IC 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 546 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2016 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

AN ACT 

To establish the Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, 

Operational Needs, and Safety Evaluation (RESPONSE) 

Subcommittee under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council to provide recommendations on emergency responder training and resources relating to hazardous materials incidents involving railroads, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘RESPONSE Act of 

5 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RAILROAD EMERGENCY SERVICES PREPAREDNESS, 

7 OPERATIONAL NEEDS, AND SAFETY EVALUA8 TION SUBCOMMITTEE. 

9 Section 508 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

10 (6 U.S.C. 318) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub12 section (e); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(d) RESPONSE SUBCOMMITTEE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of the RESPONSE 

18 Act of 2016, the Administrator shall establish, as a 

19 subcommittee of the National Advisory Council, the 

20 Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Oper21 ational Needs, and Safety Evaluation Subcommittee 

22 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘RESPONSE 

23 Subcommittee’). 


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1 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—Notwithstanding sub2 section (c), the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall be 

3 composed of the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) The Deputy Administrator, Protec5 tion and National Preparedness of the Federal 

6 Emergency Management Agency, or designee. 

7 ‘‘(B) The Associate Administrator for Haz8 ardous Materials Safety of the Pipeline and 

9 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or 

10 designee. 

11 ‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Emer12 gency Communications of the Department of 

13 Homeland Security, or designee. 

14 ‘‘(D) The Director for the Office of Rail15 road, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Inves16 tigations of the National Transportation Safety 

17 Board, or designee, only in an advisory capac18 ity. 

19 ‘‘(E) The Chief Safety Officer and Asso20 ciate Administrator for Railroad Safety of the 

21 Federal Railroad Administration, or designee. 

22 ‘‘(F) The Assistant Administrator for Se23 curity Policy and Industry Engagement of the 

24 Transportation Security Administration, or des25 ignee. 


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1 ‘‘(G) The Assistant Commandant for Re2 sponse Policy of the Coast Guard, or designee. 

3 ‘‘(H) The Assistant Administrator for the 

4 Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response 

5 of the Environmental Protection Agency, or 

6 designee. 

7 ‘‘(I) The Chief Safety Officer and Assist8 ant Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier 

9 Safety Administration, or designee. 

10 ‘‘(J) Such other qualified individuals as 

11 the co-chairpersons shall jointly appoint as soon 

12 as practicable after the date of the enactment 

13 of the RESPONSE Act of 2016 from among 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) Members of the National Advi16 sory Council that have the requisite tech17 nical knowledge and expertise to address 

18 rail emergency response issues, including 

19 members from the following disciplines: 

20 ‘‘(I) Emergency management and 

21 emergency response providers, includ22 ing fire service, law enforcement, haz23 ardous materials response, and emer24 gency medical services. 


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1 ‘‘(II) State, local, and tribal gov2 ernment officials, including Adjutants 

3 General. 

4 ‘‘(ii) Individuals who have the req5 uisite technical knowledge and expertise to 

6 serve on the RESPONSE Subcommittee, 

7 including at least 1 representative from 

8 each of the following: 

9 ‘‘(I) The rail industry. 

10 ‘‘(II) The oil industry. 

11 ‘‘(III) The communications in12 dustry. 

13 ‘‘(IV) Emergency response pro14 viders, including individuals nomi15 nated by national organizations rep16 resenting local governments and per17 sonnel. 

18 ‘‘(V) Emergency response train19 ing providers. 

20 ‘‘(VI) Representatives from na21 tional Indian organizations. 

22 ‘‘(VII) Technical experts. 

23 ‘‘(VIII) Vendors, developers, and 

24 manufacturers of systems, facilities, 


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1 equipment, and capabilities for emer2 gency first responder services. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Representatives of such other 

4 stakeholders and interested and affected 

5 parties as the co-chairpersons consider ap6 propriate. 

7 ‘‘(3) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The members de8 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

9 (2) shall serve as the co-chairpersons of the RE10 SPONSE Subcommittee. 

11 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meet13 ing of the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall 

14 take place not later than 90 days after the date 

15 of the enactment of the RESPONSE Act of 

16 2016. 

17 ‘‘(B) OTHER MEETINGS.—After the initial 

18 meeting, the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall 

19 meet at least twice annually, with at least 1 

20 meeting conducted in person during the first 

21 year, at the call of the co-chairpersons. 

22 ‘‘(5) CONSULTATION WITH NONMEMBERS.—The 

23 RESPONSE Subcommittee and the program offices 

24 for emergency first responder training and resources 

25 shall consult with other relevant agencies and 


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1 groups, including entities engaged in federally fund2 ed research and academic institutions engaged in 

3 relevant work and research, which are not rep4 resented on the RESPONSE Subcommittee to con5 sider new and developing technologies and methods 

6 that may be beneficial to preparedness and response 

7 to rail hazardous materials incidents. 

8 ‘‘(6) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The RESPONSE 

9 Subcommittee shall develop recommendations, as ap10 propriate, for improving emergency first responder 

11 training and resource allocation for hazardous mate12 rials incidents involving railroads after evaluating 

13 the following topics: 

14 ‘‘(A) The quality and application of train15 ing for local emergency first responders related 

16 to rail hazardous materials incidents, with a 

17 particular focus on local emergency first re18 sponders and small communities near railroads, 

19 including the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) Ease of access to relevant train21 ing for local emergency first responders, 

22 including an analysis of— 

23 ‘‘(I) the number of individuals 

24 being trained; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the number of individuals 

2 who are applying; 

3 ‘‘(III) whether current demand is 

4 being met; 

5 ‘‘(IV) current challenges; and 

6 ‘‘(V) projected needs. 

7 ‘‘(ii) Modernization of training course 

8 content related to rail hazardous materials 

9 incidents, with a particular focus on fluc10 tuations in oil shipments by rail. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Avoiding overlap of training con12 tent across agencies and the private sector 

13 to provide complementary opportunities for 

14 rail hazardous materials incidents courses 

15 and materials, including the following: 

16 ‘‘(I) Promoting integrated course 

17 content through public-private part18 nerships. 

19 ‘‘(II) Regular and ongoing eval20 uation of course opportunities, adap21 tation to emerging trends, agency and 

22 private sector outreach, effectiveness 

23 and ease of access for local emergency 

24 first responders. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Online training platforms, train2 the-trainer and mobile training options. 

3 ‘‘(B) The effectiveness of funding levels re4 lated to training local emergency first respond5 ers for rail hazardous materials incidents, with 

6 a particular focus on local emergency first re7 sponders and small communities near railroads, 

8 including the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) Minimizing overlap in resource al10 location among agencies. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Minimizing overlap in resource 

12 allocation among agencies and private sec13 tor. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Maximizing public-private part15 nerships where funding gaps exists for spe16 cific training or cost-saving measures can 

17 be implemented to increase training oppor18 tunities. 

19 ‘‘(iv) Adaptation of priority settings 

20 for agency funding allocations in response 

21 to emerging trends. 

22 ‘‘(v) Historic levels of funding across 

23 Federal agencies for rail hazardous mate24 rials incident response and training, in25 cluding funding provided by the private 


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1 sector to public entities or in conjunction 

2 with Federal programs. 

3 ‘‘(vi) Current funding resources across 

4 agencies. 

5 ‘‘(C) The strategy for integrating com6 modity flow studies, mapping, rail and haz7 ardous materials databases and other relevant 

8 data for local emergency first responders and 

9 increasing the rate of access to the individual 

10 responder in existing or emerging communica11 tions technology. 

12 ‘‘(7) REPORT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

14 after the date of the enactment of the RE15 SPONSE Act of 2016, the RESPONSE Sub16 committee shall submit a report to the National 

17 Advisory Council that— 

18 ‘‘(i) includes the recommendations de19 veloped under paragraph (6); 

20 ‘‘(ii) specifies the timeframes for im21 plementing any such recommendations that 

22 do not require congressional action; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) identifies any such recommenda24 tions that do require congressional action. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.—Not later than 30 days 

2 after receiving the report under subparagraph 

3 (A), the National Advisory Council shall begin 

4 a review of the report. The National Advisory 

5 Council may ask for additional clarification, 

6 changes, or other information from the RE7 SPONSE Subcommittee to assist in the ap8 proval of the recommendations. 

9 ‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATION.—Once the Na10 tional Advisory Council approves the rec11 ommendations of the RESPONSE Sub12 committee, the National Advisory Council shall 

13 submit the report to— 

14 ‘‘(i) the co-chairpersons of the RE15 SPONSE Subcommittee; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the head of each other agency 

17 represented on the RESPONSE Sub18 committee; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Homeland Se20 curity and Governmental Affairs of the 

21 Senate; 

22 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Commerce, 

23 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(v) the Committee on Homeland Se2 curity of the House of Representatives; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Transpor5 tation and Infrastructure of the House of 

6 Representatives. 

7 ‘‘(8) INTERIM ACTIVITY.— 

8 ‘‘(A) UPDATES AND OVERSIGHT.—After 

9 the submission of the report by the National 

10 Advisory Council under paragraph (7), the Ad11 ministrator shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) provide annual updates to the 

13 congressional committees referred to in 

14 paragraph (7)(C) regarding the status of 

15 the implementation of the recommenda16 tions developed under paragraph (6); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) coordinate the implementation of 

18 the recommendations described in para19 graph (6)(G)(i), as appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—After sub21 mitting the report required under paragraph 

22 (7), the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall sub23 mit additional reports and recommendations in 

24 the same manner and to the same entities idenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 May 11, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S546.RFH S546

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1 tified in paragraph (7) if needed or requested 

2 from Congress. 

3 ‘‘(9) TERMINATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), the RESPONSE Sub6 committee shall terminate not later than 4 

7 years after the date of the enactment of the 

8 RESPONSE Act of 2016. 

9 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION.—The Administrator 

10 may extend the duration of the RESPONSE 

11 Subcommittee for 1 additional year if the Ad12 ministrator determines that an additional re13 port and recommendations are needed from the 

14 RESPONSE Subcommittee after the termi15 nation date set forth in subparagraph (A).’’. 

Passed the Senate May 9, 2016. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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