I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1449

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish a program to 

provide assistance to enhance the ability of first responders to respond 

to incidents of terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of mass 

destruction, and to improve security of infrastructure, and for other 

purposes including emergency preparedness. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2003

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition 

to the Select Committee on 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 amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

a program to provide assistance to enhance the ability 

of first responders to respond to incidents of terrorism, 

including incidents involving weapons of mass destruction, and to improve security of infrastructure, and for 

other purposes including emergency preparedness.

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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘First Responder and 

3 Emergency Preparedness Block Grant Program for Local 

4 Governments’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

7 (1) the Federal Government must enhance the 

8 ability of first responders to respond to incidents of 

9 terrorism, including incidents involving weapons of 

10 mass destruction; 

11 (2) as a result of the events of September 11, 

12 2001, it is necessary to clarify and consolidate the 

13 authority of the Office of Domestic Preparedness to 

14 support first responders; and 

15 (3) help States improve security of infrastruc16 ture. 

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

18 (1) to establish a program to provide assistance 

19 to enhance the ability of first responders to respond 

20 to incidents of terrorism, including incidents involv21 ing weapons of mass destruction; 

22 (2) to establish a program that allows local gov23 ernments to develop State, regional, and local emer24 gency preparedness plans; 

25 (3) to give States and localities the necessary 

26 resources to secure infrastructure assets; and 
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1 (4) to improve response capabilities of State 

2 and local first responders and emergency manage3 ment personnel. 

4 SEC. 3. WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DEFINED. 

5 Section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

6 U.S.C. 101) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(17) The term ‘weapon of mass destruction’ 

9 has the meaning given that term in section 1403 of 

10 the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction 

11 Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 2302; 110 Stat. 2717).’’. 

12 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF OFFICE OF DOMESTIC PRE13 PAREDNESS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 430(c) of the Homeland 

15 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 238(c) is amended—

16 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), and 

17 (8) as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9); 

18 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) through (5) and 

19 inserting after paragraph (1) the following:; 

20 ‘‘(2) establish clearly defined standards and 

21 guidelines for Federal, State, tribal, and local gov22 ernment terrorism preparedness and response; 

23 ‘‘(3) establish and coordinate an integrated ca24 pability for Federal, State, tribal, and local govern-
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1 ments and emergency responders to plan for and ad2 dress potential consequences of terrorism; 

3 ‘‘(4) coordinate provision of Federal terrorism 

4 preparedness assistance to State, tribal, and local 

5 governments; 

6 ‘‘(5) establish standards for a national, inter7 operable emergency communications and warning 

8 system; 

9 ‘‘(6) establish standards for training of first re10 sponders (as defined in section 431(a)), and for 

11 equipment to be used by first responders, to respond 

12 to incidents of terrorism, including incidents involv13 ing weapons of mass destruction;’’; 

14 (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (8) (as so redesignated); 

16 (4) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (9) (as so redesignated) and inserting ‘‘; and’’ 

18 and the following: 

19 ‘‘(10) carry out such other related duties as are 

20 approved by the Secretary. 

21 (b) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—Section 430(d) 

22 of such Act is amended to read as follows—

23 ‘‘(d) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—In carrying 

24 out this section, the Director shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) use, to the maximum extent practicable, 

2 existing resources, including planning documents, 

3 equipment lists, and program inventories; and 

4 ‘‘(2) consult with and use—

5 ‘‘(A) existing Federal interagency boards 

6 and committees; 

7 ‘‘(B) existing government agencies; and 

8 ‘‘(C) nongovernmental organizations.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPOND10 ERS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Homeland Secu12 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 431. PREPAREDNESS ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RE15 SPONDERS. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

17 definitions apply: 

18 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

19 the Director of the Office of Domestic Preparedness 

20 established by section 430. 

21 ‘‘(2) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘first re22 sponder’ means—

23 ‘‘(A) fire, emergency medical service, and 

24 law enforcement personnel; and
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1 ‘‘(B) such other personnel as are identified 

2 by the Director. 

3 ‘‘(3) LOCAL ENTITY.—The term ‘local entity’ 

4 has the meaning given that term by regulation 

5 issued by the Director. 

6 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

7 the program established under subsection (b). 

8 ‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes an 

9 emergency preparedness authority establish under 

10 section 611(h) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

11 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of (42 U.S.C. 

12 5196(h)). 

13 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

15 a program to provide assistance to States to enhance 

16 the ability of State and local first responders to re17 spond to incidents of terrorism, including incidents 

18 involving weapons of mass destruction, and to assist 

19 States and localities in securing vital infrastructure 

20 resources. 

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

22 the costs eligible to be paid using assistance pro23 vided under the program shall be as determined by 

24 the Director, but not less than 75 percent. 
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1 ‘‘(3) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance pro2 vided under paragraph (1) may consist of—

3 ‘‘(A) grants; and 

4 ‘‘(B) such other forms of assistance as the 

5 Director determines to be appropriate. 

6 ‘‘(c) USES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided 

7 under subsection (b)—

8 ‘‘(1) may be used—

9 ‘‘(A) to purchase, to the maximum extent 

10 practicable, interoperable equipment that is nec11 essary to respond to incidents of terrorism, in12 cluding incidents involving weapons of mass de13 struction; 

14 ‘‘(B) to train first responders, consistent 

15 with guidelines and standards developed by the 

16 Director; 

17 ‘‘(C) in consultation with the Director, to 

18 develop, construct, or upgrade terrorism pre19 paredness training facilities; 

20 ‘‘(D) to develop, construct, or upgrade 

21 emergency operations centers; 

22 ‘‘(E) to develop preparedness and response 

23 plans consistent with Federal, State, and local 

24 strategies, as determined by the Director; 
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1 ‘‘(F) to provide systems and equipment to 

2 meet communication needs, such as emergency 

3 notification systems, interoperable equipment, 

4 and secure communication equipment; 

5 ‘‘(G) to conduct exercises relating to emer6 gency preparedness training; 

7 ‘‘(H) to develop emergency preparedness 

8 plans; 

9 ‘‘(I) to enhance infrastructure security, in10 cluding security of ports, mass transit systems, 

11 water infrastructure, power plants, tunnels, and 

12 bridges; 

13 ‘‘(J) to improve security of infrastructure 

14 in accordance with regulations issued by the 

15 Secretary; and 

16 ‘‘(K) to carry out such other related activi17 ties as are approved by the Director; and 

18 ‘‘(2) may be used to provide compensation to 

19 first responders (including payment for overtime); 

20 except that not to exceed 10 percent of amounts 

21 made available to a State under this section for a 

22 fiscal year may be used for this purpose. 

23 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—For each fiscal year, 

24 in providing assistance under subsection (b), the Director 

25 shall make available—
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1 ‘‘(1) to each of the District of Columbia, Puerto 

2 Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 

3 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is4 lands, and the emergency preparedness authorities 

5 established under section 611(h) of the Robert T. 

6 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 5196(h)) $3,000,000; and 

8 ‘‘(2) to each State (other than a State referred 

9 to in paragraph (1))—

10 ‘‘(A) a base amount of $10,000,000; and 

11 ‘‘(B) a percentage of the total remaining 

12 funds made available for the fiscal year based 

13 on the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) 50 percent of the amount appro15 priated to carry out this section (after ap16 plication of paragraph (1) and subpara17 graph (A)) for such fiscal year based on 

18 the population for such State divided by 

19 the total population of all such States; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the remainder based on such cri21 teria as the Director may establish, includ22 ing the proximity of the State to inter23 national borders and number of vital infra24 structure facilities located in the State, in25 cluding military installations, public build-
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1 ings (as defined in section 13 of the Public 

2 Buildings Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 612)), 

3 nuclear power plants, chemical plants, na4 tional landmarks, and ports. 

5 ‘‘(e) PROVISION OF FUNDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

6 AND LOCAL ENTITIES.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, not 

8 less than 75 percent of the assistance provided to 

9 each State (other than an emergency preparedness 

10 authority) under this section shall be provided by the 

11 State to local governments (including councils of 

12 governments) within the State. 

13 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE TRACKING SYSTEMS.—The 

14 Secretary shall establish a system to track the as15 sistance provided by States to local governments 

16 under this subsection for the purpose of ensuring 

17 that the assistance is being used in accordance with 

18 this section. Under the tracking system, not later 

19 than 30 days after the date on which a State pro20 vides assistance to a local government under this 

21 subsection, the State shall submit to the Secretary 

22 a report on the provision and use of such assistance. 

23 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

24 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—For each fiscal year, the Di25 rector may use to pay salaries and other administra-
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1 tive expenses incurred in administering the program 

2 not more than the lesser of—

3 ‘‘(A) 5 percent of the funds made available 

4 to carry out this section for the fiscal year; or 

5 ‘‘(B)(i) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

8 2004 through 2006. 

