IIB 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2005 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

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 

21 or after the date that is 30 days after the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 12, 2005. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.