Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications/hotel/pl101-391.txt

--H.R.94-H.R.94
One Hundred First Congress of the United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the twenty-third day of January,
one thousand nine hundred and ninety
An Act
To amend the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to allow for the
development and issuance of guidelines concerning the use and installation of automatic
sprinkler systems and smoke detectors in places of public accommodation affecting
commerce, 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 `Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that-(1) more than 400 Americans have lost their lives in multistory hotel fires
over the last 5 years;
(2) when properly installed and maintained, automatic sprinklers and
smoke detectors provide the most effective safeguards against the loss of
life and property from fire;
(3) automatic sprinklers and smoke detectors should supplement and not
supplant other fire protection measures, including existing requirements
for fire resistive walls and fire retardant furnishings;
(4) some State and local governments and the hotel industry need to act
more rapidly to require the installation and use of automatic sprinkler
systems in hotels; and
(5) through the United States Fire Administration and the Center for Fire
Research, the Federal Government has helped to develop and promote the
use of residential sprinkler systems and other means of fire prevention and
control.
(b) PURPOSE- It is the purpose of this Act to save lives and protect property by
promoting fire and life safety in hotels, motels, and all places of public
accommodation affecting commerce.
SEC. 3. HOTEL AND MOTEL FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL.
(a) IN GENERAL- The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15
U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new sections:
`LISTINGS OF CERTIFIED PLACES OF PUBLIC
ACCOMMODATION
`SEC. 28. (a) SUBMISSIONS BY STATES- (1) Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this section, each State shall, under procedures formulated by
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the Director, submit to the Director a list of those places of public accommodation
affecting commerce located in the State which the Governor of the State or his
designee certifies meet the requirements of the guidelines described in section 29.
`(2) The Director shall formulate procedures under which each State shall
periodically update the list submitted pursuant to paragraph (1).
`(b) COMPILATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF MASTER LIST- (1) Not later
than 60 days after the expiration of the 2-year period referred to in subsection (a),
the Director shall compile and publish in the Federal Register a national master
list of all of the places of public accommodation affecting commerce located in
each State that meet the requirements of the guidelines described in section 29,
and shall distribute such list to each agency of the Federal Government and take
steps to make the employees of such agencies aware of its existence and contents.
`(2) The Director shall periodically update the national master list compiled
pursuant to paragraph (1) to reflect changes in the State lists submitted to the
Director pursuant to subsection (a), and shall periodically redistribute the updated
master list to each agency of the Federal Government.
`(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `agency' has the meaning given to it
under section 5701(1) of title 5, United States Code.
`FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL GUIDELINES
FOR PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION
`SEC. 29. (a) CONTENTS OF GUIDELINES- The guidelines referred to in
sections 28 and 30 consist of-`(1) a requirement that hard-wired, single-station smoke detectors be
installed in accordance with National Fire Protection Association Standard
74 in each guest room in each place of public accommodation affecting
commerce; and
`(2) a requirement that an automatic sprinkler system be installed in
accordance with National Fire Protection Association Standard 13 or 13R, whichever is appropriate, in each place of public accommodation
affecting commerce except those places that are 3 stories or lower.
`(b) EFFECT ON STATE AND LOCAL LAW- The provisions of this section
shall not be construed to limit the power of any State or political subdivision
thereof to implement or enforce any law, rule, regulation, or standard concerning
fire prevention and control.
`(c) DEFINITIONS- For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
`(1) The term `smoke detector' means an alarm that is designed to respond
to the presence of visible or invisible particles of combustion.
`(2) The term `automatic sprinkler system' means an electronically
supervised, integrated system of piping to which sprinklers are attached in
a systematic pattern, and which, when activated by heat from a fire, will
protect human lives by discharging water over the fire area, and by
providing appropriate warning signals (to the extent such signals are
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required by Federal, State, or local laws or regulations) through the
building's fire alarm system.
