II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4815 

To provide for a National Disaster Safety Board. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 20 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for a National Disaster Safety Board. 

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 ‘‘Disaster Learning and 

5 Life Saving Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACT OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘act of vio9 lence’’ means any terrorism-related or other willful 

10 act of human violence that causes loss of human life, 

11 or human or economic injury, including an explosion, 


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1 arson, mass shooting, or attack by a hostile force, as 

2 determined by the Board. 

3 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na4 tional Disaster Safety Board established under sec5 tion 3. 

6 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The term ‘‘Chairperson’’ 

7 means the Chairperson of the Board appointed 

8 under section 3. 

9 (4) ECONOMIC INJURY.—The term ‘‘economic 

10 injury’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘substantial 

11 economic injury’’ in section 7(b) of the Small Busi12 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)). 

13 (5) INCIDENT.—The term ‘‘incident’’ means a 

14 natural hazard, public health incident, or other cir15 cumstance that the Board decides to review. 

16 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND

17 RESEARCH INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘institution of 

18 higher education and research institution’’ means— 

19 (A) an institution of higher education (as 

20 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

21 Act (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 

22 (B) a National Laboratory (as defined in 

23 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

24 U.S.C. 15801)); 


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1 (C) a laboratory described in section 

2 308(c)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 

3 2002 (6 U.S.C. 188(c)(2)); 

4 (D) the National Domestic Preparedness 

5 Consortium established under section 1204 of 

6 the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 

7 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1102) and 

8 the members of such Consortium; and 

9 (E) a research institution associated with 

10 an institution of higher education. 

11 (7) NATURAL HAZARD.—The term ‘‘natural 

12 hazard’’ means any naturally occurring hurricane, 

13 tornado, storm, heat wave, flood, high water, wind14 driven water, wind storm, wildfire, wildland urban 

15 interface fire, urban conflagration fire, tidal wave, 

16 tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, 

17 mudslide, snowstorm, dust storm, drought, or com18 bination thereof, that causes or threatens to cause 

19 loss of human life, or human or economic injury, as 

20 determined by the Board. 

21 (8) PUBLIC HEALTH INCIDENT.—The term 

22 ‘‘public health incident’’ means any infectious dis23 ease outbreak or the public health and safety con24 sequences of chemical, radiological, and biological 

25 events, as determined by the Board. 


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1 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 102 of the Robert T. 

3 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

5 (10) TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTER.—The term 

6 ‘‘technological disaster’’ means an incident that— 

7 (A) is caused by human error or malfunc8 tion in technology, including a dam or struc9 tural failure, a fire (other than a naturally oc10 curring wildfire, wildland urban interface fire, 

11 urban conflagration fire, or arson), a hazardous 

12 material incident, a nuclear accident, and a 

13 power and telecommunications failure; and 

14 (B) causes loss of human life, or human or 

15 economic injury, as determined by the Board. 

16 (11) TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘terrorism’’ has 

17 the meaning given the term in section 2 of the 

18 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). 

19 (12) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

20 government’’ means the governing body of any In21 dian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, 

22 village, or community that the Secretary of the Inte23 rior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe under 

24 the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

25 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130 et seq.). 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) ORGANIZATION.—There is established in the exec3 utive branch a National Disaster Safety Board, which 

4 shall be an independent establishment, as defined in sec5 tion 104 of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Board are— 

7 (1) to reduce loss of life, injury, and economic 

8 injury caused by future incidents by learning from 

9 natural hazards and public health incidents, includ10 ing the impacts and underlying factors of such inci11 dents, in a standardized way; 

12 (2) to maintain a focus that is future-looking 

13 and national in scope, by applying what the Board 

14 learns through the trends that emerge from the inci15 dents the Board reviews nationally to prevent loss of 

16 life, or human or economic injury, not only in the af17 fected jurisdiction, but nationally, as the Board de18 termines relevant; 

19 (3) in carrying out reviews, analyses, and rec20 ommendations, is not to be accusatory in nature and 

21 the Board shall not seek to find blame in any indi22 vidual or organization, or second-guess any relevant 

23 authorities; 

24 (4) to address systemic causes behind the loss 

25 of life and human or economic injury in incidents, 

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1 sources available to entities responsible for man2 aging incident consequences; and 

3 (5) while preventing economic injury as part of 

4 the mission of the Board, when relevant, to prioritize 

5 efforts that focus on lifesaving and injury preven6 tion, especially in disproportionately impacted com7 munities, as its work determines them to be. 

8 SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

9 (a) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 

11 the Board shall review and establish the facts, cir12 cumstances, and cause or probable cause of the loss 

13 of life, human injury, and economic injury due to a 

14 natural hazard or public health incident with 10 or 

15 more fatalities or that meets the requirements de16 scribed in paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (b) 

17 that occurs after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 (2) DUE TO A NATURAL HAZARD OR PUBLIC

19 HEALTH INCIDENT DEFINED.—For purposes of 

20 paragraph (1), the term ‘‘due to a natural hazard or 

21 public health incident’’ means a fatality that, if not 

22 for the natural hazard or public health incident, as 

23 the case may be, would not have occurred within the 

24 time frame of the incident, as defined by standards 

25 developed by the Board. 


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1 (b) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER INCIDENT WAR2 RANTS BOARD REVIEW.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

3 the Board— 

4 (1) may begin the review of an incident, includ5 ing by monitoring the natural hazard or public 

6 health incident and collecting facts, before the total 

7 number of fatalities is known if the Board deter8 mines that the natural hazard or public health inci9 dent has the potential to cause 10 or more fatalities 

10 at its onset, in accordance with the policies and pro11 cedures established by the Board; 

12 (2) may, by a two-thirds vote, decide that an in13 cident that caused 10 or more fatalities does not re14 quire a review and shall issue a public statement ex15 plaining the determination; 

16 (3) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 

17 any natural hazard or public health incident that oc18 curs after the date of enactment of this Act upon re19 quest from a representative of an affected State, 

20 Tribal government, or unit of local government, re21 gardless of the number of fatalities; 

22 (4) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 

23 any natural hazard or public health incident that oc24 curs after the date of enactment of this Act upon 

25 recommendation by the Office for the Protection of 


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1 Disproportionately Impacted Communities of the 

2 Board, which the Office may make because of the 

3 incident’s impacts on populations that are socially, 

4 medically, or economically vulnerable, as decided by 

5 the Office; and 

6 (5) may, by a majority vote, decide to review a 

7 natural hazard or public health incident that occurs 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act if— 

9 (A) the Board determines that information 

10 may be gained by the review that will be useful 

11 in reducing systemic causes behind the loss of 

12 life and human or economic injury; and 

13 (B) the incident— 

14 (i) did not result in 10 or more fatali15 ties; and 

16 (ii)(I) could have resulted in a large 

17 number of fatalities if not for swift inter18 vention or a shift in the course of events; 

19 or 

20 (II) resulted in, as determined by the 

21 Board— 

22 (aa) a significant amount of eco23 nomic or infrastructure damage; 

24 (bb) significant human displace25 ment; or 


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1 (cc) a significant number of se2 vere non-fatal injuries or cases of se3 vere illness; and 

4 (6) shall, by majority vote, determine whether 

5 each incident for which the President issues a major 

6 disaster declaration under section 401 of the Robert 

7 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist8 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) meets the criteria for re9 view under paragraph (5). 

10 (c) NATURE OF REVIEW.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out a review 

12 under this Act, the Board shall— 

13 (A) conduct the review to determine the 

14 facts, conditions, and circumstances relating to 

15 the loss of life, human injury, and economic in16 jury due to an incident; 

17 (B) following an initial assessment of an 

18 incident by the Board, notify any individual or 

19 organization that the Board anticipates will be 

20 affected by the review as to the extent of the 

21 expected review response of the Board; 

22 (C) use the results of the review under 

23 subparagraph (A) to— 

24 (i) determine how and why people die 

25 and are injured during an incident; and 


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1 (ii) issue recommendations to prevent 

2 or mitigate the loss of life, human injury, 

3 or economic injury due to similar incidents; 

4 and 

5 (D) report on the facts and circumstances 

6 of the incident review, including the pre-inci7 dent resilience or vulnerabilities of the incident 

8 area or population. 

9 (2) GENERALIZED NATURE OF REVIEWS.—A 

10 review of loss of life and injury conducted by the 

11 Board shall— 

12 (A) be generalized; 

13 (B) focus on trends across an incident; and 

14 (C) not aim to determine the exact indi15 vidual cause of death or injury of any affected 

16 people. 

17 (3) FACT-FINDING PROCEEDING.—Any review 

18 of an incident by the Board under this Act shall be 

19 a fact-finding proceeding with no adverse parties. 

20 (4) LIMITATION OF APPLICABILITY OF OTHER

21 ACTS.— 

22 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.— 

23 Any review proceedings of the Board under this 

24 Act shall not be— 


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1 (i) subject to the Administrative Pro2 cedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.); or 

3 (ii) conducted for the purpose of de4 termining the rights, liabilities, or blame of 

5 any person, as the review is not an adju6 dicatory proceeding. 

7 (B) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chap8 ter 35 of title 44, United States Code (com9 monly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

10 Act’’), shall not apply to the review proceedings 

11 of the Board under this Act. 

12 (C) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

13 ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

14 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Board. 

15 (5) INITIATING REVIEWS.—The Board shall ini16 tiate a review of an incident by monitoring the situa17 tion and assessing available facts to determine the 

18 appropriate review response, without interfering in 

19 any ongoing lifesaving and life sustaining efforts un20 derway by other entities. 

21 (6) ALIGNMENT AND COORDINATION.—In car22 rying out this Act, the Board shall coordinate with 

23 Federal, State, local, and Tribal entities to— 

24 (A) establish or adopt standard methods of 

25 measuring the impacts of natural hazards and 


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1 accessing response capacity and capabilities to 

2 maintain consistency and allow for the analysis 

3 of trends over time; 

4 (B) ensure that the standard data sets and 

5 formats necessary for reviews developed under 

6 subparagraph (A) are propagated among Fed7 eral, State, local, and tribal entities that may be 

8 involved in response operations; 

9 (C) leverage, to the extent practicable, 

10 data collected using standard data sets and for11 mats established under subparagraph (B) by 

12 Federal entities involved in response operations 

13 to avoid any duplication of data collection; and 

14 (D) during incident response operations, 

15 coordinate with partners active in the operation 

16 to collect data remotely or take other actions 

17 that the Board finds necessary to align and co18 ordinate the requirements of the review with 

19 ongoing operations, including through the re20 quirements of paragraph (7). 

21 (7) INCIDENT COMMAND.—The Board shall— 

22 (A) recognize the role of incident command 

23 systems to address incidents; 

24 (B) participate in the incident command 

25 system to identify and coordinate review needs 


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1 related to the preservation and collection of in2 formation and evidence; and 

3 (C) shall collect information and evidence 

4 from the incident command in a timely and rea5 sonable manner so as not to interfere with the 

6 operations of the incident command. 

7 (8) PARTIES TO THE REVIEW.— 

8 (A) PARTICIPANTS.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), the Board may invite 1 or more en10 tities to serve as a party in a review on a vol11 untary basis, and any party participant shall be 

12 required to follow all directions and instructions 

13 from the Board. 

14 (B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In designating an 

15 entity to serve as a party under subparagraph 

16 (A), the Board may designate only a Federal, 

17 State, or local government agency or private or18 ganization whose employees, functions, activi19 ties, or products were involved in the incident, 

20 including responsible parties, and that can pro21 vide suitable qualified technical personnel to ac22 tively assist in the review. 

23 (C) REPRESENTATIVES OF ELIGIBLE ENTI24 TIES.—To the extent practicable, a representa25 tive proposed by an entity designated as a party 


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1 under subparagraph (A) to participate in the 

2 review may not be an individual who had direct 

3 involvement in the incident under review. 

4 (D) REVOCATION OF PARTY STATUS.—A 

5 designation as a party under subparagraph (A) 

6 may be revoked or suspended by the Board if 

7 the party fails to comply with assigned duties 

8 and instructions, withholds information, or oth9 erwise acts in a manner prejudicial or disrup10 tive to a review. 

11 (E) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

12 this paragraph shall be construed to establish a 

13 right for any entity to participate in a Board 

14 review as a party. 

15 (F) INTERNAL REVIEW BY A PARTY.—To 

16 assure coordination of concurrent efforts, a 

17 party to a review that conducts or authorizes an 

18 internal review of the processes and procedures 

19 of the party as a result of an incident that the 

20 Board is reviewing shall— 

21 (i) inform the Board of the nature of 

22 the review; and 

23 (ii) provide to the Board findings 

24 from the review. 


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1 (9) REVIEW PROCEDURES.—In addition to any 

2 procedures required under this Act, the Board shall 

3 determine and publish detailed review procedures as 

4 the Board determines necessary. 

5 (10) PRODUCTS.—The Board may use any me6 dium that will effectively convey the findings and 

7 recommendations of the Board to the targeted audi8 ence of such findings or recommendations. 

9 (d) REVIEW BY AFFECTED AUTHORITIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—When the Board has com11 pleted the findings and recommendations or other 

12 products as a result of a review under this Act, the 

13 Board shall provide all affected States, Tribal Gov14 ernments, and units of local government, or their 

15 designees, an opportunity to review and comment 

16 not later than 30 days before the publication of the 

17 findings or recommendations. 

18 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall make 

19 every reasonable effort, within its discretion, to re20 spond to requests for additional information and 

21 context that an affected jurisdiction may make and 

22 to edit their findings and recommendations with any 

23 useful additional information or context provided by 

24 any affected jurisdiction in its comments without af25 fecting the integrity or independence of the review 


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1 and its findings and recommendations, as the Board 

2 shall determine. 

3 (e) DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED COMMU4 NITIES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out a review of 

6 an incident under this section, including in deter7 mining whether to launch a review, the Board shall 

8 ensure the potential development of findings that 

9 would benefit the prevention of loss of life and 

10 human or economic injury to populations that are 

11 socially, medically, or economically vulnerable, as de12 cided by the Board. 

13 (2) DATA REQUIREMENT.—To forward the 

14 analysis and identification of trends of fatalities and 

15 injuries as a result of incidents, the Board shall pub16 lish information regarding the number of fatalities 

17 and injuries, and the facts and circumstances sur18 rounding them, disaggregated by race, color or eth19 nicity, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, 

20 English proficiency, occupation, or economic status, 

21 and other demographic characteristics that the 

22 Board may determine appropriate. 

23 (f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER REVIEWS AND IN24 VESTIGATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

2 of this section, a review of a natural hazard incident 

3 by the Board under subsection (a)(1) shall have pri4 ority over any investigation by another department, 

5 agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Govern6 ment or a State, Tribal, or local government. 

7 (2) PARTICIPATION BY OTHER AGENCIES.—The 

8 Board shall provide for appropriate participation by 

9 other departments, agencies, or instrumentalities in 

10 a review conducted by the Board, except that an11 other department, agency, or instrumentality may 

12 not influence the final findings of the Board. 

13 (3) COORDINATION.—The Board shall coordi14 nate with all other Federal, State, Tribal, or local le15 gally mandated investigations or reviews and may 

16 share information with those entities, according to 

17 policies and procedures that the Board will provide, 

18 to ensure that appropriate findings and rec19 ommendations to reduce loss of life, injury, and eco20 nomic injury caused by future incidents are pro21 duced as efficiently as possible. 

22 (4) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not 

23 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act, and biennially thereafter, the Chairman of the 

25 Board shall enter into memoranda of understanding 


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1 with the Director of the National Institute of Stand2 ards and Technology, the Administrator of the Fed3 eral Emergency Management Agency, the Chairman 

4 of the Chemical Safety Board, and the Chairman of 

5 the National Transportation Safety Board, respec6 tively, and may enter into additional memoranda of 

7 understanding with any other Federal entity that re8 quests such due to the relationship that the require9 ments of the Federal entity may have with the re10 quirements with the Board, in order to— 

11 (A) determine the appropriate roles and re12 sponsibilities of the Board with respect to the 

13 other agency or board; 

14 (B) avoid any duplication of effort; and 

15 (C) ensure that appropriate findings and 

16 recommendations to reduce loss of life, injury, 

17 and economic injury caused by future incidents 

18 are provided. 

19 (g) PARTICIPATION IN SUPPORT OF ANOTHER AGEN20 CY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (A) INVESTIGATION OF ACTS OF VIO23 LENCE.—The Board may participate in an in24 vestigation of an act of violence in support of 

25 another Federal department or agency, or other 


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1 Federal investigative body with statutory au2 thority to lead such an investigation, if the head 

3 of the lead investigative agency determines that 

4 the participation of the Board would be bene5 ficial to reduce the likelihood of the loss of life 

6 and human or economic injury, for future simi7 lar incidents. 

8 (B) INVESTIGATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL

9 INCIDENTS.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Board may 

11 participate in an investigation of a techno12 logical incident— 

13 (I) in support of another Federal 

14 department or agency, or other Fed15 eral investigative body with statutory 

16 authority to lead such an investiga17 tion, if the head of the lead investiga18 tive agency determines that the par19 ticipation of the Board would be bene20 ficial to reduce the likelihood of the 

21 loss of life and human or economic in22 jury, for future similar incidents; or 

23 (II) in the case of no statutory 

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1 vestigative body, to lead such an in2 vestigation, as the lead investigative 

3 entity. 

4 (ii) MEMORANDA OF UNDER5 STANDING.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, and bi7 ennially thereafter, the Chairman of the 

8 Board shall enter into memoranda of un9 derstanding with the heads of appropriate 

10 Federal agencies in order to— 

11 (I) determine the appropriate 

12 roles and responsibilities of the Board 

13 in investigating technological incidents 

14 with respect to the other agency; 

15 (II) avoid any duplication of ef16 fort; and 

17 (III) ensure that appropriate 

18 findings and recommendations to re19 duce loss of life, injury, and economic 

20 injury caused by future incidents are 

21 provided. 

22 (2) FINDINGS.—If the Board participates in an 

23 act of violence or technological incident investigation 

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1 standing the outcome of any investigation conducted 

2 by another Federal agency or other Federal inves3 tigative body. 

4 (3) CRIMINAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—If the Attor5 ney General, in consultation with the Chairperson, 

6 determines and notifies the Board that cir7 cumstances reasonably indicate that the act of vio8 lence or technological incident described in subpara9 graph (A) may have been caused by an intentional 

10 criminal act, the Board shall relinquish investigative 

11 priority to the responsible Federal law enforcement 

12 entity. 

13 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section 

14 shall not be construed to affect the authority of an15 other department, agency, or instrumentality of the 

16 Federal Government to investigate an incident under 

17 applicable law or to obtain information directly from 

18 the parties involved in, and witnesses to, the inci19 dent. The Board and other departments, agencies, 

20 and instrumentalities shall ensure that appropriate 

21 information developed about the incident is ex22 changed in a timely manner. 

23 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Board may make 

24 the following types of technical assistance available to 

25 Federal, State, Tribal, and local government agencies and 


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1 to private entities as designated by a Federal, State, Trib2 al, or local government agency: 

3 (1) INDEPENDENT REVIEW.—The Board shall 

4 disseminate best practices for the development of in5 ternal review organizations within State, Tribal, and 

6 local governments. 

7 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDA8 TIONS.—The Board— 

9 (A) may provide technical assistance to 

10 any entity identified as responsible for imple11 menting a recommendation under section 

12 5(a)(1) to assist the entity in implementing the 

13 recommendation; and 

14 (B) to the extent possible, shall provide the 

15 technical assistance described in subparagraph 

16 (A) in coordination with technical assistance of17 fered by another Federal department or agency. 

18 (3) PRIORITIZATION.—In offering technical as19 sistance under this subsection, the Board shall use 

20 a risk-based method of prioritization, as the Board 

21 determines appropriate. 

22 (i) FINDINGS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), not later than 1 year after the date on 

25 which the Board initiates a review conducted under 


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1 this section, the Board shall make the findings and 

2 relevant underlying data of the review available to 

3 the public. 

4 (2) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—The Chair5 person of the Board may extend the 1-year period 

6 described in paragraph (1) if the Chairperson, before 

7 the end of such 1-year period— 

8 (A) provides an explanation for the exten9 sion; and 

10 (B) make available to the public all avail11 able interim findings and underlying data. 

12 SEC. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND RESPONSES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Board issues a rec14 ommendation about an incident, the Board shall— 

15 (1) explain the relationship between any rec16 ommendation and the results of a fact-finding re17 view; 

18 (2) identify each relevant entity responsible for 

19 making the change called for in the recommenda20 tion, including State, local, or private entities, as ap21 propriate; 

22 (3) publish any responses to the recommenda23 tion publicly; and 

24 (4) assess whether the responses adequately 

25 lower the likelihood that a future similar incident 


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1 will result in loss of life, or human or economic in2 jury in the view of the Board. 

3 (b) FEDERAL RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—All Federal departments and 

5 agencies identified in a recommendation made by the 

6 Board shall reply to the recommendations not later 

7 than 90 days after the date on which the rec8 ommendation is published by the Board. 

9 (2) RESPONSE DESCRIBED.—A response under 

10 paragraph (1) made by a Federal department or 

11 agency shall include— 

12 (A) whether the department or agency in13 tends to adopt the recommendation in whole, in 

14 part, or not at all; 

15 (B) an explanation of the reasons for only 

16 adopting the recommendation in part or not at 

17 all; and 

18 (C) a proposed timetable for completing 

19 the action the Federal department or agency 

20 has agreed to. 

21 (3) PROGRESS UPDATES.—A Federal depart22 ment or agency that agrees to adopt a recommenda23 tion of the Board shall— 

24 (A) track the progress of the department 

25 or agency toward completion; and 


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1 (B) provide an update to the Board, to be 

2 published publicly, periodically and not less fre3 quently than annually. 

4 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date on which a final determination is made on 

7 a recommendation under this section, the Board 

8 shall make a copy of the recommendation and re9 sponse to the recommendation available to the pub10 lic. 

11 (2) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—The Chair12 person of the Board may extend the 1-year period 

13 described in paragraph (1) if the Chairperson, before 

14 the end of such 1-year period— 

15 (A) provides an explanation for the exten16 sion; and 

17 (B) make available to the public any avail18 able interim response to the recommendation 

19 and underlying data. 

