15 U.S.C. § 2207 — Fire technology

Page 1790 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 2207 Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Functions of National Fire Prevention and Control Administration [now United States Fire Administra- tion] and National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control generally transferred to Federal Emergency Management Agency. For further details see Transfer of Functions note set out under section 2202 of this title. § 2207. Fire technology (a) Development The Administrator shall conduct a continuing program of development, testing, and evaluation of equipment for use by the Nation’s fire, rescue, and civil defense services, with the aim of mak- ing available improved suppression, protective, auxiliary, and warning devices incorporating the latest technology. Attention shall be given to the standardization, compatibility, and inter- changeability of such equipment. Such develop- ment, testing, and evaluation activities shall in- clude, but need not be limited to— (1) safer, less cumbersome articles of protec- tive clothing, including helmets, boots, and coats; (2) breathing apparatus with the necessary duration of service, reliability, low weight, and ease of operation for practical use; (3) safe and reliable auxiliary equipment for use in fire prevention, detection, and control, such as fire location detectors, visual and audio communications equipment, and mobile equipment; (4) special clothing and equipment needed for forest fires, brush fires, oil and gasoline fires, aircraft fires and crash rescue, fires oc- curring aboard waterborne vessels, and in other special firefighting situations; (5) fire detectors and related equipment for residential use with high sensitivity and reli- ability, and which are sufficiently inexpensive to purchase, install, and maintain to insure wide acceptance and use; (6) in-place fire prevention systems of low cost and of increased reliability and effective- ness; (7) methods of testing fire alarms and fire protection devices and systems on a non-inter- ference basis; (8) the development of purchase specifica- tions, standards, and acceptance and valida- tion test procedures for all such equipment and devices; and (9) operation tests, demonstration projects, and fire investigations in support of the ac- tivities set forth in this section. (b) Limitation on manufacture and sale of equip- ment The Administration shall not engage in the manufacture or sale of any equipment or device developed pursuant to this section, except to the extent that it deems it necessary to adequately develop, test, or evaluate such equipment or de- vice. (c) Management studies (1) The Administrator is authorized to con- duct, directly or through contracts or grants, studies of the operations and management as- pects of fire services, utilizing quantitative techniques, such as operations research, man- agement economics, cost effectiveness studies, and such other techniques and methods as may be applicable and useful. Such studies shall in- clude, but need not be limited to, the allocation of resources, the optimum location of fire sta- tions, the optimum geographical area for an in- tegrated fire service, the manner of responding to alarms, the operation of citywide and re- gional fire dispatch centers, firefighting under conditions of civil disturbance, and the effec- tiveness, frequency, and methods of building in- spections. (2) The Administrator is authorized to con- duct, directly or through contracts or grants, studies of the operations and management as- pects of fire service-based emergency medical services and coordination between emergency medical services and fire services. Such studies may include the optimum protocols for on-scene care, the allocation of resources, and the train- ing requirements for fire service-based emer- gency medical services. (3) The Administrator is authorized to con- duct, directly or through contracts or grants, re- search concerning the productivity and effi- ciency of fire service personnel, the job cat- egories and skills required by fire services under varying conditions, the reduction of injuries to fire service personnel, the most effective fire prevention programs and activities, and tech- niques for accurately measuring and analyzing the foregoing. (4) The Administrator is authorized to con- duct, directly or through contracts, grants, or other forms of assistance, development, testing and demonstration projects to the extent deemed necessary to introduce and to encourage the acceptance of new technology, standards, operating methods, command techniques, and management systems for utilization by the fire services. (5) The Administrator is authorized to assist the Nation’s fire services, directly or through contracts, grants, or other forms of assistance, to measure and evaluate, on a cost-benefit basis, the effectiveness of the programs and activities of each fire service and the predictable con- sequences on the applicable local fire services of coordination or combination, in whole or in part, in a regional, metropolitan, or statewide fire service. (d) Rural and wildland-urban interface assist- ance The Administrator may, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, assist the fire services of the United States, directly or through contracts, grants, or other forms of assistance, in sponsoring and en- couraging research into approaches, techniques, systems, equipment, and land-use policies to im- prove fire prevention and control in— (1) the rural and remote areas of the United States; and (2) the