108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2884

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to award

grants to public transportation agencies to improve security, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Public Transportation Terrorism Prevention Act of

6 2004’’.
 †

2

S 2884 ES

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.

Sec. 3. Memorandum of understanding.

Sec. 4. Security assessments.

Sec. 5. Security assistance grants.

Sec. 6. Intelligence sharing.

Sec. 7. Research, development, and demonstration grants.

Sec. 8. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 10. Sunset provision.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

5 (1) throughout the world, public transportation

6 systems have been a primary target of terrorist at7 tacks, causing countless death and injuries;

8 (2) 6,000 public transportation agencies operate

9 in the United States;

10 (3) 14,000,000 people in the United States ride

11 public transportation each work day;

12 (4) safe and secure public transportation sys13 tems are essential to the Nation’s economy and for

14 significant national and international public events;

15 (5) the Federal Transit Administration has in16 vested $68,700,000,000 since 1992 for construction

17 and improvements to the Nation’s public transpor18 tation systems;

19 (6) the Federal Government appropriately in20 vested $11,000,000,000 in fiscal years 2002 and
†

3

S 2884 ES

1 2003 to protect our Nation’s aviation system and its

2 1,800,000 daily passengers;

3 (7) the Federal Government invested

4 $115,000,000 in fiscal years 2003 and 2004 to pro5 tect public transportation systems in the United

6 States;

7 (8) the Federal Government has invested $9.16

8 in aviation security improvements per passenger, but

9 only $0.006 in public transportation security im10 provements per passenger;

11 (9) the General Accounting Office, the Mineta

12 Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies,

13 the American Public Transportation Association,

14 and other experts have reported an urgent need for

15 significant investment in transit security improve16 ments; and

17 (10) the Federal Government has a duty to

18 deter and mitigate, to the greatest extent prac19 ticable, threats against the Nation’s public transpor20 tation systems.

21 SEC. 3. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after the

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor24 tation shall enter into a memorandum of understanding

25 with the Secretary of Homeland Security to define and
†

4

S 2884 ES

1 clarify the respective public transportation security roles

2 and responsibilities of the Department of Transportation

3 and the Department of Homeland Security.

4 (b) CONTENTS.—The memorandum of understanding

5 described in subsection (a) shall—

6 (1) establish a process to develop security

7 standards for public transportation agencies;

8 (2) establish funding priorities for grants from

9 the Department of Homeland Security to public

10 transportation agencies;

11 (3) create a method of direct coordination with

12 public transportation agencies on security matters;

13 (4) address any other issues determined to be

14 appropriate by the Secretary of Transportation and

15 the Secretary of Homeland Security; and

16 (5) include a formal and permanent mechanism

17 to ensure coordination and involvement by the De18 partment of Transportation, as appropriate, in pub19 lic transportation security.

20 SEC. 4. SECURITY ASSESSMENTS.

21 (a) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ASSESS22 MENTS.—

23 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 days after

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Tran25 sit Administration of the Department of Transpor-
†

5

S 2884 ES

1 tation shall submit all public transportation security

2 assessments and all other relevant information to

3 the Department of Homeland Security.

4 (2) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Homeland Se5 curity shall review and augment the security assess6 ments received under paragraph (1).

7 (3) ALLOCATIONS.—The assessments described

8 in paragraph (1) shall be used as the basis for allo9 cating grant funds under section 5, unless the Sec10 retary of Homeland Security determines that an ad11 justment is necessary to respond to an urgent threat

12 or other significant factors, after notification to the

13 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

14 of the Senate.

15 (4) SECURITY IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES.—The

16 Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish secu17 rity improvement priorities, in consultation with the

18 management and employee representatives of each

19 public transportation system receiving an assessment

20 that will be used by public transportation agencies

21 for any funding provided under section 5.

