II 

Calendar No. 373 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1181 

[Report No. 115–225] 

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 

APRIL 11, 2018 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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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 LAND. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with re7 spect to an organization or individual, means that 

8 the organization or individual, respectively, is— 

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

10 (B) certificated in training that meets or 

11 exceeds standards established by the American 

12 Society for Testing and Materials. 

13 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

14 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and15 recovery mission’’ means a search for one or more 

16 missing individuals believed to be deceased at the 

17 time that the search is initiated. 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag20 riculture, as applicable. 

21 (b) PROCESS.— 

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

23 and implement a process to expedite access to Fed24 eral land under the administrative jurisdiction of the 

25 Secretary for eligible organizations and individuals 


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1 to request access to Federal land to conduct good 

2 Samaritan search-and-recovery missions. 

3 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and 

4 implemented under this subsection shall include pro5 visions to clarify that— 

6 (A) an eligible organization or individual 

7 granted access under this section— 

8 (i) shall be acting for private pur9 poses; and 

10 (ii) shall not be considered to be a 

11 Federal volunteer; 

12 (B) an eligible organization or individual 

13 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov14 ery mission under this section shall not be con15 sidered to be a volunteer under section 

16 102301(c) of title 54, United States Code; 

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

18 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

19 Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible or20 ganization or individual carrying out a privately 

21 requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

22 mission under this section; and 

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

24 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Em25 ployees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to 


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1 an eligible organization or individual conducting 

2 a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

3 under this section, and the conduct of the good 

4 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall 

5 not constitute civilian employment. 

6 (c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI7 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible or8 ganization or individual to have liability insurance as a 

9 condition of accessing Federal land under this section, if 

10 the eligible organization or individual— 

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

12 the provisions described in subparagraphs (A) 

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

14 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Gov15 ernment from all liability relating to the access 

16 granted under this section. 

17 (d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

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

19 an eligible organization or individual of the approval 

20 or denial of a request by the eligible organization or 

21 individual to carry out a good Samaritan search22 and-recovery mission under this section by not later 

23 than 48 hours after the request is made. 

24 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a re25 quest from an eligible organization or individual to 


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1 carry out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mis2 sion under this section, the Secretary shall notify the 

3 eligible organization or individual of— 

4 (A) the reason for the denial of the re5 quest; and 

6 (B) any actions that the eligible organiza7 tion or individual can take to meet the require8 ments for the request to be approved. 

9 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 

10 search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and11 recovery organizations— 

12 (1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and13 recovery missions on Federal land under the admin14 istrative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

15 (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

16 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi17 viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju18 risdiction of the Secretary. 

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

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

21 Congress a joint report describing— 

22 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

23 subsection (e)(1); and 

24 (2) efforts carried out to expedite and accel25 erate good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 


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1 efforts for missing individuals on Federal land under 

2 the administrative jurisdiction of each Secretary 

3 pursuant to subsection (e)(2). 

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan Search 

6 and Recovery Act’’. 

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

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ELIGIBLE.—The term ‘‘eligible’’, with respect 

10 to an organization or individual, means that the or11 ganization or individual, respectively, is— 

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

13 (B) composed entirely of members who, at 

14 the time of the good Samaritan search-and-recov15 ery mission, have attained the age of majority 

16 under the law of the State where the mission 

17 takes place. 

18 (2) GOOD SAMARITAN SEARCH-AND-RECOVERY

19 MISSION.—The term ‘‘good Samaritan search-and-re20 covery mission’’ means a search conducted by an eli21 gible organization or individual for 1 or more miss22 ing individuals believed to be deceased at the time 

23 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 Agri3 culture, as applicable. 

4 (b) PROCESS.— 

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

6 and implement a process to expedite access to Federal 

7 land under the administrative jurisdiction of the Sec8 retary for eligible organizations and individuals to 

9 request access to Federal land to conduct good Samar10 itan search-and-recovery missions. 

11 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The process developed and im12 plemented under this subsection shall include provi13 sions to clarify that— 

14 (A) an eligible organization or individual 

15 granted access under this section— 

16 (i) shall be acting for private purposes; 

17 and 

18 (ii) shall not be considered to be a Fed19 eral volunteer; 

20 (B) an eligible organization or individual 

21 conducting a good Samaritan search-and-recov22 ery mission under this section shall not be con23 sidered to be a volunteer under section 102301(c) 

24 of title 54, United States Code; 


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

2 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

3 Claims Act’’), shall not apply to an eligible orga4 nization or individual carrying out a privately 

5 requested good Samaritan search-and-recovery 

6 mission under this section; and 

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

8 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Employ9 ees Compensation Act’’), shall not apply to an el10 igible organization or individual conducting a 

11 good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

12 under this section, and the conduct of the good 

13 Samaritan search-and-recovery mission shall not 

14 constitute civilian employment. 

15 (c) RELEASE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LI16 ABILITY.—The Secretary shall not require an eligible orga17 nization or individual to have liability insurance as a con18 dition of accessing Federal land under this section, if the 

19 eligible organization or individual— 

20 (1) acknowledges and consents, in writing, to the 

21 provisions described in subparagraphs (A) through 

22 (D) of subsection (b)(2); and 

23 (2) signs a waiver releasing the Federal Govern24 ment from all liability relating to the access granted 

25 under this section and agrees to indemnify and hold 


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1 harmless the United States from any claims or law2 suits arising from any conduct by the eligible organi3 zation or individual on Federal land. 

4 (d) APPROVAL AND DENIAL OF REQUESTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall notify an 

6 eligible organization or individual of the approval or 

7 denial of a request by the eligible organization or in8 dividual to carry out a good Samaritan search-and9 recovery mission under this section by not later than 

10 48 hours after the request is made. 

11 (2) DENIALS.—If the Secretary denies a request 

12 from an eligible organization or individual to carry 

13 out a good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission 

14 under this section, the Secretary shall notify the eligi15 ble organization or individual of— 

16 (A) the reason for the denial of the request; 

17 and 

18 (B) any actions that the eligible organiza19 tion or individual can take to meet the require20 ments for the request to be approved. 

21 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—Each Secretary shall develop 

22 search-and-recovery-focused partnerships with search-and23 recovery organizations— 


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1 (1) to coordinate good Samaritan search-and-re2 covery missions on Federal land under the adminis3 trative jurisdiction of the Secretary; and 

4 (2) to expedite and accelerate good Samaritan 

5 search-and-recovery mission efforts for missing indi6 viduals on Federal land under the administrative ju7 risdiction of the Secretary. 

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

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

10 Congress a joint report describing— 

11 (1) plans to develop partnerships described in 

12 subsection (e)(1); and 

13 (2) efforts carried out to expedite and accelerate 

14 good Samaritan search-and-recovery mission efforts 

15 for missing individuals on Federal land under the ad16 ministrative jurisdiction of each Secretary pursuant 

17 to subsection (e)(2). 


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Calendar No. 373 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1181 

[Report No. 115–225] 

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 land under the administrative jurisdic- retary of Agriculture to expedite access to certain 

APRIL 11, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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