Summary of Federal Laws                                                   

CUA Compliance Partners

Occupational Health and Safety Specialist

 

Financial Aid Programs

 

Disclosure of Fire Safety Standards and Measures (Section 485 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008) 20 USC 1092(i)

 

Any institution participating in a Title IV federal student financial aid program that maintains on-campus housing facilities must track fire safety statistics as follows:

 

Annual Fire Safety Report

The school must, on an annual basis, publish a fire safety report with the following information:

A) statistics concerning the following in each on-campus student housing facility during the most recent calendar years for which data are available:

(i) the number of fires and the cause of each fire;
(ii) the number of injuries related to a fire that result in treatment at a medical facility;
(iii) the number of deaths related to a fire; and
(iv) the value of property damage caused by a fire.

B) A description of each on-campus student housing facility fire safety system, including the sprinkler fire system;  
C) The number of regular, mandatory, supervised fire drills;
D) Policies or rules on portable electrical appliances, smoking, open flames (such as candles), procedures for evacuation, policies regarding fire safety education and training programs provided to students, faculty, and staff; and
E) plans for future improvements in fire safety, if determined necessary by such institution.

Report to Secretary of Education
The statistics set forth in A above must be reported to the Secretary of Education on an annual basis. At this point in time, the format for reporting the statistics has not yet been established.
The first report will likely be due October 1, 2010.

 

Summary of the New Campus Safety Disclosure Responsibilities: Institutions of postsecondary education that participate in the Federal student financial assistance programs have been required by Section 485(a) and (f) of the Higher Education Act (HEA) to provide the Secretary with campus crime statistics since 1990.  The Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315) (HEOA) was enacted on August 14, 2008 and reauthorizes the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.  The HEOA made a number of additions to campus security reporting requirements.  This spring, representatives from many postsecondary communities participated in meetings held by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to discuss regulatory language (negotiated rulemaking) and ED expects that language to be issued as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this summer.  Final rules will be published by November 1, 2009 and will be effective on July 1, 2010.  The link above provides a summary of these rules for planning purposes.  DOE  anticipates that further guidance will be provided once the final rules have been published. However, institutions must make a good-faith effort to comply with the statute in the absence of regulations and should therefore be gathering this information in preparation for the 2010 report.

Distribute Information to the Campus Community and Keep A log
Schools must (A) make, keep, and maintain a log, recording all fires in on-campus student housing facilities, including the nature, date, time, and general location of each fire, such entry to be made within two business days after receipt of the information. The log for the most recent 60 day period must be open to the public for inspection.
(B) make annual reports to the campus community on such fires. Schools would be required to publish the annual fire safety report by October 1 each year, with the first report due Oct. 1, 2010.

General and Non-Loan Programmatic Issues, Proposed Rule, 74 Fed. Reg. 42380, Friday August 21, 2009 These proposed rules cover the disclosure and many other compliance obligations imposed upon IHEs as a condition of participating in Title IV programs. Comments are due Sept. 21. Final rules are expected by November 1st, 2009. Includes text of proposed fire safety rules.

 

If the fire safety  proposals were to go into effect as currently written, the first reports would be due on October 1, 2010.

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Resources:

See the NAICU HEA Quick Guide for more info on this provision, and a link to the text of the statute.

Congressional Research Service August 31, 2009 Report titled *Reporting and Disclosure Requirements for Institutions of Higher Education to Participate in Federal Student Aid Programs Under Title IV of the Higher Education Act*

The Center for Campus Fire Safety

Fire Safety 101 (part of a FEMA web page)

Firewatch Update May 13, 2009

updated 10/1/09 to add link to proposed regulations and other resources; mlo