IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2166 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 2166 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan 

3 Search and Recovery Act’’. 

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

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

6 implement a process to expedite access to Federal lands 

7 under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary for 

8 eligible organizations and eligible individuals to request 

9 access to Federal lands to conduct good Samaritan search10 and-recovery missions. The process developed and imple11 mented pursuant to this subsection shall include provi12 sions that clarify that— 

13 (1) an eligible organization or eligible individual 

14 granted access under this section shall be acting for 

15 private purposes and shall not be considered a Fed16 eral volunteer; 

17 (2) an eligible organization or eligible individual 

18 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

19 mission under this section shall not be considered a 

20 volunteer under section 3 of the Volunteers in the 

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

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

23 to an eligible organization or eligible individual car24 rying out a privately requested good Samaritan 

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


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 2166 RFS

1 (4) the Federal Employee Compensation Act 

2 shall not apply to an eligible organization or eligible 

3 individual conducting good Samaritan search-and-re4 covery mission under this section and such activities 

5 shall not constitute civilian employment. 

6 (b) RELEASE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM

7 LIABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible 

8 organization or an eligible individual to have liability in9 surance as a condition of accessing Federal lands under 

10 this section if the eligible organization or eligible indi11 vidual— 

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

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

14 of subsection (a); and 

15 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov16 ernment from all liability related to the access grant17 ed under this section. 

18 (c) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

20 an eligible organization and eligible individual of the 

21 approval or denial of a request by that eligible orga22 nization and eligible individual to carry out a good 

23 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission under this 

24 section not more than 48 hours after the request is 

25 made. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 2166 RFS

1 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re2 quest from an eligible organization or eligible indi3 vidual to carry out a good Samaritan search-and-re4 covery mission under this section, the Secretary shall 

5 notify the eligible organization or eligible individual 

6 of— 

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

8 (B) any actions that eligible organization 

9 or eligible individual can take to meet the re10 quirements for the request to be approved. 

11 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary shall develop 

12 search-and-recovery focused partnerships with search-and13 recovery organizations to— 

14 (1) coordinate good Samaritan search-and-re15 covery missions on Federal lands under the adminis16 trative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

17 (2) expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

18 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi19 viduals on Federal lands under the administrative 

20 jurisdiction of the Secretary. 

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

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

23 a joint report to Congress describing— 

24 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

25 subsection (d)(1); and 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 2166 RFS

1 (2) efforts being taken to expedite and accel2 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

3 efforts for missing individuals on Federal lands 

4 under the administrative jurisdiction of the Sec5 retary pursuant to subsection (d)(2). 

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

7 the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION AND ELIGIBLE IN9 DIVIDUAL.—The terms ‘‘eligible organization’’ and 

10 ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an organization or indi11 vidual, respectively, that— 

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

13 and 

14 (B) is certificated in training that meets or 

15 exceeds standards established by the American 

16 Society for Testing and Materials. 

17 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

18 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and19 recovery mission’’ means a search for one or more 

20 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

21 time that the search is initiated. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 2166 RFS

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

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

Passed the House of Representatives January 27, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS