II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2043 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to provide grants for mass evacuation exercises for urban and suburban areas and the execution of emergency response plans, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2005 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. SALAZAR) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide grants for mass evacuation exercises for urban and suburban areas and the 

execution of emergency response plans, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mass Evacuation Exer5 cise Assistance Act of 2005’’. 
2 

•S 2043 IS

1 SEC. 2. MASS EVACUATION EXERCISES AND EXECUTION OF 

2 EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS. 

3 Section 201 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

4 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) GRANTS FOR MASS EVACUATION EXERCISES

7 FOR URBAN AND SUBURBAN AREAS AND THE EXECUTION

8 OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

10 Security shall make grants to States or units of local 

11 governments nominated by States to— 

12 ‘‘(A) establish programs for the develop13 ment of plans and conduct of exercises for the 

14 mass evacuation of persons in urban and subur15 ban areas; and 

16 ‘‘(B) execute plans developed under sub17 paragraph (A), including the purchase and 

18 stockpiling of necessary supplies for emergency 

19 routes and shelters. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—As a condition for the re21 ceipt of assistance under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec22 retary of Homeland Security may establish any 

23 guidelines and standards for the programs that the 

24 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

25 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—To the maximum extent 

26 practicable, a program assisted under paragraph 
3 

•S 2043 IS

1 (1)(A) shall incorporate the coordinated use of pub2 lic and private transportation resources in the plans 

3 developed and the exercises carried out under the 

4 program. 

5 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATION OF MEMBERS OF THE

6 ARMED FORCES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of De8 fense may authorize the participation of mem9 bers of the Armed Forces and the use of appro10 priate Department of Defense equipment and 

11 materials in an exercise carried out under a 

12 program assisted under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(B) REIMBURSEMENT FOR PARTICIPA14 TION OF GUARD.—In the event members of the 

15 National Guard in State status participate in 

16 an exercise carried out under a program as17 sisted under this subsection pursuant to an au18 thorization of the chief executive officer of a 

19 State, the Secretary of Defense may, using 

20 amounts available to the Department of De21 fense, reimburse the State for the costs to the 

22 State of the participation of such members in 

23 such exercise. 

24 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

25 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
4 

•S 2043 IS

1 this subsection $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2006 through 2010. 

3 ‘‘(f) MASS EVACUATION PLANS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Each State or unit of 

5 local government receiving a grant under subsection 

6 (e)(1) shall, in consultation with relevant local gov7 ernments, develop and maintain detailed and com8 prehensive mass evacuation plans for each area in 

9 the jurisdiction of the State unit of local govern10 ment. 

11 ‘‘(2) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—In developing the 

12 evacuation plans required under paragraph (1), each 

13 State or unit of local government shall, to the max14 imum extent practicable— 

15 ‘‘(A) assist urban and suburban county 

16 and municipal governments in establishing and 

17 maintaining mass evacuation plans; 

18 ‘‘(B) assist hospitals, nursing homes, other 

19 institutional adult congregate living facilities, 

20 group homes, and other health or residential 

21 care facilities that house individuals with special 

22 needs in establishing and maintaining mass 

23 evacuation plans; and 

24 ‘‘(C) integrate the plans described in sub25 paragraphs (A) and (B) and coordinate evacu-
5 

•S 2043 IS

1 ation efforts with the entities described in sub2 paragraphs (A) and (B). 

3 ‘‘(3) PLAN CONTENTS.—State, county, and mu4 nicipal mass evacuation plans shall, to the maximum 

5 extent practicable— 

6 ‘‘(A) establish incident command and deci7 sionmaking processes; 

8 ‘‘(B) identify primary and alternate escape 

9 routes; 

10 ‘‘(C) establish procedures for converting 2- 

11 way traffic to 1-way evacuation routes, remov12 ing tollgates, ensuring the free movement of 

13 emergency vehicles, and deploying traffic man14 agement personnel and appropriate traffic 

15 signs; 

16 ‘‘(D) maintain detailed inventories of driv17 ers and public and private vehicles, including 

18 buses, vans, and handicap-accessible vehicles, 

19 that may be pressed into service; 

20 ‘‘(E) maintain detailed inventories of emer21 gency shelter locations and develop the nec22 essary agreements with neighboring jurisdic23 tions to operate or use the shelters in the event 

24 of a mass evacuation; 
6 

•S 2043 IS

1 ‘‘(F) establish procedures for informing 

2 the public of evacuation procedures before and 

3 during an evacuation and return procedures 

4 after an evacuation, including using television, 

5 radio, print, and online media, land-based and 

6 mobile phone technology, and vehicles equipped 

7 with public address systems; 

8 ‘‘(G) identify primary and alternate stag9 ing locations for emergency responders; 

10 ‘‘(H) identify gaps in the ability to respond 

11 to different types of disasters, including the ca12 pacity to handle surges in demand for hospital, 

13 emergency medical, coroner, morgue, and mor14 tuary services, quarantines, decontaminations, 

15 and criminal investigations; 

16 ‘‘(I) establish procedures to evacuate indi17 viduals with special needs, including individuals 

18 who are low-income, disabled, homeless, or el19 derly or who do not speak English; 

20 ‘‘(J) establish procedures for evacuating 

21 animals that assist the disabled; 

22 ‘‘(K) establish procedures for protecting 

23 property, preventing looting, and accounting for 

24 pets; and 
7 

•S 2043 IS

1 ‘‘(L) ensure the participation of the private 

2 and nonprofit sectors. 

3 ‘‘(4) UPDATING OF PLANS.—State, county, mu4 nicipal, and private plans under this subsection shall 

5 be updated on a regular basis. 

6 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—The 

7 Secretary of Homeland Security shall assist States and 

8 local governments in developing and maintaining the plans 

9 described in subsection (f) by— 

10 ‘‘(1) establishing and maintaining comprehen11 sive best practices for evacuation planning, training, 

12 and execution; 

13 ‘‘(2) developing assistance teams to travel to 

14 States and assist local governments in planning, 

15 training, and execution; 

16 ‘‘(3) developing a training curriculum based on 

17 the best practices established under paragraph (1); 

18 ‘‘(4) providing the training curriculum devel19 oped under paragraph (3) to State and local offi20 cials; 

21 ‘‘(5) maintaining a list of qualified government 

22 agencies, private sector consultants, and nonprofit 

23 organizations that can assist local governments in 

24 setting up evacuation plans; and 
8 

•S 2043 IS

1 ‘‘(6) establishing and maintaining a comprehen2 sive guide for State and local governments regard3 ing— 

4 ‘‘(A) the types of Federal assistance that 

5 are available to respond to emergencies; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the steps necessary to apply for that 

7 assistance. 

8 ‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Comp10 troller General of the United States shall conduct a study 

11 detailing— 

12 ‘‘(1) any Federal laws that pose an obstacle to 

13 effective evacuation planning; 

14 ‘‘(2) any State or local laws that pose an obsta15 cle to effective evacuation planning; and 

16 ‘‘(3) the political and economic pressures that 

17 discourage governors, county executives, mayors, and 

18 other officials from— 

19 ‘‘(A) ordering an evacuation; or 

20 ‘‘(B) conducting exercises for the mass 

21 evacuation of people.’’. 

Æ