20 (d) DISSEMINATION.—The Board shall propagate 

21 each recommendation issued under this section, including 

22 by— 

23 (1) incorporating the recommendation, and any 

24 related findings, into training material used by Fed25 eral, State, Tribal, and private training facilities 


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1 specializing in building resilience to and responding 

2 to and recovering from natural hazards and public 

3 health incidents, as the Board deems appropriate; 

4 (2) coordinating with professional associations 

5 related to building resilience to and responding to 

6 and recovering from natural hazards and public 

7 health incidents; 

8 (3) collaborating with relevant Federal, State, 

9 and Tribal authorities and private organizations; 

10 and 

11 (4) coordinating with private and public institu12 tions of higher education and research institutions. 

13 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND STUDIES. 

14 (a) STUDIES AND OTHER REPORTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall periodically 

16 submit a report containing the information described 

17 in paragraph (2) to— 

18 (A) Congress; 

19 (B) any department, agency, or instrumen20 tality of the Federal Government concerned 

21 with natural hazards and public health safety; 

22 (C) all State and Tribal governments; and 

23 (D) the general public. 

24 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa25 tion described in this paragraph is— 


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1 (A) the results of special studies on how to 

2 reduce morbidity and mortality from incidents; 

3 (B) an examination of techniques and 

4 methods of evaluating measures to protect the 

5 public from incidents and periodically publish 

6 recommended procedures for reviews; 

7 (C) evaluation and examination of the ef8 fectiveness of the findings of the Board about 

9 the natural hazard and public health resilience 

10 of other departments, agencies, and instrumen11 talities of the Federal Government and their ef12 fectiveness in preventing loss of life, or human 

13 or economic injury; and 

14 (D) recommend meaningful responses to 

15 reduce the likelihood of loss of life, or human 

16 or economic injury, according to the findings of 

17 the above-mentioned research, including na18 tional and regional policies and programs. 

19 (b) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than June 1, 

20 2022, and once every 2 years thereafter, the Board shall 

21 submit a report to Congress, which shall include— 

22 (1) a statistical and analytical summary of the 

23 reviews conducted and reviewed by the Board during 

24 the prior 2 calendar years; 


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1 (2) a survey and summary of the recommenda2 tions made by the Board and the observed response 

3 to each recommendation, including the classification, 

4 containing a written justification and explanation of 

5 each recommendation as— 

6 (A) open, if, in the determination of the 

7 Board, sufficient action to fulfill the intent of 

8 the recommendation has not been taken and 

9 still should be; 

10 (B) closed, if, in the determination of the 

11 Board, sufficient action to fulfill the intent of 

12 the recommendation has been taken and no fur13 ther action is necessary; and 

14 (C) outdated, if, in the determination of 

15 the Board, the recommendation is no longer rel16 evant because of any change in circumstances 

17 or actions by parties other than the intended 

18 recipient of the recommendation; 

19 (3) an assessment of efforts of Federal, State, 

20 Tribal, and local governments to respond to rec21 ommendations made by the Board, if such entities 

22 have voluntarily provided information to the Board 

23 on the progress of the entity; 


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1 (4) a description of the training undertaken by 

2 the Board and its staff and persons sponsored by 

3 the Board; 

4 (5) a list of natural hazards and public health 

5 incidents that caused 10 or more fatalities that the 

6 Board did not review and a recommendation with 

7 justification by the Board of whether similar inci8 dents should be reviewed in the future; 

9 (6) a recommendation on how, if at all, the 

10 thresholds and triggers for a review by the Board 

11 should change; 

12 (7) an assessment of the sufficiency of Federal 

13 resources provided to State, Tribal, and local gov14 ernments in aggregate relative to any vulnerabilities 

15 that the Board determines the governments have; 

16 (8) a list of all requests for review from Gov17 ernors of States and territories and chief executives 

18 of Tribal governments or recommended by the office 

19 established under section 7(f)(2) that the Board re20 jected, including comments and recommendations 

21 from the Board regarding whether similar incidents 

22 should be reviewed in the future; and 

23 (9) a list of ongoing reviews that have exceeded 

24 the expected time allotted for completion by Board 


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1 order and an explanation for the additional time re2 quired to complete each such review. 

3 (c) DISSEMINATION.—The Board shall propagate the 

4 information described in subsection (a)(2), including by— 

5 (1) incorporating the information into training 

6 material used by Federal, State, Tribal, and private 

7 training facilities specializing in building resilience 

8 to and responding to and recovering from natural 

9 hazards and public health incidents, as the Board 

10 deems appropriate; 

11 (2) coordinating with professional associations 

12 related to building resilience to and responding to 

13 and recovering from natural hazards and public 

14 health incidents; 

15 (3) collaborating with relevant Federal, State, 

16 and Tribal authorities and private organizations; 

17 and 

18 (4) coordinating with private and public institu19 tions of higher education and research institutions. 

20 SEC. 7. APPOINTMENT AND ORGANIZATION. 

21 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be com23 posed of 7 members, who shall, in accordance with 

24 paragraph (2) and subject to paragraph (3), be apVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4815.IS S4815

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1 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

2 consent of the Senate. 

3 (2) PROCEDURE.— 

4 (A) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The Presi5 dent shall appoint the initial 7 members of the 

6 Board from among a list of 14 individuals pro7 vided by both houses of Congress, of which— 

8 (i) the majority leader of the Senate 

9 shall provide the names of 4 individuals; 

10 (ii) the minority leader of the Senate 

11 shall provide the names of 3 individuals; 

12 (iii) the Speaker of the House of Rep13 resentatives shall provide the names of 4 

14 individuals; and 

15 (iv) the minority leader of the House 

16 of Representatives shall provide the names 

17 of 3 individuals. 

18 (B) CONSULTATION.—In making appoint19 ments under this paragraph, the President shall 

20 consult with the National Academies of 

21 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and rel22 evant professional associations and leaders in 

23 the private sector. 

24 (C) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS.—Any 

25 vacancy of the Board shall be filled in the same 


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1 manner as the original appointment, except 

2 that subparagraph (A) shall not apply. 

3 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—Of the 7 members ap4 pointed under paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) not more than 4 members may be ap6 pointed from the same political party; 

7 (B) all members shall be appointed on the 

8 basis of technical qualification, professional 

9 standing, and demonstrated knowledge in emer10 gency management, fire management, emer11 gency medical services, public-health, engineer12 ing, social science, or behavioral science; 

13 (C) a minimum of 2 members shall have 

14 experience working at the State or municipal 

15 level in 1 of the fields described in subpara16 graph (B); and 

17 (D) a minimum of 2 members shall have 

18 demonstrated professional experience working 

19 with populations that have historically been 

20 more vulnerable to incidents because of their 

21 race, color, nationality, sex, age, disability, 

22 English proficiency, or economic status. 

23 (b) TERMS OF OFFICE AND REMOVAL.— 


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1 (1) TERM OF OFFICE.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (2), the term of office of each member 

3 shall be 5 years. 

4 (2) FILLING OF VACANCY.—An individual ap5 pointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expira6 tion of the term for which the predecessor of that 

7 individual was appointed is appointed for the re8 mainder of that term. 

9 (3) CONTINUATION UNTIL SUCCESSOR IS AP10 POINTED.—When the term of office of a member 

11 ends, the member may continue to serve until a suc12 cessor is appointed and confirmed. 

13 (4) REMOVAL.—The President may remove a 

14 member only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or 

15 malfeasance in office. Immediately upon removing a 

16 member of the Board, the President shall issue a 

17 public statement that details how the actions of the 

18 removed member met the criteria of this paragraph. 

19 (c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

20 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall des21 ignate, by and with the advice and consent of the 

22 Senate, a member appointed under subsection (b) to 

23 serve as the Chairperson of the Board. 

