I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3274

To enhance homeland security by encouraging the development of regional 

coordination plans for emergency and disaster preparedness, response, 

and recovery. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2003

Mr. KINGSTON (for himself, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. 

HOUGHTON, Mr. WICKER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. 

MICA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 

BURNS, and Mr. ROSS) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition 

to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and the Judiciary, 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 enhance homeland security by encouraging the development of regional coordination plans for emergency and 

disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

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 ‘‘Regional Comprehen5 sive Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Coordina6 tion Act of 2003’’. 
2

•HR 3274 IH 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Responders to the terrorist attacks at the 

4 World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the tragedy 

5 in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, from nu6 merous jurisdictions assisted the fire and rescue, law 

7 enforcement, and health workers responsible for re8 sponding within their jurisdictions. 

9 (2) Even in the largest municipalities, first re10 sponders need the support of officials and personnel 

11 from their own and neighboring jurisdictions, as well 

12 as support from numerous regional, State, Federal, 

13 and private sector entities. 

14 (3) The sheer number of agencies taking part 

15 in any emergency response demands coordination, 

16 mutual support, and effective communication. Re17 gional planning and coordination of response efforts 

18 are essential to ensure threat-based, multi-jurisdic19 tional, and interoperable assessments and plans. 

20 (4) There does not exist a consistent national 

21 standard for allocation of homeland security grant 

22 money. Threat based vulnerability assessments and 

23 plans will provide a consistent national standard 

24 based on need. 

25 (5) Regional councils of governments, regional 

26 planning commissions, regional planning organiza-
3

•HR 3274 IH 

1 tions, and development districts have the account2 ability and experience necessary to develop and co3 ordinate comprehensive regional plans that encom4 pass the needs of the Federal, State, and local gov5 ernments, the private sector, and all other parties 

6 with a stake in providing for the security of their 

7 communities. Regional councils of government can 

8 ensure the development of a coordinated emergency 

9 recovery plan involving Federal, State, and local gov10 ernments and the private sector. 

11 (6) Coordinated, area-wide training, equipment 

12 acquisition, and recovery planning is essential for ef13 fective regional preparedness and mitigation. 

14 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour15 age and facilitate the development and implementation of 

16 regional emergency and disaster preparedness, response, 

17 and recovery coordination plans among Federal, State, 

18 and local governments and the private sector within the 

19 region and to facilitate preparedness and mitigation ef20 forts. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

23 (1) REGION.—The term ‘‘region’’ means a des24 ignated multijurisdictional planning area or a sub25 State district with boundaries established by inter-
4

•HR 3274 IH 

1 state compact, State law, or through mutual agree2 ment of local governments. 

3 (2) REGIONAL COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘regional 

4 council’’ means a multipurpose association of local 

5 governments in a planning region, including councils 

6 of governments, regional planning commissions, re7 gional planning organizations, and area development 

8 districts. 

9 (3) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local 

10 government’’ means any county, city, town, or other 

11 municipality within the United States. 

12 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

13 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, or any terri14 tory of the United States. 

15 (5) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’ 

16 means representatives of Federal, State, local, pri17 vate, and nonprofit entities, including—

18 (A) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

19 (B) State and local elected officials; 

20 (C) representatives of Federal, State, and 

21 local emergency management agencies; 

22 (D) local fire and rescue personnel; 

23 (E) Federal, State, and local law enforce24 ment personnel; 
5

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (F) public and private health professionals, 

2 including representatives of the Centers for Dis3 ease Control and Prevention and the National 

4 Institutes of Health; 

5 (G) public and private school representa6 tives; 

7 (H) college and university representatives; 

8 (I) representatives of the business commu9 nity; 

10 (J) port and airport officials; 

11 (K) utilities officials; 

12 (L) representatives of State departments 

13 of transportation; 

14 (M) representatives of local chapters of the 

15 American Red Cross; 

16 (N) representatives of volunteer organiza17 tions concerned with emergency response or dis18 aster recovery; and 

19 (O) representatives of other entities identi20 fied by the stakeholders. 

21 (6) REGIONAL PLAN.—The term ‘‘regional 

22 plan’’ means a regional emergency and disaster pre23 paredness, response, and recovery coordination plan 

24 developed under this Act.
6

•HR 3274 IH 

1 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL PLANS. 

2 (a) COORDINATION OF DEVELOPMENT.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each regional council shall 

4 convene all local governments and Federal, State, 

5 and private sector stakeholders within its region to 

6 coordinate the development of a regional plan in ac7 cordance with this section. 

8 (2) STATES WITHOUT REGIONAL COUNCILS.—

9 In States that do not have regional councils, the 

10 Governor should work with local officials to organize 

11 a regional approach involving local elected officials 

12 and establish a homeland defense regional planning 

13 advisory committee that consists of stakeholders, in14 cluding representatives of Federal, State, local, pri15 vate, and nonprofit entities, as defined in section 3. 

16 (3) STATES WITH AREAS NOT COVERED BY A

17 REGIONAL COUNCIL.—In States with areas that are 

18 not covered by a regional council, the Governor may 

19 assign such areas to a regional council. 

