[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2862 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2862

    To provide for the establishment of a scientific basis for new 
firefighting technology standards, improve coordination among Federal, 
   State, and local fire officials in training for and responding to 
    terrorist attacks and other national emergencies, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the establishment of a scientific basis for new 
firefighting technology standards, improve coordination among Federal, 
   State, and local fire officials in training for and responding to 
    terrorist attacks and other national emergencies, 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 ``Firefighting Research and 
Coordination Act''.

SEC. 2. NEW FIREFIGHTING TECHNOLOGY.

    Section 8 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
(15 U.S.C. 2207) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Development of New Technology.--
            ``(1) In general.--In addition to, or as part of, the 
        program conducted under subsection (a), the Administrator, in 
        consultation with the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology, the Inter-Agency Board for Equipment 
        Standardization and Inter-Operability, national voluntary 
        consensus standards development organizations, and other 
        interested parties, shall--
                    ``(A) develop new, and utilize existing, 
                measurement techniques and testing methodologies for 
                evaluating new firefighting technologies, including--
                            ``(i) thermal imaging equipment;
                            ``(ii) early warning fire detection 
                        devices;
                            ``(iii) personal protection equipment for 
                        firefighting;
                            ``(iv) victim detection equipment; and
                            ``(v) devices to locate firefighters and 
                        other rescue personnel in buildings;
                    ``(B) evaluate the compatibility of new equipment 
                and technology with existing firefighting technology; 
                and
                    ``(C) support the development of new voluntary 
                consensus standards through national voluntary 
                consensus standards organizations for new firefighting 
                technologies based on techniques and methodologies 
                described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) New equipment must meet standards.--The Administrator 
        shall, by regulation, require that equipment purchased through 
        the assistance program established by section 33 meet or exceed 
        applicable voluntary consensus standards.''.

SEC. 3. COORDINATION OF RESPONSE TO NATIONAL EMERGENCY.

    (a) In General.--Section 10 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2209) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Coordination of Response for National Emergencies.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish a 
        national plan for training and responding to national 
        emergencies under which the Administrator shall be the primary 
        contact point for State and local firefighting units in the 
        event of a national emergency. The Administrator shall ensure 
        that the national plan is consistent with the master plans 
        developed by the several States and political subdivisions 
        thereof.
            ``(2) Mutual aid systems.--The Administrator shall work 
        with State and local fire service officials to establish, as 
        part of the national plan, nationwide and State mutual aid 
        systems for dealing with national emergencies that--
                    ``(A) include threat assessment and equipment 
                deployment strategies;
                    ``(B) include means of collecting asset and 
                resource information to provide accurate and timely 
                data for regional deployment; and
                    ``(C) are consistent with the national plan 
                established under paragraph (1) for Federal response to 
                national emergencies.''.
    (b) Report on Strategic Needs.--Within 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States Fire 
Administration shall report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee 
on Science on the need for a strategy concerning deployment of 
volunteers and emergency response personnel (as defined in section 6 of 
the Firefighters' Safety Study Act (15 U.S.C. 2223e), including a 
national credentialing system, in the event of a national emergency.

SEC. 4. TRAINING.

    (a) In General.--Section 8(d)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(d)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon in subparagraph 
        (E);
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (N); 
        and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
                    ``(F) strategies for building collapse rescue;
                    ``(G) the use of technology in response to fires, 
                including terrorist incidents and other national 
                emergencies;
                    ``(H) response, tactics, and strategies for dealing 
                with terrorist-caused national catastrophes;
                    ``(I) use of and familiarity with the national plan 
                developed by the Administrator under section 10(b)(1);
                    ``(J) leadership and strategic skills, including 
                integrated management systems operations and integrated 
                response;
                    ``(K) applying new technology and developing 
                strategies and tactics for fighting forest fires;
                    ``(L) integrating terrorism response agencies into 
                the national terrorism incident response system;
                    ``(M) response tactics and strategies for fighting 
                fires at United States ports, including fires on the 
                water and aboard vessels; and''.
    (b) Coordination With Other Programs To Avoid Duplication.--The 
Administrator of the United States Fire Administration shall coordinate 
training provided under section 8(d)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention 
and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2206(d)(1)) with the Attorney 
General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the heads of 
other Federal agencies to ensure that there is no duplication of that 
training with existing courses available to fire service personnel.
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