U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization
On April 3rd, the House passed the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization, H.R. 4847. This bill reauthorizes appropriations for the U.S. Fire Administration through 2012.
Specifically, this legislation:
- Amends the list of training activities the National Fire Academy is authorized to engage in by expanding response activities to national catastrophes of all types; authorizes training for response to large-scale fire events that involve multiple jurisdictions and stretch resources; authorizes training for firefighting activities in the wildland-urban interface; authorizes training for fire and emergencies involving hazardous materials; and authorizes training for advanced issues related to emergency medical services.
- Requires the Administrator to include a description of any changes to the National Fire Academy curriculum in every third annual USFA report to Congress.
- Authorizes the Administrator to enter into contracts to provide on-site training through third-party organizations. Such organizations must either provide training that leads to certification accredited by a relevant nationally recognized accreditation organization or, at the time of the agreement, provide similar training to another Federal agency.
- Requires the Administrator to consolidate and integrate into the National Fire Academy curriculum a course on incident command for fires in marine and port environments into the National Fire Academy’s incident command training.
- Authorizes the Administrator to use a maximum of $5 million dollars from the total appropriated over the years FY2009 to FY2011 to upgrade the National Fire incident Reporting System.
- Authorizes USFA to assist the Nation’s fire service by developing equipment, best practices, and new knowledge to address fire suppression and prevention for fires in the wildland-urban interface.
- Requires USFA to maintain a web database of activities the agency funds related to trends, new knowledge, and best practices in firefighting.