In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

November 29, 2016. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 546) entitled 

‘‘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.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘RESPONSE Act of 

3 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RAILROAD EMERGENCY SERVICES PREPAREDNESS, 

5 OPERATIONAL NEEDS, AND SAFETY EVALUA6 TION SUBCOMMITTEE. 

7 Section 508 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 

8 U.S.C. 318) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 

10 (e); and 
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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(d) RESPONSE SUBCOMMITTEE.— 

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

5 after the date of the enactment of the RESPONSE 

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

7 subcommittee of the National Advisory Council, the 

8 Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Oper9 ational Needs, and Safety Evaluation Subcommittee 

10 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘RESPONSE 

11 Subcommittee’). 

12 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—Notwithstanding subsection 

13 (c), the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall be composed 

14 of the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) The Deputy Administrator, Protection 

16 and National Preparedness of the Federal Emer17 gency Management Agency, or designee. 

18 ‘‘(B) The Chief Safety Officer of the Pipe19 line and Hazardous Materials Safety Adminis20 tration, or designee. 

21 ‘‘(C) The Associate Administrator for Haz22 ardous Materials Safety of the Pipeline and 

23 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or 

24 designee. 
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1 ‘‘(D) The Director of the Office of Emer2 gency Communications of the Department of 

3 Homeland Security, or designee. 

4 ‘‘(E) The Director for the Office of Rail5 road, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Inves6 tigations of the National Transportation Safety 

7 Board, or designee. 

8 ‘‘(F) The Chief Safety Officer and Associate 

9 Administrator for Railroad Safety of the Federal 

10 Railroad Administration, or designee. 

11 ‘‘(G) The Assistant Administrator for Secu12 rity Policy and Industry Engagement of the 

13 Transportation Security Administration, or des14 ignee. 

15 ‘‘(H) The Assistant Commandant for Re16 sponse Policy of the Coast Guard, or designee. 

17 ‘‘(I) The Assistant Administrator for the Of18 fice of Solid Waste and Emergency Response of 

19 the Environmental Protection Agency, or des20 ignee. 

21 ‘‘(J) Such other qualified individuals as the 

22 co-chairpersons shall jointly appoint as soon as 

23 practicable after the date of the enactment of the 

24 RESPONSE Act of 2016 from among the fol25 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘(i) Members of the National Advisory 

2 Council that have the requisite technical 

3 knowledge and expertise to address rail 

4 emergency response issues, including mem5 bers from the following disciplines: 

6 ‘‘(I) Emergency management and 

7 emergency response providers, includ8 ing fire service, law enforcement, haz9 ardous materials response, and emer10 gency medical services. 

11 ‘‘(II) State, local, and tribal gov12 ernment officials. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Individuals who have the req14 uisite technical knowledge and expertise to 

15 serve on the RESPONSE Subcommittee, in16 cluding at least 1 representative from each 

17 of the following: 

18 ‘‘(I) The rail industry. 

19 ‘‘(II) Rail labor. 

20 ‘‘(III) Persons who offer oil for 

21 transportation by rail. 

22 ‘‘(IV) The communications indus23 try. 

24 ‘‘(V) Emergency response pro25 viders, including individuals nomi-
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1 nated by national organizations rep2 resenting State and local governments 

3 and emergency responders. 

4 ‘‘(VI) Emergency response train5 ing providers. 

6 ‘‘(VII) Representatives from tribal 

7 organizations. 

8 ‘‘(VIII) Technical experts. 

9 ‘‘(IX) Vendors, developers, and 

10 manufacturers of systems, facilities, 

11 equipment, and capabilities for emer12 gency responder services. 

13 ‘‘(iii) Representatives of such other 

14 stakeholders and interested and affected 

15 parties as the co-chairpersons consider ap16 propriate. 

17 ‘‘(3) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The members described 

18 in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall 

19 serve as the co-chairpersons of the RESPONSE Sub20 committee. 

21 ‘‘(4) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of 

22 the RESPONSE Subcommittee shall take place not 

23 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the 

24 RESPONSE Act of 2016. 
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1 ‘‘(5) CONSULTATION WITH NONMEMBERS.—The 

2 RESPONSE Subcommittee and the program offices 

3 for emergency responder training and resources shall 

4 consult with other relevant agencies and groups, in5 cluding entities engaged in federally funded research 

6 and academic institutions engaged in relevant work 

7 and research, which are not represented on the RE8 SPONSE Subcommittee to consider new and devel9 oping technologies and methods that may be beneficial 

10 to preparedness and response to rail hazardous mate11 rials incidents. 