24 (2) VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall 

25 designate a member appointed under subsection (b) 


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1 to serve as the Vice Chairperson of the Board and 

2 if the Chairperson is absent or unable to serve, or 

3 if the position of Chairperson is vacant, the Vice 

4 Chairperson shall act as the Chairperson. 

5 (3) TERM OF OFFICE.—The Chairperson and 

6 Vice Chairperson shall each serve in such position 

7 for a term of 3 years. 

8 (d) DUTIES AND POWERS OF CHAIRPERSON.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson shall be the 

10 chief executive and administrative officer of the 

11 Board. 

12 (2) POWERS.—Subject to the general policies 

13 and decisions of the Board, the Chairperson shall— 

14 (A) appoint and supervise officers and em15 ployees, other than regular and full-time em16 ployees in the immediate offices of another 

17 member, necessary to carry out this Act; 

18 (B) fix the pay of officers and employees 

19 necessary to carry out this Act; 

20 (C) distribute business among the officers, 

21 employees, and administrative units of the 

22 Board; and 

23 (D) supervise the expenditures of the 

24 Board. 

25 (e) QUORUM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

2 and (3), 4 members of the Board shall constitute a 

3 quorum for purposes of carrying out the duties and 

4 powers of the Board, subject to the limitations in 

5 the remainder of this subsection. 

6 (2) PARTY LIMITATION.—Not less than 1 rep7 resentative from each party shall be present for a 

8 quorum to be established. 

9 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—Either the Chairperson or 

10 Vice Chairperson shall be present for a quorum to 

11 be established. 

12 (f) OFFICES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall establish 

14 such offices as are necessary to carry out this Act, 

15 which may include offices responsible for— 

16 (A) operations; 

17 (B) science and methodology; 

18 (C) review and evaluation; 

19 (D) communications; 

20 (E) external coordination; or 

21 (F) technical assistance. 

22 (2) OFFICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF DIS23 PROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED COMMUNITIES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall estab25 lish an office to review and make recommendaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4815.IS S4815

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1 tions to mitigate and prevent the loss of life, or 

2 human or economic injury for vulnerable popu3 lations, including populations that may be more 

4 vulnerable because of their race, color, religion, 

5 nationality, sex, age, disability, English pro6 ficiency, or economic status, or other demo7 graphic characteristics that the Board may de8 termine appropriate. 

9 (B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The office estab10 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

11 (i) provide recommendations to the 

12 Board for incidents to review in accordance 

13 with section 4(b)(4) that do not otherwise 

14 meet the requirements of section 4(b); 

15 (ii) determine and maintain a list spe16 cific demographic, economic, social, and 

17 health characteristics of populations that 

18 historically have shown to be disproportion19 ately impacted by incidents; 

20 (iii) during a review conducted by the 

21 Board, provide research and analysis on 

22 how the incident impacts populations that 

23 the Office determines to be disproportion24 ately impacted; 


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1 (iv) provide recommendations for each 

2 review conducted by the Board and for 

3 each report developed under section 6 on 

4 actions that can be taken to reduce the im5 pact to populations that are found to be 

6 disproportionately impacted under clause 

7 (ii); and 

8 (v) provide training, and establish 

9 training requirements, for Board members 

10 and staff in the fields of diversity, inclu11 sion, and equity in consultation with orga12 nizations specializing in those fields. 

13 (3) REGIONAL OFFICES.—In establishing offices 

14 under this subsection, the Board may establish re15 gional offices across the United States to facilitate 

16 collaboration, coordination, and the dissemination of 

17 findings, recommendations, and best practices to 

18 State, Tribal, and local governments and the private 

19 sector in such regions as the Board determines ap20 propriate. 

21 (4) PURPOSE.—Each office established under 

22 this subsection shall enable the Board to review, re23 port on, and issue recommendations to prevent the 

24 loss of life, human injury, and economic injury and 


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1 deliver technical assistance to disseminate best prac2 tices in accordance with this Act. 

3 (g) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The Chairperson 

4 shall designate an officer or employee of the Board to 

5 serve as the Chief Financial Officer, who shall— 

6 (1) report directly to the Chairperson on finan7 cial management and budget execution; 

8 (2) direct, manage, and provide policy guidance 

9 and oversight on financial management and property 

10 and inventory control; and 

11 (3) review the fees, rents, and other charges im12 posed by the Board for services and things of value 

13 it provides and suggest appropriate revisions to 

14 those charges to reflect costs incurred by the Board 

15 in providing those services and things of value. 

16 (h) BOARD MEMBER STAFF.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Board 

18 shall appoint and supervise regular and full-time em19 ployees in his or her immediate office as long as any 

20 such employee has been approved for employment by 

21 the designated agency ethics official under the same 

22 guidelines that apply to all employees of the Board. 

23 (2) DESIGNATION.—With respect to an indi24 vidual appointed under paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) the member of the Board making the 

2 appointment shall determine which grade of the 

3 General Schedule most closely corresponds with 

4 respect to the duties and functions of the posi5 tion to which the individual is appointed; and 

6 (B) during the period of the appoint7 ment— 

8 (i) the individual shall be compensated 

9 at the appropriate rate of pay for the 

10 grade of the General Schedule with respect 

11 to which the determination is made under 

12 subparagraph (A); and 

13 (ii) for the purposes of title 5, United 

14 States Code, and the rules issued under 

15 that title, the individual shall be considered 

16 to be an employee, as that term is defined 

17 in section 5331(a) of title 5, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (3) LIMITATION.—Except for the Chairperson, 

20 the appointment authority in paragraph (1) shall be 

21 limited to the number of full-time equivalent posi22 tions, in addition to 1 senior professional staff posi23 tion at a level not to exceed the GS–15 level of the 

24 General Schedule and 1 administrative staff posi25 tion, allocated to each member of the Board through 


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1 the annual budget and allocation process of the 

2 Board. 

3 (i) DETAILED STAFF.— 

4 (1) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the 

6 Board, the head of an agency described in sub7 paragraph (B), or any other Federal depart8 ment or agency that the Board may request, 

9 may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 

10 personnel of that department or agency to the 

11 Board to assist the Board in carrying out the 

12 duties of the Board under this Act. 

13 (B) RELEVANT AGENCIES.—For purposes 

14 of subparagraph (A), the following are agencies 

15 described in this subparagraph: 

16 (i) The Federal Emergency Manage17 ment Agency. 

18 (ii) The Cybersecurity and Infrastruc19 ture Security Agency of the Department of 

20 Homeland Security. 

21 (iii) The National Oceanic and Atmos22 pheric Administration, including the Na23 tional Weather Service. 

24 (iv) The Department of Defense, in25 cluding the Army Corps of Engineers. 


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1 (v) The Department of Health and 

2 Human Services. 

3 (vi) The National Institutes of 

4 Health. 

5 (vii) The Centers for Disease Control 

6 and Prevention. 

7 (viii) The Coast Guard. 

8 (ix) The National Transportation 

9 Safety Board. 

10 (x) The National Institute of Stand11 ards and Technology. 

12 (xi) The Government Accountability 

13 Office. 

14 (xii) The Department of the Interior, 

15 including the United States Geological 

16 Survey. 

17 (xiii) Any Office of the Inspector Gen18 eral. 

19 (xiv) The Small Business Administra20 tion. 

21 (xv) The Chemical Safety and Hazard 

22 Investigation Board. 

23 (xvi) The Department of Housing and 

24 Urban Development. 

25 (xvii) The Department of Agriculture. 