wildland-urban interface. (e) Assistance to other Federal agencies At the request of other Federal agencies, in- cluding the Department of Agriculture and the Page 1791 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 2207 Department of the Interior, the Administrator may provide assistance in fire prevention and control technologies, including methods of con- taining insect-infested forest fires and limiting dispersal of resultant fire particle smoke, and methods of measuring and tracking the dis- persal of fine particle smoke resulting from fires of insect-infested fuel. (f) Technology evaluation and standards devel- opment (1) In general In addition to, or as part of, the program conducted under subsection (a), the Adminis- trator, in consultation with the National In- stitute of Standards and Technology, the Inter-Agency Board for Equipment Standard- ization and Inter-Operability, the National In- stitute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Directorate of Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, na- tional voluntary consensus standards develop- ment organizations, interested Federal, State, and local agencies, and other interested par- ties, shall— (A) develop new, and utilize existing, measurement techniques and testing meth- odologies for evaluating new firefighting technologies, including— (i) personal protection equipment; (ii) devices for advance warning of ex- treme hazard; (iii) equipment for enhanced vision; (iv) devices to locate victims, fire- fighters, and other rescue personnel in above-ground and below-ground structures; (v) equipment and methods to provide in- formation for incident command, includ- ing the monitoring and reporting of indi- vidual personnel welfare; (vi) equipment and methods for training, especially for virtual reality training; and (vii) robotics and other remote-con- trolled devices; (B) evaluate the compatibility of new equipment and technology with existing firefighting technology; and (C) support the development of new vol- untary consensus standards through na- tional voluntary consensus standards orga- nizations for new firefighting technologies based on techniques and methodologies de- scribed in subparagraph (A). (2) Standards for new equipment (A) The Administrator shall, by regulation, require that new equipment or systems pur- chased through the assistance program estab- lished by section 2229 of this title meet or ex- ceed applicable voluntary consensus standards for such equipment or systems for which appli- cable voluntary consensus standards have been established. The Administrator may waive the requirement under this subparagraph with re- spect to specific standards. (B) If an applicant for a grant under section 2229 of this title proposes to purchase, with as- sistance provided under the grant, new equip- ment or systems that do not meet or exceed applicable voluntary consensus standards, the applicant shall include in the application an explanation of why such equipment or systems will serve the needs of the applicant better than equipment or systems that do meet or ex- ceed such standards. (C) In making a determination whether or not to waive the requirement under subpara- graph (A) with respect to a specific standard, the Administrator shall, to the greatest extent practicable— (i) consult with grant applicants and other members of the fire services regarding the impact on fire departments of the require- ment to meet or exceed the specific stand- ard; (ii) take into consideration the expla- nation provided by the applicant under sub- paragraph (B); and (iii) seek to minimize the impact of the re- quirement to meet or exceed the specific standard on the applicant, particularly if meeting the standard would impose addi- tional costs. (D) Applicants that apply for a grant under the terms of subparagraph (B) may include a second grant request in the application to be considered by the Administrator in the event that the Administrator does not approve the primary grant request on the grounds of the equipment not meeting applicable voluntary consensus standards. (g) Coordination In establishing and conducting programs under this section, the Administrator shall take full advantage of applicable technological devel- opments made by other departments and agen- cies of the Federal Government, by State and local governments, and by business, industry, and nonprofit associations. (h) Publication of research results (1) In general For each fire-related research program fund- ed by the Administration, the Administrator shall make available to the public on the Internet website of the Administration the fol- lowing: (A) A description of such research pro- gram, including the scope, methodology, and goals thereof. (B) Information that identifies the individ- uals or institutions conducting the research program. (C) The amount of funding provided by the Administration for such program. (D) The results or findings of the research program. (2) Deadlines (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the information required by paragraph (1) shall be published with respect to a research program as follows: (i) The information described in subpara- graphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) with respect to such research program shall be made available under paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after the Admin- istrator has awarded the funding for such research program. Page 1792 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 2208 (ii) The information described in sub- paragraph (D) of paragraph (1) with respect to a research program shall be made avail- able under paragraph (1) not later than 60 days after the date such research program has been completed. (B) Exception No information shall be required to be published under this subsection before the date that is 1 year after October 8, 2008. (Pub. L. 93–498, § 8, Oct. 29, 1974, 88 Stat. 1540; Pub. L. 108–169, title II, § 202, Dec. 6, 2003, 117 Stat. 2037; Pub. L. 110–376, §§ 6, 9(b), Oct. 8, 2008, 122 Stat. 4059, 4061.