IB 

Union Calendar No. 54 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 373 

[Report No. 114–75, Part I] 

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 

APRIL 15, 2015 

Additional sponsor: Mr. WESTERMAN

APRIL 15, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

APRIL 15, 2015 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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•HR 373 RH

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. 


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•HR 373 RH

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’’. 

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

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with re9 spect to an organization or individual, means that 

10 the organization or individual, respectively, is— 

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

12 (B) certificated in training that meets or 

13 exceeds standards established by the American 

14 Society for Testing and Materials. 

15 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

16 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and17 recovery mission’’ means a search for 1 or more 

18 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

19 time that the search is initiated. 

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

21 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag22 riculture, as applicable. 

23 (b) PROCESS.— 

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

25 and implement a process to expedite access to FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H373.RH H373

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•HR 373 RH

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 RH

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. 

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 

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•HR 373 RH

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). 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 54 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 373 

[Report No. 114–75, Part I] 

A BILL 

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 

APRIL 15, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

APRIL 15, 2015 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to 

Union and ordered to be printed the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS