U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization
On April 3, 2008, 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.