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2008—Subsec. (c)(2) to (5). Pub. L. 110–376, § 9(b), added par. (2) and redesignated former pars. (2) to (4) as (3) to (5), respectively. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–376, § 6(a), amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘The Administrator is authorized to assist the Nation’s fire services, directly or through contracts, grants, or other forms of assistance, to sponsor and encourage re- search into approaches, techniques, systems, and equip- ment to improve fire prevention and control in the rural and remote areas of the Nation.’’ Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 110–376, § 6(b), added subsec. (h). 2003—Subsecs. (e) to (g). Pub. L. 108–169 added subsecs. (e) and (f) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as (g). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS For transfer of all functions, personnel, assets, com- ponents, authorities, grant programs, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Under Secretary for Federal Emer- gency Management relating thereto, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, see section 315(a)(1) of Title 6, Domestic Security. For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and li- abilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agen- cy, including the functions of the Director of the Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treat- ment of related references, see former section 313(1) and sections 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Secu- rity, and the Department of Homeland Security Reor- ganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Functions of National Fire Prevention and Control Administration [now United States Fire Administra- tion] and National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control generally transferred to Federal Emergency Management Agency. For further details see Transfer of Functions note set out under section 2202 of this title. § 2208. National Fire Data Center (a) Functions The Administrator shall operate, directly or through contracts or grants, an integrated, com- prehensive National Fire Data Center for the se- lection, analysis, publication, and dissemination of information related to the prevention, occur- rence, control, and results of fires of all types. The program of such Data Center shall be de- signed to (1) provide an accurate nationwide analysis of the fire problem, (2) identify major problem areas, (3) assist in setting priorities, (4) determine possible solutions to problems, and (5) monitor the progress of programs to reduce fire losses. To carry out these functions, the Data Center shall gather and analyze— (1) information on the frequency, causes, spread, and extinguishment of fires; (2) information on the number of injuries and deaths resulting from fires, including the maximum available information on the spe- cific causes and nature of such injuries and deaths, categorized by the type of fire, and in- formation on property losses; (3) information on the occupational hazards faced by firefighters, including the causes of deaths and injuries arising, directly and indi- rectly, from firefighting activities, including— (A) all injuries sustained by a firefighter and treated by a doctor, categorized by the type of firefighter; (B) all deaths sustained while undergoing a pack test or preparing for a work capacity; (C) all injuries or deaths resulting from ve- hicle accidents; and (D) all injuries or deaths resulting from aircraft crashes; (4) information on all types of firefighting activities, including inspection practices; (5) technical information related to building construction, fire properties of materials, and similar information; (6) information on fire prevention and con- trol laws, systems, methods, techniques, and administrative structures used in foreign na- tions; (7) information on the causes, behavior, and best method of control of other types of fire, including, but not limited to, forest fires, brush fires, fire underground, oil blow-out fires, and water-borne fires; and (8) such other information and data as is deemed useful and applicable. (b) Methods In carrying out the program of the Data Cen- ter, the Administrator is authorized to— (1) develop standardized data reporting methods; (2) encourage and assist Federal, State, local, and other agencies, public and private, in developing and reporting information; and (3) make full use of existing data gathering and analysis organizations, both public and private, including the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends. (c) Dissemination of fire data The Administrator shall insure dissemination to the maximum extent possible of fire data col- lected and developed by the Data Center, and shall make such data, information, and analysis available in appropriate form to Federal agen- cies, State and local governments, private orga- nizations, industry, business, and other inter- ested persons. (d) National Fire Incident Reporting System up- date The Administrator shall update the National Fire Incident Reporting System to ensure that