I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2166 

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 

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. 

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’’. 


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

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

3 implement a process to expedite access to Federal lands 

4 under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary for 

5 eligible organizations and eligible individuals to request 

6 access to Federal lands to conduct good Samaritan search7 and-recovery missions. The process developed and imple8 mented pursuant to this subsection shall include provi9 sions that clarify that— 

10 (1) an eligible organization or eligible individual 

11 granted access under this section shall be acting for 

12 private purposes and shall not be considered a Fed13 eral volunteer; 

14 (2) an eligible organization or eligible individual 

15 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

16 mission under this section shall not be considered a 

17 volunteer under section 3 of the Volunteers in the 

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

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

20 to an eligible organization or eligible individual car21 rying out a privately requested good Samaritan 

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

23 (4) the Federal Employee Compensation Act 

24 shall not apply to an eligible organization or eligible 

25 individual conducting good Samaritan search-and-reVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:47 May 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2166.IH H2166

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1 covery mission under this section and such activities 

2 shall not constitute civilian employment. 

3 (b) RELEASE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM

4 LIABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible 

5 organization or an eligible individual to have liability in6 surance as a condition of accessing Federal lands under 

7 this section if the eligible organization or eligible indi8 vidual— 

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

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

11 of subsection (a); and 

12 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov13 ernment from all liability related to the access grant14 ed under this section. 

15 (c) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

17 an eligible organization and eligible individual of the 

18 approval or denial of a request by that eligible orga19 nization and eligible individual to carry out a good 

20 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission under this 

21 section not more than 48 hours after the request is 

22 made. 

23 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re24 quest from an eligible organization or eligible indi25 vidual to carry out a good Samaritan search-and-reVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:47 May 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2166.IH H2166

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1 covery mission under this section, the Secretary shall 

2 notify the eligible organization or eligible individual 

3 of— 

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

5 (B) any actions that eligible organization 

6 or eligible individual can take to meet the re7 quirements for the request to be approved. 

8 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary shall develop 

9 search-and-recovery focused partnerships with search-and10 recovery organizations to— 

11 (1) coordinate good Samaritan search-and-re12 covery missions on Federal lands under the adminis13 trative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

14 (2) expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

15 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi16 viduals on Federal lands under the administrative 

17 jurisdiction of the Secretary. 

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

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

20 a joint report to Congress describing— 

21 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

22 subsection (d)(1); and 

23 (2) efforts being taken to expedite and accel24 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

25 efforts for missing individuals on Federal lands 


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1 under the administrative jurisdiction of the Sec2 retary pursuant to subsection (d)(2). 

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

4 the following definitions apply: 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION AND ELIGIBLE IN6 DIVIDUAL.—The terms ‘‘eligible organization’’ and 

7 ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an organization or indi8 vidual, respectively, that— 

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

10 and 

11 (B) is certificated in training that meets or 

12 exceeds standards established by the American 

13 Society for Testing and Materials. 

14 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

15 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and16 recovery mission’’ means a search for one or more 

17 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

18 time that the search is initiated. 

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

20 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag21 riculture, as appropriate. 

Æ 


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