PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 130 STAT. 1623 

Public Law 114–321 

114th Congress 

An Act 

An Act to establish the Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Operational 

Needs, and Safety Evaluation (RESPONSE) Subcommittee under the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council to provide recommendations on emergency responder training and resources relating to hazardous materials incidents involving railroads, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘RESPONSE Act of 2016’’. 

SEC. 2. RAILROAD EMERGENCY SERVICES PREPAREDNESS, OPERATIONAL NEEDS, AND SAFETY EVALUATION SUBCOMMITTEE. 

Section 508 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

318) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and 

(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: 

‘‘(d) RESPONSE SUBCOMMITTEE.— 

‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the 

date of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 2016, the 

Administrator shall establish, as a subcommittee of the 

National Advisory Council, the Railroad Emergency Services 

Preparedness, Operational Needs, and Safety Evaluation Subcommittee (referred to in this subsection as the ‘RESPONSE 

Subcommittee’). 

‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—Notwithstanding subsection (c), the 

RESPONSE Subcommittee shall be composed of the following: 

‘‘(A) The Deputy Administrator, Protection and 

National Preparedness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or designee. 

‘‘(B) The Chief Safety Officer of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or designee. 

‘‘(C) The Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration, or designee. 

‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Emergency Communications of the Department of Homeland Security, or designee. 

‘‘(E) The Director for the Office of Railroad, Pipeline 

and Hazardous Materials Investigations of the National 

Transportation Safety Board, or designee. 

‘‘(F) The Chief Safety Officer and Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety of the Federal Railroad Administration, or designee. 

Deadline. 

RESPONSE Act 

of 2016. 

6 USC 101 note. 

Dec. 16, 2016 

[S. 546] 


dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with PUBLAWS
130 STAT. 1624 PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 

‘‘(G) The Assistant Administrator for Security Policy 

and Industry Engagement of the Transportation Security 

Administration, or designee. 

‘‘(H) The Assistant Commandant for Response Policy 

of the Coast Guard, or designee. 

‘‘(I) The Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid 

Waste and Emergency Response of the Environmental 

Protection Agency, or designee. 

‘‘(J) Such other qualified individuals as the co-chairpersons shall jointly appoint as soon as practicable after 

the date of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 2016 

from among the following: 

‘‘(i) Members of the National Advisory Council that 

have the requisite technical knowledge and expertise 

to address rail emergency response issues, including 

members from the following disciplines: 

‘‘(I) Emergency management and emergency 

response providers, including fire service, law 

enforcement, hazardous materials response, and 

emergency medical services. 

‘‘(II) State, local, and tribal government officials. 

‘‘(ii) Individuals who have the requisite technical 

knowledge and expertise to serve on the RESPONSE 

Subcommittee, including at least 1 representative from 

each of the following: 

‘‘(I) The rail industry. 

‘‘(II) Rail labor. 

‘‘(III) Persons who offer oil for transportation 

by rail. 

‘‘(IV) The communications industry. 

‘‘(V) Emergency response providers, including 

individuals nominated by national organizations 

representing State and local governments and 

emergency responders. 

‘‘(VI) Emergency response training providers. 

‘‘(VII) Representatives from tribal organizations. 

‘‘(VIII) Technical experts. 

‘‘(IX) Vendors, developers, and manufacturers 

of systems, facilities, equipment, and capabilities 

for emergency responder services. 

‘‘(iii) Representatives of such other stakeholders 

and interested and affected parties as the co-chairpersons consider appropriate. 

‘‘(3) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The members described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall serve as the 

co-chairpersons of the RESPONSE Subcommittee. 

‘‘(4) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of the 

RESPONSE Subcommittee shall take place not later than 90 

days after the date of enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 

2016. 

‘‘(5) CONSULTATION WITH NONMEMBERS.—The RESPONSE 

Subcommittee and the program offices for emergency responder 

training and resources shall consult with other relevant agencies and groups, including entities engaged in federally funded 

research and academic institutions engaged in relevant work 

Deadline. 


dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with PUBLAWS
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 130 STAT. 1625 

and research, which are not represented on the RESPONSE 

Subcommittee to consider new and developing technologies and 

methods that may be beneficial to preparedness and response 

to rail hazardous materials incidents. 