9 ‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—For each 

10 fiscal year, not more than 5 percent of the funds re11 tained by a State after application of subsection (e) 

12 may be used to pay salaries and other administrative 

13 expenses incurred in administering the program. 

14 ‘‘(g) DEADLINES FOR DISTRIBUTION OF ASSIST15 ANCE.—

16 ‘‘(1) TO STATES.—Not later than 60 days after 

17 the date on which funds are appropriated to carry 

18 out this section for a fiscal year (other than fiscal 

19 year 2004), the Director shall distribute such funds 

20 to the States in accordance with subsection (d). 

21 ‘‘(2) TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Not later than 

22 45 days after the date on which funds appropriated 

23 to carry out this section for a fiscal year (other than 

24 fiscal year 2004) are made available to a State
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1 under this section, the State shall distribute such 

2 funds to local governments under subsection (e). 

3 ‘‘(h) PREAPPLICATION PLAN.—Before the Director 

4 may provide assistance to a State under this section, the 

5 State must submit a plan that recognizes the security and 

6 emergency preparedness needs of metropolitan and rural 

7 areas under the jurisdiction of the State. 

8 ‘‘(i) MAINTENANCE OF EXPENDITURES.—The Direc9 tor may provide assistance to a State under this section 

10 only if the State agrees to maintain, and to ensure that 

11 each local government that receives funds from the State 

12 in accordance with subsection (e) maintains, for the fiscal 

13 year for which the assistance is provided, the aggregate 

14 expenditures by the State or the local government, respec15 tively, for the uses described in subsection (c)(1) at a level 

16 that is at or above the average annual level of those ex17 penditures by the State or local government, respectively, 

18 for the 2 fiscal years preceding the fiscal year for which 

19 the assistance is provided. 

20 ‘‘(j) REPORTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.—As 

22 a condition of receipt of assistance under this section 

23 for a fiscal year, a State shall submit to the Direc24 tor, not later than the 60 days following the last day 

25 of the fiscal year, a report on the use of the assist-
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1 ance in the fiscal year and the status of unspent 

2 funds. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXERCISE AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

4 As a condition of receipt of assistance under this 

5 section, not later than 3 years after the date of en6 actment of this section, a State shall—

7 ‘‘(A) conduct an exercise, or participate in 

8 a regional exercise, approved by the Director, to 

9 measure the progress of the State in enhancing 

10 the ability of State and local first responders to 

11 respond to incidents of terrorism, including in12 cidents involving weapons of mass destruction; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) submit a report on the results of the 

15 exercise to the appropriate committees of the 

16 Senate and the House of Representatives. 

17 ‘‘(k) COORDINATION.—

18 ‘‘(1) WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Director 

19 shall coordinate, as necessary, the provision of as20 sistance under this section with activities carried out 

21 by—

22 ‘‘(A) the Administrator of the United 

23 States Fire Administration in connection with 

24 the implementation by the Administrator of the 

25 assistance to firefighters grant program estab-
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1 lished under section 33 of the Federal Fire Pre2 vention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 

3 2229); 

4 ‘‘(B) other appropriate Federal agencies, 

5 including the Office of Justice of the Depart6 ment of Justice providing assistance under the 

7 Community Oriented Policing Services Office 

8 (COPS) program, the Edward Byrne Memorial 

9 State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance 

10 (Byrne Formula Grant) program, and the Local 

11 Law Enforcement Block Grant (LLEBG) pro12 gram; and 

13 ‘‘(C) other entities within the Department 

14 of Homeland Security, including the Office of 

15 Emergency Preparedness and Response and the 

16 Office of State and Local Government Coordi17 nation. 

18 ‘‘(2) WITH INDIAN TRIBES.—In providing and 

19 using assistance under this section, the Director and 

20 the States shall coordinate, as appropriate, with—

21 ‘‘(A) Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 

22 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 

23 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) and other 

24 tribal organizations; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) Native villages (as defined in section 

2 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

3 (43 U.S.C. 1602)) and other Alaska Native or4 ganizations. 

5 ‘‘(l) LIMITATION.—The amount of funds made avail6 able to carry out this section for a fiscal year should not 

7 affect the amount of funds made available to carry out 

8 the Community Oriented Policing Services Office (COPS) 

9 program, the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local 

10 Law Enforcement Assistance (Byrne Formula Grant) pro11 gram, and Local Law Enforcement Block Grant 

12 (LLEBG) program, and the assistance to firefighters pro13 gram administered by the United States Fire Administra14 tion for such fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $3,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 

18 2006.

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