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1 (2) STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND RESEARCH

2 STAFF.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board may enter 

4 into agreements with State, local, and Tribal 

5 governments and relevant nonprofit institutions 

6 of higher education and research institutions to 

7 request staff, with specialized experience that 

8 the Board determines relevant, to be detailed to 

9 the Board, on a reimbursable basis, and shall 

10 consult with relevant associations and organiza11 tions of those entities in developing an efficient 

12 process for requesting and receiving detailed 

13 staff. 

14 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Board shall en15 sure that any staff members detailed to the 

16 Board under this paragraph are compensated 

17 equitably and shall pay differences in salaries 

18 based on the experience of said staff and in 

19 consultation with the Office of Personnel Man20 agement. 

21 (3) TERM OF DETAIL.—Any staff member de22 tailed to the Board under this section shall be de23 tailed for a term of 1 year and such detail may be 

24 extended for not more than 2 1-year terms. 

25 (4) LIMITATIONS.—Under this subsection— 


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1 (A) not more than 25 percent of the total 

2 number of staff members working for the 

3 Board at any time may be detailees or other4 wise nonpermanent staff; 

5 (B) a detailee shall serve as an adviser or 

6 supplemental professional staff in any office es7 tablished by the Board under subsection (g); 

8 and 

9 (C) a detailee may not— 

10 (i) determine any final findings or rec11 ommendations; and 

12 (ii) be the sole decisionmaker in re13 view or evaluation methodologies. 

14 (j) SEAL.—The Board shall have a seal that shall be 

15 judicially recognized. 

16 (k) OPEN MEETINGS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), the Board shall be considered an agency 

19 for purposes of section 552b of title 5, United States 

20 Code. 

21 (2) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUS22 SIONS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec24 tion 552b of title 5, United States Code, a ma25 jority of the members may hold a meeting that 


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1 is not open to public observation to discuss offi2 cial agency business, if— 

3 (i) no formal or informal vote or other 

4 official agency action is taken at the meet5 ing; 

6 (ii) each individual present at the 

7 meeting is a member or an employee of the 

8 Board; 

9 (iii) at least 1 member of the Board 

10 from each political party is present at the 

11 meeting, if applicable; 

12 (iv) the General Counsel of the Board 

13 is present at the meeting; and 

14 (v) the records of the meeting, includ15 ing the names of the individuals in attend16 ance, time, place, and summary to be as 

17 thorough as the Board determines to be 

18 prudent, are posted publicly and online. 

19 (B) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO20 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Except as provided 

21 under subparagraphs (C) and (D), not later 

22 than 2 business days after the conclusion of a 

23 meeting under subparagraph (A), the Board 

24 shall make available to the public, in a place 

25 easily accessible to the public— 


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1 (i) a list of the individuals present at 

2 the meeting; and 

3 (ii) a summary of the matters, includ4 ing key issues, discussed at the meeting, 

5 except for any matter the Board properly 

6 determines may be withheld from the pub7 lic under section 552b(c) of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 (C) SUMMARY.—If the Board properly de10 termines a matter may be withheld from the 

11 public under section 552b(c) of title 5, United 

12 States Code, the Board shall provide a sum13 mary with as much general information as pos14 sible on each matter withheld from the public. 

15 (D) ACTIVE REVIEWS.—If a discussion 

16 under subparagraph (A) directly relates to an 

17 active review, the Board shall make the disclo18 sure under subparagraph (B) on the date the 

19 Board adopts the final report. 

20 (E) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS

21 REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Noth22 ing in this paragraph may be construed to limit 

23 the applicability of section 552b of title 5, 

24 United States Code, with respect to a meeting 


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1 of the members other than that described in 

2 this paragraph. 

3 (F) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

4 in this paragraph may be construed— 

5 (i) to limit the applicability of section 

6 552b of title 5, United States Code, with 

7 respect to any information which is pro8 posed to be withheld from the public under 

9 subparagraph (B)(ii); or 

10 (ii) to authorize the Board to withhold 

11 from any individual any record that is ac12 cessible to that individual under section 

13 552a of title 5, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 8. METHODOLOGY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall conduct each re16 view, issue each recommendation, develop each report, and 

17 deliver all technical assistance authorized under this Act 

18 using the methods that are in accordance with relevant 

19 professional best practices, including those by analogous 

20 review organizations, academia, and government and pri21 vate organizations. 

22 (b) REQUIRED REVIEW.—The Board shall— 

23 (1) review, on a regular basis, the methodolo24 gies of the Board; and 


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1 (2) update the methodologies of the Board in 

2 accordance with the findings of each review con3 ducted under paragraph (1). 

4 (c) REQUIREMENT.—In establishing the methodolo5 gies of the Board under this section, the Board shall incor6 porate all relevant information from relevant Federal, 

7 State, and local entities, including past experience with 

8 similar incidents, exercises, risk assessments, and all other 

9 past research and analysis. 

10 (d) TRANSPARENCY.—The Chairperson shall include 

11 with each review report in which a recommendation is 

12 issued by the Board a methodology section detailing the 

13 process and information underlying the selection of each 

14 recommendation. 

15 (e) ELEMENTS.—Except as provided in subsection 

16 (f), the methodology section under subsection (a) shall in17 clude, for each recommendation— 

18 (1) a brief summary of the Board’s collection 

19 and analysis of the specific information most rel20 evant to the recommendation; 

21 (2) a description of the Board’s use of external 

22 information, including studies, reports, and experts, 

23 other than the findings of a specific review, if any 

24 were used to inform or support the recommendation, 

25 including a brief summary of the specific resilience 


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1 benefits and other effects identified by each study, 

2 report, or expert; and 

3 (3) a brief summary of actions, including im4 portant examples, taken by regulated entities before 

5 the publication of the recommendation, to the extent 

6 such actions are known to the Board, that were con7 sistent with the recommendation. 

8 (f) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section may 

10 be construed— 

11 (A) to delay publication of the findings, 

12 cause, or probable cause of a Board review; 

13 (B) to delay the issuance of an urgent rec14 ommendation that the Board has determined 

15 must be issued to avoid immediate death, or 

16 human or economic injury; or 

17 (C) to limit the number of examples the 

18 Board may consider before issuing a rec19 ommendation. 

20 (2) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

21 (1), the Board shall publish the methodology re22 quired under this section not later than 30 days 

23 after the date on which the review is initially pub24 lished. 


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1 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board, and when au4 thorized by the Board, a member of the Board, an 

5 administrative law judge employed by or assigned to 

6 the Board, or an officer or employee designated by 

7 the Chairperson, may conduct hearings to carry out 

8 this Act, administer oaths, and require, by subpoena 

9 or otherwise, necessary witnesses and evidence. 

10 (2) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—A witness or evi11 dence in a hearing under paragraph (1) of this sub12 section may be summoned or required to be pro13 duced from any place in the United States to the 

14 designated place of the hearing. A witness sum15 moned under this subsection is entitled to the same 

16 fee and mileage the witness would have been paid in 

17 a court of the United States. 

18 (3) REQUIREMENT.—A subpoena shall be 

19 issued under the signature of the Chairperson or the 

20 Chairperson’s designee, but may be served by any 

21 person designated by the Chairperson. 

22 (4) ENFORCEMENT.—If a person disobeys a 

23 subpoena, order, or inspection notice of the Board, 

24 the Board may bring a civil action in a district court 

25 of the United States to enforce the subpoena, order, 

26 or notice. An action under this paragraph may be 


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1 brought in the judicial district in which the person 

2 against whom the action is brought resides, is found, 

3 or does business. The court may punish a failure to 

4 obey an order of the court to comply with the sub5 poena, order, or notice as a contempt of court. 

