I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3624 

To provide for a National Disaster Safety Board. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2021 

Ms. PORTER (for herself and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To provide for a National Disaster Safety Board. 

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 ‘‘Disaster Learning and 

5 Life Saving Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) ORGANIZATION.—There is established in the exec8 utive branch a National Disaster Safety Board, which 

9 shall be an independent establishment, as defined in sec10 tion 104 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Board are— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (1) to reduce loss of life, injury, and economic 

2 injury caused by future incidents by learning from 

3 natural hazards, including the impacts and under4 lying factors of such incidents, in a standardized 

5 way; 

6 (2) to maintain a focus that is future-looking 

7 and national in scope, by applying what the Board 

8 learns through the trends that emerge from the inci9 dents the Board reviews nationally to prevent loss of 

10 life, or human or economic injury, not only in the af11 fected jurisdiction, but nationally, as the Board de12 termines relevant; 

13 (3) in carrying out reviews, analyses, and rec14 ommendations, not to be accusatory in nature and 

15 the Board shall not seek to find blame in any indi16 vidual or organization, or second-guess any relevant 

17 authorities; 

18 (4) to address systemic causes behind the loss 

19 of life and human or economic injury in incidents, 

20 including by recommending the augmentation of re21 sources available to entities responsible for man22 aging incident consequences; and 

23 (5) while preventing economic injury as part of 

24 the mission of the Board, when relevant, to prioritize 

25 efforts that focus on lifesaving and injury prevenVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3624 IH

1 tion, especially in disproportionately impacted com2 munities, as its work determines them to be. 

3 SEC. 3. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO REVIEW.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 

6 the Board shall review and establish the facts, cir7 cumstances, and cause or probable cause of the loss 

8 of life, human injury, and economic injury due to a 

9 natural hazard with 10 or more fatalities or that 

10 meets the requirements described in paragraph (5) 

11 or (6) of subsection (b) that occurs after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act. 

13 (2) DUE TO A NATURAL HAZARD INCIDENT DE14 FINED.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 

15 ‘‘due to a natural hazard’’ means a fatality that, if 

16 not for the natural hazard incident, as the case may 

17 be, would not have occurred within the time frame 

18 of the incident, as defined by standards developed by 

19 the Board. 

20 (b) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER INCIDENT WAR21 RANTS BOARD REVIEW.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

22 the Board— 

23 (1) may begin the review of an incident, includ24 ing by monitoring the natural hazard and collecting 

25 facts, before the total number of fatalities is known 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3624 IH

1 if the Board determines that the natural hazard in2 cident has the potential to cause 10 or more fatali3 ties at its onset, in accordance with the policies and 

4 procedures established by the Board; 

5 (2) may, by a two-thirds vote, decide that an in6 cident that caused 10 or more fatalities does not re7 quire a review and shall issue a public statement ex8 plaining the determination; 

9 (3) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 

10 any natural hazard incident that occurs after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act upon request from a 

12 representative of an affected State, Tribal govern13 ment, or unit of local government, regardless of the 

14 number of fatalities; 

15 (4) may, by a majority vote, decide to review 

16 any natural hazard incident that occurs after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act upon recommendation 

18 by the Office for the Protection of Disproportion19 ately Impacted Communities of the Board, which the 

20 Office may make because of the incident’s impacts 

21 on populations that are socially, medically, or eco22 nomically vulnerable, as decided by the Office; 

23 (5) may, by a majority vote, decide to review a 

24 natural hazard incident that occurs after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act if— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (A) the Board determines that information 

2 may be gained by the review that will be useful 

3 in reducing systemic causes behind the loss of 

4 life and human or economic injury; and 

5 (B) the incident— 

6 (i) did not result in 10 or more fatali7 ties; and 

8 (ii)(I) could have resulted in a large 

9 number of fatalities if not for swift inter10 vention or a shift in the course of events; 

11 or 

12 (II) resulted in, as determined by the 

13 Board— 

14 (aa) a significant amount of eco15 nomic or infrastructure damage; 

16 (bb) significant human displace17 ment; or 

18 (cc) a significant number of se19 vere non-fatal injuries or cases of se20 vere illness; and 

21 (6) shall, by majority vote, determine whether 

22 each incident for which the President issues a major 

23 disaster declaration under section 401 of the Robert 

24 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency AssistVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3624 IH

1 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) meets the criteria for re2 view under paragraph (5). 

3 (c) NATURE OF REVIEW.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out a review 

5 under this Act, the Board shall— 

6 (A) conduct the review to determine the 

7 facts, conditions, and circumstances relating to 

8 the loss of life, human injury, and economic in9 jury due to an incident; 

10 (B) following an initial assessment of an 

11 incident by the Board, notify any individual or 

12 organization that the Board anticipates will be 

13 affected by the review as to the extent of the 

14 expected review response of the Board; 

15 (C) use the results of the review under 

16 subparagraph (A) to— 

17 (i) determine how and why people die 

18 and are injured during an incident; and 

19 (ii) issue recommendations to prevent 

20 or mitigate the loss of life, human injury, 

21 or economic injury due to similar incidents; 

22 and 

23 (D) report on the facts and circumstances 

24 of the incident review, including the pre-inciVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3624 IH

1 dent resilience or vulnerabilities of the incident 

2 area or population. 

3 (2) GENERALIZED NATURE OF REVIEWS.—A 

4 review of loss of life and injury conducted by the 

5 Board shall— 

6 (A) be generalized; 

7 (B) focus on trends across an incident; and 

8 (C) not aim to determine the exact indi9 vidual cause of death or injury of any affected 

10 people. 

11 (3) FACT-FINDING PROCEEDING.—Any review 

12 of an incident by the Board under this Act shall be 

13 a fact-finding proceeding with no adverse parties. 

14 (4) LIMITATION OF APPLICABILITY OF OTHER

15 ACTS.— 

16 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.— 

17 Any review proceedings of the Board under this 

18 Act shall not be— 

19 (i) subject to the Administrative Pro20 cedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.); or 

21 (ii) conducted for the purpose of de22 termining the rights, liabilities, or blame of 

23 any person, as the review is not an adju24 dicatory proceeding. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (B) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chap2 ter 35 of title 44, United States Code (com3 monly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

4 Act’’), shall not apply to the review proceedings 

5 of the Board under this Act. 

6 (C) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

7 ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

8 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Board. 

9 (5) INITIATING REVIEWS.—The Board shall ini10 tiate a review of an incident by monitoring the situa11 tion and assessing available facts to determine the 

12 appropriate review response, without interfering in 

13 any ongoing lifesaving and life sustaining efforts un14 derway by other entities. 

15 (6) ALIGNMENT AND COORDINATION.—In car16 rying out this Act, the Board shall coordinate with 

17 Federal, State, local, and Tribal entities to— 

18 (A) establish or adopt standard methods of 

19 measuring the impacts of natural hazards and 

20 accessing response capacity and capabilities to 

21 maintain consistency and allow for the analysis 

22 of trends over time; 

23 (B) ensure that the standard data sets and 

24 formats necessary for reviews developed under 

25 subparagraph (A) are propagated among FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3624 IH

1 eral, State, local, and tribal entities that may be 

2 involved in response operations; 

3 (C) leverage, to the extent practicable, 

4 data collected using standard data sets and for5 mats established under subparagraph (B) by 

6 Federal entities involved in response operations 

7 to avoid any duplication of data collection; and 

8 (D) during incident response operations, 

9 coordinate with partners active in the operation 

10 to collect data remotely or take other actions 

11 that the Board finds necessary to align and co12 ordinate the requirements of the review with 

13 ongoing operations, including through the re14 quirements of paragraph (7). 

15 (7) INCIDENT COMMAND.—The Board shall— 

16 (A) recognize the role of incident command 

17 systems to address incidents; 

18 (B) observe the incident command system 

19 to identify and coordinate review needs related 

20 to the preservation and collection of information 

21 and evidence; and 

22 (C) shall collect information and evidence 

23 from the incident command in a timely and rea24 sonable manner so as not to interfere with the 

25 operations of the incident command. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (8) PARTIES TO THE REVIEW.— 

2 (A) PARTICIPANTS.—Subject to subpara3 graph (B), the Board may invite 1 or more en4 tities to serve as a party in a review on a vol5 untary basis, and any party participant shall be 

6 required to follow all directions and instructions 

7 from the Board. 

8 (B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In designating an 

9 entity to serve as a party under subparagraph 

10 (A), the Board may designate only a Federal, 

11 State, or local government agency or private or12 ganization whose employees, functions, activi13 ties, or products were involved in the incident, 

14 including responsible parties, and that can pro15 vide suitable qualified technical personnel to ac16 tively assist in the review. 

17 (C) REPRESENTATIVES OF ELIGIBLE ENTI18 TIES.—To the extent practicable, a representa19 tive proposed by an entity designated as a party 

20 under subparagraph (A) to participate in the 

21 review may not be an individual who had direct 

22 involvement in the incident under review. 

23 (D) REVOCATION OF PARTY STATUS.—A 

24 designation as a party under subparagraph (A) 

25 may be revoked or suspended by the Board if 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 3624 IH

1 the party fails to comply with assigned duties 

2 and instructions, withholds information, or oth3 erwise acts in a manner prejudicial or disrup4 tive to a review. 

5 (E) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

6 this paragraph shall be construed to establish a 

7 right for any entity to participate in a Board 

8 review as a party. 

9 (F) INTERNAL REVIEW BY A PARTY.—To 

10 assure coordination of concurrent efforts, a 

11 party to a review that conducts or authorizes an 

12 internal review of the processes and procedures 

13 of the party as a result of an incident that the 

14 Board is reviewing shall— 

15 (i) inform the Board of the nature of 

16 the review; and 

17 (ii) provide to the Board findings 

18 from the review. 

19 (9) REVIEW PROCEDURES.—In addition to any 

20 procedures required under this Act, the Board shall 

21 determine and publish detailed review procedures as 

22 the Board determines necessary. 

23 (10) PRODUCTS.—The Board may use any me24 dium that will effectively convey the findings and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 3624 IH

1 recommendations of the Board to the targeted audi2 ence of such findings or recommendations. 

3 (d) REVIEW BY AFFECTED AUTHORITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—When the Board has com5 pleted the findings and recommendations or other 

6 products as a result of a review under this Act, the 

7 Board shall provide all affected States, Tribal Gov8 ernments, and units of local government, or their 

9 designees, an opportunity to review and comment 

10 not later than 30 days before the publication of the 

11 findings or recommendations. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall make 

13 every reasonable effort, within its discretion, to re14 spond to requests for additional information and 

15 context that an affected jurisdiction may make and 

16 to edit their findings and recommendations with any 

17 useful additional information or context provided by 

18 any affected jurisdiction in its comments without af19 fecting the integrity or independence of the review 

20 and its findings and recommendations, as the Board 

21 shall determine. 

22 (e) DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED COMMU23 NITIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out a review of 

25 an incident under this section, including in deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 3624 IH

1 mining whether to launch a review, the Board shall 

2 ensure the potential development of findings that 

3 would benefit the prevention of loss of life and 

4 human or economic injury to populations that are 

5 socially, medically, or economically vulnerable, as de6 cided by the Board. 

7 (2) DATA REQUIREMENT.—To forward the 

8 analysis and identification of trends of fatalities and 

9 injuries as a result of incidents, the Board shall pub10 lish information regarding the number of fatalities 

11 and injuries, and the facts and circumstances sur12 rounding them, disaggregated by race, color or eth13 nicity, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, 

14 English proficiency, occupation, or economic status, 

15 and other demographic characteristics that the 

16 Board may determine appropriate. 

17 (f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER REVIEWS AND IN18 VESTIGATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

20 of this section, a review of a natural hazard incident 

21 by the Board under subsection (a)(1) shall have pri22 ority over any investigation by another department, 

23 agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Govern24 ment or a State, Tribal, or local government. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (2) PARTICIPATION BY OTHER AGENCIES.—The 

2 Board shall provide for appropriate participation by 

3 other departments, agencies, or instrumentalities in 

4 a review conducted by the Board, except that an5 other department, agency, or instrumentality may 

6 not influence the final findings of the Board. 

7 (3) COORDINATION.—The Board shall coordi8 nate with all other Federal, State, Tribal, or local le9 gally mandated investigations or reviews and may 

10 share information with those entities, according to 

11 policies and procedures that the Board will provide, 

12 to ensure that appropriate findings and rec13 ommendations to reduce loss of life, injury, and eco14 nomic injury caused by future incidents are pro15 duced as efficiently as possible. 

16 (4) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not 

17 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

18 Act, and biennially thereafter, the Chairman of the 

19 Board shall enter into memoranda of understanding 

20 with the Director of the National Institute of Stand21 ards and Technology, the Administrator of the Fed22 eral Emergency Management Agency, the Chairman 

23 of the Chemical Safety Board, and the Chairman of 

24 the National Transportation Safety Board, respec25 tively, and may enter into additional memoranda of 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 3624 IH

1 understanding with any other Federal entity that re2 quests such due to the relationship that the require3 ments of the Federal entity may have with the re4 quirements with the Board, in order to— 

5 (A) determine the appropriate roles and re6 sponsibilities of the Board with respect to the 

7 other agency or board; 

8 (B) avoid any duplication of effort; and 

9 (C) ensure that appropriate findings and 

10 recommendations to reduce loss of life, injury, 

11 and economic injury caused by future incidents 

12 are provided. 

13 (g) PARTICIPATION IN SUPPORT OF ANOTHER AGEN14 CY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (A) INVESTIGATION OF ACTS OF VIO17 LENCE.—The Board may participate in an in18 vestigation of an act of violence in support of 

19 another Federal department or agency, or other 

20 Federal investigative body with statutory au21 thority to lead such an investigation, if the head 

22 of the lead investigative agency determines that 

23 the participation of the Board would be bene24 ficial to reduce the likelihood of the loss of life 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 3624 IH

1 and human or economic injury, for future simi2 lar incidents. 

3 (B) INVESTIGATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL

4 INCIDENTS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Board may 

6 participate in an investigation of a techno7 logical incident— 

8 (I) in support of another Federal 

9 department or agency, or other Fed10 eral investigative body with statutory 

11 authority to lead such an investiga12 tion, if the head of the lead investiga13 tive agency determines that the par14 ticipation of the Board would be bene15 ficial to reduce the likelihood of the 

16 loss of life and human or economic in17 jury, for future similar incidents; or 

18 (II) in the case of no statutory 

19 authority for another Federal depart20 ment or agency, or other Federal in21 vestigative body, to lead such an in22 vestigation, as the lead investigative 

23 entity. 

24 (ii) MEMORANDA OF UNDER25 STANDING.—Not later than 1 year after 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
17 

•HR 3624 IH

1 the date of enactment of this Act, and bi2 ennially thereafter, the Chairman of the 

3 Board shall enter into memoranda of un4 derstanding with the heads of appropriate 

5 Federal agencies in order to— 

6 (I) determine the appropriate 

7 roles and responsibilities of the Board 

8 in investigating technological incidents 

9 with respect to the other agency; 

10 (II) avoid any duplication of ef11 fort; and 

12 (III) ensure that appropriate 

13 findings and recommendations to re14 duce loss of life, injury, and economic 

15 injury caused by future incidents are 

16 provided. 

17 (2) FINDINGS.—If the Board participates in an 

18 act of violence or technological incident investigation 

19 under subparagraph (A), the Board may issue inde20 pendent findings and recommendations notwith21 standing the outcome of any investigation conducted 

22 by another Federal agency or other Federal inves23 tigative body. 

24 (3) CRIMINAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—If the Attor25 ney General, in consultation with the Chairperson, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
18 

•HR 3624 IH

1 determines and notifies the Board that cir2 cumstances reasonably indicate that the act of vio3 lence or technological incident described in subpara4 graph (A) may have been caused by an intentional 

5 criminal act, the Board shall relinquish investigative 

6 priority to the responsible Federal law enforcement 

7 entity. 

8 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section 

9 shall not be construed to affect the authority of an10 other department, agency, or instrumentality of the 

11 Federal Government to investigate an incident under 

12 applicable law or to obtain information directly from 

13 the parties involved in, and witnesses to, the inci14 dent. The Board and other departments, agencies, 

15 and instrumentalities shall ensure that appropriate 

16 information developed about the incident is ex17 changed in a timely manner. 

18 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Board may make 

19 the following types of technical assistance available to 

20 Federal, State, Tribal, and local government agencies and 

21 to private entities as designated by a Federal, State, Trib22 al, or local government agency: 

23 (1) INDEPENDENT REVIEW.—The Board shall 

24 disseminate best practices to develop disaster invesVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
19 

•HR 3624 IH

1 tigation and review capacity within State, Tribal, 

2 and local governments. 

3 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDA4 TIONS.—The Board— 

5 (A) may provide technical assistance to 

6 any entity identified as responsible for imple7 menting a recommendation under section 

8 4(a)(1) to assist the entity in implementing the 

9 recommendation; and 

10 (B) to the extent possible, shall provide the 

11 technical assistance described in subparagraph 

12 (A) in coordination with technical assistance of13 fered by another Federal department or agency. 

14 (3) PRIORITIZATION.—In offering technical as15 sistance under this subsection, the Board shall use 

16 a risk-based method of prioritization, as the Board 

17 determines appropriate. 

18 (i) FINDINGS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), not later than 1 year after the date on 

21 which the Board initiates a review conducted under 

22 this section, the Board shall make the findings and 

23 relevant underlying data of the review available to 

24 the public. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
20 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (2) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—The Chair2 person of the Board may extend the 1-year period 

3 described in paragraph (1) if the Chairperson, before 

4 the end of such 1-year period— 

5 (A) provides an explanation for the exten6 sion; and 

7 (B) makes available to the public all avail8 able interim findings and underlying data. 

9 SEC. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND RESPONSES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Board issues a rec11 ommendation about an incident, the Board shall— 

12 (1) explain the relationship between any rec13 ommendation and the results of a fact-finding re14 view; 

15 (2) identify each relevant entity responsible for 

16 making the change called for in the recommenda17 tion, including State, local, or private entities, as ap18 propriate; 

19 (3) publish any responses to the recommenda20 tion publicly; and 

21 (4) assess whether the responses adequately 

22 lower the likelihood that a future similar incident 

23 will result in loss of life, or human or economic in24 jury in the view of the Board. 

25 (b) FEDERAL RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
21 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—All Federal departments and 

2 agencies identified in a recommendation made by the 

3 Board shall reply to the recommendations not later 

4 than 90 days after the date on which the rec5 ommendation is published by the Board. 

6 (2) RESPONSE DESCRIBED.—A response under 

7 paragraph (1) made by a Federal department or 

8 agency shall include— 

9 (A) whether the department or agency in10 tends to adopt the recommendation in whole, in 

11 part, or not at all; 

12 (B) an explanation of the reasons for only 

13 adopting the recommendation in part or not at 

14 all; and 

15 (C) a proposed timetable for completing 

16 the action the Federal department or agency 

17 has agreed to. 

18 (3) PROGRESS UPDATES.—A Federal depart19 ment or agency that agrees to adopt a recommenda20 tion of the Board shall— 

21 (A) track the progress of the department 

22 or agency toward completion; and 

23 (B) provide an update to the Board, to be 

24 published publicly, periodically, and not less fre25 quently than annually. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
22 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 the date on which a final determination is made on 

4 a recommendation under this section, the Board 

5 shall make a copy of the recommendation and re6 sponse to the recommendation available to the pub7 lic. 

8 (2) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—The Chair9 person of the Board may extend the 1-year period 

10 described in paragraph (1) if the Chairperson, before 

11 the end of such 1-year period— 

12 (A) provides an explanation for the exten13 sion; and 

14 (B) makes available to the public any 

15 available interim response to the recommenda16 tion and underlying data. 

17 (d) DISSEMINATION.—The Board shall propagate 

18 each recommendation issued under this section, including 

19 by— 

20 (1) incorporating the recommendation, and any 

21 related findings, into training material used by Fed22 eral, State, Tribal, and private training facilities 

23 specializing in building resilience to and responding 

24 to and recovering from natural hazards, as the 

25 Board deems appropriate; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
23 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (2) coordinating with professional associations 

2 related to building resilience to and responding to 

3 and recovering from natural hazards; 

4 (3) collaborating with relevant Federal, State, 

5 and Tribal authorities and private organizations; 

6 and 

7 (4) coordinating with private and public institu8 tions of higher education and research institutions. 

9 SEC. 5. REPORTS AND STUDIES. 

10 (a) STUDIES AND OTHER REPORTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall annually 

12 submit a report containing the information described 

13 in paragraph (2) to— 

14 (A) Congress; 

15 (B) any department, agency, or instrumen16 tality of the Federal Government concerned 

17 with natural hazards; 

18 (C) all State and Tribal governments; and 

19 (D) the general public. 

20 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa21 tion described in this paragraph is— 

22 (A) the results of special studies on how to 

23 reduce morbidity and mortality from incidents; 

24 (B) an examination of techniques and 

25 methods of evaluating measures to protect the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
24 

•HR 3624 IH

1 public from incidents and periodically publish 

2 recommended procedures for reviews; 

3 (C) evaluation and examination of the ef4 fectiveness of the findings of the Board about 

5 the natural hazard resilience of other depart6 ments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the 

7 Federal Government and their effectiveness in 

8 preventing loss of life, or human or economic 

9 injury; and 

10 (D) recommend meaningful responses to 

11 reduce the likelihood of loss of life, or human 

12 or economic injury, according to the findings of 

13 the above-mentioned research, including na14 tional and regional policies and programs. 

15 (b) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than June 1, 

16 2023, and once every 2 years thereafter, the Board shall 

17 submit a report to Congress, which shall include— 

18 (1) a statistical and analytical summary of the 

19 reviews conducted and reviewed by the Board during 

20 the prior 2 calendar years; 

21 (2) a survey and summary of the recommenda22 tions made by the Board and the observed response 

23 to each recommendation, including the classification, 

24 containing a written justification and explanation of 

25 each recommendation as— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
25 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (A) open, if, in the determination of the 

2 Board, sufficient action to fulfill the intent of 

3 the recommendation has not been taken and 

4 still should be; 

5 (B) closed, if, in the determination of the 

6 Board, sufficient action to fulfill the intent of 

7 the recommendation has been taken and no fur8 ther action is necessary; and 

9 (C) outdated, if, in the determination of 

10 the Board, the recommendation is no longer rel11 evant because of any change in circumstances 

12 or actions by parties other than the intended 

13 recipient of the recommendation; 

14 (3) an assessment of efforts of Federal, State, 

15 Tribal, and local governments to respond to rec16 ommendations made by the Board, if such entities 

17 have voluntarily provided information to the Board 

18 on the progress of the entity; 

19 (4) a description of the training undertaken by 

20 the Board and its staff and persons sponsored by 

21 the Board; 

22 (5) a list of natural hazards that caused 10 or 

23 more fatalities that the Board did not review and a 

24 recommendation with justification by the Board of 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
26 

•HR 3624 IH

1 whether similar incidents should be reviewed in the 

2 future; 

3 (6) a recommendation on how, if at all, the 

4 thresholds and triggers for a review by the Board 

5 should change; 

6 (7) an assessment of the sufficiency of Federal 

7 resources provided to State, Tribal, and local gov8 ernments in aggregate relative to any vulnerabilities 

9 that the Board determines the governments have; 

10 (8) a list of all requests for review from Gov11 ernors of States and territories and chief executives 

12 of Tribal governments or recommended by the office 

13 established under section 6(f)(2) that the Board re14 jected, including comments and recommendations 

15 from the Board regarding whether similar incidents 

16 should be reviewed in the future; and 

17 (9) a list of ongoing reviews that have exceeded 

18 the expected time allotted for completion by Board 

19 order and an explanation for the additional time re20 quired to complete each such review. 

21 (c) DISSEMINATION.—The Board shall propagate the 

22 information described in subsection (a)(2), including by— 

23 (1) incorporating the information into training 

24 material used by Federal, State, Tribal, and private 

25 training facilities specializing in building resilience 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
27 

•HR 3624 IH

1 to and responding to and recovering from natural 

2 hazards, as the Board deems appropriate; 

3 (2) coordinating with professional associations 

4 related to building resilience to and responding to 

5 and recovering from natural hazards; 

6 (3) collaborating with relevant Federal, State, 

7 and Tribal authorities and private organizations; 

8 and 

9 (4) coordinating with private and public institu10 tions of higher education and research institutions. 

11 SEC. 6. APPOINTMENT AND ORGANIZATION. 

12 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be com14 posed of 7 members, who shall, in accordance with 

15 paragraph (2) and subject to paragraph (3), be ap16 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

17 consent of the Senate. 

18 (2) PROCEDURE.— 

19 (A) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The Presi20 dent shall, in consultation with the National 

21 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medi22 cine and relevant professional associations and 

23 leaders in the private sector, appoint the 7 

24 members of the Board from among a list of 14 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
28 

•HR 3624 IH

1 individuals provided by both houses of Con2 gress, of which— 

3 (i) the majority leader of the Senate 

4 shall provide the names of 4 individuals; 

5 (ii) the minority leader of the Senate 

6 shall provide the names of 3 individuals; 

7 (iii) the Speaker of the House of Rep8 resentatives shall provide the names of 4 

9 individuals; and 

10 (iv) the minority leader of the House 

11 of Representatives shall provide the names 

12 of 3 individuals. 

13 (B) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS.—Any 

14 vacancy of the Board shall be filled in the same 

15 manner as the original appointment. 

16 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—Of the 7 members ap17 pointed under paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) not more than 4 members may be ap19 pointed from the same political party; 

20 (B) all members shall be appointed on the 

21 basis of technical qualification, professional 

22 standing, and demonstrated knowledge in emer23 gency management, fire management, emer24 gency medical services, public-health, physical 

25 sciences, social science, behavioral science, or 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
29 

•HR 3624 IH

1 architectural and engineering with post-disaster 

2 evaluation or building forensics expertise in 

3 their respective field; 

4 (C) a minimum of 2 members shall have 

5 experience working at the State or municipal 

6 level in 1 of the fields described in subpara7 graph (B); and 

8 (D) a minimum of 2 members shall have 

9 demonstrated professional experience working 

10 with populations that have historically been 

11 more vulnerable to incidents because of their 

12 race, color, nationality, sex, age, disability, 

13 English proficiency, or economic status. 

14 (b) TERMS OF OFFICE AND REMOVAL.— 

15 (1) TERM OF OFFICE.—Except as provided in 

16 paragraph (2), the term of office of each member 

17 shall be 5 years. 

18 (2) FILLING OF VACANCY.—An individual ap19 pointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expira20 tion of the term for which the predecessor of that 

21 individual was appointed is appointed for the re22 mainder of that term. 

23 (3) CONTINUATION UNTIL SUCCESSOR IS AP24 POINTED.—When the term of office of a member 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
30 

•HR 3624 IH

1 ends, the member may continue to serve until a suc2 cessor is appointed and confirmed. 

3 (4) REMOVAL.—The President may remove a 

4 member only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or 

5 malfeasance in office. Immediately upon removing a 

6 member of the Board, the President shall issue a 

7 public statement that details how the actions of the 

8 removed member met the criteria of this paragraph. 

9 (c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

10 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall des11 ignate, by and with the advice and consent of the 

12 Senate, a member appointed under subsection (b) to 

13 serve as the Chairperson of the Board. 

14 (2) VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall 

15 designate a member appointed under subsection (b) 

16 to serve as the Vice Chairperson of the Board and 

17 if the Chairperson is absent or unable to serve, or 

18 if the position of Chairperson is vacant, the Vice 

19 Chairperson shall act as the Chairperson. 

20 (3) TERM OF OFFICE.—The Chairperson and 

21 Vice Chairperson shall each serve in such position 

22 for a term of 3 years. 

23 (d) DUTIES AND POWERS OF CHAIRPERSON.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
31 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson shall be the 

2 chief executive and administrative officer of the 

3 Board. 

4 (2) POWERS.—Subject to the general policies 

5 and decisions of the Board, the Chairperson shall— 

6 (A) appoint and supervise officers and em7 ployees, other than regular and full-time em8 ployees in the immediate offices of another 

9 member, necessary to carry out this Act; 

10 (B) fix the pay of officers and employees 

11 necessary to carry out this Act; 

12 (C) distribute business among the officers, 

13 employees, and administrative units of the 

14 Board; and 

15 (D) supervise the expenditures of the 

16 Board. 

17 (e) QUORUM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

19 and (3), 4 members of the Board shall constitute a 

20 quorum for purposes of carrying out the duties and 

21 powers of the Board, subject to the limitations in 

22 the remainder of this subsection. 

23 (2) PARTY LIMITATION.—Not less than 1 rep24 resentative from each party shall be present for a 

25 quorum to be established. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
32 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—Either the Chairperson or 

2 Vice Chairperson shall be present for a quorum to 

3 be established. 

4 (f) OFFICES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall establish 

6 such offices as are necessary to carry out this Act, 

7 which may include offices responsible for— 

8 (A) operations; 

9 (B) science and methodology; 

10 (C) review and evaluation; 

11 (D) communications; 

12 (E) external coordination; or 

13 (F) technical assistance. 

14 (2) OFFICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF DIS15 PROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED COMMUNITIES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall estab17 lish an office to review and make recommenda18 tions to mitigate and prevent the loss of life, or 

19 human or economic injury for vulnerable popu20 lations, including populations that may be more 

21 vulnerable because of their race, color, religion, 

22 nationality, sex, age, disability, English pro23 ficiency, or economic status, or other demo24 graphic characteristics that the Board may de25 termine appropriate. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
33 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The office estab2 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (i) provide recommendations to the 

4 Board for incidents to review in accordance 

5 with section 3(b)(4) that do not otherwise 

6 meet the requirements of section 3(b); 

7 (ii) determine and maintain a list spe8 cific demographic, economic, social, and 

9 health characteristics of populations that 

10 historically have shown to be disproportion11 ately impacted by incidents; 

12 (iii) during a review conducted by the 

13 Board, provide research and analysis on 

14 how the incident impacts populations that 

15 the Office determines to be disproportion16 ately impacted; 

17 (iv) provide recommendations for each 

18 review conducted by the Board and for 

19 each report developed under section 5 on 

20 actions that can be taken to reduce the im21 pact to populations that are found to be 

22 disproportionately impacted under clause 

23 (ii); and 

24 (v) provide training, and establish 

25 training requirements, for Board members 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
34 

•HR 3624 IH

1 and staff in the fields of diversity, inclu2 sion, and equity in consultation with orga3 nizations specializing in those fields. 

4 (3) REGIONAL OFFICES.—In establishing offices 

5 under this subsection, the Board may establish re6 gional offices across the United States to facilitate 

7 collaboration, coordination, and the dissemination of 

8 findings, recommendations, and best practices to 

9 State, Tribal, and local governments and the private 

10 sector in such regions as the Board determines ap11 propriate. 

12 (4) PURPOSE.—Each office established under 

13 this subsection shall enable the Board to review, re14 port on, and issue recommendations to prevent the 

15 loss of life, human injury, and economic injury and 

16 deliver technical assistance to disseminate best prac17 tices in accordance with this Act. 

18 (g) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The Chairperson 

19 shall designate an officer or employee of the Board to 

20 serve as the Chief Financial Officer, who shall— 

21 (1) report directly to the Chairperson on finan22 cial management and budget execution; 

23 (2) direct, manage, and provide policy guidance 

24 and oversight on financial management and property 

25 and inventory control; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
35 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (3) review the fees, rents, and other charges im2 posed by the Board for services and things of value 

3 it provides and suggest appropriate revisions to 

4 those charges to reflect costs incurred by the Board 

5 in providing those services and things of value. 

6 (h) BOARD MEMBER STAFF.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Board 

8 shall appoint and supervise regular and full-time em9 ployees in the immediate office of the member as 

10 long as any such employee has been approved for 

11 employment by the designated agency ethics official 

12 under the same guidelines that apply to all employ13 ees of the Board. 

14 (2) DESIGNATION.—With respect to an indi15 vidual appointed under paragraph (1)— 

16 (A) the member of the Board making the 

17 appointment shall determine which grade of the 

18 General Schedule most closely corresponds with 

19 respect to the duties and functions of the posi20 tion to which the individual is appointed; and 

21 (B) during the period of the appoint22 ment— 

23 (i) the individual shall be compensated 

24 at the appropriate rate of pay for the 

25 grade of the General Schedule with respect 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
36 

•HR 3624 IH

1 to which the determination is made under 

2 subparagraph (A); and 

3 (ii) for the purposes of title 5, United 

4 States Code, and the rules issued under 

5 that title, the individual shall be considered 

6 to be an employee, as that term is defined 

7 in section 5331(a) of title 5, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (3) LIMITATION.—Except for the Chairperson, 

10 the appointment authority in paragraph (1) shall be 

11 limited to the number of full-time equivalent posi12 tions, in addition to 1 senior professional staff posi13 tion at a level not to exceed the GS–15 level of the 

14 General Schedule and 1 administrative staff posi15 tion, allocated to each member of the Board through 

16 the annual budget and allocation process of the 

17 Board. 

18 (i) DETAILED STAFF.— 

19 (1) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of the 

21 Board, the head of an agency described in sub22 paragraph (B), or any other Federal depart23 ment or agency that the Board may request, 

24 may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 

25 personnel of that department or agency to the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
37 

•HR 3624 IH

1 Board to assist the Board in carrying out the 

2 duties of the Board under this Act. 

3 (B) RELEVANT AGENCIES.—For purposes 

4 of subparagraph (A), the following are agencies 

5 described in this subparagraph: 

6 (i) The Federal Emergency Manage7 ment Agency. 

8 (ii) The Cybersecurity and Infrastruc9 ture Security Agency of the Department of 

10 Homeland Security. 

11 (iii) The National Oceanic and Atmos12 pheric Administration, including the Na13 tional Weather Service. 

14 (iv) The Department of Defense, in15 cluding the Army Corps of Engineers. 

16 (v) The Department of Health and 

17 Human Services. 

18 (vi) The National Institutes of 

19 Health. 

20 (vii) The Centers for Disease Control 

21 and Prevention. 

22 (viii) The Coast Guard. 

23 (ix) The National Transportation 

24 Safety Board. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
38 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (x) The National Institute of Stand2 ards and Technology. 

3 (xi) The Government Accountability 

4 Office. 

5 (xii) The Department of the Interior, 

6 including the United States Geological 

7 Survey. 

8 (xiii) Any Office of the Inspector Gen9 eral. 

10 (xiv) The Small Business Administra11 tion. 

12 (xv) The Chemical Safety and Hazard 

13 Investigation Board. 

14 (xvi) The Department of Housing and 

15 Urban Development. 

16 (xvii) The Department of Agriculture. 

17 (2) STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, AND RESEARCH

18 STAFF.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board may enter 

20 into agreements with State, local, and Tribal 

21 governments and relevant nonprofit institutions 

22 of higher education and research institutions to 

23 request staff, with specialized experience that 

24 the Board determines relevant, to be detailed to 

25 the Board, on a reimbursable basis, and shall 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
39 

•HR 3624 IH

1 consult with relevant associations and organiza2 tions of those entities in developing an efficient 

3 process for requesting and receiving detailed 

4 staff. 

5 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Board shall en6 sure that any staff members detailed to the 

7 Board under this paragraph are compensated 

8 equitably and shall pay differences in salaries 

9 based on the experience of said staff and in 

10 consultation with the Office of Personnel Man11 agement. 

12 (3) TERM OF DETAIL.—Any staff member de13 tailed to the Board under this section shall be de14 tailed for a term of 1 year and such detail may be 

15 extended for not more than 2 1-year terms. 

16 (4) LIMITATIONS.—Under this subsection— 

17 (A) not more than 25 percent of the total 

18 number of staff members working for the 

19 Board at any time may be detailees or other20 wise nonpermanent staff; 

21 (B) a detailee shall serve as an adviser or 

22 supplemental professional staff in any office es23 tablished by the Board under subsection (g); 

24 and 

25 (C) a detailee may not— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
40 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (i) determine any final findings or rec2 ommendations; and 

3 (ii) be the sole decisionmaker in re4 view or evaluation methodologies. 

5 (j) SEAL.—The Board shall have a seal that shall be 

6 judicially recognized. 

7 (k) OPEN MEETINGS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the Board shall be considered an agency 

10 for purposes of section 552b of title 5, United States 

11 Code. 

12 (2) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUS13 SIONS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec15 tion 552b of title 5, United States Code, a ma16 jority of the members may hold a meeting that 

17 is not open to public observation to discuss offi18 cial agency business, if— 

19 (i) no formal or informal vote or other 

20 official agency action is taken at the meet21 ing; 

22 (ii) each individual present at the 

23 meeting is a member or an employee of the 

24 Board; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
41 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (iii) at least 1 member of the Board 

2 from each political party is present at the 

3 meeting, if applicable; 

4 (iv) the General Counsel of the Board 

5 is present at the meeting; and 

6 (v) the records of the meeting, includ7 ing the names of the individuals in attend8 ance, time, place, and summary to be as 

9 thorough as the Board determines to be 

10 prudent, are posted publicly and online. 

11 (B) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO12 RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Except as provided 

13 under subparagraphs (C) and (D), not later 

14 than 2 business days after the conclusion of a 

15 meeting under subparagraph (A), the Board 

16 shall make available to the public, in a place 

17 easily accessible to the public— 

18 (i) a list of the individuals present at 

19 the meeting; and 

20 (ii) a summary of the matters, includ21 ing key issues, discussed at the meeting, 

22 except for any matter the Board properly 

23 determines may be withheld from the pub24 lic under section 552b(c) of title 5, United 

25 States Code. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
42 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (C) SUMMARY.—If the Board properly de2 termines a matter may be withheld from the 

3 public under section 552b(c) of title 5, United 

4 States Code, the Board shall provide a sum5 mary with as much general information as pos6 sible on each matter withheld from the public. 

7 (D) ACTIVE REVIEWS.—If a discussion 

8 under subparagraph (A) directly relates to an 

9 active review, the Board shall make the disclo10 sure under subparagraph (B) on the date the 

11 Board adopts the final report. 

12 (E) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS

13 REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Noth14 ing in this paragraph may be construed to limit 

15 the applicability of section 552b of title 5, 

16 United States Code, with respect to a meeting 

17 of the members other than that described in 

18 this paragraph. 

19 (F) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

20 in this paragraph may be construed— 

21 (i) to limit the applicability of section 

22 552b of title 5, United States Code, with 

23 respect to any information which is pro24 posed to be withheld from the public under 

25 subparagraph (B)(ii); or 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
43 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (ii) to authorize the Board to withhold 

2 from any individual any record that is ac3 cessible to that individual under section 

4 552a of title 5, United States Code. 

5 SEC. 7. METHODOLOGY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall conduct each re7 view, issue each recommendation, develop each report, and 

8 deliver all technical assistance authorized under this Act 

9 using the methods that are in accordance with relevant 

10 professional best practices, including those by analogous 

11 review organizations, academia, and government and pri12 vate organizations. 

13 (b) REQUIRED REVIEW.—The Board shall— 

14 (1) review, on a regular basis, the methodolo15 gies of the Board; and 

16 (2) update the methodologies of the Board in 

17 accordance with the findings of each review con18 ducted under paragraph (1). 

19 (c) REQUIREMENT.—In establishing the methodolo20 gies of the Board under this section, the Board shall incor21 porate all relevant information from relevant Federal, 

22 State, and local entities, including past experience with 

23 similar incidents, exercises, risk assessments, and all other 

24 past research and analysis. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
44 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (d) TRANSPARENCY.—The Chairperson shall include 

2 with each review report in which a recommendation is 

3 issued by the Board a methodology section detailing the 

4 process and information underlying the selection of each 

5 recommendation. 

6 (e) ELEMENTS.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (f), the methodology section under subsection (a) shall in8 clude, for each recommendation— 

9 (1) a brief summary of the Board’s collection 

10 and analysis of the specific information most rel11 evant to the recommendation; 

12 (2) a description of the Board’s use of external 

13 information, including studies, reports, and experts, 

14 other than the findings of a specific review, if any 

15 were used to inform or support the recommendation, 

16 including a brief summary of the specific resilience 

17 benefits and other effects identified by each study, 

18 report, or expert; and 

19 (3) a brief summary of actions, including im20 portant examples, taken by regulated entities before 

21 the publication of the recommendation, to the extent 

22 such actions are known to the Board, that were con23 sistent with the recommendation. 

24 (f) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
45 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section may 

2 be construed— 

3 (A) to delay publication of the findings, 

4 cause, or probable cause of a Board review; 

5 (B) to delay the issuance of an urgent rec6 ommendation that the Board has determined 

7 must be issued to avoid immediate death, or 

8 human or economic injury; or 

9 (C) to limit the number of examples the 

10 Board may consider before issuing a rec11 ommendation. 

12 (2) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

13 (1), the Board shall publish the methodology re14 quired under this section not later than 30 days 

15 after the date on which the review is initially pub16 lished. 

17 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATIVE. 

18 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board, and when au20 thorized by the Board, a member of the Board, an 

21 administrative law judge employed by or assigned to 

22 the Board, or an officer or employee designated by 

23 the Chairperson, may conduct hearings to carry out 

24 this Act, administer oaths, and require, by subpoena 

25 or otherwise, necessary witnesses and evidence. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
46 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (2) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—A witness or evi2 dence in a hearing under paragraph (1) of this sub3 section may be summoned or required to be pro4 duced from any place in the United States to the 

5 designated place of the hearing. A witness sum6 moned under this subsection is entitled to the same 

7 fee and mileage the witness would have been paid in 

8 a court of the United States. 

9 (3) REQUIREMENT.—A subpoena shall be 

10 issued under the signature of the Chairperson or the 

11 Chairperson’s designee, but may be served by any 

12 person designated by the Chairperson. 

13 (4) ENFORCEMENT.—If a person disobeys a 

14 subpoena, order, or inspection notice of the Board, 

15 the Board may bring a civil action in a district court 

16 of the United States to enforce the subpoena, order, 

17 or notice. An action under this paragraph may be 

18 brought in the judicial district in which the person 

19 against whom the action is brought resides, is found, 

20 or does business. The court may punish a failure to 

21 obey an order of the court to comply with the sub22 poena, order, or notice as a contempt of court. 

23 (b) ADDITIONAL POWERS.—The Board may— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
47 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (1) procure the temporary or intermittent serv2 ices of experts or consultants under section 3109 of 

3 title 5, United States Code; 

4 (2) make agreements and other transactions 

5 necessary to carry out this Act without regard to 

6 subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 6101 of title 

7 41, United States Code; 

8 (3) use, when appropriate, available services, 

9 equipment, personnel, and facilities of a department, 

10 agency, or instrumentality of the United States Gov11 ernment on a reimbursable or other basis; 

12 (4) confer with employees and use services, 

13 records, and facilities of State and local govern14 mental authorities; 

15 (5) appoint advisory committees composed of 

16 qualified private citizens and officials of the Govern17 ment and State and local governments as appro18 priate; 

19 (6) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv20 ices notwithstanding another law; 

21 (7) make contracts with private entities to carry 

22 out studies related to duties and powers of the 

23 Board; and 

24 (8) negotiate and enter into agreements with 

25 individuals and private entities and departments, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
48 

•HR 3624 IH

1 agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Gov2 ernment, State, Tribal, and local governments, and 

3 governments of foreign countries for the provision of 

4 facilities, technical services, or training in research 

5 theory and techniques, and require that such entities 

6 provide appropriate consideration for the reasonable 

7 costs of any facilities, goods, services, or training 

8 provided by the Board. 

9 (c) COLLECTION OF FUNDS.—The Board shall de10 posit in the Treasury of the United States amounts re11 ceived under subsection (b)(8) of this subsection to be 

12 credited as offsetting collections to the appropriation of 

13 the Board. The Board shall maintain an annual record 

14 of collections received under subsection (b)(8). 

15 (d) SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN COPIES TO CON16 GRESS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—When the Board submits to 

18 the President or the Director of the Office of Man19 agement and Budget a budget estimate, budget re20 quest, supplemental budget estimate, other budget 

21 information, a legislative recommendation, prepared 

22 testimony for congressional hearings, or comments 

23 on legislation, the Board must submit a copy to 

24 Congress at the same time. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
49 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (2) LIMITATION.—An officer, department, 

2 agency, or instrumentality of the Government may 

3 not require the Board to submit the estimate, re4 quest, information, recommendation, testimony, or 

5 comments to another officer, department, agency, or 

6 instrumentality of the Government for approval, 

7 comment, or review before being submitted to Con8 gress. 

9 (3) BUDGET PROCESS.—The Board shall de10 velop and approve a process for the Board’s review 

11 and comment or approval of documents submitted to 

12 the President, Director of the Office of Management 

13 and Budget, or Congress under this subsection. 

14 (e) LIAISON COMMITTEES.—The Chairperson may 

15 determine the number of committees that are appropriate 

16 to maintain effective liaison with other departments, agen17 cies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Government, 

18 State and local governmental authorities, and independent 

19 standard-setting authorities that carry out programs and 

20 activities related to its work. The Board may designate 

21 representatives to serve on or assist those committees. 

22 (f) INQUIRIES.—The Board, or an officer or employee 

23 of the Board designated by the Chairperson, may conduct 

24 an inquiry to obtain information related to natural hazard 

25 safety after publishing notice of the inquiry in the Federal 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
50 

•HR 3624 IH

1 Register. The Board or designated officer or employee 

2 may require by order a department, agency, or instrumen3 tality of the Federal Government, a State, Tribal, or local 

4 governmental authority, or a person transporting individ5 uals or property in commerce to submit to the Board a 

6 written report and answers to requests and questions re7 lated to a duty or power of the Board. The Board may 

8 prescribe the time within which the report and answers 

9 must be given to the Board or to the designated officer 

10 or employee. Copies of the report and answers shall be 

11 made available for public inspection. 

12 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Board may prescribe regu13 lations to carry out this Act. 

14 (h) OVERTIME PAY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

16 of this section and notwithstanding paragraphs (1) 

17 and (2) of section 5542(a) of title 5, United States 

18 Code, for an employee of the Board whose basic pay 

19 is at a rate which equals or exceeds the minimum 

20 rate of basic pay for GS–10 of the General Schedule, 

21 the Board may establish an overtime hourly rate of 

22 pay for the employee with respect to work performed 

23 in the field (including travel to or from) and other 

24 work that is critical to a review in an amount equal 

25 to one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
51 

•HR 3624 IH

1 pay of the employee. All of such amount shall be 

2 considered to be premium pay. 

3 (2) LIMITATION ON OVERTIME PAY TO AN EM4 PLOYEE.—An employee of the Board may not re5 ceive overtime pay under paragraph (1), for work 

6 performed in a calendar year, in an amount that ex7 ceeds 25 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of 

8 the employee for such calendar year. 

9 (3) BASIC PAY DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

10 the term ‘‘basic pay’’ includes any applicable local11 ity-based comparability payment under section 5304 

12 of title 5, United States Code (or similar provision 

13 of law) and any special rate of pay under section 

14 5305 of such title 5 (or similar provision of law). 

15 (4) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than January 

16 31, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Board shall 

17 transmit to Congress a report identifying the total 

18 amount of overtime payments made under this sub19 section in the preceding fiscal year, and the number 

20 of employees whose overtime pay under this sub21 section was limited in that fiscal year as a result of 

22 the 25 percent limit established by paragraph (2). 

23 (i) ENTRY AND INSPECTION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—An officer or employee of 

25 the Board— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
52 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (A) on display of appropriate credentials 

2 and written notice of authority, may— 

3 (i) enter an area where an incident 

4 has occurred; 

5 (ii) take such actions as are necessary 

6 to conduct a review under this section, so 

7 long as the actions do not interfere with 

8 ongoing lifesaving and life-sustaining oper9 ations; and 

10 (iii) during reasonable hours, inspect 

11 any record, including an electronic record, 

12 process, control, or facility related to an in13 cident under this Act. 

14 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Board shall use ut15 most discretion to prevent interference with ongoing 

16 response efforts, including by developing review pro17 cedures with input from relevant authorities nation18 wide. 

19 SEC. 9. DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF INFORMA20 TION. 

21 (a) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub23 sections (b), (c), (d), and (f) of this section, a copy 

24 of a record, information, or review submitted or re25 ceived by the National Disaster Safety Board, or a 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
53 

•HR 3624 IH

1 member or employee of the Board, shall be posted 

2 publicly. 

3 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

4 subsection shall be construed to require the release 

5 of information described in section 552(b) of title 5, 

6 United States Code, or protected from disclosure by 

7 another law of the United States. 

8 (b) TRADE SECRETS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may disclose in10 formation related to a trade secret referred to in sec11 tion 1905 of title 18, United States Code, only— 

12 (A) to another department, agency, or in13 strumentality of the United States Government 

14 when requested for official use; 

15 (B) to a committee of Congress having ju16 risdiction over the subject matter to which the 

17 information is related, when requested by that 

18 committee; 

19 (C) in a judicial proceeding under a court 

20 order that preserves the confidentiality of the 

21 information without impairing the proceeding; 

22 and 

23 (D) to the public to protect health and 

24 safety after giving notice to any interested per25 son to whom the information is related and an 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
54 

•HR 3624 IH

1 opportunity for that person to comment in writ2 ing, or orally in closed session, on the proposed 

3 disclosure, if the delay resulting from notice 

4 and opportunity for comment would not be det5 rimental to health and safety. 

6 (2) REQUIREMENT.—Information disclosed 

7 under paragraph (1) of this subsection may be dis8 closed only in a way designed to preserve its con9 fidentiality. 

10 (3) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION

11 OF INFORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro12 vision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency re13 ceiving information from the Board, shall disclose 

14 voluntarily provided safety-related information if 

15 that information is not related to the exercise of the 

16 Board’s review authority under this Act and if the 

17 Board finds that the disclosure of the information 

18 would inhibit the voluntary provision of that type of 

19 information. 

20 (c) RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.— 

21 (1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS.—Ex22 cept as provided in paragraph (2), the Board may 

23 not disclose publicly any part of an original record24 ing or transcript of oral communications or original 

25 and contemporary written communications between 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
55 

•HR 3624 IH

1 Federal, State, Tribal, or local officials responding 

2 to an incident under review by the Board. 

3 (2) EXCEPTION.—Subject to subsections (b) 

4 and (g), the Board shall make public any part of a 

5 transcript, any written depiction of visual informa6 tion obtained from an audio or video recording, or 

7 any still image obtained from a recording the Board 

8 decides is relevant to the incident— 

9 (A) if the Board holds a public hearing on 

10 the incident at the time of the hearing; or 

11 (B) if the Board does not hold a public 

12 hearing, at the time a majority of the other fac13 tual reports on the incident are placed in the 

14 public docket. 

15 (3) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING

16 SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—This subsection does 

17 not prevent the Board from referring at any time to 

18 recorded or written information in making safety 

19 recommendations. 

20 (d) FOREIGN REVIEWS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

22 provision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency 

23 receiving information from the Board, shall disclose 

24 records or information relating to its participation in 

25 foreign incident review, except that— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
56 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (A) the Board shall release records per2 taining to such a review when the country con3 ducting the review issues its final report or 2 

4 years following the date of the incident, which5 ever occurs first; and 

6 (B) the Board may disclose records and in7 formation when authorized to do so by the 

8 country conducting the review. 

9 (2) SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Nothing in 

10 this subsection shall restrict the Board at any time 

11 from referring to foreign review information in mak12 ing safety recommendations. 

13 (e) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—Before making public 

14 any still image obtained from a video recorder under sub15 section (c)(2) or subsection (d)(2), the Board shall take 

16 such action as appropriate to protect from public disclo17 sure any information that readily identifies an individual, 

18 including a decedent. 

19 SEC. 10. TRAINING. 

20 (a) USE OF TRAINING FACILITIES.—The Board may 

21 use, on a reimbursable basis, the services of any training 

22 facility in the Federal Government, including those oper23 ated by the Department of Homeland Security, Depart24 ment of Health and Human Services, and Department of 

25 Commerce. The responsible department or agency shall 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
57 

•HR 3624 IH

1 make such training facility and any relevant training 

2 course available to— 

3 (1) the Board for safety training of employees 

4 of the Board in carrying out their duties and pow5 ers; and 

6 (2) other relevant personnel of the United 

7 States Government, State and local governments, 

8 governments of foreign countries, interstate authori9 ties, and private organizations the Board designates 

10 in consultation with the relevant departments and 

11 agencies. 

12 (b) FEES.—Training shall be provided at a reason13 able fee established periodically by the Board in consulta14 tion with the relevant departments and agencies. The fee 

15 shall be paid directly to the relevant departments and 

16 agencies, and shall be deposited in the Treasury. 

17 (c) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTH18 ERS.—The Board may conduct training of its employees 

19 in those subjects necessary for proper performance. The 

20 Board may also authorize attendance at courses given 

21 under this subsection by other government personnel, per22 sonnel of foreign governments, and personnel from indus23 try or otherwise who have a requirement for training. The 

24 Board may require non-Board personnel to reimburse 

25 some or all of the training costs, and amounts so reimVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
58 

•HR 3624 IH

1 bursed shall be credited to the appropriation of the Board 

2 as offsetting collections. 

3 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated, to remain available until expended, for the pur6 poses of this Act— 

7 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

8 (2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

9 (3) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

10 (4) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

11 (b) EMERGENCY FUND.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established in 

13 the Treasury of the United States an Emergency 

14 Fund for the Board, which shall be available to the 

15 Board for necessary expenses of the Board, not oth16 erwise provided for, for reviews. 

17 (2) APPROPRIATIONS.—There shall be appro18 priated, out of amounts in the Treasury not other19 wise appropriated, to the Emergency Fund— 

20 (A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

21 (B) such sums as are necessary to main22 tain the Emergency Fund at a level not to ex23 ceed $4,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter; 

24 and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
59 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (C) such other sums as Congress deter2 mines necessary. 

3 (c) FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSEMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may impose and 

5 collect such fees, refunds, and reimbursements as it 

6 determines to be appropriate for services provided by 

7 or through the Board. 

8 (2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COL9 LECTIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 

10 31, United States Code, any fee, refund, or reim11 bursement collected under this subsection— 

12 (A) shall be credited as offsetting collec13 tions to the account that finances the activities 

14 and services for which the fee is imposed or 

15 with which the refund or reimbursement is as16 sociated; 

17 (B) shall be available for expenditure only 

18 to pay the costs of activities and services for 

19 which the fee is imposed or with which the re20 fund or reimbursement is associated; and 

21 (C) shall remain available until expended. 

22 (3) REFUNDS.—The Board may refund any fee 

23 paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of 

24 that required. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
60 

•HR 3624 IH

1 SEC. 12. AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De3 partment of Homeland Security, in accordance with the 

4 mission of the Inspector General to prevent and detect 

5 fraud and abuse, shall have authority to review only the 

6 financial management, property management, and busi7 ness operations of the Board, including internal account8 ing and administrative control systems, to determine com9 pliance with applicable Federal laws, rules, and regula10 tions. 

11 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In12 spector General shall— 

13 (1) keep the Chairperson of the Board and 

14 Congress fully and currently informed about prob15 lems relating to administration of the internal ac16 counting and administrative control systems of the 

17 Board; 

18 (2) issue findings and recommendations for ac19 tions to address such problems; and 

20 (3) report periodically to Congress on any 

21 progress made in implementing actions to address 

22 such problems. 

23 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 

24 section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities 

25 granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a) 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
61 

•HR 3624 IH

1 and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

2 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap5 propriated to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

6 for use by the Inspector General of the Department 

7 of Homeland Security such sums as may be nec8 essary to cover expenses associated with activities 

9 pursuant to the authority exercised under this sec10 tion. 

11 (2) REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENT.—In the ab12 sence of an appropriation under this subsection for 

13 an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspec14 tor General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

15 agreement to cover such expense. 

16 SEC. 13. EVALUATION AND AUDIT OF NATIONAL DISASTER 

17 SAFETY BOARD. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—As determined necessary by the 

19 Comptroller General of the United States or the appro20 priate congressional committees, but not less frequently 

21 than once every 2 years, the Comptroller General of the 

22 United States shall evaluate and audit the programs and 

23 expenditures of the Board in order to promote economy, 

24 efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of the 

25 programs, operations, and activities of the Board. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
62 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (b) RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

2 In carrying out subsection (a), the Comptroller General 

3 of the United States shall evaluate and audit the pro4 grams, operations, and activities of the Board, including— 

5 (1) information management and security, in6 cluding privacy protection of personally identifiable 

7 information; 

8 (2) the resource levels of the Board and man9 agement of such resources relative to the mission of 

10 the Board; 

11 (3) workforce development; 

12 (4) procurement and contracting planning, 

13 practices and policies; 

14 (5) the process and procedures to select an inci15 dent to review; 

16 (6) the extent to which the Board follows lead17 ing practices in selected management areas; 

18 (7) the extent to which the Board addresses 

19 management challenges in completing reviews; 

20 (8) the extent to which the evaluation, review, 

21 and recommendation-issuing methodologies of the 

22 Board are consistent with established best practice, 

23 as determined by the Comptroller General; and 

24 (9) an impact evaluation of the work of the 

25 Board, using the purposes and intent described in 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
63 

•HR 3624 IH

1 this Act and by the Board, against the realized re2 sults of the Board, according to a methodology de3 termined by the Comptroller General, conducted in 

4 a manner that is not overly disruptive to the work 

5 of the Board. 

6 SEC. 14. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACT OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘act of vio9 lence’’ means an offense described in section 16(a) 

10 of title 18, United States Code. 

11 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na12 tional Disaster Safety Board established under sec13 tion 3. 

14 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The term ‘‘Chairperson’’ 

15 means the Chairperson of the Board designated 

16 under section 6. 

17 (4) ECONOMIC INJURY.—The term ‘‘economic 

18 injury’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘substantial 

19 economic injury’’ in section 7(b) of the Small Busi20 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)). 

21 (5) INCIDENT.—The term ‘‘incident’’ means a 

22 natural hazard or other circumstance that the Board 

23 decides to review. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
64 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND

2 RESEARCH INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘institution of 

3 higher education and research institution’’ means— 

4 (A) an institution of higher education (as 

5 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

6 Act (20 U.S.C. 1001)); 

7 (B) a National Laboratory (as defined in 

8 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

9 U.S.C. 15801)); 

10 (C) a laboratory described in section 

11 308(c)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 

12 2002 (6 U.S.C. 188(c)(2)); 

13 (D) the National Domestic Preparedness 

14 Consortium established under section 1204 of 

15 the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 

16 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1102) and 

17 the members of such Consortium; and 

18 (E) a research institution associated with 

19 an institution of higher education. 

20 (7) NATURAL HAZARD.—The term ‘‘natural 

21 hazard’’— 

22 (A) means a major disaster, as defined in 

23 paragraph (2) of section 102 of the Robert T. 

24 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency AssistVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:25 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
65 

•HR 3624 IH

1 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122), that is naturally oc2 curring, regardless of— 

3 (i) whether the President makes a de4 termination with respect to severity and 

5 magnitude of the disaster under such para6 graph; or 

7 (ii) the result of such a determination; 

8 (B) includes any naturally occurring heat 

9 wave, wind storm, wildfire, wildland urban 

10 interface fire, urban conflagration fire, or dust 

11 storm; 

12 (C) includes any combination of events 

13 covered by subparagraphs (A) and (B) that 

14 causes or threatens to cause loss of human life, 

15 or human or economic injury, as determined by 

16 the Board; and 

17 (D) does not include a technological dis18 aster. 

19 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean20 ing given the term in section 102 of the Robert T. 

21 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 5122). 

23 (9) TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTER.—The term 

24 ‘‘technological disaster’’ means an incident that— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
66 

•HR 3624 IH

1 (A) is caused by human error or malfunc2 tion in technology, including a dam or struc3 tural failure, a fire (other than a naturally oc4 curring wildfire, wildland urban interface fire, 

5 urban conflagration fire, or arson), a hazardous 

6 material incident, a nuclear accident, and a 

7 power and telecommunications failure; and 

8 (B) causes loss of human life, or human or 

9 economic injury, as determined by the Board. 

10 (10) TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘terrorism’’ has 

11 the meaning given the term in section 2 of the 

12 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). 

13 (11) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

14 government’’ means the governing body of any In15 dian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, 

16 village, or community that the Secretary of the Inte17 rior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe under 

18 the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

19 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130 et seq.). 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS