119-hr3370

[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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