IB 

Union Calendar No. 247 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2166 

[Report No. 113–331, Part I] 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to 

expedite access to certain Federal lands under the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Mr. HECK of Nevada (for himself and Mr. AMODEI) 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 

JANUARY 23 (legislative day, JANUARY 21), 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MORAN and Mr. MCDERMOTT

JANUARY 23 (legislative day, JANUARY 21), 2014 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

JANUARY 23 (legislative day, JANUARY 21), 2014 

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 2166 RH

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of 

Agriculture to expedite access to certain Federal lands 

under the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

for good Samaritan search-and-recovery missions, and 

for other purposes. 

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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 of 2013’’. 

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

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and 

8 implement a process to expedite access to Federal lands 

9 under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary for 

10 eligible organizations and eligible individuals to request 

11 access to Federal lands to conduct good Samaritan search12 and-recovery missions. The process developed and imple13 mented pursuant to this subsection shall include provi14 sions that clarify that— 

15 (1) an eligible organization or eligible individual 

16 granted access under this section shall be acting for 

17 private purposes and shall not be considered a Fed18 eral volunteer; 

19 (2) an eligible organization or eligible individual 

20 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

21 mission under this section shall not be considered a 

22 volunteer under section 3 of the Volunteers in the 

23 Parks Act of 1969 (16 U.S.C. 18i); 

24 (3) the Federal Torts Claim Act shall not apply 

25 to an eligible organization or eligible individual carmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 rying out a privately requested good Samaritan 

2 search-and-recovery mission under this section; and 

3 (4) the Federal Employee Compensation Act 

4 shall not apply to an eligible organization or eligible 

5 individual conducting good Samaritan search-and-re6 covery mission under this section and such activities 

7 shall not constitute civilian employment. 

8 (b) RELEASE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM

9 LIABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible 

10 organization or an eligible individual to have liability in11 surance as a condition of accessing Federal lands under 

12 this section if the eligible organization or eligible indi13 vidual— 

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

15 the provisions listed in paragraphs (1) through (4) 

16 of subsection (a); and 

17 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov18 ernment from all liability related to the access grant19 ed under this section. 

20 (c) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

22 an eligible organization and eligible individual of the 

23 approval or denial of a request by that eligible orga24 nization and eligible individual to carry out a good 

25 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission under this 

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1 section not more than 48 hours after the request is 

2 made. 

3 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re4 quest from an eligible organization or eligible indi5 vidual to carry out a good Samaritan search-and-re6 covery mission under this section, the Secretary shall 

7 notify the eligible organization or eligible individual 

8 of— 

9 (A) the reason for the denial request; and 

10 (B) any actions that eligible organization 

11 or eligible individual can take to meet the re12 quirements for the request to be approved. 

13 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary shall develop 

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

16 (1) coordinate good Samaritan search-and-re17 covery missions on Federal lands under the adminis18 trative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

19 (2) expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

20 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi21 viduals on Federal lands under the administrative 

22 jurisdiction of the Secretary. 

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

24 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

25 a joint report to Congress describing— 

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1 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

2 subsection (d)(1); and 

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

5 efforts for missing individuals on Federal lands 

6 under the administrative jurisdiction of the Sec7 retary pursuant to subsection (d)(2). 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

9 the following definitions apply: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION AND ELIGIBLE IN11 DIVIDUAL.—The terms ‘‘eligible organization’’ and 

12 ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an organization or indi13 vidual, respectively, that— 

14 (A) is acting in a not-for-profit capacity; 

15 and 

16 (B) is certificated in training that meets or 

17 exceeds standards established by the American 

18 Society for Testing and Materials. 

19 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

20 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and21 recovery mission’’ means a search for one or more 

22 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

23 time that the search is initiated. 

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

2 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag3 riculture, as appropriate. 

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Union Calendar No. 247 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2166 

[Report No. 113–331, 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 lands under the administrative jurisdic- retary of Agriculture to expedite access to certain 

JANUARY 23 (legislative day, JANUARY 21), 2014 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources 

JANUARY 23 (legislative day, JANUARY 21), 2014 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to 

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

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