10/23/14: October is National Fire Prevention Month, so we want to spotlight some bills related to fire prevention and the firefighters that battle them.
The traditional fire season has only just begun in the West — and already firefighters have battled a higher-than-usual number of wildfires. In California alone, firefighters have battled nearly 5,000 wildfires, almost a 1,000 more than in a typical year. There were 1,389,500 fires in 2011, resulting in 3,005 deaths and $11.7 billion in fire loss. The largest cause of residential building fire was cooking (46%). To fight these fires, there were an estimated 1,129,250 firefighters (career: 345,950, volunteer: 783,300) in 2012. Eighty-one firefighters died while on duty, and 31,490 were injured, according to the US Fire Administration. Already this year, 67 firefighters lost their lives. (See the list of firefighters).
Related Bills in Congress
Here’s a look at some related proposals in Congress. Share your voice with POPVOX:
- HR 5483: Firefighter Equipment Protection Act –Bipartisan– Codifies a national security exemption from emissions regulations for excess personal property of the Department of Defense that is transferred under specified DOD property transfer programs to a firefighting agency in a state or to another state agency. "This rule, in essence, favored the CO2 emissions from raging wildfires over the comparably minimal emissions from the vehicles needed to put them out," according to the bill sponsor. The bill "permanently reverses this bureaucratic, nonsensical rule, protects the programs that supply this needed equipment from any future overreaching EPA decision and ensures that these programs continue to support firefighters who protect our nation’s communities.
- HR 3747: Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act –Bipartisan– Would "reauthorize a tax break for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel," according to bill sponsor. "The tax break, authorized in 2007 following its original introduction by Larson, expired in 2010. By renewing this tax exemption, VRIPRA would increase the value of benefits offered by communities that bolster recruitment and retention of volunteer first responders."
- HR 1437: Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act –Bipartisan– Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive demonstration grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs), fraternities, and sororities for up to half the cost of installing approved fire suppression systems in student housing and dormitories owned or controlled by such entities.
- S 2266: Federal Firefighters Fairness Act –Bipartisan– "Ensures that firefighters who were harmed in the line of duty or contracted certain diseases are covered by federal worker’s compensation," according to the bill sponsors. "Under current law, the Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) provides federal employees injured in the performance of duty with workers' compensation benefits. This bill would amend FECA so that if a federal firefighter dies or becomes disabled from a specified list of diseases, the disease will be presumed to have been caused by the employment, and the death or disability will be presumed compensable. The bill is intended to address the difficultly that firefighters who suffer from these diseases face in obtaining compensation under current law, which requires proof that the illness resulted from the line of duty."
- S 2811: Children and Firefighters Protection Act – Would immediately ban the 10 worst chemical flame retardants from upholstered furniture and children’s products, such as changing table pads, portable crib mattresses, pajamas, nap mats, and nursing pillows. The 10 flame retardants include: TDCPP, TCEP, TBBPA, decabromodiphenyl ether, antimony trioxide, HBCD, TBPH, TBB, chlorinated paraffins, and TCPP. Also gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) additional authority and requires them to convene a panel to review the safety of all other chemical flame retardants and issue a ban on flame retardants, in addition to the ten worst, that are found to be dangerous, according to the bill sponsor.
- S 2593: FLAME Act Amendments Act – Would allow for the full funding of wildland firefighting budgets for the US Forest Service and Department of the Interior as well dramatically increase resources for forest restoration programs. "Rather than budgeting for wildfires using just 70 percent of a 10-year historic average of suppression expenditures as the Obama Administration recently proposed, this bill requires the Forest Service and the Interior Department to budget for 100 percent of their suppression costs using the most accurate budget forecast model available (known as the "FLAME regression model")," according to the bill sponsor. The bill also prohibits federal agencies from raiding non-wildfire accounts to pay for wildfires, a practice known as "fire-borrowing."
- HR 4889: Clean and Efficient Public Safety Vehicles Act – Would "help municipal public safety and law enforcement agencies save money on fuel costs and reduce their negative effects on our environment," according to the bill sponsor. Would "encourage local government agencies like fire and police departments to invest in technology that reduces both fuel consumption and improves environmental impacts by ensuring that a portion of their federal grant funds are used on emissions reduction."
- HR 5677: Federal Wildland Firefighter Classification Act – Alter the position titles of federal firefighting personnel from "forestry technicians" to "wildland firefighters." "Requires the Office of Personnel Management to alter the designations of firefighting personnel at the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, a change that will improve morale and retention among federal firefighters," according to the bill sponsor.
Please keep in mind that highlighting a bill doesn't imply a POPVOX endorsement in any way. Rather, we're simply trying to offer one more way to stay informed of an overwhelmingly complex legislative system.
