HR 3155

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 27, 1999

Mr. Gekas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program for providing assistance to emergency response organizations, and for other purposes.

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 “Firefighter’s Local-Federal Assistance for Management of Emergencies Act of 1999”.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.

(a) In General.—The Secretary shall establish and carry out a grant program to provide assistance to emergency response organizations.

(b) Grants to States.—Under the program, the Secretary may make grants to States that have in effect an emergency response loan program. The amount of a grant to a State shall be the amount apportioned to such State under section 6 and shall be paid to the head of the State agency that administers such program.

(c) Use of Grants.—A State receiving a Federal grant under this Act shall use the amount of the Federal grant to make grants to an eligible emergency response organization to assist the organization in repaying a loan the organization received before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act under the emergency response loan program of the State.

SEC. 3. AMOUNT OF GRANT TO ERO.

The amount of a grant that a State receiving a Federal grant under this Act may make to an emergency response organization in a fiscal year shall be equal to (1) the amount of funds that the organization received from nongovernmental sources in the preceding fiscal year and that were matched by a grant from a unit of local government in the preceding fiscal year, plus (2) the amount of such matching payment; except that the aggregate amount of grants that a State may make to an emergency response organization under this Act shall not exceed $15,000 per fiscal year.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF ERO.

To be eligible for a grant from a State under this Act, an emergency response organization must—

(1) submit to the agency that administers the emergency response loan program of the State an application for such grant in such form and containing such information as such agency may require; and

(2) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the head of such agency a legitimate financial need for the grant.

SEC. 5. SPECIAL AUDITING PROCEDURES.

(a) State Requirements.—Not later than December 31, 2001, and each December 31 thereafter, the head of the State agency to which a grant is made under this Act shall submit to the Secretary a report on the number and amounts of grants made by the State agency to emergency response organizations with Federal assistance provided under this Act, the average amount of such grants, the average amount of time it took the State agency to process applications for such grants, the average budget of emergency response organizations that received such grants, and the percentage of volunteers in the workforce of emergency response organizations providing emergency response services within the boundaries of the State.

(b) Report to Congress.—Not later than the last day of the first fiscal year following the fiscal year in which funds are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report on the reports provided under subsection (a), together with a recommendation on whether or not to extend the authorization of this Act.

SEC. 6. APPORTIONMENT.

The Secretary shall apportion amounts made available to carry out this Act for a fiscal year among States that have in effect an emergency response loan program on the basis of their relative populations as determined by the Secretary under the most recent decennial census of the United States.

SEC. 7. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.

(a) Date Available for Obligation.—Funds made available to carry out this Act shall be available for obligation on the date of their apportionment or on October 1 of the fiscal year for which they are authorized, whichever occurs first.

(b) Period of Availability.—Funds apportioned to a State under this Act shall remain available for obligation in that State until the last day of the fiscal year in which they are apportioned. Sums not obligated by the last day of the fiscal year in which they are apportioned shall be apportioned to other States that have in effect an emergency response loan program in accordance with section 6.

SEC. 8. FUNDING.

The Secretary shall make available, from amounts set aside under section 104(a) of title 23, United States Code, for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002, $11,000,000 per fiscal year to carry out this Act.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act, the following definitions apply:

(1) Emergency response organization.—The term “emergency response organization” any public fire, ambulance, and rescue company the workforce of which includes volunteers.

(2) Emergency response loan program.—The term “emergency response organization loan program” means a program sponsored by a State under which loans are made, at below market interest rates, to emergency response organizations for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or improvement of facilities and equipment necessary for those organizations to provide emergency response services in an area within the boundaries of the State.

(3) Secretary.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Transportation.

(4) State.—The term “State” means the 50 States and the District of Columbia. <all>