HR 1199
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1199
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support
fire safety education programs on college campuses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2011
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. HOLT, Ms. BALDWIN, and
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support
fire safety education programs on college campuses.
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 `Campus Fire Safety Education Act of 2011'.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to help provide fire safety education and training
to students attending institutions of higher education.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CAMPUS FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION COMPETITIVE GRANT
PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Grant Program- From the amounts appropriated under section
7, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, shall establish
a grant program to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities
for--
(1) initiating, expanding, or improving fire safety education programs at
institutions of higher education; and
(2) increasing fire safety awareness among students enrolled at such institutions,
including students living in off-campus housing.
(b) Application- To seek a grant under this Act, an eligible entity shall
submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may require.
(c) Selection Priority- In making grants under this Act, the Secretary shall
give priority to eligible entities that plan to use grant funds received under
this Act to initiate, expand, or improve fire safety education programs that
include educational material specifically prepared for students with physical,
sensory, or cognitive disabilities.
(d) Grant Period- Grants under this Act shall be awarded for not longer than
a 2-year period, and may be renewed for an additional 2-year period, at the
Secretary's discretion.
(e) Grant Size- The Secretary shall ensure that grants awarded under this
Act are of sufficient size and scope to enable grantees to carry out all required
activities and otherwise meet the purpose of this Act, except that an eligible
entity may not be awarded more than $250,000 per fiscal year under this Act.
(f) Matching Requirement- An eligible entity receiving a grant under this
Act shall provide non-Federal matching funds in an amount equal to not less
than 25 percent of the costs of the activities for which assistance is sought.
Such non-Federal matching funds may be in cash or in kind.
(g) Supplement Not Supplant- Funds made available under this Act shall be
used to supplement, not supplant, other Federal, State, or private funds that
would otherwise be expended to carry out fire safety education programs.
SEC. 4. REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.
(a) Required Uses of Funds- An eligible entity receiving a grant under this
Act shall use grant funds to initiate, expand, or improve a fire safety education
program that--
(1) in the case of an eligible entity that is an institution of higher education,
reaches, to the extent practicable, all students enrolled in the institution
of higher education, including students living on-campus and off-campus;
(2) is carried out in a manner to ensure maximum exposure to, increased
awareness of, and effectuate change in behavior with respect to fire safety
by students through--
(A) conducting outreach to students at a minimum of twice per academic
year (at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, or the equivalent);
and
(B) measures that provide fire safety information to any student upon
the request of the student;
(3) includes minimum instruction with respect to--
(A) awareness of fire behavior;
(B) mechanisms of fire injury and death;
(C) common ignition scenarios;
(D) fire safety systems such as automatic fire sprinklers;
(G) importance of means of egress;
(H) fire prevention techniques that may prevent a fire from occurring
(such as candle safety, cooking safety, and smoking safety); and
(I) fire safety actions to be taken if a fire occurs to minimize the potential
for death, injury, and property damage (such as knowing how to use a fire
extinguisher, how to put out a cooking fire, calling 911, and evacuating);
and
(4) includes a mechanism for carrying out the evaluations described in subsection
(b).
(b) Evaluations- Not later than 6 months after the end of an eligible entity's
grant period, the eligible entity shall--
(1) conduct an evaluation on the effectiveness of the program carried out
by the entity in increasing awareness or improving fire safety behavior
at such entity; and
(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary a report on the results of the evaluation
conducted by the entity.
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
(a) Report to Congress- Not later than 12 months after the date of receipt
of the first report submitted pursuant to section 4(b)(2) and annually thereafter,
the Secretary shall provide to Congress a report that includes the following:
(1) The number and types of eligible entities receiving assistance under
this Act.
(2) The fire safety education programs being implemented with assistance
under this Act and the costs of such programs.
(3) Any other information determined by the Secretary to be useful in evaluating
the overall effectiveness of the program established under this Act in improving
the fire safety knowledge of college students.
(b) Best Practices Report- The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator,
shall use the information provided under subsection (a) to publish a report
of best practices for initiating, expanding, or improving fire safety education
programs that shall be made available to all institutions of higher education
and other interested parties.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
(1) ADMINISTRATOR- The term `Administrator' means the Administrator of the
United States Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION PROGRAM- The term `fire safety education program'
means a program that provides fire safety and prevention activities.
(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION- The term `institution of higher education'
has the meaning given to such term in section 101 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY- The term `eligible entity' means an institution of
higher education, or consortium of institutions of higher education located
in the same State, in a collaborative partnership with a nonprofit organization
or a public safety department. Such a collaborative partnership may also
include a social fraternity or sorority exempt from taxation under section
501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(a)), the active
membership of which consists primarily of students enrolled at the institution
or institutions.
(5) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Education.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $15,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016.
END
