TITLE XVII--ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS 2002

TITLE XVII--ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS 2002

Sec. 1701. Firefighter assistance.

Sec. 1702. Volunteer fire assistance program.

Sec. 1703. Burn research.

Sec. 1704. Study and demonstration projects regarding cases of hepatitis C among certain emergency response employees.

Sec. 1705. Report on progress on spectrum sharing.

Sec. 1706. Sale or donation of excess defense property to assist firefighting agencies.

Sec. 1707. Identification of defense technologies suitable for use, or conversion for use, in providing fire and emergency medical services.

1. SEC. 1701. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE.

(a) IN GENERAL- The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

2. SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE .

(a) DEFINITION OF FIREFIGHTING PERSONNEL- In this section, the term firefighting personnel' means individuals, including volunteers, who are firefighters , officers of fire departments, or emergency medical service personnel of fire departments.

(b) ASSISTANCE PROGRAM-

(1) AUTHORITY- In accordance with this section, the Director may—

(A) make grants on a competitive basis directly to fire departments of a State, in consultation with the chief executive of the State, for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards; and

(B) provide assistance for fire prevention programs in accordance with paragraph (4).

(2) OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION OF ASSISTANCE -

(A) ESTABLISHMENT- Before providing assistance under paragraph (1), the Director shall establish an office in the Federal Emergency Management Agency to administer the assistance under this section.

(B) INCLUDED DUTIES- The duties of the office shall include the following:

(i) RECIPIENT SELECTION CRITERIA- To establish specific criteria for the selection of recipients of the assistance under this section.

(ii) GRANT-WRITING ASSISTANCE - To provide grant- writing assistance to applicants.

(3) USE OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT FUNDS-

The Director may make a grant under paragraph (1)(A) only if the applicant for the grant agrees to use the grant funds--

(A) to hire additional firefighting personnel;

(B) to train firefighting personnel in firefighting, emergency response, arson prevention and detection, or the handling of hazardous materials, or to train firefighting personnel to provide any of the training described in this subparagraph;

(C) to fund the creation of rapid intervention teams to protect firefighting personnel at the scenes of fires and other emergencies;

(D) to certify fire inspectors;

(E) to establish wellness and fitness programs for firefighting personnel to ensure that the firefighting personnel can carry out their duties;

(F) to fund emergency medical services provided by fire departments;

(G) to acquire additional firefighting vehicles, including fire trucks;

(H) to acquire additional firefighting equipment, including equipment for communications and monitoring;

(I) to acquire personal protective equipment required for firefighting personnel by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and other personal protective equipment for firefighting personnel;

(J) to modify fire stations, fire training facilities, and other facilities to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel;

(K) to enforce fire codes;

(L) to fund fire prevention programs;

(M) to educate the public about arson prevention and detection; or

(N) to provide incentives for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighting personnel for volunteer firefighting departments and other firefighting departments that utilize volunteers.

(4) FIRE PREVENTION PROGRAMS-

(A) IN GENERAL- For each fiscal year, the Director shall use not less than 5 percent of the funds made available under subsection (e)--

(i) to make grants to fire departments for the purpose described in paragraph (3)(L); and (ii) to make grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, national, State, local, or community organizations that are recognized for their experience and expertise with respect to fire prevention or fire safety programs and activities, for the purpose of carrying out fire prevention programs.

(B) PRIORITY- In selecting organizations described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to receive assistance under this paragraph, the Director shall give priority to organizations that focus on prevention of injuries to children from fire.

(5) APPLICATION-

The Director may provide assistance to a fire department or organization under this subsection only if the fire department or organization seeking the assistance submits to the Director an application that meets the following requirements:

(A) FORM- The application shall be in such form as the Director

may require.

(B) INFORMATION- The application shall include the following information:

(i) FINANCIAL NEED- Information that demonstrates the financial need of the applicant for the assistance for which applied.

(ii) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS- An analysis of the costs and benefits, with respect to public safety, of the use of the assistance .

(iii) REPORTING SYSTEMS DATA- An agreement to provide information to the national fire incident reporting system for the period covered by the assistance .

(iv) OTHER INFORMATION- Any other information that the Director may require.

(6) MATCHING REQUIREMENT-

(A) IN GENERAL- Subject to subparagraph (B), the Director may provide assistance under this subsection only if the applicant for the assistance agrees to match with an equal amount of non-Federal funds 30 percent of the assistance received under this subsection for any fiscal year.

(B) REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS-

In the case of an applicant whose personnel serve jurisdictions of 50,000 or fewer residents, the percent applied under the matching requirement of subparagraph (A) shall be 10 percent.

(7) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES—

The Director may provide assistance under this subsection only if the applicant for the assistance agrees to maintain in the fiscal year for which the assistance will be received the applicant's aggregate expenditures for the uses described in paragraph (3) or (4) at or above the average level of such expenditures in the two fiscal years preceding the fiscal year for which the assistance will be received.

(8) REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR-

The Director may provide assistance under this subsection only if the applicant for the assistance agrees to submit to the Director a report, including a description of how the assistance was used, with respect to each fiscal year for which the assistance was received.

(9) VARIETY OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT RECIPIENTS-

The Director shall ensure that grants under paragraph (1)(A) for a fiscal year are made to a variety of fire departments, including, to the extent that there are eligible applicants--

(A) paid, volunteer, and combination fire departments;

(B) fire departments located in communities of varying sizes; and

(10) GRANT LIMITATIONS-

(A) RECIPIENT LIMITATION-

A grant recipient under this section may not receive more than $750,000 under this section for any fiscal year.

(B) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES FOR FIREFIGHTING VEHICLES-

Not more than 25 percent of the funds appropriated to provide grants under this section for a fiscal year may be used to assist grant recipients to purchase vehicles, as authorized by paragraph (3)(G).

(11) RESERVATION OF GRANT FUNDS FOR VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENTS-

In making grants to firefighting departments, the Director shall ensure that those firefighting departments that have either all-volunteer forces of firefighting personnel or combined forces of volunteer and professional firefighting personnel receive a proportion of the total grant funding that is not less than the proportion of the United States population that those firefighting departments protect.

ensure that the grant proceeds are expended for the intended purposes and that the grant recipient complies with the requirements of paragraphs (6) and (7) of subsection (b).

(d) STATE DEFINED- In this section, the term State' includes the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section amounts as follows:

(1) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.

(2) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.'.

(b) STUDY ON NEED FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO FUND FIREFIGHTING AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITIES-

(1) REQUIREMENT FOR STUDY- The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall conduct a study in conjunction with the National Fire Protection Association to--

(A) define the current role and activities associated with the fire services;

(B) determine the adequacy of current levels of funding; and

(2) TIME FOR COMPLETION OF STUDY; REPORT- The Director shall complete the study under paragraph (1), and submit a report on the results of the study to Congress, within 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency $300,000 for fiscal year 2001 to carry out the study required by paragraph (1).