IB 

Union Calendar No. 32 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544 

[Report No. 109–65] 

To provide faster and smarter funding for first responders, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2005 

Mr. COX (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, 

Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. 

DICKS, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. LINDER, Mrs. LOWEY, 

Mr. SOUDER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. ZOE

LOFGREN of California, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Ms. 

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. GIBBONS, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

PEARCE, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. JINDAL, Mr. 

REICHERT, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. DENT, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

APRIL 28, 2005 

Additional sponsors: Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. 

OWENS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BERMAN, and Mr. WEXLER, 

APRIL 28, 2005 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 12, 2005] 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Funding for First Responders Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In order to achieve its objective of preventing, 

9 minimizing the damage from, and assisting in the re10 covery from terrorist attacks, the Department of 

11 Homeland Security must play a leading role in as12 sisting communities to reach the level of preparedness 

13 they need to prevent and respond to a terrorist attack. 

14 (2) First responder funding is not reaching the 

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

16 quickly enough, and sometimes not at all. 

17 (3) To reform the current bureaucratic process so 

18 that homeland security dollars reach the first respond19 ers who need it most, it is necessary to clarify and 
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1 consolidate the authority and procedures of the De2 partment of Homeland Security that support first re3 sponders. 

4 (4) Ensuring adequate resources for the new na5 tional mission of homeland security, without degrad6 ing the ability to address effectively other types of 

7 major disasters and emergencies, requires a discrete 

8 and separate grant making process for homeland se9 curity funds for first response to terrorist acts, on the 

10 one hand, and for first responder programs designed 

11 to meet pre-September 11 priorities, on the other. 

12 (5) While a discrete homeland security grant 

13 making process is necessary to ensure proper focus on 

14 the unique aspects of terrorism preparedness, it is es15 sential that State and local strategies for utilizing 

16 such grants be integrated, to the greatest extent prac17 ticable, with existing State and local emergency man18 agement plans. 

19 (6) Homeland security grants to first responders 

20 must be based on the best intelligence concerning the 

21 capabilities and intentions of our terrorist enemies, 

22 and that intelligence must be used to target resources 

23 to the Nation’s greatest threats, vulnerabilities, and 

24 consequences. 
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1 (7) The Nation’s first response capabilities will 

2 be improved by sharing resources, training, planning, 

3 personnel, and equipment among neighboring juris4 dictions through mutual aid agreements and regional 

5 cooperation. Such regional cooperation should be sup6 ported, where appropriate, through direct grants from 

7 the Department of Homeland Security. 

8 (8) An essential prerequisite to achieving the Na9 tion’s homeland security objectives for first responders 

10 is the establishment of well-defined national goals for 

11 terrorism preparedness. These goals should delineate 

12 the essential capabilities that every jurisdiction in the 

13 United States should possess or to which it should 

14 have access. 

15 (9) A national determination of essential capa16 bilities is needed to identify levels of State and local 

17 government terrorism preparedness, to determine the 

18 nature and extent of State and local first responder 

19 needs, to identify the human and financial resources 

20 required to fulfill them, to direct funding to meet 

21 those needs, and to measure preparedness levels on a 

22 national scale. 

23 (10) To facilitate progress in achieving, main24 taining, and enhancing essential capabilities for 

25 State and local first responders, the Department of 
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1 Homeland Security should seek to allocate homeland 

2 security funding for first responders to meet nation3 wide needs. 

4 (11) Private sector resources and citizen volun5 teers can perform critical functions in assisting in 

6 preventing and responding to terrorist attacks, and 

7 should be integrated into State and local planning ef8 forts to ensure that their capabilities and roles are 

9 understood, so as to provide enhanced State and local 

10 operational capability and surge capacity. 

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

12 partnerships between the Business Executives for Na13 tional Security and the States of New Jersey and 

14 Georgia, can be useful to identify and coordinate pri15 vate sector support for State and local first respond16 ers. Such models should be expanded to cover all 

17 States and territories. 

18 (13) An important aspect of terrorism prepared19 ness is measurability, so that it is possible to deter20 mine how prepared a State or local government is 

21 now, and what additional steps it needs to take, in 

22 order to prevent, prepare for, respond to, mitigate 

23 against, and recover from acts of terrorism. 

24 (14) The Department of Homeland Security 

25 should establish, publish, and regularly update na-
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1 tional voluntary consensus standards for both equip2 ment and training, in cooperation with both public 

3 and private sector standard setting organizations, to 

4 assist State and local governments in obtaining the 

5 equipment and training to attain the essential capa6 bilities for first response to acts of terrorism, and to 

7 ensure that first responder funds are spent wisely. 

8 SEC. 3. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE9 SPONDERS. 

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

11 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amend12 ed— 

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

14 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.’’ 

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

16 ‘‘TITLE XVIII—FUNDING FOR 

17 FIRST RESPONDERS 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1801. DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘In this title: 
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1 ‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the First 

2 Responder Grants Board established under section 

3 1804. 

4 ‘‘(2) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘covered grant’ 

5 means any grant to which this title applies under sec6 tion 1802. 

7 ‘‘(3) DIRECTLY ELIGIBLE TRIBE.—The term ‘di8 rectly eligible tribe’ means any Indian tribe or con9 sortium of Indian tribes that— 

10 ‘‘(A) meets the criteria for inclusion in the 

11 qualified applicant pool for Self-Governance that 

12 are set forth in section 402(c) of the Indian Self13 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

14 U.S.C. 458bb(c)); 

15 ‘‘(B) employs at least 10 full-time personnel 

16 in a law enforcement or emergency response 

17 agency with the capacity to respond to calls for 

18 law enforcement or emergency services; and 

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

20 an international border or waterway; 

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

22 designated as high-risk critical infrastructure by 

23 the Secretary; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) is located within or contiguous to one 

2 of the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in 

3 the United States; or 

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

5 Indian country, as that term is defined in sec6 tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(4) ELEVATIONS IN THE THREAT ALERT

8 LEVEL.—The term ‘elevations in the threat alert level’ 

9 means any designation (including those that are less 

10 than national in scope) that raises the homeland secu11 rity threat level to either the highest or second highest 

12 threat level under the Homeland Security Advisory 

13 System referred to in section 201(d)(7). 

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

15 ‘emergency preparedness’ shall have the same mean16 ing that term has under section 602 of the Robert T. 

17 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 5195a). 

19 ‘‘(6) ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES.—The term ‘es20 sential capabilities’ means the levels, availability, and 

21 competence of emergency personnel, planning, train22 ing, and equipment across a variety of disciplines 

23 needed to effectively and efficiently prevent, prepare 

24 for, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism 

25 consistent with established practices. 
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1 ‘‘(7) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘first re2 sponder’ shall have the same meaning as the term 

3 ‘emergency response provider’. 

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

5 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga6 nized group or community, including any Alaskan 

7 Native village or regional or village corporation as 

8 defined in or established pursuant to the Alaskan Na9 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 

10 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro11 grams and services provided by the United States to 

12 Indians because of their status as Indians. 

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

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

15 or parts of 2 or more contiguous States, counties, 

16 municipalities, or other local governments that 

17 have a combined population of at least 1,650,000 

18 or have an area of not less than 20,000 square 

19 miles, and that, for purposes of an application 

20 for a covered grant, is represented by 1 or more 

21 governments or governmental agencies within 

22 such geographic area, and that is established by 

23 law or by agreement of 2 or more such govern24 ments or governmental agencies in a mutual aid 

25 agreement; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) any other combination of contiguous 

2 local government units (including such a com3 bination established by law or agreement of two 

4 or more governments or governmental agencies 

5 in a mutual aid agreement) that is formally cer6 tified by the Secretary as a region for purposes 

7 of this Act with the consent of— 

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

9 are located, including a multi-State entity 

10 established by a compact between two or 

11 more States; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the incorporated municipalities, 

13 counties, and parishes that they encompass. 

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

15 means the Task Force on Terrorism Preparedness for 

16 First Responders established under section 1805. 

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

18 ‘terrorism preparedness’ means any activity designed 

19 to improve the ability to prevent, prepare for, respond 

20 to, mitigate against, or recover from threatened or ac21 tual terrorist attacks. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 1802. FASTER AND SMARTER FUNDING FOR FIRST RE23 SPONDERS. 

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

25 provided by the Department to States, regions, or directly 
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1 eligible tribes for the primary purpose of improving the 

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

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

4 terrorist attacks, especially those involving weapons of mass 

5 destruction, administered under the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) STATE HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PRO7 GRAM.—The State Homeland Security Grant Pro8 gram of the Department, or any successor to such 

9 grant program. 

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

11 Urban Area Security Initiative of the Department, or 

12 any successor to such grant program. 

13 ‘‘(3) LAW ENFORCEMENT TERRORISM PREVEN14 TION PROGRAM.—The Law Enforcement Terrorism 

15 Prevention Program of the Department, or any suc16 cessor to such grant program. 

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

18 to or otherwise affect the following Federal grant programs 

19 or any grant under such a program: 

20 ‘‘(1) NONDEPARTMENT PROGRAMS.—Any Federal 

21 grant program that is not administered by the De22 partment. 

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

24 programs authorized by sections 33 and 34 of the 
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1 Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 

2 U.S.C. 2229, 2229a). 

3 ‘‘(3) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND

4 ASSISTANCE ACCOUNT GRANTS.—The Emergency 

5 Management Performance Grant program and the 

6 Urban Search and Rescue Grants program authorized 

7 by title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

8 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et 

9 seq.); the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Hous10 ing and Urban Development, and Independent Agen11 cies Appropriations Act, 2000 (113 Stat. 1047 et 

12 seq.); and the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 

13 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.). 

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

15 ‘‘(a) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—Any State, region, or di16 rectly eligible tribe shall be eligible to apply for a covered 

17 grant. 

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

19 covered grants to assist States and local governments in 

20 achieving, maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa21 bilities for terrorism preparedness established by the Sec22 retary. 

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

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

25 shall require that any State applying to the Secretary 
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1 for a covered grant must submit to the Secretary a 

2 3-year State homeland security plan that— 

3 ‘‘(A) describes the essential capabilities that 

4 communities within the State should possess, or 

5 to which they should have access, based upon the 

6 terrorism risk factors relevant to such commu7 nities, in order to meet the Department’s goals 

8 for terrorism preparedness; 

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

10 State has achieved the essential capabilities that 

11 apply to the State; 

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

13 necessary to achieve, maintain, or enhance the 

14 essential capabilities that apply to the State; 

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

16 based on threat, vulnerability, and consequence 

17 assessment factors applicable to the State; 

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

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

20 county, regional, tribal, State, and inter21 state level, including a precise description of 

22 any regional structure the State has estab23 lished for the purpose of organizing home24 land security preparedness activities funded 

25 by covered grants; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) to use all Federal, State, and 

2 local resources available for the purpose of 

3 addressing such needs; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) to give particular emphasis to 

5 regional planning and cooperation, includ6 ing the activities of multijurisdictional 

7 planning agencies governed by local offi8 cials, both within its jurisdictional borders 

9 and with neighboring States; 

10 ‘‘(F) with respect to the emergency pre11 paredness of first responders, addresses the 

12 unique aspects of terrorism as part of a com13 prehensive State emergency management plan; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(G) provides for coordination of response 

16 and recovery efforts at the local level, including 

17 procedures for effective incident command in 

18 conformance with the National Incident Manage19 ment System. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The State plan submitted 

21 under paragraph (1) shall be developed in consulta22 tion with and subject to appropriate comment by 

23 local governments and first responders within the 

24 State. 
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1 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

2 may not award any covered grant to a State unless 

3 the Secretary has approved the applicable State home4 land security plan. 

5 ‘‘(4) REVISIONS.—A State may revise the appli6 cable State homeland security plan approved by the 

7 Secretary under this subsection, subject to approval of 

8 the revision by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(d) CONSISTENCY WITH STATE PLANS.—The Sec10 retary shall ensure that each covered grant is used to sup11 plement and support, in a consistent and coordinated man12 ner, the applicable State homeland security plan or plans. 

13 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided 

15 in this subsection, any State, region, or directly eligi16 ble tribe may apply for a covered grant by submitting 

17 to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

18 manner, and containing such information as is re19 quired under this subsection, or as the Secretary may 

20 reasonably require. 

21 ‘‘(2) DEADLINES FOR APPLICATIONS AND

22 AWARDS.—All applications for covered grants must be 

23 submitted at such time as the Secretary may reason24 ably require for the fiscal year for which they are sub25 mitted. The Secretary shall award covered grants 
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1 pursuant to all approved applications for such fiscal 

2 year as soon as practicable, but not later than March 

3 1 of such year. 

4 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—All funds award5 ed by the Secretary under covered grants in a fiscal 

6 year shall be available for obligation through the end 

7 of the subsequent fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The 

9 Secretary shall require that each applicant include in 

10 its application, at a minimum— 

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

12 seeks covered grant funds and the reasons why 

13 the applicant needs the covered grant to meet the 

14 essential capabilities for terrorism preparedness 

15 within the State, region, or directly eligible tribe 

16 to which the application pertains; 

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

18 the applicable State homeland security plan or 

19 plans under subsection (c), the allocation of 

20 grant funding proposed in the application, in21 cluding, where applicable, the amount not passed 

22 through under section 1806(g)(1), would assist in 

23 fulfilling the essential capabilities for terrorism 

24 preparedness specified in such plan or plans; 
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1 ‘‘(C) a statement of whether a mutual aid 

2 agreement applies to the use of all or any por3 tion of the covered grant funds; 

4 ‘‘(D) if the applicant is a State, a descrip5 tion of how the State plans to allocate the cov6 ered grant funds to regions, local governments, 

7 and Indian tribes; 

8 ‘‘(E) if the applicant is a region— 

9 ‘‘(i) a precise geographical description 

10 of the region and a specification of all par11 ticipating and nonparticipating local gov12 ernments within the geographical area com13 prising that region; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a specification of what govern15 mental entity within the region will admin16 ister the expenditure of funds under the cov17 ered grant; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) a designation of a specific indi19 vidual to serve as regional liaison; 

20 ‘‘(F) a capital budget showing how the ap21 plicant intends to allocate and expend the cov22 ered grant funds; 

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

24 tribe, a designation of a specific individual to 

25 serve as the tribal liaison; and 
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1 ‘‘(H) a statement of how the applicant in2 tends to meet the matching requirement, if any, 

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

4 ‘‘(5) REGIONAL APPLICATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE APPLICA6 TIONS.—A regional application— 

7 ‘‘(i) shall be coordinated with an ap8 plication submitted by the State or States of 

9 which such region is a part; 

10 ‘‘(ii) shall supplement and avoid du11 plication with such State application; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) shall address the unique regional 

13 aspects of such region’s terrorism prepared14 ness needs beyond those provided for in the 

15 application of such State or States. 

16 ‘‘(B) STATE REVIEW AND SUBMISSION.—To 

17 ensure the consistency required under subsection 

18 (d) and the coordination required under sub19 paragraph (A) of this paragraph, an applicant 

20 that is a region must submit its application to 

21 each State of which any part is included in the 

22 region for review and concurrence prior to the 

23 submission of such application to the Secretary. 

24 The regional application shall be transmitted to 

25 the Secretary through each such State within 30 
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1 days of its receipt, unless the Governor of such 

2 a State notifies the Secretary, in writing, that 

3 such regional application is inconsistent with the 

4 State’s homeland security plan and provides an 

5 explanation of the reasons therefor. 

6 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION OF REGIONAL

7 AWARDS.—If the Secretary approves a regional 

8 application, then the Secretary shall distribute a 

9 regional award to the State or States submitting 

10 the applicable regional application under sub11 paragraph (B), and each such State shall, not 

12 later than the end of the 45-day period beginning 

13 on the date after receiving a regional award, 

14 pass through to the region all covered grant 

15 funds or resources purchased with such funds, ex16 cept those funds necessary for the State to carry 

17 out its responsibilities with respect to such re18 gional application: Provided, That in no such 

19 case shall the State or States pass through to the 

20 region less than 80 percent of the regional 

21 award. 

22 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATIONS REGARDING DIS23 TRIBUTION OF GRANT FUNDS TO REGIONS.—Any 

24 State that receives a regional award under sub25 paragraph (C) shall certify to the Secretary, by 
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1 not later than 30 days after the expiration of the 

2 period described in subparagraph (C) with re3 spect to the grant, that the State has made avail4 able to the region the required funds and re5 sources in accordance with subparagraph (C). 

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

7 any State fails to pass through a regional award 

8 to a region as required by subparagraph (C) 

9 within 45 days after receiving such award and 

10 does not request or receive an extension of such 

11 period under section 1806(h)(2), the region may 

12 petition the Secretary to receive directly the por13 tion of the regional award that is required to be 

14 passed through to such region under subpara15 graph (C). 

16 ‘‘(F) REGIONAL LIAISONS.—A regional liai17 son designated under paragraph (4)(E)(iii) 

18 shall— 

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

20 local, regional, and private officials within 

21 the region concerning terrorism prepared22 ness; 

23 ‘‘(ii) develop a process for receiving 

24 input from Federal, State, local, regional, 

25 and private sector officials within the re-
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1 gion to assist in the development of the re2 gional application and to improve the re3 gion’s access to covered grants; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) administer, in consultation with 

5 State, local, regional, and private officials 

6 within the region, covered grants awarded 

7 to the region. 

8 ‘‘(6) TRIBAL APPLICATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION TO THE STATE OR

10 STATES.—To ensure the consistency required 

11 under subsection (d), an applicant that is a di12 rectly eligible tribe must submit its application 

13 to each State within the boundaries of which any 

14 part of such tribe is located for direct submission 

15 to the Department along with the application of 

16 such State or States. 

17 ‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY FOR STATE COMMENT.— 

18 Before awarding any covered grant to a directly 

19 eligible tribe, the Secretary shall provide an op20 portunity to each State within the boundaries of 

21 which any part of such tribe is located to com22 ment to the Secretary on the consistency of the 

23 tribe’s application with the State’s homeland se24 curity plan. Any such comments shall be sub-
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1 mitted to the Secretary concurrently with the 

2 submission of the State and 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 security 

7 plan or plans, and to approve any application 

8 of such tribe. The Secretary shall notify each 

9 State within the boundaries of which any part 

10 of such tribe is located of the approval of an ap11 plication 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 tribe 

21 and to improve the tribe’s access to covered 

22 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 directly 

4 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 com13 ply with section 1806(g)(1), the tribe may re14 quest payment under section 1806(h)(3) in the 

15 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 appli20 cable national voluntary consensus standards estab21 lished by the Secretary, the applicant shall include in 

22 the application an explanation of why such equip23 ment or systems will serve the needs of the applicant 

24 better than equipment or systems that meet or exceed 

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

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

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.—The Sec4 retary shall establish a First Responder Grants 

5 Board, consisting of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the Secretary; 

7 ‘‘(B) the Under Secretary for Emergency 

8 Preparedness and Response; 

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

10 Transportation Security; 

11 ‘‘(D) the Under Secretary for Information 

12 Analysis and Infrastructure Protection; 

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

14 Technology; 

15 ‘‘(F) the Director of the Office for Domestic 

16 Preparedness; and 

17 ‘‘(G) the Administrator of the United States 

18 Fire Administration. 

19 ‘‘(2) CHAIRMAN.— 

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

21 the Chairman of the Board. 