6 (b) ADDITIONAL POWERS.—The Board may— 

7 (1) procure the temporary or intermittent serv8 ices of experts or consultants under section 3109 of 

9 title 5, United States Code; 

10 (2) make agreements and other transactions 

11 necessary to carry out this Act without regard to 

12 subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 6101 of title 

13 41, United States Code; 

14 (3) use, when appropriate, available services, 

15 equipment, personnel, and facilities of a department, 

16 agency, or instrumentality of the United States Gov17 ernment on a reimbursable or other basis; 

18 (4) confer with employees and use services, 

19 records, and facilities of State and local govern20 mental authorities; 

21 (5) appoint advisory committees composed of 

22 qualified private citizens and officials of the Govern23 ment and State and local governments as appro24 priate; 


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1 (6) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv2 ices notwithstanding another law; 

3 (7) make contracts with private entities to carry 

4 out studies related to duties and powers of the 

5 Board; and 

6 (8) negotiate and enter into agreements with 

7 individuals and private entities and departments, 

8 agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Gov9 ernment, State, Tribal, and local governments, and 

10 governments of foreign countries for the provision of 

11 facilities, technical services, or training in research 

12 theory and techniques, and require that such entities 

13 provide appropriate consideration for the reasonable 

14 costs of any facilities, goods, services, or training 

15 provided by the Board. 

16 (c) COLLECTION OF FUNDS.—The Board shall de17 posit in the Treasury of the United States amounts re18 ceived under subsection (b)(8) of this subsection to be 

19 credited as offsetting collections to the appropriation of 

20 the Board. The Board shall maintain an annual record 

21 of collections received under subsection (b)(8). 

22 (d) SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN COPIES TO CON23 GRESS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—When the Board submits to 

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1 agement and Budget a budget estimate, budget re2 quest, supplemental budget estimate, other budget 

3 information, a legislative recommendation, prepared 

4 testimony for congressional hearings, or comments 

5 on legislation, the Board must submit a copy to 

6 Congress at the same time. 

7 (2) LIMITATION.—An officer, department, 

8 agency, or instrumentality of the Government may 

9 not require the Board to submit the estimate, re10 quest, information, recommendation, testimony, or 

11 comments to another officer, department, agency, or 

12 instrumentality of the Government for approval, 

13 comment, or review before being submitted to Con14 gress. 

15 (3) BUDGET PROCESS.—The Board shall de16 velop and approve a process for the Board’s review 

17 and comment or approval of documents submitted to 

18 the President, Director of the Office of Management 

19 and Budget, or Congress under this subsection. 

20 (e) LIAISON COMMITTEES.—The Chairperson may 

21 determine the number of committees that are appropriate 

22 to maintain effective liaison with other departments, agen23 cies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Government, 

24 State and local governmental authorities, and independent 

25 standard-setting authorities that carry out programs and 


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1 activities related to its work. The Board may designate 

2 representatives to serve on or assist those committees. 

3 (f) INQUIRIES.—The Board, or an officer or employee 

4 of the Board designated by the Chairperson, may conduct 

5 an inquiry to obtain information related to natural hazard 

6 and public health safety after publishing notice of the in7 quiry in the Federal Register. The Board or designated 

8 officer or employee may require by order a department, 

9 agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government, a 

10 State, Tribal, or local governmental authority, or a person 

11 transporting individuals or property in commerce to sub12 mit to the Board a written report and answers to requests 

13 and questions related to a duty or power of the Board. 

14 The Board may prescribe the time within which the report 

15 and answers must be given to the Board or to the des16 ignated officer or employee. Copies of the report and an17 swers shall be made available for public inspection. 

18 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Board may prescribe regu19 lations to carry out this Act. 

20 (h) OVERTIME PAY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

22 of this section and notwithstanding paragraphs (1) 

23 and (2) of section 5542(a) of title 5, United States 

24 Code, for an employee of the Board whose basic pay 

25 is at a rate which equals or exceeds the minimum 


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1 rate of basic pay for GS–10 of the General Schedule, 

2 the Board may establish an overtime hourly rate of 

3 pay for the employee with respect to work performed 

4 in the field (including travel to or from) and other 

5 work that is critical to a review in an amount equal 

6 to one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic 

7 pay of the employee. All of such amount shall be 

8 considered to be premium pay. 

9 (2) LIMITATION ON OVERTIME PAY TO AN EM10 PLOYEE.—An employee of the Board may not re11 ceive overtime pay under paragraph (1), for work 

12 performed in a calendar year, in an amount that ex13 ceeds 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of 

14 the employee for such calendar year. 

15 (3) BASIC PAY DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

16 the term ‘‘basic pay’’ includes any applicable local17 ity-based comparability payment under section 5304 

18 of title 5, United States Code (or similar provision 

19 of law) and any special rate of pay under section 

20 5305 of such title 5 (or similar provision of law). 

21 (4) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 

22 31, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Board shall 

23 transmit to Congress a report identifying the total 

24 amount of overtime payments made under this sub25 section in the preceding fiscal year, and the number 


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1 of employees whose overtime pay under this sub2 section was limited in that fiscal year as a result of 

3 the 25 percent limit established by paragraph (2). 

4 (i) ENTRY AND INSPECTION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An officer or employee of 

6 the Board— 

7 (A) on display of appropriate credentials 

8 and written notice of authority, may— 

9 (i) enter an area where an incident 

10 has occurred; 

11 (ii) take such actions as are necessary 

12 to conduct a review under this section, so 

13 long as the actions do not interfere with 

14 ongoing lifesaving and life-sustaining oper15 ations; and 

16 (iii) during reasonable hours, inspect 

17 any record, including an electronic record, 

18 process, control, or facility related to an in19 cident under this Act. 

20 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall use ut21 most discretion to prevent interference with ongoing 

22 response efforts, including by developing review pro23 cedures with input from relevant authorities nation24 wide. 


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1 SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF INFOR2 MATION. 

3 (a) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub5 sections (b), (c), (d), and (f) of this section, a copy 

6 of a record, information, or review submitted or re7 ceived by the National Disaster Safety Board, or a 

8 member or employee of the Board, shall be posted 

9 publicly. 

10 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

11 subsection shall be construed to require the release 

12 of information described in section 552(b) of title 5, 

13 United States Code, or protected from disclosure by 

14 another law of the United States. 

15 (b) TRADE SECRETS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may disclose in17 formation related to a trade secret referred to in sec18 tion 1905 of title 18, United States Code, only— 

19 (A) to another department, agency, or in20 strumentality of the United States Government 

21 when requested for official use; 

22 (B) to a committee of Congress having ju23 risdiction over the subject matter to which the 

24 information is related, when requested by that 

25 committee; 


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1 (C) in a judicial proceeding under a court 

2 order that preserves the confidentiality of the 

3 information without impairing the proceeding; 

4 and 

5 (D) to the public to protect health and 

6 safety after giving notice to any interested per7 son to whom the information is related and an 

8 opportunity for that person to comment in writ9 ing, or orally in closed session, on the proposed 

10 disclosure, if the delay resulting from notice 

11 and opportunity for comment would not be det12 rimental to health and safety. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENT.—Information disclosed 

14 under paragraph (1) of this subsection may be dis15 closed only in a way designed to preserve its con16 fidentiality. 

17 (3) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION

18 OF INFORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro19 vision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency re20 ceiving information from the Board, shall disclose 

21 voluntarily provided safety-related information if 

22 that information is not related to the exercise of the 

23 Board’s review authority under this Act and if the 

24 Board finds that the disclosure of the information 


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1 would inhibit the voluntary provision of that type of 

2 information. 

