I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2591 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency to modernize the integrated public alert and warning system 

of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRAVES, 

Mr. CAO, and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the Administrator of the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency to modernize 

the integrated public alert and warning system of the 

United States, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Integrated Public Alert 

5 and Warning System Modernization Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS2 TEM MODERNIZATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of the Robert T. 

4 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 5132) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(e) INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING

8 SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To provide timely and ef10 fective disaster warnings under this section, the 

11 President, acting through the Administrator of the 

12 Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) modernize the integrated public alert 

14 and warning system of the United States (in 

15 this section referred to as the ‘public alert and 

16 warning system’) to ensure that the President 

17 under all conditions can alert and warn govern18 mental authorities and the civilian population in 

19 areas endangered by disasters; and 

20 ‘‘(B) implement the public alert and warn21 ing system. 

22 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.—In 

23 carrying out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall, 

24 consistent with the recommendations in the final re25 port of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning 

26 System Advisory Committee— 


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1 ‘‘(A) establish or adopt, as appropriate, 

2 common alerting and warning protocols, stand3 ards, terminology, and operating procedures for 

4 the public alert and warning system; 

5 ‘‘(B) include in the public alert and warn6 ing system the capability to adapt the distribu7 tion and content of communications on the 

8 basis of geographic location, risks, or personal 

9 user preferences, as appropriate; 

10 ‘‘(C) include in the public alert and warn11 ing system the capability to alert and warn in12 dividuals with disabilities and individuals with 

13 limited English proficiency; and 

14 ‘‘(D) ensure the conduct of training, tests, 

15 and exercises for the public alert and warning 

16 system. 

17 ‘‘(3) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.—The public 

18 alert and warning system shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) incorporate multiple communications 

20 technologies; 

21 ‘‘(B) be designed to adapt to, and incor22 porate, future technologies for communicating 

23 directly with the public; 

24 ‘‘(C) be designed to provide alerts to the 

25 largest portion of the affected population feaVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:14 May 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2591.IH H2591

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1 sible, including nonresident visitors and tour2 ists, and improve the ability of remote areas to 

3 receive alerts; 

4 ‘‘(D) promote local and regional public and 

5 private partnerships to enhance community pre6 paredness and response; and 

7 ‘‘(E) provide redundant alert mechanisms 

8 where practicable so as to reach the greatest 

9 number of people regardless of whether they 

10 have access to, or utilize, any specific medium 

11 of communication or any particular device. 

12 ‘‘(4) PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

14 may conduct pilot programs for the purpose of 

15 demonstrating the feasibility of using a variety 

16 of methods for achieving the system require17 ments specified in paragraph (3). 

18 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 

19 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

20 and annually thereafter for the duration of the 

21 pilot programs, the Administrator shall submit 

22 to the Committee on Transportation and Infra23 structure of the House of Representatives and 

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1 ernmental Affairs of the Senate a report con2 taining— 

3 ‘‘(i) a description and assessment of 

4 the effectiveness of the pilot programs; 

5 ‘‘(ii) any recommendations of the Ad6 ministrator for additional authority to con7 tinue the pilot programs or make any of 

8 the programs permanent; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) any other findings and conclu10 sions of the Administrator with respect to 

11 the pilot programs. 

12 ‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 

13 6 months after the date of submission of the final 

14 report of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning 

15 System Advisory Committee, the Administrator shall 

16 submit to the Committee on Transportation and In17 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

19 Affairs of the Senate a detailed plan for imple20 menting this subsection. The plan shall include a 

21 timeline for implementation, a spending plan, and 

22 recommendations for any additional authority that 

23 may be necessary to fully implement this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

25 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 


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1 this subsection $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and 

2 such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year 

3 thereafter.’’. 

4 (b) INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS5 TEM MODERNIZATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis8 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen9 cy shall establish an advisory committee to be known 

10 as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System 

11 Advisory Committee (in this subsection referred to 

12 as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 

13 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee 

14 shall be composed of the following members, to be 

15 appointed by the Administrator as soon as prac16 ticable after the date of enactment of this Act: 

17 (A) The Chairman of the Federal Commu18 nications Commission (or the Chairman’s des19 ignee). 

20 (B) The Administrator of the National 

21 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the 

22 Department of Commerce (or the Administra23 tor’s designee). 

24 (C) The Assistant Secretary for Commu25 nications and Information of the Department of 


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1 Commerce (or the Assistant Secretary’s des2 ignee). 

3 (D) Representatives of State and local gov4 ernments, representatives of emergency man5 agement agencies, and representatives of emer6 gency response providers, selected from among 

7 individuals nominated by national organizations 

8 representing governments and personnel. 

9 (E) Representatives from federally recog10 nized Indian tribes and national Indian organi11 zations. 

12 (F) Individuals who have the requisite 

13 technical knowledge and expertise to serve on 

14 the Advisory Committee, including representa15 tives of— 

16 (i) communications service providers; 

17 (ii) vendors, developers, and manufac18 turers of systems, facilities, equipment, 

19 and capabilities for the provision of com20 munications services; 

21 (iii) third-party service bureaus; 

22 (iv) the broadcasting industry; 

23 (v) the national organization rep24 resenting the licensees and permittees of 


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1 noncommercial broadcast television sta2 tions; 

3 (vi) the cellular industry; 

4 (vii) the cable industry; 

5 (viii) the satellite industry; and 

6 (ix) national organizations rep7 resenting individuals with special needs, in8 cluding individuals with disabilities and the 

9 elderly. 

10 (G) Qualified representatives of such other 

11 stakeholders and interested and affected parties 

12 as the Administrator considers appropriate. 

13 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator (or the 

14 Administrator’s designee) shall serve as the Chair15 person of the Advisory Committee. 

16 (4) MEETINGS.— 

17 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meet18 ing of the Advisory Committee shall take place 

19 not later than 60 days after the date of enact20 ment of this Act. 

21 (B) OTHER MEETINGS.—After the initial 

22 meeting, the Advisory Committee shall meet at 

23 the call of the Chairperson. 

24 (C) NOTICE; OPEN MEETINGS.—Meetings 

25 held by the Advisory Committee shall be duly 


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1 noticed at least 14 days in advance and shall be 

2 open to the public. 

3 (5) RULES.— 

4 (A) QUORUM.—One-third of the members 

5 of the Advisory Committee shall constitute a 

6 quorum for conducting business of the Advisory 

7 Committee. 

8 (B) SUBCOMMITTEES.—To assist the Advi9 sory Committee in carrying out its functions, 

10 the Chairperson may establish appropriate sub11 committees composed of members of the Advi12 sory Committee and other subject matter ex13 perts as the Chairperson considers necessary. 

14 (C) ADDITIONAL RULES.—The Advisory 

15 Committee may adopt such other rules as are 

16 necessary to carry out its duties. 

17 (6) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Advisory Com18 mittee shall develop and submit in its final report 

19 recommendations for an integrated public alert and 

20 warning system, including— 

21 (A) recommendations for common alerting 

22 and warning protocols, standards, terminology, 

23 and operating procedures for the public alert 

24 and warning system; 


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1 (B) recommendations to provide for a pub2 lic alert and warning system that— 

3 (i) has the capability to adapt the dis4 tribution and content of communications 

5 on the basis of geographic location, risks, 

6 or personal user preferences, as appro7 priate; 

8 (ii) has the capability to alert and 

9 warn individuals with disabilities and indi10 viduals with limited English proficiency; 

11 (iii) incorporates multiple communica12 tions technologies; 

13 (iv) is designed to adapt to, and incor14 porate, future technologies for commu15 nicating directly with the public; 

16 (v) is designed to provide alerts to the 

17 largest portion of the affected population 

18 feasible, including nonresident visitors and 

19 tourists, and improve the ability of remote 

20 areas to receive alerts; 

21 (vi) promotes local and regional public 

22 and private partnerships to enhance com23 munity preparedness and response; and 

24 (vii) provides redundant alert mecha25 nisms where practicable so as to reach the 


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1 greatest number of people regardless of 

2 whether they have access to, or utilize, any 

3 specific medium of communication or any 

4 particular device. 

5 (7) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Advisory 

7 Committee shall submit to the Administrator, the 

8 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

9 the House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

10 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

11 Senate a report containing the recommendations of 

12 the Advisory Committee. 

13 (8) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.— 

14 Neither the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

15 U.S.C. App.) nor any rule, order, or regulation pro16 mulgated under that Act shall apply to the Advisory 

17 Committee. 

18 (9) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Committee 

19 shall terminate not later than 60 days following the 

20 submission of its final report. 

21 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 202(c) of the 

22 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist23 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5132(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec24 tion 611(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 611(d)’’. 


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1 (d) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

2 Nothing in this section (including the amendment made 

3 by this section) shall be construed to affect the authority 

4 of the Department of Commerce or the Federal Commu5 nications Commission. 

Æ 


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