H.R. 7898 — Introduced in House

I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7898 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 27, 2022Ms. Scanlon (for herself, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Jacobs of California, and Mr. Norcross) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Secretary of Defense to ensure that fire protection services at military installations comply with certain standards for Federal fire protection, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Federal Firefighters Workforce Support Act. 2. National standards for Federal fire protection at military installations (a) Sense of congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) fire protection staffing levels for all responses on military installations must rigorously comply with staffing benchmarks detailed in National Consensus Standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association; and (2) fire protection is an essential service and therefore, budgetary considerations should not justify the degradation of installation emergency services. (b) Standards required The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that— (1) members of the armed forces and employees of Defense Agencies who provide fire protection services to military installations shall comply with the National Consensus Standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association pursuant to section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–113; 15 U.S.C. 272 note); (2) the minimum staffing requirement for any firefighting vehicle responding to a structural building emergency at a military installation is not less than four firefighters per vehicle; and (3) the minimum staffing requirement for any firefighting vehicle responding to an aircraft or airfield incident at a military installation is not less than three firefighters per vehicle. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) The terms armed forces and Defense Agency have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of title 10, United States Code. (2) The term firefighter has the meaning given that term in section 707(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Pub. L. 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 1074m note). (3) The term military installation has the meaning given that term in section 2801 of title 10, United States Code.