IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 373 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 29, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 


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HR 373 RFS 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Search and Recovery Act’’. 

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

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with re7 spect to an organization or individual, means that 

8 the organization or individual, respectively, is— 

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

10 (B) composed entirely of members who, at 

11 the time of the good Samaritan search-and-re12 covery mission, have attained the age of major13 ity under the law of the State where the mis14 sion takes place. 

15 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

16 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and17 recovery mission’’ means a search conducted by an 

18 eligible organization or individual for 1 or more 

19 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

20 time that the search is initiated. 

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

22 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag23 riculture, as applicable. 

24 (b) PROCESS.— 

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

26 and implement a process to expedite access to FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Apr 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H373.RFS H373

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1 eral land under the administrative jurisdiction of the 

2 Secretary for eligible organizations and individuals 

3 to request access to Federal land to conduct good 

4 Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. 

5 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and 

6 implemented under this subsection shall include pro7 visions to clarify that— 

8 (A) an eligible organization or individual 

9 granted access under this section— 

10 (i) shall be acting for private pur11 poses; and 

12 (ii) shall not be considered to be a 

13 Federal volunteer; 

14 (B) an eligible organization or individual 

15 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov16 ery mission under this section shall not be con17 sidered to be a volunteer under section 

18 102301(c) of title 54, United States Code; 

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

20 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

21 Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible or22 ganization or individual carrying out a privately 

23 requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

24 mission under this section; and 


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HR 373 RFS 

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

2 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Em3 ployees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to 

4 an eligible organization or individual conducting 

5 a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

6 under this section, and the conduct of the good 

7 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall 

8 not constitute civilian employment. 

9 (c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI10 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible or11 ganization or individual to have liability insurance as a 

12 condition of accessing Federal land under this section, if 

13 the eligible organization or individual— 

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

15 the provisions described in subparagraphs (A) 

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

17 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov18 ernment from all liability relating to the access 

19 granted under this section and agrees to indemnify 

20 and hold harmless the United States from any 

21 claims or lawsuits arising from any conduct by the 

22 eligible organization or individual on Federal land. 

23 (d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

25 an eligible organization or individual of the approval 


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1 or denial of a request by the eligible organization or 

2 individual to carry out a good Samaritan search3 and-recovery mission under this section by not later 

4 than 48 hours after the request is made. 

5 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re6 quest from an eligible organization or individual to 

7 carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mis8 sion under this section, the Secretary shall notify the 

9 eligible organization or individual of— 

10 (A) the reason for the denial of the re11 quest; and 

12 (B) any actions that the eligible organiza13 tion or individual can take to meet the require14 ments for the request to be approved. 

15 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 

16 search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and17 recovery organizations— 

18 (1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and19 recovery missions on Federal land under the admin20 istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

21 (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

22 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi23 viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju24 risdiction of the Secretary. 


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

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

3 Congress a joint report describing— 

4 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

5 subsection (e)(1); and 

6 (2) efforts carried out to expedite and accel7 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

8 efforts for missing individuals on Federal land under 

9 the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

10 pursuant to subsection (e)(2). 

Passed the House of Representatives April 28, 2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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