PUBLIC LAW 108–169—DEC. 6, 2003
117 STAT. 2037
SEC. 202. NEW FIREFIGHTING TECHNOLOGY.
Section 8 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2207) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g); and (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following: ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE TO OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—At the request of other Federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, the Administrator may provide assistance in fire prevention and control technologies, including methods of containing insect-infested forest fires and limiting dispersal of resultant fire particle smoke, and methods of measuring and tracking the dispersal of fine particle smoke resulting from fires of insect-infested fuel. ‘‘(f) TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION AND STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to, or as part of, the program conducted under subsection (a), the Administrator, in consultation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Inter-Agency Board for Equipment Standardization and Inter-Operability, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Directorate of Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, national voluntary consensus standards development organizations, interested Federal, State, and local agencies, and other interested parties, shall— ‘‘(A) develop new, and utilize existing, measurement techniques and testing methodologies for evaluating new firefighting technologies, including— ‘‘(i) personal protection equipment; ‘‘(ii) devices for advance warning of extreme hazard; ‘‘(iii) equipment for enhanced vision; ‘‘(iv) devices to locate victims, firefighters, and other rescue personnel in above-ground and belowground structures; ‘‘(v) equipment and methods to provide information for incident command, including the monitoring and reporting of individual personnel welfare; ‘‘(vi) equipment and methods for training, especially for virtual reality training; and ‘‘(vii) robotics and other remote-controlled devices; ‘‘(B) evaluate the compatibility of new equipment and technology with existing firefighting technology; and ‘‘(C) support the development of new voluntary consensus standards through national voluntary consensus standards organizations for new firefighting technologies based on techniques and methodologies described in subparagraph (A). ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR NEW EQUIPMENT.—(A) The Administrator shall, by regulation, require that new equipment or systems purchased through the assistance program established by the first section 33 meet or exceed applicable voluntary consensus standards for such equipment or systems for which applicable voluntary consensus standards have been established. The Administrator may waive the requirement under this subparagraph with respect to specific standards.
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