II 

Calendar No. 338 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 373 

[Report No. 114–193] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 29, 2015 

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

Resources 

DECEMBER 16, 2015 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment 

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, 

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) composed entirely of members who, at 

8 the time of the good Samaritan search-and-re9 covery mission, have attained the age of major10 ity under the law of the State where the mis11 sion takes place. 

12 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

13 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and14 recovery mission’’ means a search conducted by an 

15 eligible organization or individual for 1 or more 

16 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

17 time that the search is initiated. 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag20 riculture, as applicable. 

21 (b) PROCESS.— 

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

23 and implement a process to expedite access to Fed24 eral land under the administrative jurisdiction of the 

25 Secretary for eligible organizations and individuals 


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1 to request access to Federal land to conduct good 

2 Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. 

3 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and 

4 implemented under this subsection shall include pro5 visions to clarify that— 

6 (A) an eligible organization or individual 

7 granted access under this section— 

8 (i) shall be acting for private pur9 poses; and 

10 (ii) shall not be considered to be a 

11 Federal volunteer; 

12 (B) an eligible organization or individual 

13 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov14 ery mission under this section shall not be con15 sidered to be a volunteer under section 

16 102301(c) of title 54, United States Code; 

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

18 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

19 Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible or20 ganization or individual carrying out a privately 

21 requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

22 mission under this section; and 

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

24 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Em25 ployees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to 


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1 an eligible organization or individual conducting 

2 a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

3 under this section, and the conduct of the good 

4 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall 

5 not constitute civilian employment. 

6 (c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI7 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible or8 ganization or individual to have liability insurance as a 

9 condition of accessing Federal land under this section, if 

10 the eligible organization or individual— 

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

12 the provisions described in subparagraphs (A) 

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

14 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov15 ernment from all liability relating to the access 

16 granted under this section and agrees to indemnify 

17 and hold harmless the United States from any 

18 claims or lawsuits arising from any conduct by the 

19 eligible organization or individual on Federal land. 

20 (d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

22 an eligible organization or individual of the approval 

23 or denial of a request by the eligible organization or 

24 individual to carry out a good Samaritan searchVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Dec 17, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H373.RS H373

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1 and-recovery mission under this section by not later 

2 than 48 hours after the request is made. 

3 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re4 quest from an eligible organization or individual to 

5 carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mis6 sion under this section, the Secretary shall notify the 

7 eligible organization or individual of— 

8 (A) the reason for the denial of the re9 quest; and 

10 (B) any actions that the eligible organiza11 tion or individual can take to meet the require12 ments for the request to be approved. 

13 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 

14 search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and15 recovery organizations— 

16 (1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and17 recovery missions on Federal land under the admin18 istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

19 (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

20 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi21 viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju22 risdiction of the Secretary. 

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

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

25 Congress a joint report describing— 


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1 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

2 subsection (e)(1); and 

3 (2) efforts carried out to expedite and accel4 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

5 efforts for missing individuals on Federal land under 

6 the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

7 pursuant to subsection (e)(2). 


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Calendar No. 338 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 373 

[Report No. 114–193] 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secposes. search-and-recovery missions, and for other pur- tion of each Secretary for good Samaritan Federal land under the administrative jurisdic- retary of Agriculture to expedite access to certain 

DECEMBER 16, 2015 

Reported without amendment 


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