109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544

AN ACT

To provide faster and smarter funding for first responders,

and for other purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Faster and Smarter

3 Funding for First Responders Act of 2005’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds the following:

6 (1) In order to achieve its objective of pre7 venting, minimizing the damage from, and assisting

8 in the recovery from terrorist attacks, the Depart9 ment of Homeland Security must play a leading role

10 in assisting communities to reach the level of pre11 paredness they need to prevent and respond to a ter12 rorist attack.

13 (2) First responder funding is not reaching the

14 men and women of our Nation’s first response teams

15 quickly enough, and sometimes not at all.

16 (3) To reform the current bureaucratic process

17 so that homeland security dollars reach the first re18 sponders who need it most, it is necessary to clarify

19 and consolidate the authority and procedures of the

20 Department of Homeland Security that support first

21 responders.

22 (4) Ensuring adequate resources for the new

23 national mission of homeland security, without de24 grading the ability to address effectively other types

25 of major disasters and emergencies, requires a dis26 crete and separate grant making process for home-
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1 land security funds for first response to terrorist

2 acts, on the one hand, and for first responder pro3 grams designed to meet pre-September 11 priorities,

4 on the other.

5 (5) While a discrete homeland security grant

6 making process is necessary to ensure proper focus

7 on the unique aspects of terrorism preparedness, it

8 is essential that State and local strategies for uti9 lizing such grants be integrated, to the greatest ex10 tent practicable, with existing State and local emer11 gency management plans.

12 (6) Homeland security grants to first respond13 ers must be based on the best intelligence con14 cerning the capabilities and intentions of our ter15 rorist enemies, and that intelligence must be used to

16 target resources to the Nation’s greatest threats,

17 vulnerabilities, and consequences.

18 (7) The Nation’s first response capabilities will

19 be improved by sharing resources, training, plan20 ning, personnel, and equipment among neighboring

21 jurisdictions through mutual aid agreements and re22 gional cooperation. Such regional cooperation should

23 be supported, where appropriate, through direct

24 grants from the Department of Homeland Security.
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1 (8) An essential prerequisite to achieving the

2 Nation’s homeland security objectives for first re3 sponders is the establishment of well-defined na4 tional goals for terrorism preparedness. These goals

5 should delineate the essential capabilities that every

6 jurisdiction in the United States should possess or

7 to which it should have access.

8 (9) A national determination of essential capa9 bilities is needed to identify levels of State and local

10 government terrorism preparedness, to determine

11 the nature and extent of State and local first re12 sponder needs, to identify the human and financial

13 resources required to fulfill them, to direct funding

14 to meet those needs, and to measure preparedness

15 levels on a national scale.

16 (10) To facilitate progress in achieving, main17 taining, and enhancing essential capabilities for

18 State and local first responders, the Department of

19 Homeland Security should seek to allocate homeland

20 security funding for first responders to meet nation21 wide needs.

22 (11) Private sector resources and citizen volun23 teers can perform critical functions in assisting in

24 preventing and responding to terrorist attacks, and

25 should be integrated into State and local planning
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1 efforts to ensure that their capabilities and roles are

2 understood, so as to provide enhanced State and

3 local operational capability and surge capacity.

4 (12) Public-private partnerships, such as the

5 partnerships between the Business Executives for

6 National Security and the States of New Jersey and

7 Georgia, can be useful to identify and coordinate pri8 vate sector support for State and local first respond9 ers. Such models should be expanded to cover all

10 States and territories.

11 (13) An important aspect of terrorism pre12 paredness is measurability, so that it is possible to

13 determine how prepared a State or local government

14 is now, and what additional steps it needs to take,

15 in order to prevent, prepare for, respond to, mitigate

16 against, and recover from acts of terrorism.

17 (14) The Department of Homeland Security

18 should establish, publish, and regularly update na19 tional voluntary consensus standards for both equip20 ment and training, in cooperation with both public

21 and private sector standard setting organizations, to

22 assist State and local governments in obtaining the

23 equipment and training to attain the essential capa24 bilities for first response to acts of terrorism, and to

25 ensure that first responder funds are spent wisely.
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1 SEC. 3. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE2 SPONDERS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Homeland Security Act of

4 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is

5 amended—

6 (1) in section 1(b) in the table of contents by

7 adding at the end the following:

‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS

‘‘Sec. 1801. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 1802. Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders.

‘‘Sec. 1803. Covered grant eligibility and criteria.

‘‘Sec. 1804. Risk-based evaluation and prioritization.

‘‘Sec. 1805. Task Force on Terrorism Preparedness for First Responders.

‘‘Sec. 1806. Use of funds and accountability requirements.

‘‘Sec. 1807. National standards for first responder equipment and training.’’.

8 (2) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR

10 FIRST RESPONDERS

11 ‘‘SEC. 1801. DEFINITIONS.

12 ‘‘In this title:

13 ‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the

14 First Responder Grants Board established under

15 section 1804.

16 ‘‘(2) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘covered

17 grant’ means any grant to which this title applies

18 under section 1802.

19 ‘‘(3) DIRECTLY ELIGIBLE TRIBE.—The term

20 ‘directly eligible tribe’ means any Indian tribe or

21 consortium of Indian tribes that—
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1 ‘‘(A) meets the criteria for inclusion in the

2 qualified applicant pool for Self-Governance

3 that are set forth in section 402(c) of the In4 dian Self-Determination and Education Assist5 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 458bb(c));

6 ‘‘(B) employs at least 10 full-time per7 sonnel in a law enforcement or emergency re8 sponse agency with the capacity to respond to

9 calls for law enforcement or emergency services;

10 and

11 ‘‘(C)(i) is located on, or within 5 miles of,

12 an international border or waterway;

13 ‘‘(ii) is located within 5 miles of a facility

14 designated as high-risk critical infrastructure

15 by the Secretary;

16 ‘‘(iii) is located within or contiguous to one

17 of the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas

18 in the United States; or

19 ‘‘(iv) has more than 1,000 square miles of

20 Indian country, as that term is defined in sec21 tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code.

22 ‘‘(4) ELEVATIONS IN THE THREAT ALERT

23 LEVEL.—The term ‘elevations in the threat alert

24 level’ means any designation (including those that

25 are less than national in scope) that raises the
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1 homeland security threat level to either the highest

2 or second highest threat level under the Homeland

3 Security Advisory System referred to in section

4 201(d)(7).

5 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.—The term

6 ‘emergency preparedness’ shall have the same mean7 ing that term has under section 602 of the Robert

8 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a).

10 ‘‘(6) ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES.—The term ‘es11 sential capabilities’ means the levels, availability,

12 and competence of emergency personnel, planning,

13 training, and equipment across a variety of dis14 ciplines needed to effectively and efficiently prevent,

15 prepare for, respond to, and recover from acts of

16 terrorism consistent with established practices.

17 ‘‘(7) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘first re18 sponder’ shall have the same meaning as the term

19 ‘emergency response provider’.

20 ‘‘(8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’

21 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga22 nized group or community, including any Alaskan

23 Native village or regional or village corporation as

24 defined in or established pursuant to the Alaskan

25 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et
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1 seq.), which is recognized as eligible for the special

2 programs and services provided by the United States

3 to Indians because of their status as Indians.

4 ‘‘(9) REGION.—The term ‘region’ means—

5 ‘‘(A) any geographic area consisting of all

6 or parts of 2 or more contiguous States, coun7 ties, municipalities, or other local governments

8 that have a combined population of at least

9 1,650,000 or have an area of not less than

10 20,000 square miles, and that, for purposes of

11 an application for a covered grant, is rep12 resented by 1 or more governments or govern13 mental agencies within such geographic area,

14 and that is established by law or by agreement

15 of 2 or more such governments or governmental

16 agencies in a mutual aid agreement; or

17 ‘‘(B) any other combination of contiguous

18 local government units (including such a com19 bination established by law or agreement of two

20 or more governments or governmental agencies

21 in a mutual aid agreement) that is formally cer22 tified by the Secretary as a region for purposes

23 of this Act with the consent of—

24 ‘‘(i) the State or States in which they

25 are located, including a multi-State entity
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1 established by a compact between two or

2 more States; and

3 ‘‘(ii) the incorporated municipalities,

4 counties, and parishes that they encom5 pass.

6 ‘‘(10) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘Task Force’

7 means the Task Force on Terrorism Preparedness

8 for First Responders established under section 1805.

9 ‘‘(11) TERRORISM PREPAREDNESS.—The term

10 ‘terrorism preparedness’ means any activity designed

11 to improve the ability to prevent, prepare for, re12 spond to, mitigate against, or recover from threat13 ened or actual terrorist attacks.

14 ‘‘SEC. 1802. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE15 SPONDERS.

16 ‘‘(a) COVERED GRANTS.—This title applies to grants

17 provided by the Department to States, regions, or directly

18 eligible tribes for the primary purpose of improving the

19 ability of first responders to prevent, prepare for, respond

20 to, mitigate against, or recover from threatened or actual

21 terrorist attacks, especially those involving weapons of

22 mass destruction, administered under the following:

23 ‘‘(1) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PRO24 GRAM.—The State Homeland Security Grant Pro-
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1 gram of the Department, or any successor to such

2 grant program.

3 ‘‘(2) URBAN AREA SECURITY INITIATIVE.—The

4 Urban Area Security Initiative of the Department,

5 or any successor to such grant program.

6 ‘‘(3) LAW ENFORCEMENT TERRORISM PREVEN7 TION PROGRAM.—The Law Enforcement Terrorism

8 Prevention Program of the Department, or any suc9 cessor to such grant program.

10 ‘‘(b) EXCLUDED PROGRAMS.—This title does not

11 apply to or otherwise affect the following Federal grant

12 programs or any grant under such a program:

13 ‘‘(1) NONDEPARTMENT PROGRAMS.—Any Fed14 eral grant program that is not administered by the

15 Department.

16 ‘‘(2) FIRE GRANT PROGRAMS.—The fire grant

17 programs authorized by sections 33 and 34 of the

18 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

19 (15 U.S.C. 2229, 2229a).

20 ‘‘(3) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING

21 AND ASSISTANCE ACCOUNT GRANTS.—The Emer22 gency Management Performance Grant program and

23 the Urban Search and Rescue Grants program au24 thorized by title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Dis25 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
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1 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.); the Departments of Veterans

2 Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and

3 Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000

4 (113 Stat. 1047 et seq.); and the Earthquake Haz5 ards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et

6 seq.).

7 ‘‘SEC. 1803. COVERED GRANT ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA.

8 ‘‘(a) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—Any State, region, or di9 rectly eligible tribe shall be eligible to apply for a covered

10 grant.

11 ‘‘(b) GRANT CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall award

12 covered grants to assist States and local governments in

13 achieving, maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa14 bilities for terrorism preparedness established by the Sec15 retary.

16 ‘‘(c) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY PLANS.—

17 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—The Secretary

18 shall require that any State applying to the Sec19 retary for a covered grant must submit to the Sec20 retary a 3-year State homeland security plan that—

21 ‘‘(A) describes the essential capabilities

22 that communities within the State should pos23 sess, or to which they should have access, based

24 upon the terrorism risk factors relevant to such
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1 communities, in order to meet the Department’s

2 goals for terrorism preparedness;

3 ‘‘(B) demonstrates the extent to which the

4 State has achieved the essential capabilities

5 that apply to the State;

6 ‘‘(C) demonstrates the needs of the State

7 necessary to achieve, maintain, or enhance the

8 essential capabilities that apply to the State;

9 ‘‘(D) includes a prioritization of such needs

10 based on threat, vulnerability, and consequence

11 assessment factors applicable to the State;

12 ‘‘(E) describes how the State intends—

13 ‘‘(i) to address such needs at the city,

14 county, regional, tribal, State, and inter15 state level, including a precise description

16 of any regional structure the State has es17 tablished for the purpose of organizing

18 homeland security preparedness activities

19 funded by covered grants;

20 ‘‘(ii) to use all Federal, State, and

21 local resources available for the purpose of

22 addressing such needs; and

23 ‘‘(iii) to give particular emphasis to

24 regional planning and cooperation, includ25 ing the activities of multijurisdictional
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1 planning agencies governed by local offi2 cials, both within its jurisdictional borders

3 and with neighboring States;

4 ‘‘(F) with respect to the emergency pre5 paredness of first responders, addresses the

6 unique aspects of terrorism as part of a com7 prehensive State emergency management plan;

8 and

9 ‘‘(G) provides for coordination of response

10 and recovery efforts at the local level, including

11 procedures for effective incident command in

12 conformance with the National Incident Man13 agement System.

14 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The State plan sub15 mitted under paragraph (1) shall be developed in

16 consultation with and subject to appropriate com17 ment by local governments and first responders

18 within the State.

19 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.—The Sec20 retary may not award any covered grant to a State

21 unless the Secretary has approved the applicable

22 State homeland security plan.

23 ‘‘(4) REVISIONS.—A State may revise the appli24 cable State homeland security plan approved by the
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1 Secretary under this subsection, subject to approval

2 of the revision by the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(d) CONSISTENCY WITH STATE PLANS.—The Sec4 retary shall ensure that each covered grant is used to sup5 plement and support, in a consistent and coordinated

6 manner, the applicable State homeland security plan or

7 plans.

8 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro10 vided in this subsection, any State, region, or di11 rectly eligible tribe may apply for a covered grant by

12 submitting to the Secretary an application at such

13 time, in such manner, and containing such informa14 tion as is required under this subsection, or as the

15 Secretary may reasonably require.

16 ‘‘(2) DEADLINES FOR APPLICATIONS AND

17 AWARDS.—All applications for covered grants must

18 be submitted at such time as the Secretary may rea19 sonably require for the fiscal year for which they are

20 submitted. The Secretary shall award covered grants

21 pursuant to all approved applications for such fiscal

22 year as soon as practicable, but not later than

23 March 1 of such year.

24 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—All funds

25 awarded by the Secretary under covered grants in a
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1 fiscal year shall be available for obligation through

2 the end of the subsequent fiscal year.

3 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—

4 The Secretary shall require that each applicant in5 clude in its application, at a minimum—

6 ‘‘(A) the purpose for which the applicant

7 seeks covered grant funds and the reasons why

8 the applicant needs the covered grant to meet

9 the essential capabilities for terrorism prepared10 ness within the State, region, or directly eligible

11 tribe to which the application pertains;

12 ‘‘(B) a description of how, by reference to

13 the applicable State homeland security plan or

14 plans under subsection (c), the allocation of

15 grant funding proposed in the application, in16 cluding, where applicable, the amount not

17 passed through under section 1806(g)(1), would

18 assist in fulfilling the essential capabilities for

19 terrorism preparedness specified in such plan or

20 plans;

21 ‘‘(C) a statement of whether a mutual aid

22 agreement applies to the use of all or any por23 tion of the covered grant funds;

24 ‘‘(D) if the applicant is a State, a descrip25 tion of how the State plans to allocate the cov-
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1 ered grant funds to regions, local governments,

2 and Indian tribes;

3 ‘‘(E) if the applicant is a region—

4 ‘‘(i) a precise geographical description

5 of the region and a specification of all par6 ticipating and nonparticipating local gov7 ernments within the geographical area

8 comprising that region;

9 ‘‘(ii) a specification of what govern10 mental entity within the region will admin11 ister the expenditure of funds under the

12 covered grant; and

13 ‘‘(iii) a designation of a specific indi14 vidual to serve as regional liaison;

15 ‘‘(F) a capital budget showing how the ap16 plicant intends to allocate and expend the cov17 ered grant funds;

18 ‘‘(G) if the applicant is a directly eligible

19 tribe, a designation of a specific individual to

20 serve as the tribal liaison; and

21 ‘‘(H) a statement of how the applicant in22 tends to meet the matching requirement, if any,

23 that applies under section 1806(g)(2).

24 ‘‘(5) REGIONAL APPLICATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE APPLICA2 TIONS.—A regional application—

3 ‘‘(i) shall be coordinated with an ap4 plication submitted by the State or States

5 of which such region is a part;

6 ‘‘(ii) shall supplement and avoid dupli7 cation with such State application; and

8 ‘‘(iii) shall address the unique regional

9 aspects of such region’s terrorism pre10 paredness needs beyond those provided for

11 in the application of such State or States.

12 ‘‘(B) STATE REVIEW AND SUBMISSION.—

13 To ensure the consistency required under sub14 section (d) and the coordination required under

15 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, an appli16 cant that is a region must submit its applica17 tion to each State of which any part is included

18 in the region for review and concurrence prior

19 to the submission of such application to the

20 Secretary. The regional application shall be

21 transmitted to the Secretary through each such

22 State within 30 days of its receipt, unless the

23 Governor of such a State notifies the Secretary,

24 in writing, that such regional application is in25 consistent with the State’s homeland security
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1 plan and provides an explanation of the reasons

2 therefor.

3 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION OF REGIONAL

4 AWARDS.—If the Secretary approves a regional

5 application, then the Secretary shall distribute

6 a regional award to the State or States submit7 ting the applicable regional application under

8 subparagraph (B), and each such State shall,

9 not later than the end of the 45-day period be10 ginning on the date after receiving a regional

11 award, pass through to the region all covered

12 grant funds or resources purchased with such

13 funds, except those funds necessary for the

14 State to carry out its responsibilities with re15 spect to such regional application: Provided,

16 That in no such case shall the State or States

17 pass through to the region less than 80 percent

18 of the regional award.

19 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATIONS REGARDING DIS20 TRIBUTION OF GRANT FUNDS TO REGIONS.—

21 Any State that receives a regional award under

22 subparagraph (C) shall certify to the Secretary,

23 by not later than 30 days after the expiration

24 of the period described in subparagraph (C)

25 with respect to the grant, that the State has
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1 made available to the region the required funds

2 and resources in accordance with subparagraph

3 (C).

4 ‘‘(E) DIRECT PAYMENTS TO REGIONS.—If

5 any State fails to pass through a regional

6 award to a region as required by subparagraph

7 (C) within 45 days after receiving such award

8 and does not request or receive an extension of

9 such period under section 1806(h)(2), the re10 gion may petition the Secretary to receive di11 rectly the portion of the regional award that is

12 required to be passed through to such region

13 under subparagraph (C).

14 ‘‘(F) REGIONAL LIAISONS.—A regional li15 aison designated under paragraph (4)(E)(iii)

16 shall—

17 ‘‘(i) coordinate with Federal, State,

18 local, regional, and private officials within

19 the region concerning terrorism prepared20 ness;

21 ‘‘(ii) develop a process for receiving

22 input from Federal, State, local, regional,

23 and private sector officials within the re24 gion to assist in the development of the re-
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1 gional application and to improve the re2 gion’s access to covered grants; and

3 ‘‘(iii) administer, in consultation with

4 State, local, regional, and private officials

5 within the region, covered grants awarded

6 to the region.

7 ‘‘(6) TRIBAL APPLICATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION TO THE STATE OR

9 STATES.—To ensure the consistency required

10 under subsection (d), an applicant that is a di11 rectly eligible tribe must submit its application

12 to each State within the boundaries of which

13 any part of such tribe is located for direct sub14 mission to the Department along with the appli15 cation of such State or States.

16 ‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY FOR STATE COM17 MENT.—Before awarding any covered grant to

18 a directly eligible tribe, the Secretary shall pro19 vide an opportunity to each State within the

20 boundaries of which any part of such tribe is lo21 cated to comment to the Secretary on the con22 sistency of the tribe’s application with the

23 State’s homeland security plan. Any such com24 ments shall be submitted to the Secretary con-
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1 currently with the submission of the State and

2 tribal applications.

3 ‘‘(C) FINAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary

4 shall have final authority to determine the con5 sistency of any application of a directly eligible

6 tribe with the applicable State homeland secu7 rity plan or plans, and to approve any applica8 tion of such tribe. The Secretary shall notify

9 each State within the boundaries of which any

10 part of such tribe is located of the approval of

11 an application by such tribe.

12 ‘‘(D) TRIBAL LIAISON.—A tribal liaison

13 designated under paragraph (4)(G) shall—

14 ‘‘(i) coordinate with Federal, State,

15 local, regional, and private officials con16 cerning terrorism preparedness;

17 ‘‘(ii) develop a process for receiving

18 input from Federal, State, local, regional,

19 and private sector officials to assist in the

20 development of the application of such

21 tribe and to improve the tribe’s access to

22 covered grants; and

23 ‘‘(iii) administer, in consultation with

24 State, local, regional, and private officials,

25 covered grants awarded to such tribe.
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1 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON THE NUMBER OF DI2 RECT GRANTS.—The Secretary may make cov3 ered grants directly to not more than 20 di4 rectly eligible tribes per fiscal year.

5 ‘‘(F) TRIBES NOT RECEIVING DIRECT

6 GRANTS.—An Indian tribe that does not receive

7 a grant directly under this section is eligible to

8 receive funds under a covered grant from the

9 State or States within the boundaries of which

10 any part of such tribe is located, consistent with

11 the homeland security plan of the State as de12 scribed in subsection (c). If a State fails to

13 comply with section 1806(g)(1), the tribe may

14 request payment under section 1806(h)(3) in

15 the same manner as a local government.

16 ‘‘(7) EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.—If an applicant

17 for a covered grant proposes to upgrade or purchase,

18 with assistance provided under the grant, new equip19 ment or systems that do not meet or exceed any ap20 plicable national voluntary consensus standards es21 tablished by the Secretary, the applicant shall in22 clude in the application an explanation of why such

23 equipment or systems will serve the needs of the ap24 plicant better than equipment or systems that meet

25 or exceed such standards.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1804. RISK-BASED EVALUATION AND

2 PRIORITIZATION.

3 ‘‘(a) FIRST RESPONDER GRANTS BOARD.—

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.—The Sec5 retary shall establish a First Responder Grants

6 Board, consisting of—

7 ‘‘(A) the Secretary;

8 ‘‘(B) the Under Secretary for Emergency

9 Preparedness and Response;

10 ‘‘(C) the Under Secretary for Border and

11 Transportation Security;

12 ‘‘(D) the Under Secretary for Information

13 Analysis and Infrastructure Protection;

14 ‘‘(E) the Under Secretary for Science and

15 Technology;

16 ‘‘(F) the Director of the Office for Domes17 tic Preparedness;

18 ‘‘(G) the Administrator of the United

19 States Fire Administration; and

20 ‘‘(H) the Administrator of the Animal and

21 Plant Health Inspection Service.

22 ‘‘(2) CHAIRMAN.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall be

24 the Chairman of the Board.

25 ‘‘(B) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES BY DEP26 UTY SECRETARY.—The Deputy Secretary of
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1 Homeland Security may exercise the authorities

2 of the Chairman, if the Secretary so directs.

3 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARIES.—The

4 Under Secretaries referred to in subsection (a)(1) shall

5 seek to ensure that the relevant expertise and input of the

6 staff of their directorates are available to and considered

7 by the Board.

8 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIZATION OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—

9 ‘‘(1) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—The

10 Board shall evaluate and annually prioritize all

11 pending applications for covered grants based upon

12 the degree to which they would, by achieving, main13 taining, or enhancing the essential capabilities of the

14 applicants on a nationwide basis, lessen the threat

15 to, vulnerability of, and consequences for persons

16 (including transient commuting and tourist popu17 lations) and critical infrastructure. Such evaluation

18 and prioritization shall be based upon the most cur19 rent risk assessment available by the Directorate for

20 Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

21 of the threats of terrorism against the United

22 States. The Board shall coordinate with State, local,

23 regional, and tribal officials in establishing criteria

24 for evaluating and prioritizing applications for cov25 ered grants.
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1 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS.—

2 The Board specifically shall consider threats of ter3 rorism against the following critical infrastructure

4 sectors in all areas of the United States, urban and

5 rural:

6 ‘‘(A) Agriculture and food.

7 ‘‘(B) Banking and finance.

8 ‘‘(C) Chemical industries.

9 ‘‘(D) The defense industrial base.

10 ‘‘(E) Emergency services.

11 ‘‘(F) Energy.

12 ‘‘(G) Government facilities.

13 ‘‘(H) Postal and shipping.

14 ‘‘(I) Public health and health care.

15 ‘‘(J) Information technology.

16 ‘‘(K) Telecommunications.

17 ‘‘(L) Transportation systems.

18 ‘‘(M) Water.

19 ‘‘(N) Dams.

20 ‘‘(O) Commercial facilities.

21 ‘‘(P) National monuments and icons.

22 The order in which the critical infrastructure sectors

23 are listed in this paragraph shall not be construed

24 as an order of priority for consideration of the im25 portance of such sectors.
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1 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF THREAT.—The Board specifi2 cally shall consider the following types of threat to

3 the critical infrastructure sectors described in para4 graph (2), and to populations in all areas of the

5 United States, urban and rural:

6 ‘‘(A) Biological threats.

7 ‘‘(B) Nuclear threats.

8 ‘‘(C) Radiological threats.

9 ‘‘(D) Incendiary threats.

10 ‘‘(E) Chemical threats.

11 ‘‘(F) Explosives.

12 ‘‘(G) Suicide bombers.

13 ‘‘(H) Cyber threats.

14 ‘‘(I) Any other threats based on proximity

15 to specific past acts of terrorism or the known

16 activity of any terrorist group.

17 The order in which the types of threat are listed in

18 this paragraph shall not be construed as an order of

19 priority for consideration of the importance of such

20 threats.

21 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL FAC22 TORS.—The Board shall take into account any other

23 specific threat to a population (including a transient

24 commuting or tourist population) or critical infra25 structure sector that the Board has determined to
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1 exist. In evaluating the threat to a population or

2 critical infrastructure sector, the Board shall give

3 greater weight to threats of terrorism based upon

4 their specificity and credibility, including any pat5 tern of repetition.

6 ‘‘(5) MINIMUM AMOUNTS.—After evaluating

7 and prioritizing grant applications under paragraph

8 (1), the Board shall ensure that, for each fiscal

9 year—

10 ‘‘(A) each of the States, other than the

11 Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and

12 the Northern Mariana Islands, that has an ap13 proved State homeland security plan receives no

14 less than 0.25 percent of the funds available for

15 covered grants for that fiscal year for purposes

16 of implementing its homeland security plan in

17 accordance with the prioritization of needs

18 under section 1803(c)(1)(D);

19 ‘‘(B) each of the States, other than the

20 Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and

21 the Northern Mariana Islands, that has an ap22 proved State homeland security plan and that

23 meets one or both of the additional high-risk

24 qualifying criteria under paragraph (6) receives

25 no less than 0.45 percent of the funds available
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1 for covered grants for that fiscal year for pur2 poses of implementing its homeland security

3 plan in accordance with the prioritization of

4 needs under section 1803(c)(1)(D);

5 ‘‘(C) the Virgin Islands, American Samoa,

6 Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands each

7 receives no less than 0.08 percent of the funds

8 available for covered grants for that fiscal year

9 for purposes of implementing its approved State

10 homeland security plan in accordance with the

11 prioritization of needs under section

12 1803(c)(1)(D); and

13 ‘‘(D) directly eligible tribes collectively re14 ceive no less than 0.08 percent of the funds

15 available for covered grants for such fiscal year

16 for purposes of addressing the needs identified

17 in the applications of such tribes, consistent

18 with the homeland security plan of each State

19 within the boundaries of which any part of any

20 such tribe is located, except that this clause

21 shall not apply with respect to funds available

22 for a fiscal year if the Secretary receives less

23 than 5 applications for such fiscal year from

24 such tribes under section 1803(e)(6)(A) or does

25 not approve at least one such application.
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1 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL HIGH-RISK QUALIFYING CRI2 TERIA.—For purposes of paragraph (5)(B), addi3 tional high-risk qualifying criteria consist of—

4 ‘‘(A) having a significant international

5 land border; or

6 ‘‘(B) adjoining a body of water within

7 North America through which an international

8 boundary line extends.

9 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF REGIONAL AWARDS ON STATE MIN10 IMUM.—Any regional award, or portion thereof, provided

11 to a State under section 1803(e)(5)(C) shall not be consid12 ered in calculating the minimum State award under sub13 section (c)(5) of this section.

14 ‘‘SEC. 1805. TASK FORCE ON TERRORISM PREPAREDNESS

15 FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To assist the Secretary in

17 updating, revising, or replacing essential capabilities for

18 terrorism preparedness, the Secretary shall establish an

19 advisory body pursuant to section 871(a) not later than

20 60 days after the date of the enactment of this section,

21 which shall be known as the Task Force on Terrorism Pre22 paredness for First Responders.

23 ‘‘(b) UPDATE, REVISE, OR REPLACE.—The Secretary

24 shall regularly update, revise, or replace the essential ca-
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1 pabilities for terrorism preparedness as necessary, but not

2 less than every 3 years.

