            ``(1) The Administrator may make grants to States, units of 
        local government, Indian tribal governments, other public 
        entities, and multijurisdictional or regional consortia thereof 
        to increase career firefighter presence and enhance their 
        ability to save lives, property, and effectively respond to all 
        types of emergencies.
            ``(2)(A) Grants made under paragraph (1) shall be for three 
        years and used for programs to hire new, additional career 
        firefighters.
            ``(B) Grantees are required to commit to retaining for at 
        least 1 year beyond the termination of their grants those 
        career firefighters hired under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Administrator may give preferential consideration, where 
        feasible, to applications for hiring and rehiring additional 
        career firefighters that involve a non-Federal contribution 
        exceeding the 25 percent minimum under paragraph (6).
            ``(4) The Administrator may provide technical assistance to 
        States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, 
        and to other public entities, in furtherance of the purposes of 
        the SAFER Firefighter Act of 2002.
            ``(5) Unless all applications submitted by any State and 
        grantee within the State pursuant to paragraph (1) have been 
        funded, each qualifying State, together with grantees within 
        the State, shall receive in each fiscal year pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) not less than 0.5 percent of the total amount 
        appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to that 
        paragraph. In this paragraph, `qualifying State' means any 
        State which has submitted an application for a grant, or in 
        which an eligible entity has submitted an application for a 
        grant, which meets the requirements prescribed by the 
        Administrator and the condition set out in this section.
            ``(6) The portion of the costs of a program, project, or 
        activity provided by a grant under paragraph (1) may not exceed 
        75 percent, unless the Administrator waives, wholly or in part, 
        the requirement under this paragraph of a non-Federal 
        contribution to the costs of a program, project, or activity.
            ``(7) The authority under paragraph (1) of this section to 
        make grants for the hiring of additional career firefighters 
        shall lapse at the conclusion of 10 years from the date of 
        enactment of this section. Prior to the expiration of this 
        grant authority, the Administrator shall submit a report to 
        Congress concerning the experience with and effects of such 
        grants. The report may include any recommendations the 
        Administrator may have for amendments to this section and 
        related provisions of law in light of the termination of the 
        authority to make grants for the hiring and rehiring of 
        additional career firefighters.
    ``(c) Applications.--
            ``(1) No grant may be made under this section unless an 
        application has been submitted to, and approved by, the 
        Administrator.
            ``(2) An application for a grant under this section shall 
        be submitted in such form, and contain such information, as the 
        Administrator may prescribe by regulation or guidelines.
            ``(3) In accordance with the regulations or guidelines 
        established by the Administrator, each application for a grant 
        under this section shall--
                    ``(A) include a long-term strategy and detailed 
                implementation plan that reflects consultation with 
                community groups and appropriate private and public 
                agencies and reflects consideration of the statewide 
                strategy;
                    ``(B) explain the applicant's inability to address 
                the need without Federal assistance;
                    ``(C) outline the initial and ongoing level of 
                community support for implementing the proposal 
                including financial and in-kind contributions or other 
                tangible commitments;
                    ``(D) specify plans for obtaining necessary support 
                and continuing the proposed program, project, or 
                activity following the conclusion of Federal support; 
                and
                    ``(E) provide assurances that the applicant will, 
                to the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire 
                members of racial and ethnic minority groups and women 
                in order to increase their ranks within firefighting.
            ``(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, 
        in relation to applications under this section of units of 
        local government or fire districts having jurisdiction over 
        areas with populations of less than 50,000, the Administrator 
        may waive 1 or more of the requirements of paragraph (3) and 
        may otherwise make special provisions to facilitate the 
        expedited submission, processing, and approval of such 
        applications.
    ``(d) Limitation on Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) Funds made available under this section to States or 
        units of local government for salaries and benefits to hire 
        new, additional career firefighters shall not be used to 
        supplant State or local funds, or, in the case of Indian tribal 
        governments, funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
        but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that would, 
        in the absence of Federal funds received under this section, be 
        made available from State or local sources, or in the case of 
        Indian tribal governments, from funds supplied by the Bureau of 
        Indian Affairs.
            ``(2)(A) States and units of local government may use 
        assets received through the Assets Forfeiture equitable sharing 
        program to provide the non-Federal share of the cost of 
        programs, projects, and activities funded under this section.
            ``(B) Funds appropriated by the Congress for the activities 
        of any agency of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of 
        Indian Affairs performing firefighting functions on any Indian 
        lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the cost 
        of programs or projects funded under this section.
            ``(3)(A) Funding provided for hiring a career firefighter 
        may not exceed $90,000, unless the Administrator grants a 
        waiver from this limitation.
            ``(B) $90,000 cap shall be adjusted for inflation beginning 
        in fiscal year 2003.
    ``(e) Performance Evaluation.--
            ``(1) Each program, project, or activity funded under this 
        section shall contain a monitoring component, developed 
        pursuant to guidelines established by the Administrator. The 
        monitoring required by this subsection shall include systematic 
        identification and collection of data about activities, 
        accomplishments, and programs throughout the life of the 
        program, project, or activity and presentation of such data in 
        a usable form.
            ``(2) Selected grant recipients shall be evaluated on the 
        local level or as part of a national evaluation, pursuant to 
        guidelines established by the Administrator. Such evaluations 
        may include assessments of individual program implementations. 
        In selected jurisdictions that are able to support outcome 
        evaluations, the effectiveness of funded programs, projects, 
        and activities may be required.
            ``(3) The Administrator may require a grant recipient to 
        submit to the Administrator the results of the monitoring and 
        evaluations required under paragraphs (1) and (2) and such 
        other data and information as the Administrator deems 
        reasonably necessary.
    ``(f) Revocation or Suspension of Funding.--If the Administrator 
determines, as a result of the reviews required by subsection (e), or 
otherwise, that a grant recipient under this section is not in 
substantial compliance with the terms and requirements of an approved 
grant application submitted under subsection (c), the Administrator may 
revoke or suspend funding of that grant, in whole or in part.
    ``(g) Access to Documents.--
            ``(1) The Administrator shall have access for the purpose 
        of audit and examination to any pertinent books, documents, 
        papers, or records of a grant recipient under this section and 
        to the pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of State 
        and local governments, persons, businesses, and other entities 
        that are involved in programs, projects, or activities for 
        which assistance is provided under this section.
            ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to audits and 
        examinations conducted by the Comptroller General of the United 
        States or by an authorized representative of the Comptroller 
        General.
    ``(h) General Regulatory Authority.--The Administrator may 
promulgate regulations and guidelines to carry out this section.
    ``(i) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) `firefighter' has the same meaning as the phrase 
        `employee in fire protection activities' which is defined in 
        section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 203(y)); 
        and
            ``(2) `Indian tribe' means a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, 
        or other organized group or community of Indians, including an 
        Alaska Native village (as defined in or established under the 
        Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), 
        that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and 
        services provided by the United States to Indians because of 
        their status as Indians.
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--
    ``There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of 
carrying out this section--
            ``(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2002;-
            ``(2) $1,030,000,000 for fiscal year 2003;
            ``(3) $1,061,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
            ``(4) $1,093,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
            ``(5) $1,126,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
            ``(6) $1,159,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and
            ``(7) $1,194,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.''.
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