22 ‘‘(B) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES BY DEP23 UTY SECRETARY.—The Deputy Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security may exercise the authorities 

25 of the Chairman, if the Secretary so directs. 
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1 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF UNDER SECRETARIES.—The 

2 Under Secretaries referred to in subsection (a)(1) shall seek 

3 to ensure that the relevant expertise and input of the staff 

4 of their directorates are available to and considered by the 

5 Board. 

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

7 ‘‘(1) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—The Board 

8 shall evaluate and annually prioritize all pending ap9 plications for covered grants based upon the degree to 

10 which they would, by achieving, maintaining, or en11 hancing the essential capabilities of the applicants on 

12 a nationwide basis, lessen the threat to, vulnerability 

13 of, and consequences for persons (including transient 

14 commuting and tourist populations) and critical in15 frastructure. Such evaluation and prioritization shall 

16 be based upon the most current risk assessment avail17 able by the Directorate for Information Analysis and 

18 Infrastructure Protection of the threats of terrorism 

19 against the United States. 

20 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS.—The 

21 Board specifically shall consider threats of terrorism 

22 against the following critical infrastructure sectors in 

23 all areas of the United States, urban and rural: 

24 ‘‘(A) Agriculture and food. 

25 ‘‘(B) Banking and finance. 
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1 ‘‘(C) Chemical industries. 

2 ‘‘(D) The defense industrial base. 

3 ‘‘(E) Emergency services. 

4 ‘‘(F) Energy. 

5 ‘‘(G) Government facilities. 

6 ‘‘(H) Postal and shipping. 

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

8 ‘‘(J) Information technology. 

9 ‘‘(K) Telecommunications. 

10 ‘‘(L) Transportation systems. 

11 ‘‘(M) Water. 

12 ‘‘(N) Dams. 

13 ‘‘(O) Commercial facilities. 

14 ‘‘(P) National monuments and icons. 

15 The order in which the critical infrastructure sectors 

16 are listed in this paragraph shall not be construed as 

17 an order of priority for consideration of the impor18 tance of such sectors. 

19 ‘‘(3) TYPES OF THREAT.—The Board specifically 

20 shall consider the following types of threat to the crit21 ical infrastructure sectors described in paragraph (2), 

22 and to populations in all areas of the United States, 

23 urban and rural: 

24 ‘‘(A) Biological threats. 

25 ‘‘(B) Nuclear threats. 
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1 ‘‘(C) Radiological threats. 

2 ‘‘(D) Incendiary threats. 

3 ‘‘(E) Chemical threats. 

4 ‘‘(F) Explosives. 

5 ‘‘(G) Suicide bombers. 

6 ‘‘(H) Cyber threats. 

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

8 to specific past acts of terrorism or the known 

9 activity of any terrorist group. 

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

11 this paragraph shall not be construed as an order of 

12 priority for consideration of the importance of such 

13 threats. 

14 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL FAC15 TORS.—The Board shall take into account any other 

16 specific threat to a population (including a transient 

17 commuting or tourist population) or critical infra18 structure sector that the Board has determined to 

19 exist. In evaluating the threat to a population or crit20 ical infrastructure sector, the Board shall give greater 

21 weight to threats of terrorism based upon their speci22 ficity and credibility, including any pattern of repeti23 tion. 
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1 ‘‘(5) MINIMUM AMOUNTS.—After evaluating and 

2 prioritizing grant applications under paragraph (1), 

3 the Board shall ensure that, for each fiscal year— 

4 ‘‘(A) each of the States, other than the Vir5 gin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 

6 Northern Mariana Islands, that has an approved 

7 State homeland security plan receives no less 

8 than 0.25 percent of the funds available for cov9 ered grants for that fiscal year for purposes of 

10 implementing its homeland security plan in ac11 cordance with the prioritization of needs under 

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

13 ‘‘(B) each of the States, other than the Vir14 gin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 

15 Northern Mariana Islands, that has an approved 

16 State homeland security plan and that meets one 

17 or both of the additional high-risk qualifying cri18 teria under paragraph (6) receives no less than 

19 0.45 percent of the funds available for covered 

20 grants for that fiscal year for purposes of imple21 menting its homeland security plan in accord22 ance with the prioritization of needs under sec23 tion 1803(c)(1)(D); 

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

25 Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands each 
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1 receives no less than 0.08 percent of the funds 

2 available for covered grants for that fiscal year 

3 for purposes of implementing its approved State 

4 homeland security plan in accordance with the 

5 prioritization of needs under section 

6 1803(c)(1)(D); and 

7 ‘‘(D) directly eligible tribes collectively re8 ceive no less than 0.08 percent of the funds avail9 able for covered grants for such fiscal year for 

10 purposes of addressing the needs identified in the 

11 applications of such tribes, consistent with the 

12 homeland security plan of each State within the 

13 boundaries of which any part of any such tribe 

14 is located, except that this clause shall not apply 

15 with respect to funds available for a fiscal year 

16 if the Secretary receives less than 5 applications 

17 for such fiscal year from such tribes under sec18 tion 1803(e)(6)(A) or does not approve at least 

19 one such application. 

20 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL HIGH-RISK QUALIFYING CRI21 TERIA.—For purposes of paragraph (5)(B), addi22 tional high-risk qualifying criteria consist of— 

23 ‘‘(A) having a significant international 

24 land border; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) adjoining a body of water within 

2 North America through which an international 

3 boundary line extends. 