3 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall sub5 mit to the Secretary, by not later than 12 months

6 after its establishment by the Secretary under sub7 section (a) and not later than every 2 years there8 after, a report on its recommendations for essential

9 capabilities for terrorism preparedness.

10 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall—

11 ‘‘(A) include a priority ranking of essential

12 capabilities in order to provide guidance to the

13 Secretary and to the Congress on determining

14 the appropriate allocation of, and funding levels

15 for, first responder needs;

16 ‘‘(B) set forth a methodology by which any

17 State or local government will be able to deter18 mine the extent to which it possesses or has ac19 cess to the essential capabilities that States and

20 local governments having similar risks should

21 obtain;

22 ‘‘(C) describe the availability of national

23 voluntary consensus standards, and whether

24 there is a need for new national voluntary con-
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1 sensus standards, with respect to first re2 sponder training and equipment;

3 ‘‘(D) include such additional matters as

4 the Secretary may specify in order to further

5 the terrorism preparedness capabilities of first

6 responders; and

7 ‘‘(E) include such revisions to the contents

8 of previous reports as are necessary to take into

9 account changes in the most current risk as10 sessment available by the Directorate for Infor11 mation Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

12 or other relevant information as determined by

13 the Secretary.

14 ‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY WITH FEDERAL WORKING

15 GROUP.—The Task Force shall ensure that its rec16 ommendations for essential capabilities for terrorism

17 preparedness are, to the extent feasible, consistent

18 with any preparedness goals or recommendations of

19 the Federal working group established under section

20 319F(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

21 247d–6(a)).

22 ‘‘(4) COMPREHENSIVENESS.—The Task Force

23 shall ensure that its recommendations regarding es24 sential capabilities for terrorism preparedness are
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1 made within the context of a comprehensive State

2 emergency management system.

3 ‘‘(5) PRIOR MEASURES.—The Task Force shall

4 ensure that its recommendations regarding essential

5 capabilities for terrorism preparedness take into ac6 count any capabilities that State or local officials

7 have determined to be essential and have undertaken

8 since September 11, 2001, to prevent, prepare for,

9 respond to, or recover from terrorist attacks.

10 ‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall con12 sist of 25 members appointed by the Secretary, and

13 shall, to the extent practicable, represent a geo14 graphic (including urban and rural) and substantive

15 cross section of governmental and nongovernmental

16 first responder disciplines from the State and local

17 levels, including as appropriate—

18 ‘‘(A) members selected from the emergency

19 response field, including fire service and law en20 forcement, hazardous materials response, emer21 gency medical services, and emergency manage22 ment personnel (including public works per23 sonnel routinely engaged in emergency re24 sponse);
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1 ‘‘(B) health scientists, emergency and in2 patient medical providers, and public health

3 professionals, including experts in emergency

4 health care response to chemical, biological, ra5 diological, and nuclear terrorism, and experts in

6 providing mental health care during emergency

7 response operations;

8 ‘‘(C) experts from Federal, State, and local

9 governments, and the private sector, rep10 resenting standards-setting organizations, in11 cluding representation from the voluntary con12 sensus codes and standards development com13 munity, particularly those with expertise in first

14 responder disciplines; and

15 ‘‘(D) State and local officials with exper16 tise in terrorism preparedness, subject to the

17 condition that if any such official is an elected

18 official representing one of the two major polit19 ical parties, an equal number of elected officials

20 shall be selected from each such party.

21 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT

22 OF HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES.—In the selec23 tion of members of the Task Force who are health

24 professionals, including emergency medical profes-
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1 sionals, the Secretary shall coordinate such selection

2 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

3 ‘‘(3) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The Secretary

4 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services

5 shall each designate one or more officers of their re6 spective Departments to serve as ex officio members

7 of the Task Force. One of the ex officio members

8 from the Department of Homeland Security shall be

9 the designated officer of the Federal Government for

10 purposes of subsection (e) of section 10 of the Fed11 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.).

12 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM13 MITTEE ACT.—Notwithstanding section 871(a), the Fed14 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.), including

15 subsections (a), (b), and (d) of section 10 of such Act,

16 and section 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code, shall

17 apply to the Task Force.

18 ‘‘SEC. 1806. USE OF FUNDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY RE19 QUIREMENTS.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered grant may be used

21 for—

22 ‘‘(1) purchasing or upgrading equipment, in23 cluding computer software, to enhance terrorism

24 preparedness;
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1 ‘‘(2) exercises to strengthen terrorism prepared2 ness;

3 ‘‘(3) training for prevention (including detec4 tion) of, preparedness for, response to, or recovery

5 from attacks involving weapons of mass destruction,

6 including training in the use of equipment and com7 puter software;

8 ‘‘(4) developing or updating State homeland se9 curity plans, risk assessments, mutual aid agree10 ments, and emergency management plans to enhance

11 terrorism preparedness;

12 ‘‘(5) establishing or enhancing mechanisms for

13 sharing terrorism threat information;

14 ‘‘(6) systems architecture and engineering, pro15 gram planning and management, strategy formula16 tion and strategic planning, life-cycle systems de17 sign, product and technology evaluation, and proto18 type development for terrorism preparedness pur19 poses;

20 ‘‘(7) additional personnel costs resulting from—

21 ‘‘(A) elevations in the threat alert level of

22 the Homeland Security Advisory System by the

23 Secretary, or a similar elevation in threat alert

24 level issued by a State, region, or local govern25 ment with the approval of the Secretary;
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1 ‘‘(B) travel to and participation in exer2 cises and training in the use of equipment and

3 on prevention activities; and

4 ‘‘(C) the temporary replacement of per5 sonnel during any period of travel to and par6 ticipation in exercises and training in the use of

7 equipment and on prevention activities;

8 ‘‘(8) the costs of equipment (including software)

9 required to receive, transmit, handle, and store clas10 sified information;

11 ‘‘(9) protecting critical infrastructure against

12 potential attack by the addition of barriers, fences,

13 gates, and other such devices, except that the cost

14 of such measures may not exceed the greater of—

15 ‘‘(A) $1,000,000 per project; or

16 ‘‘(B) such greater amount as may be ap17 proved by the Secretary, which may not exceed

18 10 percent of the total amount of the covered

19 grant;

20 ‘‘(10) the costs of commercially available inter21 operable communications equipment (which, where

22 applicable, is based on national, voluntary consensus

23 standards) that the Secretary, in consultation with

24 the Chairman of the Federal Communications Com25 mission, deems best suited to facilitate interoper-
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1 ability, coordination, and integration between and

2 among emergency communications systems, and that

3 complies with prevailing grant guidance of the De4 partment for interoperable communications;

5 ‘‘(11) educational curricula development for

6 first responders to ensure that they are prepared for

7 terrorist attacks;

8 ‘‘(12) training and exercises to assist public ele9 mentary and secondary schools in developing and

10 implementing programs to instruct students regard11 ing age-appropriate skills to prevent, prepare for, re12 spond to, mitigate against, or recover from an act of

13 terrorism;

14 ‘‘(13) paying of administrative expenses directly

15 related to administration of the grant, except that

16 such expenses may not exceed 3 percent of the

17 amount of the grant;

18 ‘‘(14) paying for the conduct of any activity

19 permitted under the Law Enforcement Terrorism

20 Prevention Program, or any such successor to such

21 program; and

22 ‘‘(15) other appropriate activities as determined

23 by the Secretary.

