I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 373 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to 

expedite access to certain Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2015 

Mr. HECK of Nevada (for himself, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. ZINKE, 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. VALADAO, and Mr. 

HARDY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of 

Agriculture to expedite access to certain Federal land 

under the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan 

5 Search and Recovery Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPEDITED ACCESS TO CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with re4 spect to an organization or individual, means that 

5 the organization or individual, respectively, is— 

6 (A) acting in a not-for-profit capacity; and 

7 (B) certificated in training that meets or 

8 exceeds standards established by the American 

9 Society for Testing and Materials. 

10 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

11 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and12 recovery mission’’ means a search for 1 or more 

13 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

14 time that the search is initiated. 

15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag17 riculture, as applicable. 

18 (b) PROCESS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Secretary shall develop 

20 and implement a process to expedite access to Fed21 eral land under the administrative jurisdiction of the 

22 Secretary for eligible organizations and individuals 

23 to request access to Federal land to conduct good 

24 Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. 


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1 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and 

2 implemented under this subsection shall include pro3 visions to clarify that— 

4 (A) an eligible organization or individual 

5 granted access under this section— 

6 (i) shall be acting for private pur7 poses; and 

8 (ii) shall not be considered to be a 

9 Federal volunteer; 

10 (B) an eligible organization or individual 

11 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov12 ery mission under this section shall not be con13 sidered to be a volunteer under section 

14 102301(c) of title 54, United States Code; 

15 (C) chapter 171 of title 28, United States 

16 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

17 Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible or18 ganization or individual carrying out a privately 

19 requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

20 mission under this section; and 

21 (D) chapter 81 of title 5, United States 

22 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Em23 ployees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to 

24 an eligible organization or individual conducting 

25 a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 


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1 under this section, and the conduct of the good 

2 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall 

3 not constitute civilian employment. 

4 (c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI5 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible or6 ganization or individual to have liability insurance as a 

7 condition of accessing Federal land under this section, if 

8 the eligible organization or individual— 

9 (1) acknowledges and consents, in writing, to 

10 the provisions described in subparagraphs (A) 

11 through (D) of subsection (b)(2); and 

12 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov13 ernment from all liability relating to the access 

14 granted under this section. 

15 (d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall notify 

17 an eligible organization or individual of the approval 

18 or denial of a request by the eligible organization or 

19 individual to carry out a good Samaritan search20 and-recovery mission under this section by not later 

21 than 48 hours after the request is made. 

22 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re23 quest from an eligible organization or individual to 

24 carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery misVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:02 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H373.IH H373

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1 sion under this section, the Secretary shall notify the 

2 eligible organization or individual of— 

3 (A) the reason for the denial of the re4 quest; and 

5 (B) any actions that the eligible organiza6 tion or individual can take to meet the require7 ments for the request to be approved. 

8 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 

9 search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and10 recovery organizations— 

11 (1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and12 recovery missions on Federal land under the admin13 istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

14 (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

15 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi16 viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju17 risdiction of the Secretary. 

18 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to 

20 Congress a joint report describing— 

21 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

22 subsection (e)(1); and 

23 (2) efforts carried out to expedite and accel24 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

25 efforts for missing individuals on Federal land under 


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1 the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

2 pursuant to subsection (e)(2). 

Æ 


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