[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4107 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4107

   To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program under 
section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 2004

 Mr. Boehlert (for himself, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Smith of Michigan, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Cox, Mr. Turner of 
    Texas, and Mrs. Lowey) introduced the following bill; which was 
                  referred to the Committee on Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program under 
section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, 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 ``Assistance to Firefighters Grant 
Reauthorization Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there are 1,100,000 firefighters serving in over 30,000 
        fire departments in the United States;
            (2) fire departments responded to nearly 1,700,000 fires in 
        2002;
            (3) every 19 seconds a fire department responds to a fire 
        somewhere in the United States;
            (4) in 2003, 110 firefighters died in the line of duty;
            (5) fires resulted in the deaths of 3,380 civilians in 
        2002;
            (6) nationwide there is a civilian fire death every 156 
        minutes;
            (7) in 2002, 18,425 people sustained injuries from fires;
            (8) in 2002 there was an estimated $10,337,000,000 in 
        property damage caused by fires, including $6,055,000,000 worth 
        of property loss to residential properties;
            (9) for communities with populations between 10,000 and 
        1,000,000, it is estimated that approximately \1/4\ of 
        emergency responders on a shift lack radios, and this 
        percentage increases as community size decreases;
            (10) an estimated one-third of firefighters per shift are 
        not equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA);
            (11) nearly half of all self-contained breathing apparatus 
        units are at least 10 years old;
            (12) nearly half of firefighters on a shift lack personal 
        alert system (PASS) devices;
            (13) an estimated 57,000 firefighters lack personal 
        protective clothing;
            (14) one-third of personal protective clothing is at least 
        10 years old;
            (15) half of all fire engines are at least 15 years old;
            (16) only one-fourth of fire departments have the ability 
        to communicate with Federal, State, and local partners;
            (17) only one-fourth of fire departments have thermal 
        imaging cameras;
            (18) only one fire department in 28 has mobile data 
        terminals;
            (19) only one fire department in 50 has advanced personnel 
        location equipment;
            (20) only one fire department in 23 has equipment to 
        collect chemical or biological samples;
            (21) an estimated 42 percent of the population is protected 
        by fire departments that do not have a program for free 
        distribution of home smoke alarms;
            (22) an estimated 48 percent of the population is protected 
        by fire departments that do not have a juvenile firesetter 
        program;
            (23) an estimated 27 percent of the population is protected 
        by fire departments that do not have a fire safety education 
        program based on a national curriculum;
            (24) only 11 percent of fire departments can respond to a 
        technical rescue involving emergency medical services at a 
        building collapse with local personnel, and nearly half of all 
        departments consider such an incident outside their scope;
            (25) only 13 percent of fire departments can respond to a 
        hazmat incident involving emergency medical services with local 
        personnel, and two-fifths of all departments consider such an 
        incident outside their scope;
            (26) only 26 percent of fire departments can respond to a 
        wildland/urban interface fire affecting 500 acres with local 
        personnel, and one-third of all departments consider such an 
        incident outside their scope; and
            (27) only 12 percent of fire departments can handle 
        mitigation of a developing major flood with local personnel, 
        and a majority of fire departments consider such an incident 
        outside their scope.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.

    Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
(15 U.S.C. 2229) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Director'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``Administrator'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ``and volunteer 
        emergency medical service squads'' after ``fire departments'';
            (3) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ``and firefighter 
        safety research and development'' after ``fire prevention'';
            (4) in subsection (b)(3)(F), by inserting ``and volunteer 
        emergency medical service squads that are not affiliated with a 
        fire department, hospital, or for-profit entity'' after ``fire 
        departments'';
            (5) in subsection (b)(4)--
                    (A) by inserting ``and firefighter safety research 
                and development'' after ``prevention'' in the paragraph 
                heading;
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)(ii)--
                            (i) by inserting ``that are not fire 
                        departments and'' after ``community 
                        organizations'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``and firefighter 
                        research and development programs,'' after 
                        ``fire safety programs and activities,''; and
                            (iii) by inserting ``and research to 
                        improve firefighter health and life safety'' 
                        after ``fire prevention programs''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``to children 
                from fire'' and inserting ``to high risk groups from 
                fire, as well as research programs that demonstrate the 
                potential to improve firefighter safety'';
            (6) in subsection (b)(6)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``subparagraph (B)'' and 
                        inserting ``subparagraphs (B) and (C)''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``30 percent'' and 
                        inserting ``20 percent''; and
                    (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Fire prevention and firefighter safety 
                grants.--There shall be no matching requirement for a 
                grant described in paragraph (4)(A)(ii).'';
            (7) in subsection (b)(10)--
                    (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(A) Recipient limitations.--A grant recipient 
                under this section--
                            ``(i) that serves a jurisdiction with 
                        500,000 people or less may not receive grants 
                        in excess of $1,000,000 for any fiscal year;
                            ``(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with more 
                        than 500,000 but not more than 1,000,000 people 
                        may not receive grants in excess of $2,000,000 
                        for any fiscal year; and
                            ``(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with 
                        more than 1,000,000 people may not receive 
                        grants in excess of $3,000,000 for any fiscal 
                        year.
                The Administrator may award grants in excess of the 
                limitations provided in clause (i) or (ii) to a 
                recipient that serves a population close to the 
                relevant threshold, upon a showing of sufficient 
                need.'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                subparagraph (C);
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
                following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) Distribution.--Notwithstanding subparagraph 
                (A), no single recipient may receive more than one half 
                of one percent of the funds appropriated under this 
                section for a single fiscal year.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(D) Volunteer emergency medical service 
                limitation.--Not more than 4 percent of the funds 
                appropriated to provide grants under this section for a 
                fiscal year may be awarded to volunteer emergency 
                medical service squads.'';
            (8) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraphs:
            ``(13) Annual meeting.--The Administrator shall convene an 
        annual meeting of non-Federal fire service experts, including 
        representatives from a wide range of fire service 
        organizations, to recommend criteria for awarding grants under 
        this section for the next fiscal year and recommend any 
        necessary administrative changes to the grant program.
            ``(14) Guidelines.--(A) Each year, prior to making any 
        grants under this section, the Administrator shall publish in 
        the Federal Register--
                    ``(i) guidelines that describe the process for 
                applying for grants and the criteria for awarding 
                grants; and
                    ``(ii) an explanation of any differences between 
                the guidelines and the recommendations made pursuant to 
                paragraph (1).
            ``(B) The criteria for awarding grants shall include the 
        extent to which the grant would enhance the daily operations of 
        a fire department and the impact of such a grant on the 
        protection of lives and property.
            ``(15) Peer review.--The Administrator shall, after 
        consultation with national fire service organizations, appoint 
        fire service personnel to conduct peer review of applications 
        received under paragraph (5). In making grants under this 
        section, the Administrator shall consider the results of such 
        peer review evaluations.
            ``(16) Protection of volunteers from discrimination.--A 
        fire department receiving funds provided under this section 
        shall not discriminate against, or prohibit its members from 
        engaging in, volunteer activities in another jurisdiction 
        during off-duty hours.''; and
            (9) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``2002 through 2004'' 
        and inserting ``2005 through 2007''.

SEC. 4. REPORTS.

    (a) Study on Need for Federal Assistance to State and Local 
Communities to Fund Firefighting and Emergency Response Activities.--
The Administrator of the United States Fire Administration shall--
            (1) reconduct the study required under section 1701(b) of 
        the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2001, in conjunction with the National Fire 
        Protection Association, to--
                    (A) define the current role and activities 
                associated with the fire services;
                    (B) analyze the extent to which grant awards 
                fulfill the goals of applicants; and
                    (C) provide a needs assessment to identify 
                shortfalls;
            (2) express the needs assessment under subparagraph 
        (A)(iii) on a national and State-by-State basis; and
            (3) measure the impact the Assistance to Firefighters Grant 
        program under section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 
        Control Act of 1974 has had in meeting the shortfalls 
        identified in the original report conducted under such section 
        1701(b).
    (b) Time for Completion of Study; Report.--The Administrator shall 
complete the study under subsection (a), and submit a report on the 
results of the study to Congress, not later than 18 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the United States Fire Administration $300,000 for 
fiscal year 2005 to carry out the study required by subsection (a).
                                 <all>