I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1389

To enhance the ability of first responders to respond to incidents of terrorism 

and for certain other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2003

Mr. CROWLEY (for himself, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. 

TOWNS, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. WEINER, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. CAPUANO, 

Mr. OWENS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. EMANUEL, Ms. WATERS, Mr. MEEKS of 

New York, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BELL, and Mrs. LOWEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on 

Science, the Judiciary, and Select Homeland Security, 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 enhance the ability of first responders to respond to 

incidents of terrorism and for certain 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 ‘‘Homeland Emergency 

5 Response Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) First responders, which include local law 

4 enforcement departments, fire departments, offices 

5 coordinating emergency management, local health 

6 departments and local public hospitals, are crucial 

7 elements of anti-terror preparation and response. 

8 (2) Local efforts include increased counter-ter9 rorism, intelligence, increased security at events and 

10 venues of national and international significance. 

11 These efforts supplement and enhance Federal ef12 forts. 

13 (3) Local needs include training, personnel, 

14 equipment, communication, security upgrades to fa15 cilities, and Federal assistance with personnel as 

16 well as capital costs and expenses. 

17 (4) The fiscal crisis at the local level is unprece18 dented since WWII and threatens to undermine the 

19 ability of local governments to conduct their efforts 

20 in the War against Terrorism. 

21 (5) The Federal Government has a responsi22 bility to provide for the common defense and there23 fore to assist local governments in their counter-ter24 rorism efforts. 

25 (6) Terrorists, according to the Al Queda man26 ual and by their actions, have shown they seek to in-
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1 flict maximum casualties, to disrupt the national 

2 economy, to disrupt the governmental leadership, 

3 and that they will return to those targets where ear4 lier attacks have failed. 

5 (7) When the criteria that the terrorists use is 

6 applied, it is clear that the localities targeted on 

7 September 11, 2001 as well as several other large 

8 metropolitan areas continue to be at the greatest 

9 risk of terrorist attack. 

10 (8) While every community must have a well 

11 prepared first responder and public health infra12 structure in place to cope with terrorist attacks, the 

13 Nation’s defensive efforts should also be focused on 

14 where the greatest threats are. 

15 (9) As the Nation builds up its defenses, the 

16 Nation must also adequately defend the homeland 

17 through the support of first responders. 

18 (10) A new, long-term grant program by the 

19 Federal Government needs to be established to en20 hance the ability of first responders to respond to in21 cidents of terrorism, including weapons of mass de22 struction, such as biological, chemical and nuclear 

23 attacks to ensure the safety of all Americans. 
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1 SEC. 3. FIRST RESPONDERS. 

2 Section 430(d) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

3 is amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) in paragraph (8) by striking the period and 

7 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(9) establish clear guidelines for Federal, 

10 State, tribal, and local government terrorism pre11 paredness and response; 

12 ‘‘(10) establish and coordinate an integrated ca13 pability for Federal, State, and local governments 

14 and emergency responders to plan for and address 

15 potential consequences of terrorism; 

16 ‘‘(11) establish standards for a national, inter17 operable emergency communications and warning 

18 system which allows for communications capability 

19 between local and other first responders on all levels 

20 of government; 

21 ‘‘(12) evaluate equipment to be used by first re22 sponders, to respond to incidents of terrorism, in23 cluding incidents involving weapons of mass destruc24 tion; and 

25 ‘‘(13) carry out such other related activities as 

26 are approved by the Secretary.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPOND2 ERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 430 of the Homeland Se4 curity Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab8 lish a program to provide assistance to States and 

9 certain local governments to enhance the ability of 

10 State and local first responders to respond to inci11 dents of terrorism, including incidents involving 

12 weapons of mass destruction. 

13 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

14 the cost of assistance under this subsection is as fol15 lows: 

16 ‘‘(A) 1ST YEAR.—shall not exceed 100 per17 cent; 

18 ‘‘(B) 2D YEAR.—shall not exceed 95 per19 cent; 

20 ‘‘(C) 3D YEAR.—shall not exceed 90 per21 cent; and 

22 ‘‘(D) 4TH YEAR.—shall not exceed 80 per23 cent. 

24 ‘‘(3) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—

25 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Assistance provided 

26 under paragraph (1) may consist of—
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1 ‘‘(i) grants; and

2 ‘‘(ii) such other forms of assistance as 

3 the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(B) USES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance 

5 provided under this subsection shall be used—

6 ‘‘(i) to purchase, to the maximum ex7 tent practicable, interoperable equipment 

8 that is necessary to respond to incidents of 

9 terrorism, including incidents involving 

10 weapons of mass destruction; 

11 ‘‘(ii) to train first responders, con12 sistent with guidelines and standards de13 veloped by the Secretary; 

14 ‘‘(iii) in consultation with the Sec15 retary, to develop, construct, or upgrade 

16 terrorism preparedness training facilities 

17 and other facilities dealing with emergency 

18 preparedness; 

19 ‘‘(iv) to develop, construct, or upgrade 

20 emergency operating centers; 

21 ‘‘(v) to develop preparedness and re22 sponse plans consistent with Federal, 

23 State, and local strategies as determined 

24 by the Secretary; 
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1 ‘‘(vi) to provide systems and equip2 ment to meet communication needs, such 

3 as emergency notification systems, inter4 operable equipment, and secure commu5 nication equipment; 

6 ‘‘(vii) to conduct exercises; 

7 ‘‘(viii) to provide for the necessary 

8 equipment needed by local first responders 

9 to prepare for and prevent possible ter10 rorist attacks; 

11 ‘‘(ix) to provide for personnel training 

12 costs; and 

13 ‘‘(x) to provide for personnel costs of 

14 counterterrorism security and intelligence 

15 activities; 

16 ‘‘(xi) to enhance security at facilities; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(xii) to carry out such other related 

19 activities as are approved by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

22 make available for each fiscal year—

‘‘(i) 1 23 ⁄3 of the total amount appro24 priated for this subsection to the 5 local 

25 governments that the Secretary determines 
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1 (in consultation with the Director of the 

2 Central Intelligence Committee, the Direc3 tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

4 and the Secretary of Health and Human 

5 Services) are at the greatest risk and vul6 nerability of a terrorist attack. 

‘‘(ii) the remaining 2 7 ⁄3 of the total 

8 amount appropriated for this subsection to 

9 the 50 States as the Secretary determines 

10 (in consultation with the Director of the 

11 Central Intelligence Committee, the Direc12 tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

13 and the Secretary of Health and Human 

14 Services) are at the greatest risk and vul15 nerability of a terrorist attack. 

16 ‘‘(B) DISTRUBTION OF FUNDS FOR 5

17 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Of the amount made 

18 available for the 5 local governments under sub19 paragraph (A)(i), the Secretary shall dis20 tribute—

‘‘(i) 1 21 ⁄2 in the ratio that the level of 

22 risk of terrorist attack of each local gov23 ernment bears to the level of risk of ter24 rorist attack of all 5 such municipalities. 
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‘‘(ii) 1 1 ⁄4 in the ratio that the total pop2 ulation of each local government bears to

3 the total population of all 5 such munici4 palities. 

‘‘(iii) 1 5 ⁄4 in the ratio that the number 

6 of marquee landmarks in the jurisdiction 

7 of each local government bears to the num8 ber of marquee landmarks in the jurisdic9 tion of all 5 such local governments. 

10 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO

11 STATES.—Of the amount made available under 

12 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall dis13 tribute to States—

‘‘(i) 1 14 ⁄3 in the ratio that the level of 

15 risk of terrorist attack of each State bears 

16 to the level of risk of terrorist attack of all 

17 States. 

‘‘(ii) 1 18 ⁄3 in the ratio that the total pop19 ulation of each State bears to the total 

20 population of all States. 

‘‘(iii) 1 21 ⁄3 in the ratio that the number 

22 of marquee landmarks in each State bears 

23 to the number of marquee landmarks in all 

24 States. 
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1 ‘‘(D) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

2 paragraph shall preclude a State from distrib3 uting funds to a local government that receives 

4 funds under subparagraph (A)(i). 

5 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

6 ‘‘(A) EXPENSES OF SECRETARY.—From 

7 amounts made available under this subsection, 

8 the Secretary may use to pay salaries and other 

9 administrative expenses incurred in admin10 istering the program not more than the lesser 

11 of—

12 ‘‘(i) 5 percent of the funds made 

13 available to carry out this subsection for 

14 the fiscal year; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) for fiscal year 2004, 

16 $75,000,000; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) for each of fiscal years 2005 

18 through 2007, $50,000,000. 

19 ‘‘(B) STATE EXPENSES.—For each fiscal 

20 year, not more than 10 percent of the funds re21 tained by a State after application of subsection 

22 (e) may be used to pay salaries and other ad23 ministrative expenses incurred in administering 

24 the program. 

25 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) STATE COORDINATION.—Each State 

2 shall coordinate with local governments con3 cerning the use of assistance provided to local 

4 governments under paragraph (5). 

5 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL AGENCY COORDINATION.—

6 The Secretary shall, as necessary, coordinate 

7 the provision of assistance under this section 

8 with activities carried out by—

9 ‘‘(i) the Administrator of the United 

10 States Fire Administration in connection 

11 with the implementation by the Adminis12 trator of the assistance to firefighters 

13 grant program established under section 

14 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and 

15 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) (as 

16 added by section 1701(a) of the Floyd D. 

