I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 390 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency 

centers on military installations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2013 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to 

the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish 

national emergency centers on military installations. 

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 ‘‘National Emergency 

5 Centers Establishment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CEN7 TERS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the require9 ments of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 390 IH

1 shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency cen2 ters on military installations. 

3 (b) PURPOSE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CEN4 TERS.—The purpose of a national emergency center shall 

5 be to use existing infrastructure— 

6 (1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and 

7 humanitarian assistance to individuals and families 

8 dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster; 

9 (2) to provide centralized locations for the pur10 poses of training and ensuring the coordination of 

11 Federal, State, and local first responders; and 

12 (3) to provide centralized locations to improve 

13 the coordination of preparedness, response, and re14 covery efforts of government, private, and not-for15 profit entities and faith-based organizations. 

16 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AS NA17 TIONAL EMERGENCY CENTERS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home20 land Security, in consultation with the Secretary of De21 fense, shall designate not fewer than 6 military installa22 tions as sites for the establishment of national emergency 

23 centers. 

24 (b) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—A site designated as 

25 a national emergency center shall be— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 390 IH

1 (1) capable of meeting for an extended period 

2 of time the housing, health, transportation, edu3 cation, public works, humanitarian and other transi4 tion needs of a large number of individuals affected 

5 by an emergency or major disaster; 

6 (2) environmentally safe and shall not pose a 

7 health risk to individuals who may use the center; 

8 (3) capable of being scaled up or down to ac9 commodate major disaster preparedness and re10 sponse drills, operations, and procedures; 

11 (4) capable of housing existing permanent 

12 structures necessary to meet training and first re13 sponders coordination requirements during nondis14 aster periods; 

15 (5) capable of hosting the infrastructure nec16 essary to rapidly adjust to temporary housing, med17 ical, and humanitarian assistance needs; 

18 (6) required to consist of a complete operations 

19 command center, including 2 state-of-the-art com20 mand and control centers that will comprise a 24/7 

21 operations watch center as follows: 

22 (A) one of the command and control cen23 ters shall be in full ready mode; and 

24 (B) the other shall be used daily for train25 ing; and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 390 IH

1 (7) easily accessible at all times and be able to 

2 facilitate handicapped and medical facilities, includ3 ing during an emergency or major disaster. 

4 (c) LOCATION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY CEN5 TERS.—There shall be established not fewer than one na6 tional emergency center in each of the following areas: 

7 (1) The area consisting of Federal Emergency 

8 Management Agency Regions I, II, and III. 

9 (2) The area consisting of Federal Emergency 

10 Management Agency Region IV. 

11 (3) The area consisting of Federal Emergency 

12 Management Agency Regions V and VII. 

13 (4) The area consisting of Federal Emergency 

14 Management Agency Region VI. 

15 (5) The area consisting of Federal Emergency 

16 Management Agency Regions VIII and X. 

17 (6) The area consisting of Federal Emergency 

18 Management Agency Region IX. 

19 (d) PREFERENCE FOR DESIGNATION OF CLOSED

20 MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.—Wherever possible, the Sec21 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec22 retary of Defense, shall designate a closed military instal23 lation as a site for a national emergency center. If the 

24 Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense jointly de25 termine that there is not a sufficient number of closed 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 390 IH

1 military installations that meet the requirements of sub2 sections (b) and (c), the Secretaries shall jointly designate 

3 portions of existing military installations other than closed 

4 military installations as national emergency centers. 

5 (e) TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF CLOSED MILITARY

6 INSTALLATIONS.—If a closed military installation is des7 ignated as a national emergency center, not later than 180 

8 days after the date of designation, the Secretary of De9 fense shall transfer to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

10 administrative jurisdiction over such closed military instal11 lation. 

12 (f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR JOINT USE OF

13 EXISTING MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.—If an existing 

14 military installation other than a closed military installa15 tion is designated as a national emergency center, not 

16 later than 180 days after the date of designation, the Sec17 retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense 

18 shall enter into a cooperative agreement to provide for the 

19 establishment of the national emergency center. 

20 (g) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 90 

22 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with 

24 the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress 

25 a report that contains for each designated site— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 390 IH

1 (A) an outline of the reasons why the site 

2 was selected; 

3 (B) an outline of the need to construct, re4 pair, or update any existing infrastructure at 

5 the site; 

6 (C) an outline of the need to conduct any 

7 necessary environmental clean-up at the site; 

8 (D) an outline of preliminary plans for the 

9 transfer of control of the site from the Sec10 retary of Defense to the Secretary of Homeland 

11 Security, if necessary under subsection (e); and 

12 (E) an outline of preliminary plans for en13 tering into a cooperative agreement for the es14 tablishment of a national emergency center at 

15 the site, if necessary under subsection (f). 

16 (2) UPDATE REPORT.—Not later than 120 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the 

19 Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a re20 port that contains for each designated site— 

21 (A) an update on the information con22 tained in the report as required by paragraph 

23 (1); 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 390 IH

1 (B) an outline of the progress made to2 ward the transfer of control of the site, if nec3 essary under subsection (e); 

4 (C) an outline of the progress made toward 

5 entering a cooperative agreement for the estab6 lishment of a national emergency center at the 

7 site, if necessary under subsection (f); and 

8 (D) recommendations regarding any au9 thorizations and appropriations that may be 

10 necessary to provide for the establishment of a 

11 national emergency center at the site. 

12 (3) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary of Homeland Security, acting jointly with the 

15 Secretary of Defense, shall submit to Congress a re16 port that contains for each designated site— 

17 (A) finalized information detailing the 

18 transfer of control of the site, if necessary 

19 under subsection (e); 

20 (B) the finalized cooperative agreement for 

21 the establishment of a national emergency cen22 ter at the site, if necessary under subsection (f); 

23 and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 390 IH

1 (C) any additional information pertinent to 

2 the establishment of a national emergency cen3 ter at the site. 

4 (4) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—The Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security, acting jointly with the Secretary 

6 of Defense, may submit to Congress additional re7 ports as necessary to provide updates on steps being 

8 taken to meet the requirements of this Act. 

9 SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 

10 This Act does not— 

11 (1) affect the authority of the Federal Govern12 ment to provide emergency or major disaster assist13 ance or to implement any disaster mitigation and re14 sponse program, including any program authorized 

15 by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer16 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); 

17 (2) affect the authority of a State or local gov18 ernment to respond to an emergency; or 

19 (3) authorize any Federal officer or employee 

20 to— 

21 (A) force an individual to enter a national 

22 emergency center; or 

23 (B) prevent an individual from leaving a 

24 national emergency center. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 390 IH

1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated $180,000,000 

3 for each of fiscal years 2014 and 2015 to carry out this 

4 Act. Such funds shall remain available until expended. 

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

7 (1) CLOSED MILITARY INSTALLATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘closed military installation’’ means a military 

9 installation, or portion thereof, approved for closure 

10 or realignment under the Defense Base Closure and 

11 Realignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of 

12 Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note) that 

13 meet all, or 2 out of the 3 following requirements: 

14 (A) Is located in close proximity to a 

15 transportation corridor. 

16 (B) Is located in a State with a high level 

17 or threat of disaster related activities. 

18 (C) Is located near a major metropolitan 

19 center. 

20 (2) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ has 

21 the meaning given such term in section 102 of the 

22 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

23 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

24 (3) MAJOR DISASTER.—The term ‘‘major dis25 aster’’ has the meaning given such term in section 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 390 IH

1 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

2 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

3 (4) MILITARY INSTALLATION.—The term ‘‘mili4 tary installation’’ has the meaning given such term 

5 in section 2910 of the Defense Base Closure and Re6 alignment Act of 1990 (part A of title XXIX of 

7 Public Law 101–510; 10 U.S.C. 2687 note). 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS