II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 136 

To expand the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium to include the 

Transportation Technology Center. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Mr. ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To expand the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium 

to include the Transportation Technology Center. 

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 Domestic 

5 Preparedness Consortium Expansion Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Transportation Technology Center is a 

9 federally-owned multi-modal testing and training fa10 cility in Pueblo, Colorado; 


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1 (2) this unique facility offers a significant op2 portunity to enhance technology and training that 

3 will improve the ability of the Nation to prevent, 

4 minimize, and respond to potential terrorist attacks 

5 similar to those which recently occurred in London 

6 and Madrid; 

7 (3) the distinctive environment of the Transpor8 tation Technology Center allows testing and training 

9 activities to be carried out at a remote Colorado lo10 cation without disruption to the flow of passenger 

11 and rail traffic in and around urban areas; 

12 (4) the Emergency Response Training Center 

13 was established in 1985 at the Transportation Tech14 nology Center to instruct the transportation indus15 try, chemical shippers, fire departments, emergency 

16 responders, and police services how to respond to 

17 hazardous materials incidents safely and effectively; 

18 (5) the Emergency Response Training Center is 

19 regarded as the unofficial ‘‘graduate school’’ of haz20 ardous materials training because of the focus on 

21 hands-on, true to life, training exercises on actual 

22 rail vehicles, including tank cars and passenger rail 

23 cars; 

24 (6) the Emergency Response Training Center is 

25 uniquely positioned to teach emergency response for 


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1 railway-related emergencies with 69 railway freight 

2 cars, 15 railroad passenger cars, 25 highway cargo 

3 tanks, van trailers, and intermodal containers, and 

4 computer work stations equipped with the latest 

5 emergency response software; 

6 (7) the Passenger Railcar Security and Integ7 rity Training Facility is currently being developed at 

8 Transportation Technology Center to test various in9 spection, response, and remediation techniques effec10 tiveness for mitigation to incidents involving pas11 senger railcars; 

12 (8) this facility focuses on chemical, biological, 

13 radiological, nuclear, or explosive incidents and other 

14 activities associated with potential terrorist events; 

15 (9) this public private partnership facility offers 

16 a well-established infrastructure, a host of emer17 gency preparedness training experts, and the sup18 port of the American Public Transit Association, the 

19 Association of American Railroads, the Federal Rail20 road Administration, the Federal Transit Authority, 

21 and the Colorado Senate; 

22 (10) railroad tunnels and underground stations 

23 have been identified as particularly high-risk targets 

24 for terrorists because of the potential for large pas25 senger volumes, confined spaces, relatively unreVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:17 Jan 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S136.IS S136

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1 stricted access, and the possibility for network dis2 ruptions with significant economic, political and so3 cial impact; 

4 (11) security experts have identified a number 

5 of technology and training needs to prevent attacks 

6 on tunnels and to mitigate and remediate the con7 sequences of such attacks, including detection sys8 tems, dispersal control, and decontamination tech9 niques; and 

10 (12) the National Domestic Preparedness Con11 sortium does not currently include a facility that is 

12 uniquely focused on emergency preparedness within 

13 the railroad and mass transit environment. 

14 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF THE NATIONAL DOMESTIC PRE15 PAREDNESS CONSORTIUM. 

16 The National Domestic Preparedness Consortium 

17 shall include the Transportation Technology Center lo18 cated in Pueblo, Colorado. 

Æ 


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