24 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED USES.—Funds provided as a cov25 ered grant may not be used—
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1 ‘‘(1) to supplant State or local funds;

2 ‘‘(2) to construct buildings or other physical fa3 cilities;

4 ‘‘(3) to acquire land; or

5 ‘‘(4) for any State or local government cost

6 sharing contribution.

7 ‘‘(c) MULTIPLE-PURPOSE FUNDS.—Nothing in this

8 section shall be construed to preclude State and local gov9 ernments from using covered grant funds in a manner

10 that also enhances first responder preparedness for emer11 gencies and disasters unrelated to acts of terrorism, if

12 such use assists such governments in achieving essential

13 capabilities for terrorism preparedness established by the

14 Secretary.

15 ‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—(1) In addition

16 to the activities described in subsection (a), a covered

17 grant may be used to provide a reasonable stipend to paid18 on-call or volunteer first responders who are not otherwise

19 compensated for travel to or participation in training cov20 ered by this section. Any such reimbursement shall not

21 be considered compensation for purposes of rendering

22 such a first responder an employee under the Fair Labor

23 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).

24 ‘‘(2) An applicant for a covered grant may petition

25 the Secretary for the reimbursement of the cost of any
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1 activity relating to prevention (including detection) of, pre2 paredness for, response to, or recovery from acts of ter3 rorism that is a Federal duty and usually performed by

4 a Federal agency, and that is being performed by a State

5 or local government (or both) under agreement with a

6 Federal agency.

7 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary

8 may not require that equipment paid for, wholly or in part,

9 with funds provided as a covered grant be made available

10 for responding to emergencies in surrounding States, re11 gions, and localities, unless the Secretary undertakes to

12 pay the costs directly attributable to transporting and op13 erating such equipment during such response.

14 ‘‘(f) FLEXIBILITY IN UNSPENT HOMELAND SECU15 RITY GRANT FUNDS.—Upon request by the recipient of

16 a covered grant, the Secretary may authorize the grantee

17 to transfer all or part of funds provided as the covered

18 grant from uses specified in the grant agreement to other

19 uses authorized under this section, if the Secretary deter20 mines that such transfer is in the interests of homeland

21 security.

22 ‘‘(g) STATE, REGIONAL, AND TRIBAL RESPONSIBIL23 ITIES.—

24 ‘‘(1) PASS-THROUGH.—The Secretary shall re25 quire a recipient of a covered grant that is a State
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1 to obligate or otherwise make available to local gov2 ernments, first responders, and other local groups,

3 to the extent required under the State homeland se4 curity plan or plans specified in the application for

5 the grant, not less than 80 percent of the grant

6 funds, resources purchased with the grant funds

7 having a value equal to at least 80 percent of the

8 amount of the grant, or a combination thereof, by

9 not later than the end of the 45-day period begin10 ning on the date the grant recipient receives the

11 grant funds.

12 ‘‘(2) COST SHARING.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of

14 the costs of an activity carried out with a cov15 ered grant to a State, region, or directly eligible

16 tribe awarded after the 2-year period beginning

17 on the date of the enactment of this section

18 shall not exceed 75 percent.

19 ‘‘(B) INTERIM RULE.—The Federal share

20 of the costs of an activity carried out with a

21 covered grant awarded before the end of the 2-

22 year period beginning on the date of the enact23 ment of this section shall be 100 percent.

24 ‘‘(C) IN-KIND MATCHING.—Each recipient

25 of a covered grant may meet the matching re-
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1 quirement under subparagraph (A) by making

2 in-kind contributions of goods or services that

3 are directly linked with the purpose for which

4 the grant is made, including, but not limited to,

5 any necessary personnel overtime, contractor

6 services, administrative costs, equipment fuel

7 and maintenance, and rental space.

8 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATIONS REGARDING DISTRIBU9 TION OF GRANT FUNDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—

10 Any State that receives a covered grant shall certify

11 to the Secretary, by not later than 30 days after the

12 expiration of the period described in paragraph (1)

13 with respect to the grant, that the State has made

14 available for expenditure by local governments, first

15 responders, and other local groups the required

16 amount of grant funds pursuant to paragraph (1).

17 ‘‘(4) QUARTERLY REPORT ON HOMELAND SECU18 RITY SPENDING.—The Federal share described in

19 paragraph (2)(A) may be increased by up to 2 per20 cent for any State, region, or directly eligible tribe

21 that, not later than 30 days after the end of each

22 fiscal quarter, submits to the Secretary a report on

23 that fiscal quarter. Each such report must include,

24 for each recipient of a covered grant or a pass25 through under paragraph (1)—
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1 ‘‘(A) the amount obligated to that recipient

2 in that quarter;

3 ‘‘(B) the amount expended by that recipi4 ent in that quarter; and

5 ‘‘(C) a summary description of the items

6 purchased by such recipient with such amount.

7 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT ON HOMELAND SECU8 RITY SPENDING.—Each recipient of a covered grant

9 shall submit an annual report to the Secretary not

10 later than 60 days after the end of each Federal fis11 cal year. Each recipient of a covered grant that is

12 a region must simultaneously submit its report to

13 each State of which any part is included in the re14 gion. Each recipient of a covered grant that is a di15 rectly eligible tribe must simultaneously submit its

16 report to each State within the boundaries of which

17 any part of such tribe is located. Each report must

18 include the following:

19 ‘‘(A) The amount, ultimate recipients, and

20 dates of receipt of all funds received under the

21 grant during the previous fiscal year.

22 ‘‘(B) The amount and the dates of dis23 bursements of all such funds expended in com24 pliance with paragraph (1) or pursuant to mu25 tual aid agreements or other sharing arrange-
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1 ments that apply within the State, region, or di2 rectly eligible tribe, as applicable, during the

3 previous fiscal year.

4 ‘‘(C) How the funds were utilized by each

5 ultimate recipient or beneficiary during the pre6 ceding fiscal year.

7 ‘‘(D) The extent to which essential capa8 bilities identified in the applicable State home9 land security plan or plans were achieved, main10 tained, or enhanced as the result of the expend11 iture of grant funds during the preceding fiscal

12 year.

13 ‘‘(E) The extent to which essential capa14 bilities identified in the applicable State home15 land security plan or plans remain unmet.

16 ‘‘(6) INCLUSION OF RESTRICTED ANNEXES.—A

17 recipient of a covered grant may submit to the Sec18 retary an annex to the annual report under para19 graph (5) that is subject to appropriate handling re20 strictions, if the recipient believes that discussion in

21 the report of unmet needs would reveal sensitive but

22 unclassified information.

23 ‘‘(7) PROVISION OF REPORTS.—The Secretary

24 shall ensure that each annual report under para25 graph (5) is provided to the Under Secretary for
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1 Emergency Preparedness and Response and the Di2 rector of the Office for Domestic Preparedness.

