[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1642 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1642

To provide loans and grants for fire sprinkler retrofitting in nursing 
                              facilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 19, 2009

   Mr. Larson of Connecticut (for himself and Mr. King of New York) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide loans and grants for fire sprinkler retrofitting in nursing 
                              facilities.

    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 ``Nursing Facility Fire Safety Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) On February 26, 2003, a fire at a Hartford, 
        Connecticut, nursing facility without an automatic fire 
        sprinkler system claimed the lives of 16 patients, and on 
        September 27, 2003, a fire at a Nashville, Tennessee, nursing 
        home without an automatic fire sprinkler system claimed the 
        lives of 15 patients.
            (2) The National Fire Protection Association finds no 
        record of a multiple death fire in a nursing facility equipped 
        with an automatic fire sprinkler system.
            (3) An estimated 1.5 million Americans reside in 
        approximately 16,300 nursing facilities nationwide, an 
        estimated 20 to 30 percent of which lack an automatic fire 
        sprinkler system.
            (4) Many nursing facilities lack the financial capital to 
        install sprinklers on their own and must consider closure as an 
        alternative to taking on large loans or other financing options 
        in order to install sprinklers.
            (5) In a July 2004 report, the GAO found that ``the 
        substantial loss of life in the Hartford and Nashville fires 
        could have been reduced or eliminated by the presence of 
        properly functioning automatic sprinkler systems'' and that 
        ``Federal oversight of nursing home compliance with fire safety 
        standards is inadequate''.
            (6) Recognizing that automatic fire sprinkler systems 
        greatly improve the chances of survival for older adults in the 
        event of a fire, the National Fire Protection Association, with 
        the support of the American Health Care Association, the fire 
        safety community, and the nursing facility profession, recently 
        adopted requirements for automatic sprinklers in all existing 
        nursing facilities.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) within five years, every nursing facility in America 
        should be equipped with automatic fire sprinklers in order to 
        ensure patient, resident, and staff safety; and
            (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this Act 
        referred to as the ``Secretary''), acting through the 
        Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
        should--
                    (A) adopt a requirement that all nursing facilities 
                be fully sprinklered with the support of the nursing 
                facility industry; and
                    (B) ensure that skilled nursing facilities 
                participating in the Medicare program comply with fire 
                safety standards, such as those developed by the 
                National Fire Protection Association in the 2006 Life 
                Safety Code.

SEC. 3. DIRECT LOANS FOR FIRE SPRINKLERS RETROFITS.

    (a) Authority.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
establish a program of direct loans to existing nursing facilities to 
finance the retrofit of the facilities with an automatic fire sprinkler 
system. Such loans shall be made under terms and conditions specified 
by the Secretary.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for fiscal year 
2010, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, $75,000,000 for fiscal year 
2012, $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 
2014.

SEC. 4. SPRINKLER RETROFIT ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

    (a) Authority.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
establish a program to award grants to nursing facilities for the 
purposes of retrofitting them with an automatic fire sprinkler system. 
Such grants shall be awarded under terms and conditions specified by 
the Secretary.
    (b) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary 
shall give a priority to applications that demonstrate a need or 
hardship. In determining hardship, the Secretary may take into account 
factors such as the number of Medicare and Medicaid patients, the age 
and condition of the facility, and the need for nursing facility beds 
in the community involved.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each fiscal 
years 2010 through 2014.

SEC. 5. CONSULTATION AND EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES.

    (a) Consultation.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
consult with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to 
determine if there are loan programs or other funds available for 
retrofitting nursing facilities with an automatic fire sprinkler system 
in addition to the loans and grants authorized in this Act.
    (b) Evaluation of Alternative Remedial Actions.--The Secretary may 
evaluate, in unique circumstances, where a nursing facility may not 
have an adequate structure to retrofit the entire facility with an 
automatic fire sprinkler system within a reasonable timeframe. In such 
an instance, the Secretary shall work with representatives of the 
facility to identify other remedial actions that may include 
retrofitting a majority of the facility with such a system, 
construction timeframes for a new or remodeled facility, or other 
actions.
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