17 Spence National Defense Authorization 

18 Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (114 Stat. 1654, 

19 1654A-360)); 

20 ‘‘(ii) the Attorney General, in connec21 tion with the implementation of the Com22 munity Oriented Policing Services (COPS) 

23 Program established under section 1701(a) 

24 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
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1 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

2 3796dd(a)). 

3 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SEC5 RETARY.—Each of the 5 local governments se6 lected under paragraph (4)(A)(i) and each 

7 State that receives assistance under this sub8 section, shall submit to the Secretary, not later 

9 than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, 

10 a report regarding the use of the assistance in 

11 the fiscal year. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXERCISE AND REPORT TO CON13 GRESS.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

14 of enactment of this subsection, a State shall—

15 ‘‘(i) conduct an exercise, or partici16 pate in a regional exercise, approved by the 

17 Secretary, to measure the progress of the 

18 State in enhancing the ability of State and 

19 local first responders to respond to inci20 dents of terrorism, including incidents in21 volving weapons of mass destruction; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) submit a report on the results of 

23 the exercise to—

24 ‘‘(I) the Committees on the Judi25 ciary and the Committees on Appro-
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1 priations of the House of Representa2 tives and the Senate; and 

3 ‘‘(II) the Select Committee on 

4 Homeland Security of the House of 

5 Representatives. 

6 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection the fol7 lowing definitions apply: 

8 ‘‘(A) WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.—

9 The term ‘weapon of mass destruction’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 2302 of title 

11 50, United States Code.’’. 

12 ‘‘(B) FIRST RESPONDERS.—The term ‘first 

13 responder’ means—

14 ‘‘(i) fire, emergency medical service, 

15 health service, law enforcement personnel, 

16 and urban search and rescue forces; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) such other personnel as are iden18 tified by the Secretary of Homeland Secu19 rity. 

20 ‘‘(C) MARQUEE LANDMARKS.—The term 

21 ‘marquee landmarks’ means recognizable land22 marks or structures such as skyscrapers, 

23 bridges, tunnels, historic landmarks, locations 

24 of international noteworthiness or other notable 

25 landmarks that are associated with a given 
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1 community on a national scale. Additionally, 

2 these also include major seaports and airports,

3 power plants, military installations, major 

4 transportation lines such as subways, dams and 

5 other structures associated with America 

6 ‘‘(D) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 

7 State of the United States or any instrumen8 tality thereof approved by the Governor; the 

9 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 

10 States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam 

11 and the Northern Mariana Islands. 

12 ‘‘(E) TERRORISM.—The term ‘terrorism’ 

13 includes attacks with biological, chemical, or 

14 nuclear weaponry. 

15 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

17 to be appropriated to carry out this sub18 section—

19 ‘‘(i) $3,500,000,000 for fiscal year 

20 2004; 

21 ‘‘(ii) $3,750,000,000 for each of fiscal 

22 years 2005 through 2007; and 

23 ‘‘(B) FUND TO SUPPLEMENT.—The funds 

24 authorized under subparagraph (A) are to sup25 plement, not supplant, other Federal funding 
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1 programs for America’s first responders or 

2 HEROs including the Local Law Enforcement 

3 Block Grant, State Criminal Alien Assistance 

4 program, the Edward Byrne grant program, 

5 and the Community Orientated Policing Pro6 gram (COPS).’’. 

7 SEC. 5. FIREFIGHTER COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAM. 

8 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 

9 (15 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

10 the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 35. FIREFIGHTER COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAM. 

12 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Director shall provide grants for 

13 counterterrorism activities of the fire departments in the 

14 five localities of greatest vulnerability, as determined 

15 under section 430(e)(4)(A)(i) of the Homeland Security 

16 Act of 2002. 

17 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director for car19 rying out this section such sums as may be necessary for 

20 each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2007.’’. 

21 SEC. 6. USA PATRIOT ACT. 

22 (a) GRANTS.—Section 1014(c) of the Uniting and 

23 Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools 

24 Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 
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1 (USA Patriot Act) (42 U.S.C. 3711) is amended by add2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(4) Any amount above the minimum described 

4 in paragraph (3) shall be allocated among the States 

5 as follows—

‘‘(A) 1 6 ⁄2 in the ratio that the level of risk 

7 of terrorist attack of each State bears to the 

8 level of risk of terrorist attack of all States 

9 based on an assessment by the Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security (in consultation with the 

11 Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investiga12 tion and the Central Intelligence Agency); 

‘‘(B) 1 13 ⁄4 in the ratio that the total popu14 lation of each State, bears to the total popu15 lation of all States; and 

‘‘(C) 1 16 ⁄4 in the ratio that the number of 

17 marquee landmarks in each State, bears to the 

18 number of marquee landmarks in all States. 