`DISSEMINATION OF FIRE PREVENTION AND
CONTROL INFORMATION
`SEC. 30. The Director, acting through the Administrator, is authorized to take
steps to encourage the States to promote the use of automatic sprinkler systems
and automatic smoke detection systems, and to disseminate to the maximum
extent possible information on the life safety value and use of such systems. Such
steps may include, but need not be limited to, providing copies of the guidelines
described in section 29 and of the master list compiled under section 28(b) to
Federal agencies, State and local governments, and fire services throughout the
United States, and making copies of the master list compiled under section 28(b)
available upon request to interested private organizations and individuals.'.
(b) DEFINITIONS- (1) Section 4 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act
of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2203) is amended by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as
paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively, by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as
paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively, and by inserting immediately after paragraph
(3) the following new paragraph:
`(4) `Director' means the Director of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency;'.
(2) Section 4 of such Act (as amended by paragraph (1)) is further amended by
inserting immediately after paragraph (6), as so redesignated, the following new
paragraph:
`(7) `place of public accommodation affecting commerce' means any inn,
hotel, or other establishment not owned by the Federal Government that
provides lodging to transient guests, except that such term does not
include an establishment treated as an apartment building for purposes of
any State or local law or regulation or an establishment located within a
building that contains not more than 5 rooms for rent or hire and that is
actually occupied as a residence by the proprietor of such establishment;'.
SEC. 4. ADHERENCE TO FIRE SAFETY GUIDELINES IN ESTABLISHING RATES
AND DISCOUNTS FOR LODGING EXPENSES.
(a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5- Subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by inserting immediately after section 5707 the
following new section:
`Sec. 5707a. Adherence to fire safety guidelines in establishing rates and discounts for
lodging expenses
`(a) Studies or surveys conducted for the purposes of establishing per diem rates
for lodging expenses under this chapter shall be limited to places of public
accommodation that meet the requirements of the fire prevention and control
guidelines described in section 29 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act
of 1974. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply with respect to studies
and surveys that are conducted in any jurisdiction that is not a State as defined in
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section 4 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974.
`(b) The Administrator of General Services may not include in any directory
which lists lodging accommodations any hotel, motel, or other place of public
accommodation that does not meet the requirements of the fire prevention and
control guidelines described in section 29 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974.
`(c) The Administrator of General Services shall include in each directory which
lists lodging accommodations a description of the access and safety devices,
including appropriate emergency alerting devices, which each listed place of
public accommodation provides for guests who are hearing-impaired or visually
or physically handicapped.
`(d) The Administrator of General Services may take any additional actions the
Administrator determines appropriate to encourage employees traveling on
official business to stay at places of public accommodation that meet the
requirements of the fire prevention and control guidelines described in section 29
of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974.'.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter
57 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting immediately after the
item relating to section 5707 the following new item:
`5707a. Adherence to fire safety guidelines in establishing rates and discounts for lodging
expenses.'.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall take effect
60 days after the date of the publication in the Federal Register of the master list
of certified places of public accommodation maintained by the Director of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency pursuant to section 28(b) of the Federal
Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (as added by section 3 of this Act).
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF APPROVED ACCOMMODATIONS PERCENTAGE
FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) APPROVED ACCOMMODATIONS PERCENTAGE(1) IN GENERAL- Section 5707 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
`(d)(1) Each agency shall ensure that its approved accommodations percentage for
a fiscal year shall be not less than-`(A) 65 percent, for the first fiscal year that begins 4 years after the date of
enactment of this subsection;
`(B) 75 percent, for the fiscal year that begins 5 years after the date of
enactment of this subsection; and
`(C) 90 percent, for the fiscal year that begins 6 years after the date of
enactment of this subsection and for each subsequent fiscal year.
`(2) In this subsection, an agency's `approved accommodations percentage' for a
fiscal year is the percentage determined by multiplying 100 by the quotient of-`(A) the total number of nights spent by civilian employees of the agency
(as described in section 5702(a)) for which payment was made under this
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chapter for lodging expenses incurred in any State at any approved hotel,
motel, or other place of public accommodation not owned by the Federal
Government; divided by
`(B) the total number of nights spent by such employees for which
payment was made under this chapter for lodging expenses incurred in any
State at any hotel, motel, or other place of public accommodation not
owned by the Federal Government.
