§ 2207. — Fire technology.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC2207]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 49--FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL
Sec. 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 making available
improved suppression, protective, auxiliary, and warning devices
incorporating the latest technology. Attention shall be given to the
standardization, compatibility, and interchangeability of such
equipment. Such development, testing, and evaluation activities shall
include, but need not be limited to--
(1) safer, less cumbersome articles of protective 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 occurring aboard waterborne vessels, and in other
special firefighting situations;
(5) fire detectors and related equipment for residential use
with high sensitivity and reliability, 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 effectiveness;
(7) methods of testing fire alarms and fire protection devices
and systems on a non-interference basis;
(8) the development of purchase specifications, standards, and
acceptance and validation test procedures for all such equipment and
devices; and
(9) operation tests, demonstration projects, and fire
investigations in support of the activities set forth in this
section.
(b) Limitation on manufacture and sale of equipment
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 device.
(c) Management studies
(1) The Administrator is authorized to conduct, directly or through
contracts or grants, studies of the operations and management aspects of
fire services, utilizing quantitative techniques, such as operations
research, management economics, cost effectiveness studies, and such
other techniques and methods as may be applicable and useful. Such
studies shall include, but need not be limited to, the allocation of
resources, the optimum location of fire stations, the optimum
geographical area for an integrated fire service, the manner of
responding to alarms, the operation of citywide and regional fire
dispatch centers, firefighting under conditions of civil disturbance,
and the effectiveness, frequency, and methods of building inspections.
(2) The Administrator is authorized to conduct, directly or through
contracts or grants, research concerning the productivity and efficiency
of fire service personnel, the job categories 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 techniques for accuracy measuring and analyzing the
foregoing.
(3) The Administrator is authorized to conduct, 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.
(4) 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 consequences 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 assistance
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 research into approaches,
techniques, systems, and equipment to improve fire prevention and
control in the rural and remote areas of the Nation.
(e) Coordination
In establishing and conducting programs under this section, the
Administrator shall take full advantage of applicable technological
developments made by other departments and agencies of the Federal
Government, by State and local governments, and by business, industry,
and nonprofit associations.
(Pub. L. 93-498, Sec. 8, Oct. 29, 1974, 88 Stat. 1540.)
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency relating thereto, to
the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related
references, see sections 313(1), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6,
Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security
Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note
under section 542 of Title 6.
Functions of National Fire Prevention and Control Administration
[now United States Fire Administration] 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.
