[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3370 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3370
To direct the United States Fire Administration to develop a
comprehensive strategy to improve equipment, training, and staffing
standards for firefighter Rapid Intervention Teams, including those
Teams that respond to port facility fires, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 13, 2025
Ms. Sherrill (for herself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the United States Fire Administration to develop a
comprehensive strategy to improve equipment, training, and staffing
standards for firefighter Rapid Intervention Teams, including those
Teams that respond to port facility fires, 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 ``Providing Resources and Operational
Training to Eliminate Crisis Threats to Firefighters Act'' or the
``PROTECT Firefighters Act''.
SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO IMPROVE EQUIPMENT, TRAINING, AND STAFFING STANDARDS
FOR RAPID INTERVENTION TEAMS.
(a) Strategy.--
(1) Submission.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the United States Fire Administrator
shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate a comprehensive strategy
detailing the following:
(A) Current equipment, training, and staffing
standards for firefighter Rapid Intervention Teams.
(B) How to improve access for such Teams to modern
and high-quality equipment, safety gear, training, and
staffing levels.
(C) How to ensure equipment and training
standardization and interoperability between such
Teams.
(2) Matters.--The strategy under paragraph (1) shall
address, at a minimum, the following:
(A) An identification of such training standards,
firefighting equipment, and staffing level standards
that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, are
in use by firefighter Rapid Intervention Teams and the
extent to which such training and equipment is standard
and interoperable across such Teams in each individual
State and nationwide, including regarding the
following:
(i) The frequency with which such Teams
undergo training, and any financial or
logistical barriers that impact such Teams'
access to such training.
(ii) The type and quality of firefighting
equipment used by such Teams and any financial
or logistical barriers that impact such Teams'
access to state-of-the-art firefighting
equipment.
(iii) Staffing levels and response times
for such Teams, particularly for departments
that are facing general firefighter staffing
shortages, and any financial or logistical
barriers to improving staffing levels and
responses times for such Teams.
(iv) The level of standardization of
firefighting equipment and training between
such Teams across different localities and
different States, a description of current
State or national efforts to improve
firefighting equipment and training
interoperability, and any financial or
logistical barriers that impact such efforts to
so improve such interoperability.
(B) An identification of such training standards,
firefighting equipment, and staffing level standards
that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, are
in use by firefighter Rapid Intervention Teams at
maritime and port facilities or those Teams that may be
required to respond to fires at such facilities, the
extent to which such training and equipment is standard
and interoperable across such Teams in each individual
State and nationwide, and a determination by the United
States Fire Administrator regarding whether such
training and equipment is sufficient to prepare such
Teams for fires on the various ships that dock at such
facilities, including relating to the following:
(i) The frequency with which such Teams
undergo maritime-specific training and any
financial or logistical barriers that impact
such Teams' access to such training.
(ii) The type and quality of maritime-
specific firefighting equipment used by such
Teams and any financial or logistical barriers
that impact such Teams' access to state-of-the-
art firefighting equipment.
(iii) Staffing levels and response times
for such Teams, particularly for departments
that are facing general firefighter staffing
shortages, and any financial or logistical
barriers to improving staffing levels and
responses times for such Teams.
(iv) The level of standardization for
interoperability of the firefighting equipment,
training, and staffing levels of Teams that
respond to maritime or port facility fires
across different localities and different
States, a description of current State or
national efforts to improve such maritime-
specific firefighting equipment and training
interoperability, and any financial or
logistical barriers that impact such efforts to
so improve such interoperability.
(v) A determination of whether the
firefighting equipment, training, and staffing
levels of such Teams that respond to fires at
maritime and port facilities is sufficient for
use on the various ships that dock at such
facilities, including foreign-flagged ships
that may use different firefighting equipment
than that typically encountered by United
States-based Teams, and a description of any
financial or logistical barriers that impact
fire departments' ability to make such
equipment and training sufficient for such
uses.
(C) A review of the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health's Fire Fighter Fatality
Investigation and Prevention Program Line of Duty Death
reports over the five-year period immediately preceding
the date of the enactment of this Act that--
(i) summarizes trends in fire departments'
access to modern and high-quality firefighting
equipment, safety gear, training, and staffing
levels for Rapid Intervention Teams, including
the level of firefighting equipment and
training standardization between such Teams;
and
(ii) analyzes the role that a lack of
modern and high-quality firefighting equipment,
safety gear, training, or staffing levels for
Rapid Intervention Teams, including a lack of
firefighting equipment and training
standardization between such Teams, played in
firefighter Line of Duty Deaths.
(D) Recommendations for how Congress can expand
access to modern and high-quality firefighting
equipment, safety gear, training, and staffing levels
for Rapid Intervention Teams and ensure firefighting
equipment and training standardization between such
Teams, including specific recommendations regarding how
such Teams can overcome the logistical or financial
barriers to improved firefighting equipment, training,
and staffing identified under subparagraph (A).
(E) Recommendations for how Congress can expand
access to modern and high-quality firefighting
equipment, safety gear, training, and staffing levels
for Rapid Intervention Teams at maritime and port
facilities or those Teams that may be required to fight
fires at such facilities and ensure firefighting
equipment and training standardization between such
Teams, including specific recommendations regarding how
such Teams can overcome the logistical or financial
barriers to improved firefighting equipment, training,
and staffing and any lack of sufficiency of such
equipment, training, or staffing with respect to the
various ships that dock at such facilities in
accordance with subparagraph (B).
(F) Recommendations for how Congress can address
the specific causes of incidents in which a firefighter
employed by the Federal Government, a State, or a
locality was killed while in the line of duty as
identified in subparagraph (C).
(b) Briefing.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the United States Fire Administrator shall
provide to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a briefing on
the matters covered by the strategy under subsection (a).
(c) Firefighter Rapid Intervention Team Defined.--In this section,
the term ``firefighter Rapid Intervention Team'' means a designated
firefighting crew that serves as a stand-by rescue team at the scene of
a fire or other emergency and is available for the immediate search and
rescue of missing, trapped, or injured firefighters if required.
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