3 ‘‘(h) INCENTIVES TO EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION

4 OF HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) PENALTIES FOR DELAY IN PASSING

6 THROUGH LOCAL SHARE.—If a recipient of a cov7 ered grant that is a State fails to pass through to

8 local governments, first responders, and other local

9 groups funds or resources required by subsection

10 (g)(1) within 45 days after receiving funds under

11 the grant, the Secretary may—

12 ‘‘(A) reduce grant payments to the grant

13 recipient from the portion of grant funds that

14 is not required to be passed through under sub15 section (g)(1);

16 ‘‘(B) terminate payment of funds under

17 the grant to the recipient, and transfer the ap18 propriate portion of those funds directly to local

19 first responders that were intended to receive

20 funding under that grant; or

21 ‘‘(C) impose additional restrictions or bur22 dens on the recipient’s use of funds under the

23 grant, which may include—
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1 ‘‘(i) prohibiting use of such funds to

2 pay the grant recipient’s grant-related

3 overtime or other expenses;

4 ‘‘(ii) requiring the grant recipient to

5 distribute to local government beneficiaries

6 all or a portion of grant funds that are not

7 required to be passed through under sub8 section (g)(1); or

9 ‘‘(iii) for each day that the grant re10 cipient fails to pass through funds or re11 sources in accordance with subsection

12 (g)(1), reducing grant payments to the

13 grant recipient from the portion of grant

14 funds that is not required to be passed

15 through under subsection (g)(1), except

16 that the total amount of such reduction

17 may not exceed 20 percent of the total

18 amount of the grant.

19 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF PERIOD.—The Governor of

20 a State may request in writing that the Secretary

21 extend the 45-day period under section

22 1803(e)(5)(E) or paragraph (1) for an additional

23 15-day period. The Secretary may approve such a

24 request, and may extend such period for additional

25 15-day periods, if the Secretary determines that the
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1 resulting delay in providing grant funding to the

2 local government entities that will receive funding

3 under the grant will not have a significant detri4 mental impact on such entities’ terrorism prepared5 ness efforts.

6 ‘‘(3) PROVISION OF NON-LOCAL SHARE TO

7 LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

9 upon request by a local government pay to the

10 local government a portion of the amount of a

11 covered grant awarded to a State in which the

12 local government is located, if—

13 ‘‘(i) the local government will use the

14 amount paid to expedite planned enhance15 ments to its terrorism preparedness as de16 scribed in any applicable State homeland

17 security plan or plans;

18 ‘‘(ii) the State has failed to pass

19 through funds or resources in accordance

20 with subsection (g)(1); and

21 ‘‘(iii) the local government complies

22 with subparagraphs (B) and (C).

23 ‘‘(B) SHOWING REQUIRED.—To receive a

24 payment under this paragraph, a local govern25 ment must demonstrate that—
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1 ‘‘(i) it is identified explicitly as an ul2 timate recipient or intended beneficiary in

3 the approved grant application;

4 ‘‘(ii) it was intended by the grantee to

5 receive a severable portion of the overall

6 grant for a specific purpose that is identi7 fied in the grant application;

8 ‘‘(iii) it petitioned the grantee for the

9 funds or resources after expiration of the

10 period within which the funds or resources

11 were required to be passed through under

12 subsection (g)(1); and

13 ‘‘(iv) it did not receive the portion of

14 the overall grant that was earmarked or

15 designated for its use or benefit.

16 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF PAYMENT.—Payment of

17 grant funds to a local government under this

18 paragraph—

19 ‘‘(i) shall not affect any payment to

20 another local government under this para21 graph; and

22 ‘‘(ii) shall not prejudice consideration

23 of a request for payment under this para24 graph that is submitted by another local

25 government.
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1 ‘‘(D) DEADLINE FOR ACTION BY SEC2 RETARY.—The Secretary shall approve or dis3 approve each request for payment under this

4 paragraph by not later than 15 days after the

5 date the request is received by the Department.

6 ‘‘(i) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall

7 submit an annual report to the Congress by January 31

8 of each year covering the preceding fiscal year—

9 ‘‘(1) describing in detail the amount of Federal

10 funds provided as covered grants that were directed

11 to each State, region, and directly eligible tribe in

12 the preceding fiscal year;

13 ‘‘(2) containing information on the use of such

14 grant funds by grantees; and

15 ‘‘(3) describing—

16 ‘‘(A) the Nation’s progress in achieving,

17 maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa18 bilities established by the Secretary as a result

19 of the expenditure of covered grant funds dur20 ing the preceding fiscal year; and

21 ‘‘(B) an estimate of the amount of expend22 itures required to attain across the United

23 States the essential capabilities established by

24 the Secretary.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1807. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR FIRST RESPONDER

2 EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING.

3 ‘‘(a) EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with the Under Secretaries for Emergency Pre6 paredness and Response and Science and Tech7 nology and the Director of the Office for Domestic

8 Preparedness, shall, not later than 6 months after

9 the date of enactment of this section, support the

10 development of, promulgate, and update as nec11 essary national voluntary consensus standards for

12 the performance, use, and validation of first re13 sponder equipment for purposes of section

14 1805(e)(7). Such standards—

15 ‘‘(A) shall be, to the maximum extent prac16 ticable, consistent with any existing voluntary

17 consensus standards;

18 ‘‘(B) shall take into account, as appro19 priate, new types of terrorism threats that may

20 not have been contemplated when such existing

21 standards were developed;

22 ‘‘(C) shall be focused on maximizing inter23 operability, interchangeability, durability, flexi24 bility, efficiency, efficacy, portability, sustain25 ability, and safety; and
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1 ‘‘(D) shall cover all appropriate uses of the

2 equipment.

3 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED CATEGORIES.—In carrying out

4 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall specifically con5 sider the following categories of first responder

6 equipment:

7 ‘‘(A) Thermal imaging equipment.

8 ‘‘(B) Radiation detection and analysis

9 equipment.

10 ‘‘(C) Biological detection and analysis

11 equipment.

12 ‘‘(D) Chemical detection and analysis

13 equipment.

14 ‘‘(E) Decontamination and sterilization

15 equipment.

16 ‘‘(F) Personal protective equipment, in17 cluding garments, boots, gloves, and hoods and

18 other protective clothing.

19 ‘‘(G) Respiratory protection equipment.

20 ‘‘(H) Interoperable communications, in21 cluding wireless and wireline voice, video, and

22 data networks.

23 ‘‘(I) Explosive mitigation devices and ex24 plosive detection and analysis equipment.

25 ‘‘(J) Containment vessels.
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1 ‘‘(K) Contaminant-resistant vehicles.

2 ‘‘(L) Such other equipment for which the

3 Secretary determines that national voluntary

4 consensus standards would be appropriate.

5 ‘‘(b) TRAINING STANDARDS.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta7 tion with the Under Secretaries for Emergency Pre8 paredness and Response and Science and Tech9 nology and the Director of the Office for Domestic

10 Preparedness, shall support the development of, pro11 mulgate, and regularly update as necessary national

12 voluntary consensus standards for first responder

13 training carried out with amounts provided under

14 covered grant programs, that will enable State and

15 local government first responders to achieve optimal

16 levels of terrorism preparedness as quickly as prac17 ticable. Such standards shall give priority to pro18 viding training to—

19 ‘‘(A) enable first responders to prevent,

20 prepare for, respond to, mitigate against, and

21 recover from terrorist threats, including threats

22 from chemical, biological, nuclear, and radio23 logical weapons and explosive devices capable of

24 inflicting significant human casualties; and
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1 ‘‘(B) familiarize first responders with the

2 proper use of equipment, including software,

3 developed pursuant to the standards established

4 under subsection (a).