22 (5) UPDATES.—The Secretary of Homeland Se23 curity shall annually update the assessments re24 ferred to in this subsection and conduct assessments
†

6

S 2884 ES

1 of all transit agencies considered to be at greatest

2 risk of a terrorist attack.

3 (b) USE OF ASSESSMENT INFORMATION.—The Sec4 retary of Homeland Security shall use the information col5 lected under subsection (a)—

6 (1) to establish the process for developing secu7 rity guidelines for public transportation security;

8 (2) to design a security improvement strategy

9 that minimizes terrorist threats to public transpor10 tation systems; and

11 (3) to design a security improvement strategy

12 that maximizes the efforts of public transportation

13 systems to mitigate damage from terrorist attacks.

14 (c) BUS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS.—The

15 Secretary of Homeland Security shall conduct assessments

16 of local bus-only public transportation systems to deter17 mine the specific needs of this form of public transpor18 tation that are appropriate to the size and nature of the

19 bus system.

20 (d) RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS.—

21 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall conduct assess22 ments of selected public transportation systems that re23 ceive funds under section 5311 of title 49, United States

24 Code, to determine the specific needs of this form of public
†

7

S 2884 ES

1 transportation that are appropriate to the size and nature

2 of the system.

3 SEC. 5. SECURITY ASSISTANCE GRANTS.

4 (a) CAPITAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland

6 Security shall award grants directly to public trans7 portation agencies for allowable capital security im8 provements based on the priorities established under

9 section 4(a)(4).

10 (2) ALLOWABLE USE OF FUNDS.—Grants

11 awarded under paragraph (1) may be used for—

12 (A) tunnel protection systems;

13 (B) perimeter protection systems;

14 (C) redundant critical operations control

15 systems;

16 (D) chemical, biological, radiological, or ex17 plosive detection systems;

18 (E) surveillance equipment;

19 (F) communications equipment;

20 (G) emergency response equipment;

21 (H) fire suppression and decontamination

22 equipment;

23 (I) global positioning or automated vehicle

24 locator type system equipment;

25 (J) evacuation improvements; and
†

8

S 2884 ES

1 (K) other capital security improvements.

2 (b) OPERATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PRO3 GRAM.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland

5 Security shall award grants directly to public trans6 portation agencies for allowable operational security

7 improvements based on the priorities established

8 under section 4(a)(4).

9 (2) ALLOWABLE USE OF FUNDS.—Grants

10 awarded under paragraph (1) may be used for—

11 (A) security training for transit employees,

12 including bus and rail operators, mechanics,

13 customer service, maintenance employees, tran14 sit police, and security personnel;

15 (B) live or simulated drills;

16 (C) public awareness campaigns for en17 hanced public transportation security;

18 (D) canine patrols for chemical, biological,

19 or explosives detection;

20 (E) overtime reimbursement for enhanced

21 security personnel during significant national

22 and international public events, consistent with

23 the priorities established under section 4(a)(4);

24 and
†

9

S 2884 ES

1 (F) other appropriate security improve2 ments identified under section 4(a)(4), exclud3 ing routine, ongoing personnel costs.

4 (c) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later than

5 3 days before any grant is awarded under this section,

6 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall notify the Com7 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the

8 Senate of the intent to award such grant.

9 (d) TRANSIT AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each

10 public transportation agency that receives a grant under

11 this section shall—

12 (1) identify a security coordinator to coordinate

13 security improvements;

14 (2) develop a comprehensive plan that dem15 onstrates the agency’s capacity for operating and

16 maintaining the equipment purchased under this

17 subsection; and

18 (3) report annually to the Department of

19 Homeland Security on the use of grant funds re20 ceived under this section.

21 (e) RETURN OF MISSPENT GRANT FUNDS.—If the

22 Secretary of Homeland Security determines that a grantee

23 used any portion of the grant funds received under this

24 section for a purpose other than the allowable uses speci25 fied for that grant under this section, the grantee shall
†

10

S 2884 ES

1 return any amount so used to the Treasury of the United

2 States.

3 SEC. 6. INTELLIGENCE SHARING.

4 (a) INTELLIGENCE SHARING.—The Secretary of

5 Homeland Security shall ensure that the Department of

6 Transportation receives appropriate and timely notifica7 tion of all credible terrorist threats against public trans8 portation assets in the United States.

