Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 1.djvu/705

 PUBLIC LAW 103-254—MAY 19, 1994 108 STAT. 679 Public Law 103-254 103d Congress An Act To establish a program of grants to states for arson research, prevention, and May 19, 1994 control, and for other purposes. [H.R. 1727] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. Arson Prevention Act SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. of 1994. This Act may be cited as the "Arson Prevention Act of 1994". 15 USC 2201 note. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 15 USC 2201 Congress finds that— "°**" (1) arson is a serious and costly problem, and is responsible for approximately 25 percent of all fires in the United States; (2) arson is a leading cause of fire deaths, accounting for approximately 700 deaths annually in the United States, and is the leading cause of property damage due to fire in the United States; (3) estimates of arson property losses are in the range of $2,000,000,000 annually, or approximately 1 of every 4 dollars lost to fire; (4) the incidence of arson in the United States is seriously underreported, in part because of the lack of adequate participation by local jurisdictions in the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program; (5) there is a need for expginded training programs for arson investigators; (6) there is a need for improved programs designed to enable volunteer firefighters to detect arson crimes and to preserve evidence vital to the investigation and prosecution of arson cases; (7) according to the National Fire Protection Association, of all the suspicious and incendiary fires estimated to occur, only Va are confirmed as arson; and (8) improved training of arson investigators will increase the ability of fire departments to identify suspicious and incendiary fires, and will result in increased and more effective prosecution of arson offenses. SEC. 3. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS. The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2220) the following new section: "SEC. 25. ARSON PREVENTION GRANTS. 15 USC 2221. "(a) DEFINITIONS.— As used in this section:

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