II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1181 

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

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2017 

Mr. HELLER (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of 

Agriculture to expedite access to certain Federal land 

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’’. 

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

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 

•S 1181 IS

1 (1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with re2 spect to an organization or individual, means that 

3 the organization or individual, respectively, is— 

4 (A) acting in a not-for-profit capacity; and 

5 (B) certificated in training that meets or 

6 exceeds standards established by the American 

7 Society for Testing and Materials. 

8 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

9 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and10 recovery mission’’ means a search for one or more 

11 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

12 time that the search is initiated. 

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

14 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag15 riculture, as applicable. 

16 (b) PROCESS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Secretary shall develop 

18 and implement a process to expedite access to Fed19 eral land under the administrative jurisdiction of the 

20 Secretary for eligible organizations and individuals 

21 to request access to Federal land to conduct good 

22 Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. 

23 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and 

24 implemented under this subsection shall include pro25 visions to clarify that— 

3 

•S 1181 IS

1 (A) an eligible organization or individual 

2 granted access under this section— 

3 (i) shall be acting for private pur4 poses; and 

5 (ii) shall not be considered to be a 

6 Federal volunteer; 

7 (B) an eligible organization or individual 

8 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov9 ery mission under this section shall not be con10 sidered to be a volunteer under section 

11 102301(c) of title 54, United States Code; 

12 (C) chapter 171 of title 28, United States 

13 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

14 Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible or15 ganization or individual carrying out a privately 

16 requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

17 mission under this section; and 

18 (D) chapter 81 of title 5, United States 

19 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Em20 ployees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to 

21 an eligible organization or individual conducting 

22 a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

23 under this section, and the conduct of the good 

24 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall 

25 not constitute civilian employment. 

4 

•S 1181 IS

1 (c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI2 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible or3 ganization or individual to have liability insurance as a 

4 condition of accessing Federal land under this section, if 

5 the eligible organization or individual— 

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

7 the provisions described in subparagraphs (A) 

8 through (D) of subsection (b)(2); and 

9 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov10 ernment from all liability relating to the access 

11 granted under this section. 

12 (d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

14 an eligible organization or individual of the approval 

15 or denial of a request by the eligible organization or 

16 individual to carry out a good Samaritan search17 and-recovery mission under this section by not later 

18 than 48 hours after the request is made. 

19 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re20 quest from an eligible organization or individual to 

21 carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mis22 sion under this section, the Secretary shall notify the 

23 eligible organization or individual of— 

24 (A) the reason for the denial of the re25 quest; and 

5 

•S 1181 IS

1 (B) any actions that the eligible organiza2 tion or individual can take to meet the require3 ments for the request to be approved. 

4 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 

5 search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and6 recovery organizations— 

7 (1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and8 recovery missions on Federal land under the admin9 istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

10 (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

11 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi12 viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju13 risdiction of the Secretary. 

14 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to 

16 Congress a joint report describing— 

17 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

18 subsection (e)(1); and 

19 (2) efforts carried out to expedite and accel20 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

21 efforts for missing individuals on Federal land under 

22 the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

23 pursuant to subsection (e)(2). 

Æ