1.This Act may be cited as the
Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of
2007
.
2.The Congress finds that—
(1)the publication
of the original study and comprehensive list of recommendations in America
Burning, written in 1974, requesting advances in fire prevention through the
installation of automatic sprinkler systems in existing buildings have yet to
be fully implemented;
(2)fire departments
responded to approximately 1,600,000 fires in 2005;
(3)there were 3,675
non-terrorist related deaths in the United States and almost 17,925 civilian
injuries resulting from fire in 2005;
(4)87 firefighters
were killed in 2005;
(5)fire caused
$10,672,000,000 in direct property damage in 2005, and sprinklers are
responsible for a 70 percent reduction in property damage from fires in public
assembly, educational, residential, commercial, industrial and manufacturing
buildings;
(6)fire departments
respond to a fire every 20 seconds, a fire breaks out in a structure every 61
seconds and in a residential structure every 79 seconds in the United
States;
(7)the Station
Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, did not contain an automated sprinkler
system and burned down, killing 99 people on February 20, 2003;
(8)due to an
automated sprinkler system, not a single person was injured from a fire
beginning in the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis after the use of
pyrotechnics on February 17, 2003;
(9)the National Fire
Protection Association has no record of a fire killing more than 2 people in a
completely sprinklered public assembly, educational, institutional or
residential building where the system was properly installed and fully
operational;
(10)sprinkler
systems dramatically improve the chances of survival of those who cannot save
themselves, specifically older adults, young children and people with
disabilities;
(11)the financial
cost of upgrading fire counter measures in buildings built prior to fire safety
codes is prohibitive for most property owners;
(12)many State and
local governments lack any requirements for older structures to contain
automatic sprinkler systems;
(13)under the
present straight-line method of depreciation, there is a disincentive for
building safety improvements due to an extremely low rate of return on
investment; and
(14)the Nation is in
need of incentives for the voluntary installation and retrofitting of buildings
with automated sprinkler systems to save the lives of countless individuals and
responding firefighters as well as drastically reduce the costs from property
damage.
3.Classification
of automatic fire sprinkler systems
(a)Subparagraph (B) of section 168(e)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 5-year property) is amended by striking
and
at the end of clause (v), by striking the period at the end
of clause (vi) and inserting , and
, and by inserting after
clause (vi) the following:
(vii)any automatic
fire sprinkler system placed in service after the date of the enactment of this
clause in a building structure which was placed in service before such date of
enactment.
.
(b)The table contained in section 168(g)(3)(B) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to special rule for certain property
assigned to classes) is amended by inserting after the item relating to
subparagraph (B)(iii) the following:
.
(c)Definition of
automatic fire sprinkler systemSubsection (i) of section 168 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(18)Automated fire
sprinkler systemThe term automated fire sprinkler
system means those sprinkler systems classified under one or more of the
following publications of the National Fire Protection Association—
(A)NFPA 13,
Installation of Sprinkler Systems,
(B)NFPA 13 D,
Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One and Two Family Dwellings and
Manufactured Homes, and
(C)NFPA 13 R,
Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and
Including Four Stories in
Height.
.
(d)The amendments made by this section shall apply to property
placed in service after the date of the enactment of this Act.