4 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF REGIONAL AWARDS ON STATE MIN5 IMUM.—Any regional award, or portion thereof, provided 

6 to a State under section 1803(e)(5)(C) shall not be consid7 ered in calculating the minimum State award under sub8 section (c)(5) of this section. 

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

10 FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—To assist the Secretary in up12 dating, revising, or replacing essential capabilities for ter13 rorism preparedness, the Secretary shall establish an advi14 sory body pursuant to section 871(a) not later than 60 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this section, which shall 

16 be known as the Task Force on Terrorism Preparedness for 

17 First Responders. 

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

19 shall regularly update, revise, or replace the essential capa20 bilities for terrorism preparedness as necessary, but not less 

21 than every 3 years. 

22 ‘‘(c) REPORT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall submit 

24 to the Secretary, by not later than 12 months after 

25 its establishment by the Secretary under subsection 
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1 (a) and not later than every 2 years thereafter, a re2 port on its recommendations for essential capabilities 

3 for terrorism preparedness. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall— 

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

6 capabilities in order to provide guidance to the 

7 Secretary and to the Congress on determining 

8 the appropriate allocation of, and funding levels 

9 for, first responder needs; 

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

11 State or local government will be able to deter12 mine the extent to which it possesses or has ac13 cess to the essential capabilities that States and 

14 local governments having similar risks should 

15 obtain; 

16 ‘‘(C) describe the availability of national 

17 voluntary consensus standards, and whether 

18 there is a need for new national voluntary con19 sensus standards, with respect to first responder 

20 training and equipment; 

21 ‘‘(D) include such additional matters as the 

22 Secretary may specify in order to further the ter23 rorism preparedness capabilities of first respond24 ers; and 
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1 ‘‘(E) include such revisions to the contents 

2 of previous reports as are necessary to take into 

3 account changes in the most current risk assess4 ment available by the Directorate for Informa5 tion Analysis and Infrastructure Protection or 

6 other relevant information as determined by the 

7 Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY WITH FEDERAL WORKING

9 GROUP.—The Task Force shall ensure that its rec10 ommendations for essential capabilities for terrorism 

11 preparedness are, to the extent feasible, consistent 

12 with any preparedness goals or recommendations of 

13 the Federal working group established under section 

14 319F(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 247d–6(a)). 

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

17 shall ensure that its recommendations regarding es18 sential capabilities for terrorism preparedness are 

19 made within the context of a comprehensive State 

20 emergency management system. 

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

22 ensure that its recommendations regarding essential 

23 capabilities for terrorism preparedness take into ac24 count any capabilities that State or local officials 

25 have determined to be essential and have undertaken 
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1 since September 11, 2001, to prevent, prepare for, re2 spond to, or recover from terrorist attacks. 

3 ‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall consist 

5 of 25 members appointed by the Secretary, and shall, 

6 to the extent practicable, represent a geographic (in7 cluding urban and rural) and substantive cross sec8 tion of governmental and nongovernmental first re9 sponder disciplines from the State and local levels, in10 cluding as appropriate— 

11 ‘‘(A) members selected from the emergency 

12 response field, including fire service and law en13 forcement, hazardous materials response, emer14 gency medical services, and emergency manage15 ment personnel (including public works per16 sonnel routinely engaged in emergency response); 

17 ‘‘(B) health scientists, emergency and inpa18 tient medical providers, and public health profes19 sionals, including experts in emergency health 

20 care response to chemical, biological, radio21 logical, and nuclear terrorism, and experts in 

22 providing mental health care during emergency 

23 response operations; 

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

25 governments, and the private sector, representing 
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1 standards-setting organizations, including rep2 resentation from the voluntary consensus codes 

3 and standards development community, particu4 larly those with expertise in first responder dis5 ciplines; and 

6 ‘‘(D) State and local officials with expertise 

7 in terrorism preparedness, subject to the condi8 tion that if any such official is an elected official 

9 representing one of the two major political par10 ties, an equal number of elected officials shall be 

11 selected from each such party. 

12 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF

13 HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES.—In the selection of 

14 members of the Task Force who are health profes15 sionals, including emergency medical professionals, 

16 the Secretary shall coordinate such selection with the 

17 Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

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

19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

20 each designate one or more officers of their respective 

21 Departments to serve as ex officio members of the 

22 Task Force. One of the ex officio members from the 

23 Department of Homeland Security shall be the des24 ignated officer of the Federal Government for pur-
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1 poses of subsection (e) of section 10 of the Federal Ad2 visory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.). 

3 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM4 MITTEE ACT.—Notwithstanding section 871(a), the Federal 

5 Advisory Committee Act (5 App. U.S.C.), including sub6 sections (a), (b), and (d) of section 10 of such Act, and sec7 tion 552b(c) of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to 

8 the Task Force. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 1806. USE OF FUNDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIRE10 MENTS. 

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

12 ‘‘(1) purchasing or upgrading equipment, in13 cluding computer software, to enhance terrorism pre14 paredness; 

15 ‘‘(2) exercises to strengthen terrorism prepared16 ness; 

17 ‘‘(3) training for prevention (including detec18 tion) of, preparedness for, response to, or recovery 

19 from attacks involving weapons of mass destruction, 

20 including training in the use of equipment and com21 puter software; 

22 ‘‘(4) developing or updating State homeland se23 curity plans, risk assessments, mutual aid agree24 ments, and emergency management plans to enhance 

25 terrorism preparedness; 
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1 ‘‘(5) establishing or enhancing mechanisms for 

2 sharing terrorism threat information; 

3 ‘‘(6) systems architecture and engineering, pro4 gram planning and management, strategy formula5 tion and strategic planning, life-cycle systems design, 

6 product and technology evaluation, and prototype de7 velopment for terrorism preparedness purposes; 

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

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

10 the Homeland Security Advisory System by the 

11 Secretary, or a similar elevation in threat alert 

12 level issued by a State, region, or local govern13 ment with the approval of the Secretary; 

14 ‘‘(B) travel to and participation in exercises 

15 and training in the use of equipment and on 

16 prevention activities; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the temporary replacement of per18 sonnel during any period of travel to and par19 ticipation in exercises and training in the use of 

20 equipment and on prevention activities; 

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

22 required to receive, transmit, handle, and store classi23 fied information; 

24 ‘‘(9) protecting critical infrastructure against 

25 potential attack by the addition of barriers, fences, 
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1 gates, and other such devices, except that the cost of 

2 such measures may not exceed the greater of— 

3 ‘‘(A) $1,000,000 per project; or 

4 ‘‘(B) such greater amount as may be ap5 proved by the Secretary, which may not exceed 

6 10 percent of the total amount of the covered 

7 grant; 

8 ‘‘(10) the costs of commercially available inter9 operable communications equipment (which, where 

10 applicable, is based on national, voluntary consensus 

11 standards) that the Secretary, in consultation with 

12 the Chairman of the Federal Communications Com13 mission, deems best suited to facilitate interoper14 ability, coordination, and integration between and 

15 among emergency communications systems, and that 

16 complies with prevailing grant guidance of the De17 partment for interoperable communications; 

18 ‘‘(11) educational curricula development for first 

19 responders to ensure that they are prepared for ter20 rorist attacks; 

21 ‘‘(12) training and exercises to assist public ele22 mentary and secondary schools in developing and im23 plementing programs to instruct students regarding 

24 age-appropriate skills to prevent, prepare for, respond 
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1 to, mitigate against, or recover from an act of ter2 rorism; 

3 ‘‘(13) paying of administrative expenses directly 

4 related to administration of the grant, except that 

5 such expenses may not exceed 3 percent of the amount 

6 of the grant; 

7 ‘‘(14) paying for the conduct of any activity per8 mitted under the Law Enforcement Terrorism Preven9 tion Program, or any such successor to such program; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(15) other appropriate activities as determined 

12 by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED USES.—Funds provided as a cov14 ered grant may not be used— 

15 ‘‘(1) to supplant State or local funds; 

16 ‘‘(2) to construct buildings or other physical fa17 cilities; 

18 ‘‘(3) to acquire land; or 

19 ‘‘(4) for any State or local government cost shar20 ing contribution. 

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

22 section shall be construed to preclude State and local gov23 ernments from using covered grant funds in a manner that 

24 also enhances first responder preparedness for emergencies 

25 and disasters unrelated to acts of terrorism, if such use as-
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1 sists such governments in achieving essential capabilities 

2 for terrorism preparedness established by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—In addition to the 

4 activities described in subsection (a), a covered grant may 

5 be used to provide a reasonable stipend to paid-on-call or 

6 volunteer first responders who are not otherwise com7 pensated for travel to or participation in training covered 

8 by this section. Any such reimbursement shall not be consid9 ered compensation for purposes of rendering such a first 

10 responder an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act 

11 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 

12 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may 

13 not require that equipment paid for, wholly or in part, with 

14 funds provided as a covered grant be made available for 

15 responding to emergencies in surrounding States, regions, 

16 and localities, unless the Secretary undertakes to pay the 

17 costs directly attributable to transporting and operating 

18 such equipment during such response. 

19 ‘‘(f) FLEXIBILITY IN UNSPENT HOMELAND SECURITY

20 GRANT FUNDS.—Upon request by the recipient of a covered 

21 grant, the Secretary may authorize the grantee to transfer 

22 all or part of funds provided as the covered grant from uses 

23 specified in the grant agreement to other uses authorized 

24 under this section, if the Secretary determines that such 

25 transfer is in the interests of homeland security. 
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1 ‘‘(g) STATE, REGIONAL, AND TRIBAL RESPONSIBIL2 ITIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) PASS-THROUGH.—The Secretary shall re4 quire a recipient of a covered grant that is a State 

5 to obligate or otherwise make available to local gov6 ernments, first responders, and other local groups, to 

7 the extent required under the State homeland security 

8 plan or plans specified in the application for the 

9 grant, not less than 80 percent of the grant funds, re10 sources purchased with the grant funds having a 

11 value equal to at least 80 percent of the amount of 

12 the grant, or a combination thereof, by not later than 

13 the end of the 45-day period beginning on the date the 

14 grant recipient receives the grant funds. 

15 ‘‘(2) COST SHARING.— 

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

17 the costs of an activity carried out with a cov18 ered grant to a State, region, or directly eligible 

19 tribe awarded after the 2-year period beginning 

20 on the date of the enactment of this section shall 

21 not exceed 75 percent. 

22 ‘‘(B) INTERIM RULE.—The Federal share of 

23 the costs of an activity carried out with a cov24 ered grant awarded before the end of the 2-year 
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1 period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

2 this section shall be 100 percent. 

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

4 a covered grant may meet the matching require5 ment under subparagraph (A) by making in6 kind contributions of goods or services that are 

7 directly linked with the purpose for which the 

8 grant is made, including, but not limited to, any 

9 necessary personnel overtime, contractor services, 

10 administrative costs, equipment fuel and mainte11 nance, and rental space. 

12 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATIONS REGARDING DISTRIBUTION

13 OF GRANT FUNDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—Any 

14 State that receives a covered grant shall certify to the 

15 Secretary, by not later than 30 days after the expira16 tion of the period described in paragraph (1) with re17 spect to the grant, that the State has made available 

18 for expenditure by local governments, first responders, 

19 and other local groups the required amount of grant 

20 funds pursuant to paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(4) QUARTERLY REPORT ON HOMELAND SECU22 RITY SPENDING.—The Federal share described in 

23 paragraph (2)(A) may be increased by up to 2 per24 cent for any State, region, or directly eligible tribe 

25 that, not later than 30 days after the end of each fis-
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1 cal quarter, submits to the Secretary a report on that 

2 fiscal quarter. Each such report must include, for 

3 each recipient of a covered grant or a pass-through 

4 under paragraph (1)— 

5 ‘‘(A) the amount obligated to that recipient 

6 in that quarter; 

7 ‘‘(B) the amount expended by that recipient 

8 in that quarter; and 

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

10 purchased by such recipient with such amount. 

11 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT ON HOMELAND SECURITY

12 SPENDING.—Each recipient of a covered grant shall 

13 submit an annual report to the Secretary not later 

14 than 60 days after the end of each Federal fiscal year. 

15 Each recipient of a covered grant that is a region 

16 must simultaneously submit its report to each State 

17 of which any part is included in the region. Each re18 cipient of a covered grant that is a directly eligible 

19 tribe must simultaneously submit its report to each 

20 State within the boundaries of which any part of such 

21 tribe is located. Each report must include the fol22 lowing: 

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

24 dates of receipt of all funds received under the 

25 grant during the previous fiscal year. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The amount and the dates of disburse2 ments of all such funds expended in compliance 

3 with paragraph (1) or pursuant to mutual aid 

4 agreements or other sharing arrangements that 

5 apply within the State, region, or directly eligi6 ble tribe, as applicable, during the previous fiscal 

7 year. 

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

9 ultimate recipient or beneficiary during the pre10 ceding fiscal year. 

11 ‘‘(D) The extent to which essential capabili12 ties identified in the applicable State homeland 

13 security plan or plans were achieved, main14 tained, or enhanced as the result of the expendi15 ture of grant funds during the preceding fiscal 

16 year. 

17 ‘‘(E) The extent to which essential capabili18 ties identified in the applicable State homeland 

19 security plan or plans remain unmet. 

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

21 recipient of a covered grant may submit to the Sec22 retary an annex to the annual report under para23 graph (5) that is subject to appropriate handling re24 strictions, if the recipient believes that discussion in 
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1 the report of unmet needs would reveal sensitive but 

2 unclassified information. 

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

4 shall ensure that each annual report under paragraph 

5 (5) is provided to the Under Secretary for Emergency 

6 Preparedness and Response and the Director of the 

7 Office for Domestic Preparedness. 

8 ‘‘(h) INCENTIVES TO EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF

9 HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PENALTIES FOR DELAY IN PASSING

11 THROUGH LOCAL SHARE.—If a recipient of a covered 

12 grant that is a State fails to pass through to local 

13 governments, first responders, and other local groups 

14 funds or resources required by subsection (g)(1) with15 in 45 days after receiving funds under the grant, the 

16 Secretary may— 

17 ‘‘(A) reduce grant payments to the grant re18 cipient from the portion of grant funds that is 

19 not required to be passed through under sub20 section (g)(1); 

21 ‘‘(B) terminate payment of funds under the 

22 grant to the recipient, and transfer the appro23 priate portion of those funds directly to local 

24 first responders that were intended to receive 

25 funding under that grant; or 
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1 ‘‘(C) impose additional restrictions or bur2 dens on the recipient’s use of funds under the 

3 grant, which may include— 

4 ‘‘(i) prohibiting use of such funds to 

5 pay the grant recipient’s grant-related over6 time or other expenses; 

7 ‘‘(ii) requiring the grant recipient to 

8 distribute to local government beneficiaries 

9 all or a portion of grant funds that are not 

10 required to be passed through under sub11 section (g)(1); or 

12 ‘‘(iii) for each day that the grant re13 cipient fails to pass through funds or re14 sources in accordance with subsection 

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

16 grant recipient from the portion of grant 

17 funds that is not required to be passed 

18 through under subsection (g)(1), except that 

19 the total amount of such reduction may not 

20 exceed 20 percent of the total amount of the 

21 grant. 

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

23 State may request in writing that the Secretary ex24 tend the 45-day period under section 1803(e)(5)(E) or 

25 paragraph (1) for an additional 15-day period. The 
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1 Secretary may approve such a request, and may ex2 tend such period for additional 15-day periods, if the 

3 Secretary determines that the resulting delay in pro4 viding grant funding to the local government entities 

5 that will receive funding under the grant will not 

6 have a significant detrimental impact on such enti7 ties’ terrorism preparedness efforts. 

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

9 GOVERNMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

11 upon request by a local government pay to the 

12 local government a portion of the amount of a 

13 covered grant awarded to a State in which the 

14 local government is located, if— 

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

16 amount paid to expedite planned enhance17 ments to its terrorism preparedness as de18 scribed in any applicable State homeland 

19 security plan or plans; 

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

21 through funds or resources in accordance 

22 with subsection (g)(1); and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the local government complies 

24 with subparagraphs (B) and (C). 
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1 ‘‘(B) SHOWING REQUIRED.—To receive a 

2 payment under this paragraph, a local govern3 ment must demonstrate that— 

4 ‘‘(i) it is identified explicitly as an ul5 timate recipient or intended beneficiary in 

6 the approved grant application; 

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

8 receive a severable portion of the overall 

9 grant for a specific purpose that is identi10 fied in the grant application; 

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

12 funds or resources after expiration of the pe13 riod within which the funds or resources 

14 were required to be passed through under 

15 subsection (g)(1); and 

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

17 the overall grant that was earmarked or 

18 designated for its use or benefit. 

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

20 grant funds to a local government under this 

21 paragraph— 

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

23 another local government under this para24 graph; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall not prejudice consideration 

2 of a request for payment under this para3 graph that is submitted by another local 

4 government. 

5 ‘‘(D) DEADLINE FOR ACTION BY SEC6 RETARY.—The Secretary shall approve or dis7 approve each request for payment under this 

8 paragraph by not later than 15 days after the 

9 date the request is received by the Department. 

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

11 submit an annual report to the Congress by January 31 

12 of each year covering the preceding fiscal year— 

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

14 funds provided as covered grants that were directed to 

15 each State, region, and directly eligible tribe in the 

16 preceding fiscal year; 

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

18 grant funds by grantees; and 

19 ‘‘(3) describing— 

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

21 maintaining, and enhancing the essential capa22 bilities established by the Secretary as a result of 

23 the expenditure of covered grant funds during the 

24 preceding fiscal year; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) an estimate of the amount of expendi2 tures required to attain across the United States 

3 the essential capabilities established by the Sec4 retary. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1807. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR FIRST RESPONDER 

6 EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING. 

7 ‘‘(a) EQUIPMENT STANDARDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta9 tion with the Under Secretaries for Emergency Pre10 paredness and Response and Science and Technology 

11 and the Director of the Office for Domestic Prepared12 ness, shall, not later than 6 months after the date of 

13 enactment of this section, support the development of, 

14 promulgate, and update as necessary national vol15 untary consensus standards for the performance, use, 

16 and validation of first responder equipment for pur17 poses of section 1805(e)(7). Such standards— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall be, to the maximum extent prac19 ticable, consistent with any existing voluntary 

20 consensus standards; 

21 ‘‘(B) shall take into account, as appro22 priate, new types of terrorism threats that may 

23 not have been contemplated when such existing 

24 standards were developed; 
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1 ‘‘(C) shall be focused on maximizing inter2 operability, interchangeability, durability, flexi3 bility, efficiency, efficacy, portability, sustain4 ability, and safety; and 

5 ‘‘(D) shall cover all appropriate uses of the 

6 equipment. 

