[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 773 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 773

 To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with 
          respect to campus buildings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 25, 2001

 Mr. Torricelli (for himself and Mr. Corzine) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with 
          respect to campus buildings, 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 ``Campus Fire Safety Right to Know 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS AND MEASURES WITH RESPECT 
              TO CAMPUS BUILDINGS.

    Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (N);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of 
                subparagraph (O) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
            ``(P) the fire safety report prepared by the institution 
        pursuant to subsection (h).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Disclosure of Fire Safety Standards and Measures.--
            ``(1) Fire safety reports required.--Each eligible 
        institution participating in any program under this title 
        shall, beginning in academic year 2002-2003, and each academic 
        year thereafter, prepare, publish, and distribute, through 
        appropriate publications, including the Internet, or mailings, 
        to all current students and employees, and upon request to any 
        applicant for enrollment or employment, an annual fire safety 
        report containing at least the following information with 
        respect to the campus fire safety practices and standards of 
        that institution:
                    ``(A) A statement that identifies each student 
                housing facility of the institution, and whether each 
                such facility is equipped with a fire sprinkler system 
                or another equally protective fire safety system.
                    ``(B) Statistics concerning the occurrence on 
                campus, during the 2 preceding academic years for which 
                data are available, of fires and false fire alarms.
                    ``(C) For each such occurrence, a statement of the 
                human injuries or deaths and the structural damage 
                caused by the occurrence.
                    ``(D) Information regarding fire alarms, smoke 
                alarms, the presence of adequate fire escape planning 
                or protocols, rules on portable electrical appliances, 
                smoking and open flames (such as candles), regular 
                mandatory supervised fire drills, and planned and 
                future improvement in fire safety.
                    ``(E) Information about fire safety education and 
                training provided to students, faculty, and staff, 
                including the percentage of students, faculty, and 
                staff who have participated in such education and 
                training.
                    ``(F) Information concerning fire safety at student 
                fraternities and sororities that are recognized by the 
                institution, including--
                            ``(i) information reported to the 
                        institution under paragraph (5); and
                            ``(ii) a statement concerning whether and 
                        how the institution works with recognized 
                        student fraternities and sororities to make 
                        buildings and property owned or controlled by 
                        such fraternities or sororities more fire safe.
            ``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to require 
        particular policies, procedures, or practices by institutions 
        of higher education with respect to fire safety.
            ``(3) Reports.--Each institution participating in any 
        program under this title shall make timely reports to the 
        campus community on fires that are reported to local fire 
        departments and the incidence of false fire alarms on campus. 
        Such reports shall be provided to students and employees in a 
        manner that is timely and that will aid in the prevention of 
        similar occurrences.
            ``(4) Logs.--Each institution participating in any program 
        under this title shall make, keep, and maintain a log, written 
        in a form that can be easily understood, recording all fires 
        reported to local fire departments, including the nature, date, 
        time, and general location of each fire, and all false fire 
        alarms. All entries that are required pursuant to this 
        paragraph shall, except where disclosure of such information is 
        prohibited by law, be open to public inspection.
            ``(5) Fraternities and sororities.--Each institution 
        participating in a program under this title shall request each 
        fraternity and sorority that is recognized by the institution 
        to collect and report to the institution the information 
        described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1), as 
        applied to the fraternity or sorority, for each building and 
        property owned or controlled by the fraternity or sorority, 
        respectively.
            ``(6) Reports to secretary.--On an annual basis, each 
        institution participating in any program under this title shall 
        submit to the Secretary a copy of the statistics required to be 
        made available under paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) review such statistics;
                    ``(B) make copies of the statistics submitted to 
                the Secretary available to the public; and
                    ``(C) in coordination with representatives of 
                institutions of higher education, identify exemplary 
                fire safety policies, procedures, and practices and 
                disseminate information concerning those policies, 
                procedures, and practices that have proven effective in 
                the reduction of campus fires.
            ``(7) Definition of campus.--In this subsection, the term 
        `campus' means--
                    ``(A) any building or property owned or controlled 
                by an institution of higher education within the same 
                reasonably contiguous geographic area of the 
                institution and used by the institution in direct 
                support of, or in a manner related to, the 
                institution's educational purposes, including residence 
                halls; and
                    ``(B) property within the same reasonably 
                contiguous geographic area of the institution that is 
                owned by the institution but controlled by another 
                person, is used by students, and supports institutional 
                purposes (such as a food or other retail vendor).''.

SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS BY SECRETARY OF EDUCATION.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Education shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 
containing--
            (1) an analysis of the current status of fire safety 
        systems in college and university facilities, including 
        sprinkler systems;
            (2) an analysis of the appropriate fire safety standards to 
        apply to these facilities, which the Secretary shall prepare 
        after consultation with such fire safety experts, 
        representatives of institutions of higher education, and other 
        Federal agencies as the Secretary, in the Secretary's 
        discretion, considers appropriate;
            (3) an estimate of the cost of bringing all nonconforming 
        dormitories and other campus buildings up to current new 
        building codes or life safety codes; and
            (4) recommendations from the Secretary concerning the best 
        means of meeting fire safety standards in all college and 
        university facilities, including recommendations for methods to 
        fund such cost.
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