[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 117 (Friday, August 1, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10915-S10916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORZINE:
  S. 1566. A bill to improve fire safety by creating incentives for the 
installation of automatic fire sprinkler systems; to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Fire Safety 
Incentive Act of 2003, legislation to improve fire safety and save 
lives by creating incentives for business owners to install automatic 
fire sprinkler systems. This bill would classify automatic fire 
sprinkler systems as five-year property for purposes of depreciation 
under the Tax Code.
  In 2001, fire departments across the United States responded to 1.7 
million fires. Not including victims from the September 11 terrorist 
attacks, 3,745 people died in fires, 99 of whom were firefighters. 
Fires also caused almost 21,000 civilian injuries and $8.9 billion in 
direct property damage.
  On average, fire departments respond to a fire every eighteen 
seconds, with fires breaking out in a structure every sixty seconds and 
in a residential structure every eighty seconds.
  Recent tragedies have demonstrated how the lack of effective fire 
safety precautions can have disastrous consequences. In February, 99 
concertgoers were killed when a pyrotechnic display erupted into a fire 
that devastated the concert venue in the deadliest fire in Rhode Island 
history. Unfortunately, the building was not equipped with fire 
sprinklers to respond to the fire. In my home state of New Jersey, a 
fire on the campus of Seton Hall killed three college students and 
injured 58 more people. In response to that tragedy, I introduced the 
Campus Fire Safety Right to Know Act of 2003, S. 1385, which calls for 
disclosure of fire safety standards and measures with respect to campus 
buildings.
  The Fire Safety Incentive Act would go further by providing economic 
incentives to business owners to install automatic fire sprinkler 
systems.
  It is difficult to dispute the effectiveness of sprinklers in 
controlling fire and saving lives and property. According to the 
National Fire Prevention Association, over a 10-year period ending in 
1998, buildings with fire sprinkler systems were proven safer. There 
were 60 percent fewer deaths in manufacturing buildings equipped with 
fire sprinkler systems than in those without. Similarly, in hotels, 
there were 91 percent fewer deaths in buildings with fire sprinkler 
systems. In fact, the NPFA has no record of a fire killing more than 
two people in a public assembly, educational, institutional, or 
residential building in which a fire sprinkler system was installed and 
operating properly. The same study showed that property loss from fires 
was significantly reduced by the presence of fire sprinklers, from a 
low range of 42 percent in industrial buildings to an impressive high 
of 70 percent in public assembly occupancies.
  While the effectiveness of fire sprinkler systems is well 
established, the major impediment to their widespread use has simply 
been their cost. Moreover, many State and local governments lack any 
requirements for structures to contain automatic fire sprinkler 
systems.

[[Page S10916]]

  This bill would encourage businesses to install fire sprinkler 
systems by creating tax incentives to do so. Under the current Tax 
Code, assets are classified under different schedules of depreciation. 
The often-employed ``straight-line'' depreciation method uses an 
average deduction from year-to-year for 39 years. This legislation 
allows businesses to classify sprinklers under a 5-year schedule, 
creating a meaningful tax incentive to install automated sprinkler 
systems.
  This legislation would save lives and prevent many tragedies. I hope 
my colleagues will support it, and I ask unanimous consent that the 
text of the legislation be printed in the Record.
                                 ______