9 (b) INFORMATION SHARING ANALYSIS CENTER.—

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Department of

11 Homeland Security shall fund the reasonable costs

12 of the Information Sharing and Analysis Center for

13 Public Transportation (referred to in this subsection

14 as the ‘‘ISAC’’) established pursuant to Presidential

15 Directive 63 to protect critical infrastructure.

16 (2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AGENCY PARTICI17 PATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Security—

18 (A) shall require those public transpor19 tation agencies that the Secretary determines to

20 be at significant risk of terrorist attack to par21 ticipate in the ISAC;

22 (B) shall encourage all other public trans23 portation agencies to participate in the ISAC;

24 and
†

11

S 2884 ES

1 (C) shall not charge any public transpor2 tation agency a fee for participation in the

3 ISAC.

4 SEC. 7. RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION

5 GRANTS.

6 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Home7 land Security, in consultation with the Federal Transit

8 Administration, shall award grants to public or private en9 tities to conduct research into, and demonstration of, tech10 nologies and methods to reduce and deter terrorist threats

11 or mitigate damages resulting from terrorist attacks

12 against public transportation systems.

13 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under sub14 section (a) may be used for—

15 (1) researching chemical, biological, radio16 logical, or explosive detection systems that do not

17 significantly impede passenger access;

18 (2) researching imaging technologies;

19 (3) conducting product evaluations and testing;

20 and

21 (4) researching other technologies or methods

22 for reducing or deterring terrorist attacks against

23 public transportation systems, or mitigating damage

24 from such attacks.
†

12

S 2884 ES

1 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Each entity that

2 receives a grant under this section shall report annually

3 to the Department of Homeland Security on the use of

4 grant funds received under this section.

5 (d) RETURN OF MISSPENT GRANT FUNDS.—If the

6 Secretary of Homeland Security determines that a grantee

7 used any portion of the grant funds received under this

8 section for a purpose other than the allowable uses speci9 fied under subsection (b), the grantee shall return any

10 amount so used to the Treasury of the United States.

11 SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

12 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than

13 March 31 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland Secu14 rity shall submit a report, which describes the implementa15 tion of section 4 through 7, and the state of public trans16 portation security in the United States, to—

17 (1) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and

18 Urban Affairs of the Senate;

19 (2) the Committee on Governmental Affairs of

20 the Senate; and

21 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the

22 Senate.

23 (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO GOVERNORS.—Not later

24 than March 31 of each year, the Secretary of Homeland

25 Security shall submit a report to the governor of each
†

13

S 2884 ES

1 State in which a transit agency that has received a grant

2 under this Act is operating that specifies the amount of

3 grant funds distributed to each such transit agency and

4 the use of such grant funds.

5 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 (a) CAPITAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

7 There are authorized to be appropriated $2,370,000,000

8 for fiscal year 2005 to carry out the provisions of section

9 5(a), which shall remain available until expended.

10 (b) OPERATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PRO11 GRAM.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry

12 out the provisions of section 5(b)—

13 (1) $534,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;

14 (2) $333,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and

15 (3) $133,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.

16 (c) INTELLIGENCE.—There are authorized to be ap17 propriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out

18 the provisions of section 6.

19 (d) RESEARCH.—There are authorized to be appro20 priated $130,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 to carry out the

21 provisions of section 7, which shall remain available until

22 expended.
†

14

S 2884 ES

1 SEC. 10. SUNSET PROVISION.

2 This Act is repealed on October 1, 2007.

Passed the Senate October 1, 2004.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2884

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to

improve security, and for other purposes.award grants to public transportation agencies to