
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document affected by Public Law 107-107 Section 1061]
[CITE: 15USC2229]

 
                      TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
 
                 CHAPTER 49--FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
 
Sec. 2229. 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) of this 
        section--
                (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
            (C) fire departments located in urban, suburban, and rural 
        communities.

                       (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.

(c) Audits

    A recipient of a grant under this section shall be subject to audits 
to 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) of this section.

(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.

(Pub. L. 93-498, Sec. 33, as added Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], 
title XVII, Sec. 1701(a)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A-360.)

                          Codification

    Another section 33 of Pub. L. 93-498 is classified to section 2230 
of this title.
