I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4965 

To establish best practices for State, tribal, and local governments participating in the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2018 

Ms. HANABUSA (for herself and Ms. GABBARD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, 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 establish best practices for State, tribal, and local governments participating in the Integrated Public Alert and 

Warning System, 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 ‘‘Authenticating Local 

5 Emergencies and Real Threats Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4965 IH

1 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Agency; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘Agency’’ means the Federal 

4 Emergency Management Agency; 

5 (3) the term ‘‘public alert and warning system’’ 

6 means the integrated public alert and warning sys7 tem of the United States described in section 526 of 

8 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

9 321o); and 

10 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the 

11 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com12 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

13 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

14 Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession of the 

15 United States. 

16 SEC. 3. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS17 TEM SUBCOMMITTEE. 

18 Section 2 of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning 

19 System Modernization Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–143; 

20 130 Stat. 327) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (6)(B)— 

23 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4965 IH

1 (ii) in clause (ii)(VII), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

3 and 

4 (iii) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(iii) recommendations for best prac7 tices of State, tribal, and local govern8 ments to follow to maintain the integrity of 

9 the public alert and warning system, in10 cluding— 

11 ‘‘(I) the procedures for State, 

12 tribal, and local government officials 

13 to authenticate civil emergencies and 

14 initiate, modify, and cancel alerts 

15 transmitted through the public alert 

16 and warning system, including proto17 cols and technology capabilities for— 

18 ‘‘(aa) the initiation, or pro19 hibition on the initiation, of 

20 alerts by a single authorized or 

21 unauthorized individual; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) testing a State, tribal, 

23 or local government incident 

24 management and warning tool 

25 without accidentally initiating an 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4965 IH

1 alert through the public alert and 

2 warning system; 

3 ‘‘(II) the standardization, 

4 functionality, and interoperability of 

5 incident management and warning 

6 tools used by State, tribal, and local 

7 governments to notify the public of an 

8 emergency through the public alert 

9 and warning system; 

10 ‘‘(III) the training and recertifi11 cation of emergency management per12 sonnel on best practices for origi13 nating and transmitting an alert 

14 through the public alert and warning 

15 system; and 

16 ‘‘(IV) the procedures, protocols, 

17 and guidance concerning the protec18 tive action plans that State, tribal, 

19 and local governments should issue to 

20 the public following an alert issued 

21 under the public alert and warning 

22 system.’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (7)— 

24 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4965 IH

1 (I) by striking ‘‘Not later than’’ 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later 

4 than’’; 

5 (II) in clause (i), as so des6 ignated, by striking ‘‘paragraph (6)’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘clauses (i) and (ii) of 

8 paragraph (6)(B)’’; and 

9 (III) by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(ii) SECOND REPORT.—Not later 

12 than 18 months after the date of enact13 ment of the Authenticating Local Emer14 gencies and Real Threats Act of 2018, the 

15 Subcommittee shall submit to the National 

16 Advisory Council a report containing any 

17 recommendations required to be developed 

18 under paragraph (6)(B)(iii) for approval 

19 by the National Advisory Council.’’; and 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

21 ‘‘report’’ each place that term appears and 

22 inserting ‘‘reports’’; and 

23 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘3’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘5’’; and 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4965 IH

1 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘and 2018’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021’’. 

3 SEC. 4. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS4 TEM PARTICIPATORY REQUIREMENTS. 

5 The Administrator shall— 

6 (1) consider the recommendations submitted by 

7 the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System 

8 Subcommittee to the National Advisory Council 

9 under section 2(b)(7) of the Integrated Public Alert 

10 and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015 

11 (Public Law 114–143; 130 Stat. 331), as amended 

12 by section 3 of this Act; and 

13 (2) not later than 120 days after the date on 

14 which the recommendations described in paragraph 

15 (1) are submitted, establish minimum requirements 

16 for State, tribal, and local governments to partici17 pate in the public alert and warning system con18 sistent with all public notice rules and regulations in 

19 law. 

