Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 82.djvu/77

 82 STAT. !

PUBLIC LAW 90-259-MAR. 1, 1968

Act of March 3, 1901, as amended, to provide a national fire research and safety program including the gathering of comprehensive fire data; a comprdiensive fire research program; fire safety education and training programs; and demonstrations of new approaches and improvements in fire prevention and control, and reduction of death, personal injury, and property damage. Additionally, it is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should establish a fire research and safety center for administering tnis title and carrying out its purposes, including appropriate fire safety liaison and coordination. AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM

SEC. 102. The Act entitled "An Act to establish the National Bureau of Standards", approved March 3, 1901, as amended (15 U.S.C. 27l-278e), is further amended by adding the following sections: ^i Stat. 1449. "SEC. 16. The Secretary of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the 'Secretary') is authorized to— " (a) Conduct directly or through contracts or grants— " (1) investigations of fires to determine their causes, frequency of occurrence, severity, and other pertinent factors; "(2) research into the causes and nature of fires, and the development of improved methods and techniques for fire prevention, fire control, and reduction of death, personal injury, and property damage; "(3) educational programs to— " (A) inform the public of fire hazards and fire safety techniques, and " (B) encourage avoidance of such hazards and use of such techniques; "(4) fire information reference services, including the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data, research results, and other information, derived from this program or from other sources and related to fire protection, fire control, and reduction of death, personal injury, and property damage; "(5) educational and training programs to improve, among other things— " (A) the efficiency, operation, and organization of fire services, and " (B) the capability of controlling unusual fire-related hazards and fire disasters; and "(6) projects demonstrating— " (A) improved or experimental programs of fire prevention, fire control, and reduction of death, personal injury, and property damage, " (B) application of fire safety principles in construction, or " (C) improvement of the efficiency, operation, or organization of the fire services. " (b) Support by contracts or grants the development, for use by educational and other nonprofit institutions, of— "(1) fire safety and fire protection engineering or science curriculums; and "(2) fire safety courses, seminars, or other instructional materials and aids for the above curriculums or other appropriate curriculums or courses of instruction. "SEC. 17. With respect to the functions authorized by section 16 of this Act— " (a) Grants may be made only to States and local governments. Eligibility for other non-Federal public agencies, and nonprofit institutions. Such s""^"*^a grant may be up to 100 per centum of the total cost of the project

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