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

8 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall specifically con9 sider the following categories of first responder equip10 ment: 

11 ‘‘(A) Thermal imaging equipment. 

12 ‘‘(B) Radiation detection and analysis 

13 equipment. 

14 ‘‘(C) Biological detection and analysis 

15 equipment. 

16 ‘‘(D) Chemical detection and analysis 

17 equipment. 

18 ‘‘(E) Decontamination and sterilization 

19 equipment. 

20 ‘‘(F) Personal protective equipment, includ21 ing garments, boots, gloves, and hoods and other 

22 protective clothing. 

23 ‘‘(G) Respiratory protection equipment. 
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1 ‘‘(H) Interoperable communications, includ2 ing wireless and wireline voice, video, and data 

3 networks. 

4 ‘‘(I) Explosive mitigation devices and explo5 sive detection and analysis equipment. 

6 ‘‘(J) Containment vessels. 

7 ‘‘(K) Contaminant-resistant vehicles. 

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

9 Secretary determines that national voluntary 

10 consensus standards would be appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(b) TRAINING STANDARDS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta13 tion with the Under Secretaries for Emergency Pre14 paredness and Response and Science and Technology 

15 and the Director of the Office for Domestic Prepared16 ness, shall support the development of, promulgate, 

17 and regularly update as necessary national voluntary 

18 consensus standards for first responder training car19 ried out with amounts provided under covered grant 

20 programs, that will enable State and local govern21 ment first responders to achieve optimal levels of ter22 rorism preparedness as quickly as practicable. Such 

23 standards shall give priority to providing training 

24 to— 
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1 ‘‘(A) enable first responders to prevent, pre2 pare for, respond to, mitigate against, and re3 cover from terrorist threats, including threats 

4 from chemical, biological, nuclear, and radio5 logical weapons and explosive devices capable of 

6 inflicting significant human casualties; and 

7 ‘‘(B) familiarize first responders with the 

8 proper use of equipment, including software, de9 veloped pursuant to the standards established 

10 under subsection (a). 

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

12 paragraph (1), the Secretary specifically shall include 

13 the following categories of first responder activities: 

14 ‘‘(A) Regional planning. 

15 ‘‘(B) Joint exercises. 

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

17 sharing. 

18 ‘‘(D) Emergency notification of affected 

19 populations. 

20 ‘‘(E) Detection of biological, nuclear, radio21 logical, and chemical weapons of mass destruc22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(F) Such other activities for which the Sec24 retary determines that national voluntary con25 sensus training standards would be appropriate. 
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1 ‘‘(3) CONSISTENCY.—In carrying out this sub2 section, the Secretary shall ensure that such training 

3 standards are consistent with the principles of emer4 gency preparedness for all hazards. 

5 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH STANDARDS ORGANIZA6 TIONS.—In establishing national voluntary consensus 

7 standards for first responder equipment and training under 

8 this section, the Secretary shall consult with relevant public 

9 and private sector groups, including— 

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

11 Technology; 

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

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

14 City Health Officials; 

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

16 Health Officials; 

17 ‘‘(5) the American National Standards Institute; 

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

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

20 Standardization and Interoperability; 

21 ‘‘(8) the National Public Health Performance 

22 Standards Program; 

23 ‘‘(9) the National Institute for Occupational 

24 Safety and Health; 

25 ‘‘(10) ASTM International; 
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1 ‘‘(11) the International Safety Equipment Asso2 ciation; 

3 ‘‘(12) the Emergency Management Accreditation 

4 Program; and 

5 ‘‘(13) to the extent the Secretary considers ap6 propriate, other national voluntary consensus stand7 ards development organizations, other interested Fed8 eral, State, and local agencies, and other interested 

9 persons. 

10 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH SECRETARY OF HHS.—In 

11 establishing any national voluntary consensus standards 

12 under this section for first responder equipment or training 

13 that involve or relate to health professionals, including 

14 emergency medical professionals, the Secretary shall coordi15 nate activities under this section with the Secretary of 

16 Health and Human Services.’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE PRO18 VIDERS.—Paragraph (6) of section 2 of the Homeland Secu19 rity Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C. 101(6)) 

20 is amended by striking ‘‘includes’’ and all that follows and 

21 inserting ‘‘includes Federal, State, and local governmental 

22 and nongovernmental emergency public safety, law enforce23 ment, fire, emergency response, emergency medical (includ24 ing hospital emergency facilities), and related personnel, or25 ganizations, agencies, and authorities.’’. 
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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 agen19 cies of the Federal Government; and 

20 (2) the extent to which such programs are coordi21 nated. 

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

23 section shall include— 

24 (1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the struc25 ture and organization of such training programs; 

26 (2) recommendations to— 
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1 (A) improve the coordination, structure, 

2 and organization of such training programs; and 

3 (B) increase the availability of training to 

4 first responders who are not able to attend cen5 tralized training programs; 

6 (3) the structure and organizational effectiveness 

7 of such programs for first responders in rural commu8 nities; 

9 (4) identification of any duplication or redun10 dancy among such programs; 

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

12 training institutions, universities, centers, and the 

13 National Domestic Preparedness Consortium in de14 signing and providing training; 

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

16 required for first responders to participate in train17 ing courses at Federal institutions; 

18 (7) an assessment of the the approval process for 

19 certifying non-Department of Homeland Security 

20 training courses that are useful for anti-terrorism 

21 purposes as eligible for grants awarded by the De22 partment; 

23 (8) a description of the use of Department of 

24 Homeland Security grant funds by States and local 

25 governments to acquire training; 
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1 (9) an analysis of the feasibility of Federal, 

2 State, and local personnel to receive the training that 

3 is necessary to adopt the National Response Plan and 

4 the National Incident Management System; and 

5 (10) the role of each first responder training in6 stitution within the Department of Homeland Secu7 rity in the design and implementation of terrorism 

8 preparedness and related training courses for first re9 sponders. 

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

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

12 not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act; and 

14 (2) submit a report on the remainder of the top15 ics required by this section by not later than 120 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Union Calendar No. 32 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544 

[Report No. 109–65] 

A BILL 

To provide faster and smarter funding for first 

responders, and for other purposes. 

APRIL 28, 2005 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,