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED CATEGORIES.—In carrying out

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary specifically shall in7 clude the following categories of first responder ac8 tivities:

9 ‘‘(A) Regional planning.

10 ‘‘(B) Joint exercises.

11 ‘‘(C) Intelligence collection, analysis, and

12 sharing.

13 ‘‘(D) Emergency notification of affected

14 populations.

15 ‘‘(E) Detection of biological, nuclear, radi16 ological, and chemical weapons of mass destruc17 tion.

18 ‘‘(F) Such other activities for which the

19 Secretary determines that national voluntary

20 consensus training standards would be appro21 priate.

22 ‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY.—In carrying out this sub23 section, the Secretary shall ensure that such training

24 standards are consistent with the principles of emer25 gency preparedness for all hazards.
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1 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH STANDARDS ORGANIZA2 TIONS.—In establishing national voluntary consensus

3 standards for first responder equipment and training

4 under this section, the Secretary shall consult with rel5 evant public and private sector groups, including—

6 ‘‘(1) the National Institute of Standards and

7 Technology;

8 ‘‘(2) the National Fire Protection Association;

9 ‘‘(3) the National Association of County and

10 City Health Officials;

11 ‘‘(4) the Association of State and Territorial

12 Health Officials;

13 ‘‘(5) the American National Standards Insti14 tute;

15 ‘‘(6) the National Institute of Justice;

16 ‘‘(7) the Inter-Agency Board for Equipment

17 Standardization and Interoperability;

18 ‘‘(8) the National Public Health Performance

19 Standards Program;

20 ‘‘(9) the National Institute for Occupational

21 Safety and Health;

22 ‘‘(10) ASTM International;

23 ‘‘(11) the International Safety Equipment Asso24 ciation;
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1 ‘‘(12) the Emergency Management Accredita2 tion Program; and

3 ‘‘(13) to the extent the Secretary considers ap4 propriate, other national voluntary consensus stand5 ards development organizations, other interested

6 Federal, State, and local agencies, and other inter7 ested persons.

8 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH SECRETARY OF HHS.—

9 In establishing any national voluntary consensus stand10 ards under this section for first responder equipment or

11 training that involve or relate to health professionals, in12 cluding emergency medical professionals, the Secretary

13 shall coordinate activities under this section with the Sec14 retary of Health and Human Services.’’.

15 (b) DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE PRO16 VIDERS.—Paragraph (6) of section 2 of the Homeland Se17 curity Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C.

18 101(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘includes’’ and all that

19 follows and inserting ‘‘includes Federal, State, and local

20 governmental and nongovernmental emergency public

21 safety, law enforcement, fire, emergency response, emer22 gency medical (including hospital emergency facilities),

23 and related personnel, organizations, agencies, and au24 thorities.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. SUPERSEDED PROVISION.

2 This Act supersedes section 1014(c)(3) of Public Law

3 107–56.

4 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT.

5 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish

6 within the Office for Domestic Preparedness an Office of

7 the Comptroller to oversee the grants distribution process

8 and the financial management of the Office for Domestic

9 Preparedness.

10 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT ON AN INVENTORY AND STATUS OF

11 HOMELAND SECURITY FIRST RESPONDER

12 TRAINING.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the

14 United States shall report to the Congress in accordance

15 with this section—

16 (1) on the overall inventory and status of first

17 responder training programs of the Department of

18 Homeland Security and other departments and

19 agencies of the Federal Government; and

20 (2) the extent to which such programs are co21 ordinated.

22 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—The reports under this

23 section shall include—

24 (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the

25 structure and organization of such training pro26 grams;
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1 (2) recommendations to—

2 (A) improve the coordination, structure,

3 and organization of such training programs;

4 and

5 (B) increase the availability of training to

6 first responders who are not able to attend cen7 tralized training programs;

8 (3) the structure and organizational effective9 ness of such programs for first responders in rural

10 communities;

11 (4) identification of any duplication or redun12 dancy among such programs;

13 (5) a description of the use of State and local

14 training institutions, universities, centers, and the

15 National Domestic Preparedness Consortium in de16 signing and providing training;

17 (6) a cost-benefit analysis of the costs and time

18 required for first responders to participate in train19 ing courses at Federal institutions;

20 (7) an assessment of the approval process for

21 certifying non-Department of Homeland Security

22 training courses that are useful for anti-terrorism

23 purposes as eligible for grants awarded by the De24 partment;
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1 (8) a description of the use of Department of

2 Homeland Security grant funds by States and local

3 governments to acquire training;

4 (9) an analysis of the feasibility of Federal,

5 State, and local personnel to receive the training

6 that is necessary to adopt the National Response

7 Plan and the National Incident Management Sys8 tem; and

9 (10) the role of each first responder training in10 stitution within the Department of Homeland Secu11 rity in the design and implementation of terrorism

12 preparedness and related training courses for first

13 responders.

14 (c) DEADLINES.—The Comptroller General shall—

15 (1) submit a report under subsection (a)(1) by

16 not later than 60 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act; and

18 (2) submit a report on the remainder of the

19 topics required by this section by not later than 120

20 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF CIVIL LIABILITY BARRIERS THAT DIS22 COURAGE THE DONATION OF FIRE EQUIP23 MENT TO VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANIES.

24 (a) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—A person who donates

25 fire control or fire rescue equipment to a volunteer fire
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1 company shall not be liable for civil damages under any

2 State or Federal law for personal injuries, property dam3 age or loss, or death caused by the equipment after the

4 donation.

5 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not apply to

6 a person if—

7 (1) the person’s act or omission causing the in8 jury, damage, loss, or death constitutes gross neg9 ligence or intentional misconduct; or

10 (2) the person is the manufacturer of the fire

11 control or fire rescue equipment.

12 (c) PREEMPTION.—This Act preempts the laws of

13 any State to the extent that such laws are inconsistent

14 with this Act, except that notwithstanding subsection (b)

15 this Act shall not preempt any State law that provides

16 additional protection from liability for a person who do17 nates fire control or fire rescue equipment to a volunteer

18 fire company.

19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

20 (1) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes any

21 governmental or other entity.

22 (2) FIRE CONTROL OR RESCUE EQUIPMENT.—

23 The term ‘‘fire control or fire rescue equipment’’ in24 cludes any fire vehicle, fire fighting tool, communica-
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1 tions equipment, protective gear, fire hose, or

2 breathing apparatus.

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the

4 several States, the District of Columbia, the Com5 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the

6 Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam,

7 the Virgin Islands, any other territory or possession

8 of the United States, and any political subdivision of

9 any such State, territory, or possession.

10 (4) VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY.—The term

11 ‘‘volunteer fire company’’ means an association of

12 individuals who provide fire protection and other

13 emergency services, where at least 30 percent of the

14 individuals receive little or no compensation com15 pared with an entry level full-time paid individual in

16 that association or in the nearest such association

17 with an entry level full-time paid individual.

18 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act applies only to li19 ability for injury, damage, loss, or death caused by equip20 ment that, for purposes of subsection (a), is donated on
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1 or after the date that is 30 days after the date of the

2 enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives May 12, 2005.

Attest:

Clerk.

109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544

AN ACT

To provide faster and smarter funding for first

responders, and for other purposes.