12 ‘‘(6) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The RESPONSE 

13 Subcommittee shall develop recommendations, as ap14 propriate, for improving emergency responder train15 ing and resource allocation for hazardous materials 

16 incidents involving railroads after evaluating the fol17 lowing topics: 

18 ‘‘(A) The quality and application of train19 ing for State and local emergency responders re20 lated to rail hazardous materials incidents, in21 cluding training for emergency responders serv22 ing small communities near railroads, including 

23 the following: 
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1 ‘‘(i) Ease of access to relevant training 

2 for State and local emergency responders, 

3 including an analysis of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the number of individuals 

5 being trained; 

6 ‘‘(II) the number of individuals 

7 who are applying; 

8 ‘‘(III) whether current demand is 

9 being met; 

10 ‘‘(IV) current challenges; and 

11 ‘‘(V) projected needs. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Modernization of training course 

13 content related to rail hazardous materials 

14 incidents, with a particular focus on fluc15 tuations in oil shipments by rail, including 

16 regular and ongoing evaluation of course 

17 opportunities, adaptation to emerging 

18 trends, agency and private sector outreach, 

19 effectiveness and ease of access for State and 

20 local emergency responders. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Identification of overlap in 

22 training content and identification of op23 portunities to develop complementary 

24 courses and materials among governmental 

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

3 ‘‘(B) The availability and effectiveness of 

4 Federal, State, local, and nongovernmental fund5 ing levels related to training emergency respond6 ers for rail hazardous materials incidents, in7 cluding emergency responders serving small com8 munities near railroads, including— 

9 ‘‘(i) identifying overlap in resource al10 locations; 

11 ‘‘(ii) identifying cost savings measures 

12 that can be implemented to increase train13 ing opportunities; 

14 ‘‘(iii) leveraging government funding 

15 with nongovernmental funding to enhance 

16 training opportunities and fill existing 

17 training gaps; 

18 ‘‘(iv) adaptation of priority settings 

19 for agency funding allocations in response 

20 to emerging trends; 

21 ‘‘(v) historic levels of funding across 

22 Federal agencies for rail hazardous mate23 rials incident response and training, in24 cluding funding provided by the private sec-
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1 tor to public entities or in conjunction with 

2 Federal programs; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) current funding resources across 

4 agencies. 

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

8 emergency responders and increasing the rate of 

9 access to the individual responder in existing or 

10 emerging communications technology. 

11 ‘‘(7) REPORT.— 

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

13 after the date of the enactment of the RE14 SPONSE Act of 2016, the RESPONSE Sub15 committee shall submit a report to the National 

16 Advisory Council that— 

17 ‘‘(i) includes the recommendations de18 veloped under paragraph (6); 

19 ‘‘(ii) specifies the timeframes for im20 plementing any such recommendations that 

21 do not require congressional action; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) identifies any such recommenda23 tions that do require congressional action. 

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

25 after receiving the report under subparagraph 
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1 (A), the National Advisory Council shall begin a 

2 review of the report. The National Advisory 

3 Council may ask for additional clarification, 

4 changes, or other information from the RE5 SPONSE Subcommittee to assist in the approval 

6 of the recommendations. 

7 ‘‘(C) RECOMMENDATION.—Once the Na8 tional Advisory Council approves the rec9 ommendations of the RESPONSE Sub10 committee, the National Advisory Council shall 

11 submit the report to— 

12 ‘‘(i) the co-chairpersons of the RE13 SPONSE Subcommittee; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the head of each other agency rep15 resented on the RESPONSE Subcommittee; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Homeland Se17 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Sen18 ate; 

19 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Commerce, 

20 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; 

21 ‘‘(v) the Committee on Homeland Secu22 rity of the House of Representatives; and 

23 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Transportation 

24 and Infrastructure of the House of Rep25 resentatives. 
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1 ‘‘(8) INTERIM ACTIVITY.— 

2 ‘‘(A) UPDATES AND OVERSIGHT.—After the 

3 submission of the report by the National Advi4 sory Council under paragraph (7), the Adminis5 trator shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) provide annual updates to the con7 gressional committees referred to in para8 graph (7)(C) regarding the status of the im9 plementation of the recommendations devel10 oped under paragraph (6); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) coordinate the implementation of 

12 the recommendations described in para13 graph (6)(G)(i), as appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(B) SUNSET.—The requirements of sub15 paragraph (A) shall terminate on the date that 

16 is 2 years after the date of the submission of the 

17 report required under paragraph (7)(A). 

18 ‘‘(9) TERMINATION.—The RESPONSE Sub19 committee shall terminate not later than 90 days 

20 after the submission of the report required under 

21 paragraph (7)(C).’’. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 546 

AMENDMENT