20 (b) ELEMENTS OF THE REGIONAL PLAN.—Each re21 gional plan shall include, at a minimum, the following: 

22 (1) DISASTER ASSESSMENT.—An assessment of 

23 natural disasters, human-induced disasters, and po24 tential terrorist activities or targets that could dis25 rupt essential services or mobility, adversely affect 
7

•HR 3274 IH 

1 public health or safety, or adversely affect infra2 structure within the region. 

3 (2) RESPONSE EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL

4 ASSESSMENT.—An assessment of available equip5 ment and personnel to respond to a disaster. 

6 (3) EQUIPMENT NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—An as7 sessment of equipment needs based on disaster po8 tential, both natural and manmade. 

9 (4) COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM.—A plan for the 

10 development of a regional communication system 

11 among stakeholders. 

12 (5) SECURE INFORMATION REPOSITORY.—A 

13 plan for the development of a secure information re14 pository that includes information needed to coordi15 nate stakeholder responsibilities within the region. 

16 (6) EMERGENCY COORDINATION INFORMA17 TION.—Information on the following: 

18 (A) RESPONSE RESOURCES.—

19 (i) Locations, contacts, capabilities, 

20 and capacities of emergency medical facili21 ties. 

22 (ii) Locations, contacts, and equip23 ment listings for fire, police, and emer24 gency medical technician services. 
8

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (iii) Locations of, and 24-hour con2 tacts for, appropriate medical facilities and 

3 personnel and other potential first re4 sponders. 

5 (iv) Locations and contacts for area 

6 stakeholders involved in the operation and 

7 maintenance of essential services within 

8 the region. 

9 (v) Locations and contacts for area 

10 key military personnel and facilities. 

11 (vi) Locations and contacts for other 

12 response resources as identified by regional 

13 stakeholders. 

14 (B) SUPPORT FACILITIES.—

15 (i) Locations, capabilities, and capac16 ities of existing shelters. 

17 (ii) Locations of, and available facili18 ties at, schools, colleges, universities, 

19 churches, and other public buildings. 

20 (iii) Locations of major water and 

21 food supplies. 

22 (iv) Other support facilities as identi23 fied by regional stakeholders. 

24 (C) INFRASTRUCTURE.—
9

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (i) Locations of water treatment and 

2 storage facilities and distribution mains. 

3 (ii) Locations of utilities lines, pipe4 lines, and generating facilities. 

5 (iii) Locations of sewer mains and 

6 treatment plants. 

7 (iv) Locations of voice, data, video, 

8 microwave, and satellite uplink commu9 nication facilities. 

10 (v) Locations of radio and television 

11 studios and transmission sites. 

12 (vi) Locations and capacities of short13 wave radio facilities and volunteers. 

14 (vii) Locations of major bridges and 

15 dams. 

16 (viii) Locations of major educational 

17 facilities. 

18 (ix) Other infrastructure facilities as 

19 identified by regional stakeholders. 

20 (D) TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.—

21 (i) Locations and capacities of major 

22 transportation facilities, lines, and termi23 nals, including ports and airports. 

24 (ii) Locations and capacities of local 

25 and regional transportation routes. 
10

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (iii) Other transportation facilities as 

2 identified by regional stakeholders. 

3 (E) AT-RISK POPULATIONS.—

4 (i) Locations of large population con5 centrations and the times of those con6 centrations. 

7 (ii) Schedules of major public events 

8 and capacities of venues. 

9 (iii) Population statistics, including 

10 block level population data. 

11 (iv) School enrollment numbers. 

12 (v) Locations of elderly, infirm, and 

13 disabled persons who need special assist14 ance. 

15 (vi) Other at-risk populations as iden16 tified by regional stakeholders. 

17 (F) POTENTIAL TARGETS.—

18 (i) Locations of major concentrations 

19 of hazardous and biohazard chemicals. 

20 (ii) Locations of fuel depots and dis21 pensing facilities that meet certain Envi22 ronmental Protection Agency thresholds. 

23 (iii) Locations of major concentrations 

24 of munitions and explosives.
11

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (iv) Locations of other potential tar2 gets, such as nuclear power plants, in the 

3 region. 

4 (v) Other potential targets as identi5 fied by regional stakeholders. 

6 (G) DEBRIS DISPOSAL.—

7 (i) Identification of locations for de8 bris disposal. 

9 (ii) Identification of potential health 

10 hazards to personnel involved in debris dis11 posal. 

12 (iii) Other debris disposal as identified 

13 by regional stakeholders. 

14 (c) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—Planning activities pur15 suant to this section shall include—

16 (1) analyzing and documenting the possibility of 

17 a disaster and the potential consequences or impacts 

18 of a disaster upon life, property, and the environ19 ment; and 

20 (2) planning for utilization of geographic infor21 mation systems to assess hazards and evaluate the 

22 consequences of potential emergencies or disasters. 

23 (d) APPROVAL OF REGIONAL PLAN.—The initial 

24 phase of a regional plan, including planning components 

25 and an assessment of potential hazards and equipment 
12

•HR 3274 IH 

1 needs, shall be approved by the region council’s governing 

2 body, and the appropriate Governor or Governors, not 

3 later than the date that is 18 months after the regional 

4 council has received an initial apportionment under this 

5 Act. 

6 (e) UPDATE OF REGIONAL PLAN.—A regional council 

7 shall review and update its regional plan at least annually 

8 based on revised threat assessments, trainings, and drills. 

9 (f) SECURITY OF MAPPING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

10 INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN REGIONAL PLAN.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—For security purposes, the 

12 information contained in the regional plan required 

13 under subsection (b)(5) shall be available only to 

14 those public and private officials and agencies that 

15 have responsibility under the plan. 

16 (2) SECURITY TECHNOLOGY.—A regional coun17 cil shall utilize appropriate computer and software 

18 technology for securing the key resources and crit19 ical infrastructure that may be outlined within the 

20 regional plan. 

21 (3) PROTECTION OF KEY RESOURCES AND

22 CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—A regional plan shall 

23 outline the appropriate measures to protect the key 

24 resources and critical infrastructure within its region 

25 in coordination with other agencies and representa-
13

•HR 3274 IH 

1 tives from within the region, including Federal, 

2 State, and local government personnel, agencies, au3 thorities, and the private sector. 

4 (4) CONTINUED REVIEW AND ANALYSIS.—A re5 gional council shall continue to review and analyze 

6 and make recommendations for improvements in the 

7 policies and procedures governing the security of in8 formation contained in its regional plan and sharing 

9 the information with law enforcement, intelligence, 

10 emergency management, and other entities related to 

11 homeland security within the Federal Government 

12 and between such representatives within the region, 

13 including Federal, State, and local government per14 sonnel agencies, authorities, and the private sector. 

15 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

16 (a) APPORTIONMENTS TO STATES.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist States in over18 seeing and coordinating the development of regional 

19 plans under this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Se20 curity shall apportion to each State for each of fiscal 

21 years 2005, 2006, and 2007 $0.05 for each person 

22 residing in the State and shall apportion to each 

23 State for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 such 

24 sums as may be necessary. 
14

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (2) MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Not2 withstanding paragraph (1), a State shall not receive 

3 more than $1,000,000 nor less than $50,000 of the 

4 amounts apportioned under this subsection in a fis5 cal year. 

6 (b) APPORTIONMENTS TO REGIONAL COUNCILS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist regional councils 

8 in meeting the requirements of this Act, the Sec9 retary shall apportion to each regional council identi10 fied by the Secretary for each of fiscal years 2005, 

11 2006, and 2007 $1.00 for each person residing in 

12 the area represented by the regional council and 

13 shall apportion to each regional council for each of 

14 fiscal years 2008 and 2009 such sums as may be 

15 necessary to update regional plans and maintain and 

16 update necessary data. 

17 (2) ENHANCED FUNDING.—The Secretary may 

18 provide an additional apportionment to a regional 

19 council of not more than $0.25 for each person re20 siding in the area represented by the regional coun21 cil based on critical infrastructure and facilities lo22 cated in that area, including nuclear power plants, 

23 military and other large Federal installations, dams, 

24 ports, and areas prone to natural disasters (includ25 ing coastal areas). 
15

•HR 3274 IH 

1 (3) MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Not2 withstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), a regional 

3 council shall not receive more than $1,000,000 nor 

4 less than $50,000 of the amounts apportioned under 

5 this subsection in a fiscal year. 

6 (4) STATES WITHOUT REGIONAL COUNCILS.—

7 Before apportioning amounts under this section for 

8 a fiscal year, the Secretary may set aside a portion 

9 of the amounts for providing assistance to States de10 scribed in section 4(a)(2). 

11 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE.—

12 (1) EFFECT ON FUNDING.—The Secretary may 

13 withhold, reduce, or deny an apportionment under 

14 this section to a State or region council if the Sec15 retary determines, in writing, that the State or re16 gional council has not complied, or provided ade17 quate assurances that it will comply, with the re18 quirements of this Act. 

19 (2) NONCOMPLIANCE BY REGIONAL COUN20 CILS.—In the case of noncompliance by a regional 

21 council in a State, the Governor of the State, after 

22 providing the regional council with an opportunity to 

23 take necessary actions to comply with the require24 ments of this Act and determining, in writing, that 

25 the regional council has not taken such actions, may 
16

•HR 3274 IH 

1 assume the responsibility for organizing a regional 

2 approach for the area represented by the regional 

3 council in accordance with section 4(a)(2). 

4 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

6 appropriated for fiscal years 2005 through 2009 

7 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this sec8 tion. 

9 (2) LIMITATION.—Apportionments required by 

10 this section shall be subject to the availability of ap11 propriations. If amounts appropriated to carry out 

12 this section in a fiscal year are insufficient to make 

13 the apportionments required by this section, the Sec14 retary shall proportionally reduce the amounts to be 

15 so apportioned.

Æ