19 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Section 1014(b) is 

20 amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Grants under this 

22 section may be used to purchase necessary equipment, to 

23 enhance security at facilities, to provide training (includ24 ing the personnel costs of the trainees), to support 

25 counter-terrorism, intelligence, and security activities (in-
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1 cluding personnel costs) and to provide technical assist2 ance to State and local first responders.’’. 

3 (c) Section 1014 of Public Law 107–56 is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following new subsections: 

5 ‘‘(d) GRANT DISTRIBUTION.—Each State receiving a 

6 grant under this section shall distribute not less than 75 

7 percent of such grant amount (before reduction for any 

8 administrative costs of the State) to local jurisdictions 

9 within the State. 

10 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION.—Grants under this section shall 

11 not be subject to a maintenance of effort or matching re12 quirement.’’. 

13 SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF HEALTH AND SAFETY OF FIRST 

14 RESPONDERS. 

15 Subtitle B of title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Dis16 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5197 et seq.) (as amended by section 5(a)) is amended 

18 by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 631. PROTECTION OF HEALTH AND SAFETY OF FIRST 

20 RESPONDERS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘first re23 sponder’ means—
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1 ‘‘(i) fire, emergency medical service, 

2 health service, law enforcement personnel, 

3 and urban search and rescue forces; and

4 ‘‘(ii) such other personnel as are iden5 tified by the Secretary of Homeland Secu6 rity. 

7 ‘‘(2) HARMFUL SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘harm8 ful substance’ means a substance that the President 

9 determines may be harmful to human health. 

10 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means a 

11 program described in subsection (b)(1). 

12 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the President determines 

14 that 1 or more harmful substances are being, or 

15 have been, released in an area that the President 

16 has declared to be a major disaster area under this 

17 Act, the President shall carry out a program with 

18 respect to the area for the protection, assessment, 

19 monitoring, and study of the health and safety of 

20 first responders. 

21 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A program shall include—

22 ‘‘(A) collection and analysis of environ23 mental and exposure data; 

24 ‘‘(B) development and dissemination of 

25 educational materials; 
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1 ‘‘(C) provision of information on releases 

2 of a harmful substance; 

3 ‘‘(D) identification of, performance of 

4 baseline health assessments on, taking biologi5 cal samples from, and establishment of an expo6 sure registry of first responders exposed to a 

7 harmful substance; 

8 ‘‘(E) study of the long-term health impacts 

9 of any exposures of first responders to a harm10 ful substance through epidemiological studies; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(F) provision of assistance to participants 

13 in registries and studies under subparagraphs 

14 (D) and (E) in determining eligibility for health 

15 coverage and identifying appropriate health 

16 services. 

17 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATION IN REGISTRIES AND STUD18 IES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Participation in any 

20 registry or study under subparagraph (D) or 

21 (E) of paragraph (2) shall be voluntary. 

22 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY.—The 

23 President shall take appropriate measures to 

24 protect the privacy of any participant in a reg25 istry or study described in subparagraph (A). 
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1 ‘‘(4) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Presi2 dent may carry out a program through a cooperative 

3 agreement with a medical or academic institution, or 

4 a consortium of such institutions, that is— 

5 ‘‘(A) located in close proximity to the 

6 major disaster area with respect to which the 

7 program is carried out; and 

8 ‘‘(B) experienced in the area of environ9 mental or occupational health and safety, in10 cluding experience in—

11 ‘‘(i) conducting long-term epidemio12 logical studies; 

13 ‘‘(ii) conducting long-term mental 

14 health studies; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) establishing and maintaining en16 vironmental exposure or disease registries. 

17 ‘‘(c) this will authorize and fund the necessary med18 ical monitoring and treatment of the first responders at 

19 Ground Zero from the attacks on New York City of Sep20 tember 11, 2001. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTS AND RESPONSES TO STUDIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

23 date of completion of a study under subsection 

24 (b)(2)(E), the President, or the medical or academic 

25 institution or consortium of such institutions that 
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1 entered into the cooperative agreement under sub2 section (b)(4), shall submit to the Secretary, the 

3 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec4 retary of Labor, the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency and the Majority and Mi6 nority Leaders of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Senate a report on the study. 

8 ‘‘(2) CHANGES IN PROCEDURES.—To protect 

9 the health and safety of first responders, the Presi10 dent shall make such changes in procedures as the 

11 President determines to be necessary based on the 

12 findings of a report submitted under paragraph 

13 (1).’’.

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