‘‘(6) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The RESPONSE Subcommittee 

shall develop recommendations, as appropriate, for improving 

emergency responder training and resource allocation for hazardous materials incidents involving railroads after evaluating 

the following topics: 

‘‘(A) The quality and application of training for State 

and local emergency responders related to rail hazardous 

materials incidents, including training for emergency 

responders serving small communities near railroads, 

including the following: 

‘‘(i) Ease of access to relevant training for State 

and local emergency responders, including an analysis 

of— 

‘‘(I) the number of individuals being trained; 

‘‘(II) the number of individuals who are 

applying; 

‘‘(III) whether current demand is being met; 

‘‘(IV) current challenges; and 

‘‘(V) projected needs. 

‘‘(ii) Modernization of training course content 

related to rail hazardous materials incidents, with a 

particular focus on fluctuations in oil shipments by 

rail, including regular and ongoing evaluation of course 

opportunities, adaptation to emerging trends, agency 

and private sector outreach, effectiveness and ease of 

access for State and local emergency responders. 

‘‘(iii) Identification of overlap in training content 

and identification of opportunities to develop complementary courses and materials among governmental 

and nongovernmental entities. 

‘‘(iv) Online training platforms, train-the-trainer, 

and mobile training options. 

‘‘(B) The availability and effectiveness of Federal, State, 

local, and nongovernmental funding levels related to 

training emergency responders for rail hazardous materials 

incidents, including emergency responders serving small 

communities near railroads, including— 

‘‘(i) identifying overlap in resource allocations; 

‘‘(ii) identifying cost savings measures that can 

be implemented to increase training opportunities; 

‘‘(iii) leveraging government funding with nongovernmental funding to enhance training opportunities and fill existing training gaps; 

‘‘(iv) adaptation of priority settings for agency 

funding allocations in response to emerging trends; 

‘‘(v) historic levels of funding across Federal agencies for rail hazardous materials incident response and 

training, including funding provided by the private 

sector to public entities or in conjunction with Federal 

programs; and 

‘‘(vi) current funding resources across agencies. 

Evaluations. 


dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with PUBLAWS
130 STAT. 1626 PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 

‘‘(C) The strategy for integrating commodity flow 

studies, mapping, and rail and hazardous materials databases for State and local emergency responders and 

increasing the rate of access to the individual responder 

in existing or emerging communications technology. 

‘‘(7) REPORT.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

date of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 2016, 

the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall submit a report to 

the National Advisory Council that— 

‘‘(i) includes the recommendations developed under 

paragraph (6); 

‘‘(ii) specifies the timeframes for implementing any 

such recommendations that do not require congressional action; and 

‘‘(iii) identifies any such recommendations that do 

require congressional action. 

‘‘(B) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days after receiving 

the report under subparagraph (A), the National Advisory 

Council shall begin a review of the report. The National 

Advisory Council may ask for additional clarification, 

changes, or other information from the RESPONSE Subcommittee to assist in the approval of the recommendations. 

‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATION.—Once the National Advisory 

Council approves the recommendations of the RESPONSE 

Subcommittee, the National Advisory Council shall submit 

the report to— 

‘‘(i) the co-chairpersons of the RESPONSE Subcommittee; 

‘‘(ii) the head of each other agency represented 

on the RESPONSE Subcommittee; 

‘‘(iii) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

‘‘(iv) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation of the Senate; 

‘‘(v) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

House of Representatives; and 

‘‘(vi) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. 

‘‘(8) INTERIM ACTIVITY.— 

‘‘(A) UPDATES AND OVERSIGHT.—After the submission 

of the report by the National Advisory Council under paragraph (7), the Administrator shall— 

‘‘(i) provide annual updates to the congressional 

committees referred to in paragraph (7)(C) regarding 

the status of the implementation of the recommendations developed under paragraph (6); and 

‘‘(ii) coordinate the implementation of the recommendations described in paragraph (6)(G)(i), as 

appropriate. 

‘‘(B) SUNSET.—The requirements of subparagraph (A) 

shall terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date 

of the submission of the report required under paragraph 

(7)(A). 

Coordination. 


dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with PUBLAWS
PUBLIC LAW 114–321—DEC. 16, 2016 130 STAT. 1627 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 546: 

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 114–808 (Comm. on Transportation and Infrastructure). 

SENATE REPORTS: No. 114–85 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs). 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 162 (2016): 

May 9, considered and passed Senate. 

Nov. 29, considered and passed House, amended. 

Dec. 9, Senate concurred in House amendment. 

Æ 

‘‘(9) TERMINATION.—The RESPONSE Subcommittee shall 

terminate not later than 90 days after the submission of the 

report required under paragraph (7)(C).’’. 

Approved December 16, 2016. 


dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with PUBLAWS