H.R. 7077: Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act

Bill · 117th Congress (2021–2022). Became law, 20 Dec 2022 · Public Law 117-246. Introduced 15 Mar 2022.

Official title: To require the United States Fire Administration to conduct on-site investigations of major fires, and for other purposes.

Vote results

House, 14 Dec 2022: agreed to without a roll call; the record lists no member’s position. In the record’s words: “Passed/agreed to in House: Pursuant to section 5 of H. Res. 1518, and the motion offered by Mr. Hoyer, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 1082, as amended; H.R. 5349; H.R. 6218; H.R. 6220; H.R. 6221; H.R. 6611, as amended; H.R. 6630; H.R. 6725; H.R. 7077, agreed to Senate amendment; H.R. 7832; H.R. 8665; S. 558; and S. 789. S. 558; and S. 789.”
Senate, 6 Dec 2022: agreed to by unanimous consent; the record lists no member’s position. In the record’s words: “Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR S7003)”
President: Signed 20 Dec 2022 · Public Law 117-246

How each member voted

White House

Signed (1): Joseph Biden (D, President).

Not in office (1): Donald Trump (R, President).

Senate

Agreed to by unanimous consent: the record lists no member’s position.

House

Agreed to without a roll call: the record lists no member’s position.

Summary

Main subject: Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize the United States Fire Administration to conduct on-site fire safety investigations of major fires and to report on them. Sec. 2

Its core areas: U.S. Fire Administration on-site fire safety investigations; Public reports and recommendations on investigated fires.

Unexpected Items: 0 provisions

What it does

Sec. 2: Allows the Administrator to send incident investigators, such as safety specialists and fire protection engineers, to the site of a major fire to conduct a fire safety investigation.
Sec. 2: Requires each investigation to be conducted in coordination and cooperation with appropriate Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial authorities, and to examine the previously determined cause and origin of the fire and assess broader systematic matters.
Sec. 2: Requires the Administrator, after an investigation, to issue a public report on its findings or to collaborate with another investigating agency on that agency's report, unless the Administrator determines a report would negatively affect a criminal investigation.
Sec. 2: Requires each public report to include recommendations on similar buildings, tactical response, civilian safety practices, the costs and benefits of adding fire safety features, and how to mitigate the causes of the fire.
Sec. 2: Allows the Administrator to send fire investigators to any fire with unusual or remarkable context that results in losses less severe than those of a major fire, if doing so would not negatively affect a criminal investigation.
Sec. 2: Does not grant authority to investigate a major fire for enforcement action or criminal prosecution, and leaves the term major fire to be defined in regulations issued by the Administrator.

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 15 Oct 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.

Changed after House passage

Compares the bill as passed by the House, 11 May 2022, with the final text passed by both chambers. About 48% of the wording the House passed stands in the final text.