20 SEC. 5. INCIDENT MANAGEMENT AND WARNING TOOL VALI21 DATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

23 a process to ensure that an incident management and 

24 warning tool used by a State, tribal, or local government 

25 to originate and transmit an alert through the public alert 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4965 IH

1 and warning system meets the minimum requirements es2 tablished by the Administrator under section 4(2). 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The process required to be es4 tablished under subsection (a) shall include— 

5 (1) the ability to test an incident management 

6 and warning tool in the public alert and warning 

7 system lab; 

8 (2) the ability to certify that an incident man9 agement and warning tool complies with the applica10 ble cyber frameworks of the Department of Home11 land Security and the National Institute of Stand12 ards and Technology; 

13 (3) a process to certify developers of emergency 

14 management software; and 

15 (4) requiring developers to provide the Adminis16 trator with a copy of and rights of use for ongoing 

17 testing of each version of incident management and 

18 warning tool software before the software is first 

19 used by a State, tribal, or local government. 

20 SEC. 6. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF MEMORANDA OF UNDER21 STANDING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall review 

23 the memoranda of understanding between the Agency and 

24 State, tribal, and local governments with respect to the 

25 public alert and warning system to ensure that all agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Feb 10, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4965.IH H4965

lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4965 IH

1 ments ensure compliance with any minimum requirements 

2 established by the Administrator under section 4(2). 

3 (b) FUTURE MEMORANDA.—The Administrator shall 

4 ensure that any new memorandum of understanding en5 tered into between the Agency and a State, tribal, or local 

6 government on or after the date of enactment of this Act 

7 with respect to the public alert and warning system en8 sures that the agreement requires compliance with any 

9 minimum requirements established by the Administrator 

10 under section 4(2). 

11 SEC. 7. MISSILE ALERT AND WARNING AUTHORITIES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

13 (1) AUTHORITY.—The authority to originate an 

14 alert warning the public of a missile launch directed 

15 against a State using the public alert and warning 

16 system shall reside solely with the Federal Govern17 ment. 

18 (2) ACTIVATION OF SYSTEM.—Upon verification 

19 of a missile threat, the President, utilizing estab20 lished authorities, protocols and procedures, may ac21 tivate the public alert and warning system. 

22 (b) REQUIRED PROCESSES.—The Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security, acting through the Administrator, 

24 shall establish a process to promptly notify a State warn25 ing point, and any State entities that the Administrator 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4965 IH

1 determines appropriate, of follow-up actions to a missile 

2 launch alert so the State may take appropriate action to 

3 protect the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of 

4 the State following the issuance of an alert described in 

5 subsection (a)(1) for that State. 

6 (c) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity, acting through the Administrator, shall work with the 

8 Governor of a State warning point to develop and imple9 ment appropriate protective action plans to respond to an 

10 alert described in subsection (a)(1) for that State. 

11 (d) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 Homeland Security shall— 

14 (1) examine the feasibility of establishing an 

15 alert designation under the public alert and warning 

16 system that would be used to alert and warn the 

17 public of a missile threat while concurrently alerting 

18 a State warning point so that a State may activate 

19 related protective action plans; and 

20 (2) submit a report of the findings under para21 graph (1), including of the costs and timeline for 

22 taking action to implement an alert designation de23 scribed in paragraph (1), to— 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 4965 IH

1 (A) the Subcommittee on Homeland Secu2 rity of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 Senate; 

4 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

5 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

6 (C) the Subcommittee on Homeland Secu7 rity of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

8 House of Representatives; and 

9 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 of the House of Representatives. 

11 SEC. 8. AWARENESS OF ALERTS AND WARNINGS. 

12 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Administrator shall— 

14 (1) conduct a review of— 

15 (A) the Emergency Operations Center of 

16 the Agency; and 

17 (B) the National Watch Center and each 

18 Regional Watch Center of the Agency; and 

19 (2) submit to the Committee on Homeland Se20 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 

21 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 

22 of Representatives a report on the review conducted 

23 under paragraph (1), which shall include— 

24 (A) an assessment of the technical capa25 bility of the Emergency Operations Center and 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 4965 IH

1 the National and Regional Watch Centers de2 scribed in paragraph (1) to be notified of alerts 

3 and warnings issued by a State through the 

4 public alert and warning system; 

5 (B) a determination of which State alerts 

6 and warnings the Emergency Operations Center 

7 and the National and Regional Watch Centers 

8 described in paragraph (1) should be aware of; 

9 and 

10 (C) recommendations for improving the 

11 ability of the National and Regional Watch 

12 Centers described in paragraph (1) to receive 

13 any State alerts and warnings that the Admin14 istrator determines are appropriate. 

15 SEC. 9. TIMELINE FOR COMPLIANCE. 

16 Each State shall be given a reasonable amount of 

17 time to comply with any new rules, regulations, or require18 ments imposed under this Act or the amendments made 

19 by this Act. 

Æ 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS