[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2637 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2637

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2005

Mr. Pascrell (for himself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Weldon of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Petri, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Foley, Mr. LaHood, 
Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Boozman, Mr. 
   Boehlert, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Skelton, Mr. Pallone, Mr. 
Andrews, Mrs. McCarthy, Mr. Owens, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Holt, 
Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Payne, Mr. Clay, 
 Mr. Holden, Mr. Kucinich, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Grijalva, and Mrs. 
   Maloney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FIRE SAFETY OF 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) Annual fire safety reports required.--Each eligible 
        institution participating in any program under this title 
        shall, beginning in the first academic year that begins after 
        the date of enactment of the Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know 
        Act of 2005, and each year thereafter, prepare, publish, and 
        distribute, through appropriate publications (including the 
        Internet) or mailings, to all current students and employees, 
        and to any applicant for enrollment or employment upon request, 
        an annual fire safety report. Such reports shall contain at 
        least the following information with respect to the campus fire 
        safety practices and standards of that institution:
                    ``(A) A statement that identifies each university 
                owned or controlled student housing facility, and 
                whether or not that facility is equipped with a fire 
                sprinkler system or other fire safety systems, fire 
                escape planning or protocols, or both.
                    ``(B) Statistics for each student housing facility 
                concerning the occurrence of fires and false alarms in 
                each facility, during the 2 preceding calendar years 
                for which data are available.
                    ``(C) For each such occurrence in facilities 
                described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), a summary of 
                the human injuries or deaths, structural and property 
                damage, or combination thereof.
                    ``(D) Information regarding rules on portable 
                electrical appliances, smoking and open flames (such as 
                candles), regular mandatory supervised fire drills, and 
                planned and future improvements in fire safety.
                    ``(E) Information about fire safety education and 
                training provided to students, faculty, and staff.
                    ``(F) Information concerning fire safety at any 
                housing facilities owned or controlled by student 
                groups that are recognized by the institution, 
                including any student fraternity and sorority houses, 
                including--
                            ``(i) information reported to the 
                        institution under paragraph (4); and
                            ``(ii) a statement concerning whether and 
                        how the institution works with recognized 
                        student fraternities and sororities, and other 
                        recognized student groups owning housing 
                        facilities, to make building and property owned 
                        or controlled by such fraternities or 
                        sororities more fire safe.
            ``(2) Fraternities and sororities.--Each institution 
        participating in a program under this title shall request each 
        fraternity and sorority that is recognized by the institution, 
        and any other student group that is recognized by the 
        university and that owns or controls housing facilities, to 
        collect and report to the institution the information described 
        in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (1), as applied 
        to the fraternity, sorority, or recognized student group, for 
        each building and property owned or controlled by the 
        fraternity, sorority, or group respectively.
            ``(3) Current information to campus community.--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 on-campus fires, 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, 
        and each such institution shall make annual reports to the 
        campus community on such fires and false fire alarms in a 
        manner that will aid the prevention of similar occurrences.
            ``(4) 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 nationally recognized 
                fire organizations and 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.
            ``(5) 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.
            ``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection, the term `campus' 
        has the meaning provided in subsection (f)(6).''.

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

    Within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Education shall prepare and submit to the 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 
        student housing facilities up to current building codes; and
            (4) recommendations from the Secretary concerning the best 
        means of meeting fire safety standards in all college 
        facilities, including recommendations for methods to fund such 
        cost.
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