15 U.S.C. § 2208 — National Fire Data Center

(a) Functions. The Administrator^* must operate a comprehensive National Fire Data Center, either directly or through contracts or grants. The Center selects, analyzes, publishes, and distributes information about preventing fires, fires occurring, controlling fires, and the results of all types of fires. Its program must be designed to: (1) give an accurate nationwide analysis of the fire problem; (2) identify major problem areas; (3) help set priorities; (4) determine possible solutions; and (5) track the progress of programs that reduce fire losses. To do this, the Center must gather and analyze—(1) how often fires occur, their causes, how they spread, and how they are extinguished; (2) the number of injuries and deaths caused by fires, as much available information as possible about the specific causes and nature of those injuries and deaths, categorized by fire type, and information about property losses; (3) occupational hazards faced by firefighters, including direct and indirect causes of firefighter deaths and injuries, including—(A) every injury to a firefighter treated by a doctor, categorized by firefighter type; (B) every death during a pack test or while preparing for work capacity; (C) every injury or death from a vehicle accident; and (D) every injury or death from an aircraft crash; (4) all types of firefighting activities, including inspection practices; (5) technical information about building construction, the fire properties of materials, and similar information; (6) information about foreign nations’ fire-prevention and fire-control laws, systems, methods, techniques, and administrative structures; (7) information about the causes, behavior, and best methods of controlling other fires, including forest fires, brush fires, underground fires, oil blow-out fires, and water-borne fires; and (8) other information and data considered useful and applicable. (b) Methods. To carry out the Center’s program, the Administrator may—(1) develop standard methods for reporting data; (2) encourage and help Federal, State, local, and other public and private agencies develop and report information; and (3) fully use existing public and private organizations that gather and analyze data, including the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends. (c) Dissemination of fire data. The Administrator must distribute, as much as possible, the fire data the Center collects and develops. The Administrator must make that data, information, and analysis available in an appropriate form to Federal agencies, State and local governments, private organizations, industry, businesses, and other interested people. (d) National Fire Incident Reporting System update. The Administrator must update the National Fire Incident Reporting System so its information is available and can be updated through the Internet in real time. (e) Medical privacy of firefighters. Medical data collected under this section must be collected, stored, and transferred in accordance with: (1) the privacy regulations issued under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and (2) other applicable regulations, including parts 160, 162, and 164 of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations as they existed on March 12, 2019.