`(3) For purposes of this subsection, a hotel, motel, or other place of public
accommodation is approved if it meets the requirements of the fire prevention and
control guidelines described in section 29 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974.
`(4) For purposes of this subsection-`(A) the term `agency' does not include the government of the District of
Columbia; and
`(B) the term `State' means any State, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Virgin
Islands, the Canal Zone, Guam, American Samoa, or any other territory or
possession.'.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 5701 of such title is
amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking `For the
purpose' and inserting `Except as otherwise provided in section 5707(d),
for the purpose'.
(b) GAO AUDIT OF AGENCY COMPLIANCE- Not later than 6 months after
the last day of the first fiscal year during which lodging expenses are subject to
the requirements of section 5707(d) of title 5, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a), and not later than 6 months after the last day of every fiscal year
thereafter, the Comptroller General shall conduct an audit of the compliance of
agencies with the requirements of section 5707(d) of title 5, United States Code
(as added by subsection (a)), and shall submit a report to Congress describing the
results of such audit.
SEC. 6. PROHIBITING FEDERAL FUNDING OF CONFERENCES HELD AT NONCERTIFIED PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION.
(a) IN GENERAL- No Federal funds may be used to sponsor or fund in whole or
in part a meeting, convention, conference, or training seminar that is conducted in,
or that otherwise uses the rooms, facilities, or services of, a place of public
accommodation that does not meet the requirements of the fire prevention and
control guidelines described in section 29 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 (as added by section 3(a) of this Act).
(b) WAIVER(1) IN GENERAL- The head of an agency of the Federal Government
sponsoring or funding a particular meeting, convention, conference, or
training seminar may waive the prohibition described in subsection (a) if
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the head of such agency determines that a waiver of such prohibition is
necessary in the public interest in the case of such particular event.
(2) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY- The head of an agency of the
Federal Government may delegate the authority provided under paragraph
(1) to waive the prohibition described in subsection (a) and to determine
whether such a waiver is necessary in the public interest to an officer or
employee of the agency if such officer or employee is given such authority
with respect to all meetings, conventions, conferences, and training
seminars sponsored or funded by the agency.
(c) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS(1) ADVERTISEMENTS AND APPLICATIONS- (A) Any advertisement
for or application for attendance at a meeting, convention, conference, or
training seminar sponsored or funded in whole or in part by the Federal
Government shall include a notice regarding the prohibition described in
subsection (a).
(B) The requirement described in subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the
case of an event for which a head of an agency of the Federal
Government, pursuant to subsection (b), waives the prohibition described
in subsection (a).
(2) PROVIDING NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF FUNDS- (A) Each
Executive department, Government corporation, and independent
establishment providing Federal funds to non-Federal entities shall notify
recipients of such funds of the prohibition described in subsection (a).
(B) In subparagraph (A), the terms `Executive department', `Government
corporation', and `independent establishment' have the meanings given
such terms in chapter 1 of title 5, United States Code.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE- The provisions of this section shall take effect on the
first day of the first fiscal year that begins after the expiration of the 425-day
period that begins on the date of the publication in the Federal Register of the
master list referred to in section 28(b) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control
Act of 1974 (as added by section 3 of this Act).
SEC. 7. WAIVER OF FEDERAL LIABILITY.
In any action for damages resulting from a fire at a place of public
accommodation, the Federal Government may not be found liable for the death of
or injury to any person or damage to any property because an officer or employee
of the Federal Government was negligent in carrying out any requirement under
this Act or the amendments made by this Act.
SEC. 8. EFFECT ON CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to encourage model building code
organizations, or State or local governments, to reduce requirements for fire
resistive walls or other safety features.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
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President of the Senate.
END

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