3 (c) RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.— 

4 (1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS.—Ex5 cept as provided in paragraph (2), the Board may 

6 not disclose publicly any part of an original record7 ing or transcript of oral communications or original 

8 and contemporary written communications between 

9 Federal, State, Tribal, or local officials responding 

10 to an incident under review by the Board. 

11 (2) EXCEPTION.—Subject to subsections (b) 

12 and (g), the Board shall make public any part of a 

13 transcript, any written depiction of visual informa14 tion obtained from an audio or video recording, or 

15 any still image obtained from a recording the Board 

16 decides is relevant to the incident— 

17 (A) if the Board holds a public hearing on 

18 the incident at the time of the hearing; or 

19 (B) if the Board does not hold a public 

20 hearing, at the time a majority of the other fac21 tual reports on the incident are placed in the 

22 public docket. 

23 (3) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING

24 SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—This subsection does 

25 not prevent the Board from referring at any time to 


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1 recorded or written information in making safety 

2 recommendations. 

3 (d) FOREIGN REVIEWS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency 

6 receiving information from the Board, shall disclose 

7 records or information relating to its participation in 

8 foreign incident review, except that— 

9 (A) the Board shall release records per10 taining to such a review when the country con11 ducting the review issues its final report or 2 

12 years following the date of the incident, which13 ever occurs first; and 

14 (B) the Board may disclose records and in15 formation when authorized to do so by the 

16 country conducting the review. 

17 (2) SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Nothing in 

18 this subsection shall restrict the Board at any time 

19 from referring to foreign review information in mak20 ing safety recommendations. 

21 (e) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—Before making public 

22 any still image obtained from a video recorder under sub23 section (c)(2) or subsection (d)(2), the Board shall take 

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1 sure any information that readily identifies an individual, 

2 including a decedent. 

3 SEC. 11. TRAINING. 

4 (a) USE OF TRAINING FACILITIES.—The Board may 

5 use, on a reimbursable basis, the services of any training 

6 facility in the Federal Government, including those oper7 ated by the Department of Homeland Security, Depart8 ment of Health and Human Services, and Department of 

9 Commerce. The responsible department or agency shall 

10 make such training facility and any relevant training 

11 course available to— 

12 (1) the Board for safety training of employees 

13 of the Board in carrying out their duties and pow14 ers; and 

15 (2) other relevant personnel of the United 

16 States Government, State and local governments, 

17 governments of foreign countries, interstate authori18 ties, and private organizations the Board designates 

19 in consultation with the relevant departments and 

20 agencies. 

21 (b) FEES.—Training shall be provided at a reason22 able fee established periodically by the Board in consulta23 tion with the relevant departments and agencies. The fee 

24 shall be paid directly to the relevant departments and 

25 agencies, and shall be deposited in the Treasury. 


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1 (c) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTH2 ERS.—The Board may conduct training of its employees 

3 in those subjects necessary for proper performance. The 

4 Board may also authorize attendance at courses given 

5 under this subsection by other government personnel, per6 sonnel of foreign governments, and personnel from indus7 try or otherwise who have a requirement for training. The 

8 Board may require non-Board personnel to reimburse 

9 some or all of the training costs, and amounts so reim10 bursed shall be credited to the appropriation of the Board 

11 as offsetting collections. 

12 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro14 priated, to remain available until expended, for the pur15 poses of this Act— 

16 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

17 (2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

18 (3) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; and 

19 (4) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

20 (b) EMERGENCY FUND.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established in 

22 the Treasury of the United States an Emergency 

23 Fund for the Board, which shall be available to the 

24 Board for necessary expenses of the Board, not oth25 erwise provided for, for reviews. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATIONS.—There shall be appro2 priated, out of amounts in the Treasury not other3 wise appropriated, to the Emergency Fund— 

4 (A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

5 (B) such sums as are necessary to main6 tain the Emergency Fund at a level not to ex7 ceed $4,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter; 

8 and 

9 (C) such other sums as Congress deter10 mines necessary. 

11 (c) FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSEMENTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may impose and 

13 collect such fees, refunds, and reimbursements as it 

14 determines to be appropriate for services provided by 

15 or through the Board. 

16 (2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COL17 LECTIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 

18 31, United States Code, any fee, refund, or reim19 bursement collected under this subsection— 

20 (A) shall be credited as offsetting collec21 tions to the account that finances the activities 

22 and services for which the fee is imposed or 

23 with which the refund or reimbursement is as24 sociated; 


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1 (B) shall be available for expenditure only 

2 to pay the costs of activities and services for 

3 which the fee is imposed or with which the re4 fund or reimbursement is associated; and 

5 (C) shall remain available until expended. 

6 (3) REFUNDS.—The Board may refund any fee 

7 paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of 

8 that required. 

9 SEC. 13. AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De11 partment of Homeland Security, in accordance with the 

12 mission of the Inspector General to prevent and detect 

13 fraud and abuse, shall have authority to review only the 

14 financial management, property management, and busi15 ness operations of the Board, including internal account16 ing and administrative control systems, to determine com17 pliance with applicable Federal laws, rules, and regula18 tions. 

19 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In20 spector General shall— 

21 (1) keep the Chairperson of the Board and 

22 Congress fully and currently informed about prob23 lems relating to administration of the internal ac24 counting and administrative control systems of the 

25 Board; 


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1 (2) issue findings and recommendations for ac2 tions to address such problems; and 

3 (3) report periodically to Congress on any 

4 progress made in implementing actions to address 

5 such problems. 

6 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 

7 section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities 

8 granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a) 

9 and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

10 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

11 (d) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap13 propriated to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

14 for use by the Inspector General of the Department 

15 of Homeland Security such sums as may be nec16 essary to cover expenses associated with activities 

17 pursuant to the authority exercised under this sec18 tion. 

19 (2) REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENT.—In the ab20 sence of an appropriation under this subsection for 

21 an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspec22 tor General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

23 agreement to cover such expense. 


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1 SEC. 14. EVALUATION AND AUDIT OF NATIONAL DISASTER 

2 SAFETY BOARD. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—As determined necessary by the 

4 Comptroller General of the United States or the appro5 priate congressional committees, but not less frequently 

6 than once every 2 years, the Comptroller General of the 

7 United States shall evaluate and audit the programs and 

8 expenditures of the Board in order to promote economy, 

9 efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of the 

10 programs, operations, and activities of the Board. 

11 (b) RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

12 In carrying out subsection (a), the Comptroller General 

13 of the United States shall evaluate and audit the pro14 grams, operations, and activities of the Board, including— 

15 (1) information management and security, in16 cluding privacy protection of personally identifiable 

17 information; 

18 (2) the resource levels of the Board and man19 agement of such resources relative to the mission of 

20 the Board; 

21 (3) workforce development; 

22 (4) procurement and contracting planning, 

23 practices and policies; 

24 (5) the process and procedures to select an inci25 dent to review; 


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1 (6) the extent to which the Board follows lead2 ing practices in selected management areas; 

3 (7) the extent to which the Board addresses 

4 management challenges in completing reviews; 

5 (8) the extent to which the evaluation, review, 

6 and recommendation-issuing methodologies of the 

7 Board are consistent with established best practice, 

8 as determined by the Comptroller General; and 

9 (9) an impact evaluation of the work of the 

10 Board, using the purposes and intent described in 

11 this Act and by the Board, against the realized re12 sults of the Board, according to a methodology de13 termined by the Comptroller General, conducted in 

14 a manner that is not overly disruptive to the work 

15 of the Board. 

Æ 


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